Controls On Isolated Shallow-Marine Sandstone Deposition and Shelf Construction: Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, Northern Utah and Colorado, U.S.A.

Hampson, Gary J.; Procter, Emily; Kelly, Clare

doi:10.2110/pec.08.90.0355

Cited by 10 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…12b) and shelf-turbidite sandstones Fig. 12c) in the mass-balance framework, which is consistent with net along-strike sediment import or export by shallow-marine processes (Q shin , Q shout ) (see Parrish et al 1984;Swift et al 1987;Hampson et al 2008;Hampson 2010). The shoreline thus represents a key moving boundary within the Star Point-Blackhawk-lower Castlegate sediment routing system.…”

supporting

confidence: 69%

“…Cole & Young 1991;Pattison 2005;Pattison et al 2007) and as nearshore deposits that were reworked towards the south by tides and waves (e.g. Boyles & Scott 1982;Hampson et al 2008). Sediment transport in the Star PointBlackhawk-lower Castlegate sediment routing system was predominantly towards the east, transverse to the basin margin (e.g.…”

Section: Geological Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Towards a sequence stratigraphic solution set for autogenic processes and allogenic controls: Upper Cretaceous strata, Book Cliffs, Utah, USA

Hampson

2016

JGS

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Upper Cretaceous strata exposed in the Book Cliffs of east-central Utah are widely used as an archetype for the sequence stratigraphy of marginal-marine and shallow-marine deposits. Their stratal architectures are classically interpreted in terms of accommodation controls that were external to the sediment routing system (allogenic), and that forced the formation of flooding surfaces, sequence boundaries, and parasequence and parasequence-set stacking patterns. Processes internal to the sediment routing system (autogenic) and allogenic sediment supply controls provide alternatives that can plausibly explain aspects of the stratal architecture, including the following: (1) switching of wave-dominated delta lobes, expressed by the internal architecture of parasequences; (2) river avulsion, expressed by the internal architecture of multistorey fluvial sandbodies and related deposits; (3) avulsion-generated clustering of fluvial sandbodies in delta plain strata; (4) 'autoretreat' owing to increasing sediment storage on the delta plain as it lengthened during progradation, expressed by progradational-toaggradational stacking of parasequences; (5) sediment supply control on the stacking of, and sediment grain-size fractionation within, parasequence sets. The various potential allogenic controls and autogenic processes are combined to form a sequence stratigraphic solution set. This approach avoids anchoring of sequence stratigraphic interpretations on a specific control and acknowledges the non-unique origin of stratal architectures.

show abstract

supporting

confidence: 69%

Section: Geological Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a sequence stratigraphic solution set for autogenic processes and allogenic controls: Upper Cretaceous strata, Book Cliffs, Utah, USA

Hampson

2016

JGS

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The sedimentology and stratigraphy of the Blackhawk Formation and Castlegate Sandstone have been documented in the exposures of the Book Cliffs in the southern part of the study area (e.g. Balsley, 1980; Howell & Flint, 2003; Hampson & Howell, 2005 and references therein) and, to a far lesser degree, in exposures in the northern part of the study area (Gill & Hail, 1975; Molenaar & Wilson, 1993; Hampson et al. , 2008).…”

Section: Geological Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…, 1991; Cole & Young, 1991; Kamola & Holland, 1996; Cole et al. , 1997; Hampson et al. , 1999, 2008; Stevens, 2004; Pattison, 2005a,b; Chaiwongsaen, 2007; Pattison et al.…”

Section: Geological Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The stratigraphic relationships between these isolated sandstones and coeval Blackhawk Formation and Castlegate Sandstone strata are constrained by a combination of outcrop mapping, correlation of subsurface well‐logs and ammonite biostratigraphic data (Gill & Hail, 1975; Molenaar & Wilson, 1993; Cole et al. , 1997; Hampson et al. , 1999, 2001, 2008; Hettinger & Kirschbaum, 2002; Pattison, 2005a,b; Pattison et al.…”

Section: Geological Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Sediment dispersal and quantitative stratigraphic architecture across an ancient shelf

Hampson¹

2010

Sedimentology

Self Cite

119

172

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Two large (200 to 300 km), near-continuous outcrop transects and extensive well-log data (ca 2800 wells) allow analysis of sedimentological characteristics and stratigraphic architecture across a large area (ca 60 000 km 2 ) of the latest Santonian to middle Campanian shelf along the western margin of the Western Interior Seaway in eastern Utah and western Colorado, USA. Genetically linked depositional systems are mapped at high chronostratigraphic resolution (ca 0AE1 to 0AE5 Ma) within their sequence stratigraphic context. In the lower part of the studied interval, sediment was dispersed via wave-dominated deltaic systems with a 'compound clinoform' geomorphology in which an inner, wave-dominated shoreface clinoform was separated by a muddy subaqueous topset from an outer clinoform containing sand-poor, gravity-flow deposits. These strata are characterized by relatively steep, net-regressive shoreline trajectories (>0AE1°) with concave-landward geometries, narrow nearshore belts of storm-reworked sandstones (2 to 22 km), wide offshore mudstone belts (>250 km) and relatively high sediment accumulation rates (ca 0AE27 mm year )1 ). The middle and upper parts of the studied interval also contain wave-dominated shorefaces, but coeval offshore mudstones enclose abundant 'isolated' tide-influenced sandstones that were transported subparallel to the regional palaeoshoreline by basinal hydrodynamic (tidal?) circulation. These strata are characterized by relatively shallow, net-regressive shoreline trajectories (<0AE1°) with straight to concave-seaward geometries, wide nearshore belts of storm-reworked sandstones (19 to 70 km), offshore mudstone belts of variable width (130 to >190 km) and relatively low sediment accumulation rates (ca £0AE11 mm year )1 ). The change in shelfal sediment dispersal and stratigraphic architecture, from: (i) 'compound clinoform' deltas characterized by across-shelf sediment transport; to (ii) wave-dominated shorelines with 'isolated' tide-influenced sandbodies characterized by along-shelf sediment transport, is interpreted as reflecting increased interaction with the hydrodynamic regime in the seaway as successive shelfal depositional systems advanced out of a sheltered embayment ('Utah Bight'). This advance was driven by a decreasing tectonic subsidence rate, which also suppressed autogenic controls on stratigraphic architecture.

show abstract

Tectonic and eustatic control of Mesaverde Group (Campanian–Maastrichtian) architecture, Wyoming-Utah-Colorado region, USA

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We describe and analyze the depositional history and stratigraphic architecture of the Campanian and Maastrichtian succession of the southern greater Green River basin of Wyoming, USA, and surrounding areas to better understand the interplay between tectonic and eustatic drivers that built the stratigraphy. By integrating new measured sections with published outcrop, well-log, and paleogeographic data, two new stratigraphic correlation diagrams, 35 new paleogeographic reconstructions, and six new tectonic diagrams were created for this part of the Western Interior Seaway. From this work, two time-scales of organization are evident: (1) 100−300 k.y.-scale, mainly eustatically driven regressive-transgressive shoreline oscillations that generated repeated sequences of alluvial-coastal plain-shoreline deposits, passing basinward to subaqueous deltas, then capped by transgressive estuarine/barrier lagoon deposits, and (2) 3.0−4.0 m.y.-scale, tectonically driven groups of 10 to 15 of these eustatically driven units stacked in an offset arrangement to form larger clastic units, which are herein referred to as clastic wedges. Four regional clastic wedges are recognized, based on the architectures of these clastic packages. These are the: (1) Adaville, (2) Rock Springs, (3) Iles, and (4) Williams Fork clastic wedges. Pre-Mesaverde deposition in the Wyoming-Utah-Colorado (USA) region during the Middle Cretaceous was characterized by thickening of the clastic wedge close to the thrust-front, driven primarily by retroarc foreland basin (flexural) tectonics. However, a basinward shift in deposition during the Santonian into the early Campanian (Adaville clastic wedge) signaled a change in the dominant stratigraphic drivers in the region. Shoreline advance accelerated in the early to middle Campanian (Rock Springs clastic wedge), as the end of activity in the thrust belt, growing importance of flat-slab subduction, and steady eastward migration of the zone of dynamic subsidence led to loss of the foredeep and forebulge, with the attendant formation of a low-accommodation shelf environment. This “flat-shelf” environment promoted large shoreline advances and retreats during sea-level rise and fall. During the middle to late Campanian (Iles clastic wedge), deep erosion on the crest of the Moxa Arch, thinning on the crests of the Rock Springs and Rawlins uplifts, and subsequent Laramide-driven basin formation occurred as the Laramide blocks began to partition the region. The next clastic package (Williams Fork clastic wedge) pushed the shoreline over 400 km away from the thrust belt during the late Campanian. This was followed by a very large and persistent marine transgression across the region, with the formation of a Laramide-driven deepwater turbidite basin with toe-of-slope fans into the early Maastrichtian. The Mesaverde Group in the Wyoming-Utah-Colorado region is thus characterized by: (1) a succession of four tectonically driven classic wedges, each comprised of a dozen or so eustatically driven packages that preserve large basinward and landward shoreline shifts, (2) broad regional sand and silt dispersal on a low-accommodation marine shelf setting, (3) a progressive, tectonically driven, basinward shift of deposition with offset, basinward stacking of successive clastic wedges, and (4) the gradual formation of various uplifts and sub-basins, the timing and sizes of which were controlled by the movement of deep-seated Laramide blocks. The Mesaverde Group in the Wyoming-Utah-Colorado region provides an outstanding opportunity to study the dynamic interaction among the tectonic control elements of a subducting plate (crustal loading-flexure, dynamic subsidence/uplift, and regional flat-slab basin partitioning), as well as the dynamic interaction of tectonic and eustatic controls.

show abstract

Controls On Isolated Shallow-Marine Sandstone Deposition and Shelf Construction: Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, Northern Utah and Colorado, U.S.A.

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

Towards a sequence stratigraphic solution set for autogenic processes and allogenic controls: Upper Cretaceous strata, Book Cliffs, Utah, USA

Towards a sequence stratigraphic solution set for autogenic processes and allogenic controls: Upper Cretaceous strata, Book Cliffs, Utah, USA

Sediment dispersal and quantitative stratigraphic architecture across an ancient shelf

Tectonic and eustatic control of Mesaverde Group (Campanian–Maastrichtian) architecture, Wyoming-Utah-Colorado region, USA

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About