Seismic reflection study of Upheaval Dome, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Abstract

Abstract.The origin of Upheaval Dome, in Canyonlands National Park of southeastern Utah, has been a topic of controversy among geologists and planetary scientists. The structure has long been thought to have been created by salt diapirism from the underlying Paradox Formation. Recent studies have suggested that impact could have formed the dome. To test the various hypotheses, we acquired, processed, and interpreted seismic reflection data within and adjacent to the structure. Both conventionally stacked and prestack-migrated images show <100 m relief in the Paradox Formation, contrary to salt diapirism hypotheses.

Compactional deformation bands in Wingate Sandstone; additional evidence of an impact origin for Upheaval Dome, Utah

“…The oldest rocks consist of White Rim Sandstone, which consists of coastal eolian sediment and is present in Upheaval Dome only as cataclastic dikes intruded into the overlying strata Various origins for Upheaval Dome have been proposed. Two commonly cited origins are meteoritic impact [3][4][5][6][7][8][9] and salt diapirism from the subjacent Pennsylvanian-aged Paradox Formation [10][11][12][13]. Upheaval Dome has also been interpreted to be the result of igneous intrusion [10,11], explosive volcanism [14] or tectonically driven fluid overpressure [15], however these three latter mechanisms are not supported by recent literature.…”

“…Upheaval Dome has also been interpreted to be the result of igneous intrusion [10,11], explosive volcanism [14] or tectonically driven fluid overpressure [15], however these three latter mechanisms are not supported by recent literature. Recent seismic imaging of a flat-topped subjacent Paradox Formation [7] does not support salt diapirism and is instead consistent with meteoritic impact. Detailed mapping of Upheaval Dome [3,6,8,9] also reveals discrete structural elements that are consistent with impact craters [16].…”

The Rock Elm meteorite impact structure, Wisconsin: Geology and shock-metamorphic effects in quartz

“…Several large established impact structures do not exhibit gravity anomalies, presumably because they have been eroded to levels at which the large-scale density contrasts that produce the anomalies have been removed. A notable example is Upheaval Dome (Utah) (Kriens et al, 1999;Kanbur et al, 2000), which is a complex impact structure estimated to be at least 5 km in diameter that has been eroded by at least several hundred meters. Despite the complex structural deformation, no gravity anomaly is observed because, at the present structural level, massive sandstone blocks are displaced relative to other massive sandstones and a density contrast is not produced.…”

Interpretation of ambiguous reflection data by imaging processes: An example profile crossing steep submarine valley at the sea bottom

“…A number of studies demonstrated that prestacked Kirchhoff depth migration may efficiently be used in regions characterized by complex tectonic structures to determine geometry of complex tectonic structures that involve faulting, folding, etc. (Louie et al, 1988;Louie and Qin, 1991;Honjas, 1995;Kanbur et al, 2000;Kanbur, 2006;Kanbur et al, 2007). Therefore, prestack migration algorithm used in this study is Kirchhoff summation technique in order to better and correctly image complex tectonic structures related to Northern strand under the westernmost Marmara Sea.…”

“…Therefore, some other advanced methods, such as prestack Kirchhoff depth migration, is also used to process the data in the multi-offset form of seismic experiment; in addition to stacking, post-stack migration is used to overcome the problem and to provide additional information. Several studies have shown that pre-stack Kirchhoff depth migration technique may image the steeply dipping structures and give significant contribution to the conventional stacking process technique in tectonically complex areas (Louie et al, 1988;Louie and Qin, 1991;Honjas, 1995;Kanbur et al, 2000;Kanbur, 2006;Kanbur et al, 2007).…”