Stratigraphic evidence for the role of lake spillover in the inception of the lower Colorado River in southern Nevada and western Arizona

House, P. Kyle; Pearthree, P.A.; Perkins, Michael E.

doi:10.1130/2008.2439(15)

Cited by 60 publications

(113 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The Bouse Formation was defi ned in the Blythe basin and its geographic extent has since been expanded to include the MohaveCottonwood, Chemehuevi, and Bristol basins along and near the lower Colorado River corridor in Arizona, California, and Nevada (Metzger, 1968;Olmsted, 1972;Mattick et al, 1973;Olmsted et al, 1973;Carr and Dickey, 1980;Buising, 1988;Turak, 2000;House et al, 2008). Except for a disputed outcrop near the Laguna Diversion and Imperial Dams (sample locality J219 of Winterer, 1975; see also Olmsted et al, 1973, fi g. 15 therein), the Bouse Formation is identifi ed only in the subsurface in the Yuma area of Arizona McDougall , 2008a;Spencer et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for a marine incursion along the lower Colorado River corridor

McDougall

Martínez

2014

Geosphere

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Foraminiferal assemblages in the stratigraphically lower part of the Bouse Formation in the Blythe basin (lower Colorado River corridor, western USA) indicate marine conditions, whereas assemblages in the upper part of the Bouse Formation indicate lacustrine conditions and suggest the presence of a saline lake. Benthic foraminiferal assemblages in the lower part of the Bouse Formation are similar to lagoonal and inner neritic biofacies of the modern Gulf of California. Evidence suggesting a change from marine to lacustrine conditions includes the highest occurrence of planktic foraminifers at an elevation of 123 m above sea level (asl), the change from low diversity to monospecifi c foraminiferal assemblages composed only of Ammonia beccarii (between 110 and 126 m asl), an increase in abundance of A. beccarii specimens (above ~110 m asl), increased number of deformed tests (above ~123 m asl), fi rst appearance of Chara (at ~85 m asl), lowest occurrence of reworked Cretaceous coccoliths (at ~110 m), a decrease in strontium isotopic values (between 70 and 120 m), and δ 18 O and δ 13 C values similar to seawater (between 70 and 100 m asl). Planktic foraminifers indicate a late Miocene age between 8.1 and 5.3 Ma for the oldest part of the Bouse Formation in the southern part of the Blythe basin. Benthic and planktic foraminifers correlate with other late Miocene sections in the proto-Gulf of California and suggest that the basal Bouse Formation in the Blythe basin was deposited at the northern end of this proto-gulf. After the marine connection was restricted or eliminated, the Colorado River fl owed into the Blythe basin, forming a saline lake. This lake supported a monospecifi c foraminiferal assemblage of A. beccarii until the lake spilled into the Salton Trough and the Colorado River became a through-fl owing river.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for a marine incursion along the lower Colorado River corridor

McDougall

Martínez

2014

Geosphere

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“…1) provide a rich source of information about the paleohydrology of spring, lake, and river waters in this region over the past 12 Ma. Recent models for the Bouse Formation have inferred a series of events that took place during a short period of time (bracketed between 5.6 and 4.8 Ma), when first-arriving Colorado River water caused a chain of lakes and internally drained basins to progressively fill and spill in a downward-propagating sequence (Blackwelder, 1934;Spencer and Patchett, 1997;House et al, 2005House et al, , 2008House and Pearthree, 2014;Roskowski et al, 2010;Spencer et al, 2008Spencer et al, , 2013. The Bouse Formation provides a record of these events, which some studies conclude took place in less than 50-100 ka (Spencer et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Importance of groundwater in propagating downward integration of the 6–5 Ma Colorado River system: Geochemistry of springs, travertines, and lacustrine carbonates of the Grand Canyon region over the past 12 Ma

et al. 2015

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We applied multiple geochemical tracers ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr, [Sr], d 13 C, and d 18 O) to waters and carbonates of the lower Colorado River system to evaluate its paleohydrology over the past 12 Ma. Modern springs in Grand Canyon reflect mixing of deeply derived (endogenic) fluids with meteoric (epigenic) recharge. Travertine (<1 Ma) and speleothems (2-4 Ma) yield 87 Sr/ 86 Sr and d 13 C and d 18 O values that overlap with associated water values, providing justification for use of carbonates as a proxy for the waters from which they were deposited. The Hualapai Limestone (12-6 Ma) and Bouse Formation (5.6-4.8 Ma) record paleohydrology immediately prior to and during integration of the Colorado River. The Hualapai Limestone was deposited from 12 Ma (new ash age) to 6 Ma; carbonates thicken eastward to ~210 m toward the Grand Wash fault, suggesting that deposition was synchronous with fault slip. A fanningdip geometry is suggested by correlation of ashes between subbasins using tephrochronology. New detrital-zircon ages are consistent with the "Muddy Creek constraint," which posits that Grand Wash Trough was internally drained prior to 6 Ma, with limited or no Colorado Plateau detritus, and that Grand Wash basin was sedimentologically distinct from Gregg and Temple basins until after 6 Ma. New isotopic data from Hualapai Limestone of Grand Wash basin show values and ranges of 87 Sr/ 86 Sr, d 13 C, and d 18 O that are similar to Grand Canyon springs and travertines, suggesting a long-lived springfed lake/marsh system sourced from western Colorado Plateau groundwater. Progressive up-section decrease in 87 Sr/ 86 Sr and d 13 C and increase in d 18 O in the uppermost 50 m of the Hualapai Limestone indicate an increase in meteoric water relative to endogenic inputs, which we interpret to record progressively increased input of high-elevation Colorado Plateau groundwater from ca. 8 to 6 Ma. Grand Wash, Hualapai, Gregg, and Temple basins, although potentially connected by groundwater, were hydrochemically distinct basins before ca. 6 Ma. The 87 Sr/ 86 Sr, d 13 C, and d 18 O chemostratigraphic trends are compatible with a model for downward integration of Hualapai basins by groundwater sapping and lake spillover.The Bouse Limestone (5.6-4.8 Ma) was also deposited in several hydrochemically distinct basins separated by bedrock divides. Northern Bouse basins (Cottonwood, Mojave, Havasu) have carbonate chemistry that is nonmarine. The 87 Sr/ 86 Sr data suggest that water in these basins was derived from mixing of high-87 Sr/ 86 Sr Lake Hualapai waters with lower-87 Sr/ 86 Sr, first-arriving "Colorado River" waters. Covariation trends of d 13 C and d 18 O suggest that newly integrated Grand Wash, Gregg, and Temple basin waters were integrated downward to the Cottonwood and Mojave basins at ca. 5-6 Ma. Southern, potentially younger Bouse basins are distinct hydrochemically from each other, which suggests incomplete mixing during continued downward integration of internally drained basins. Bouse carbonates display a southward trend ...

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“…20B; e.g., Spencer and Patchett, 1997). The inland-lake hypothesis has gained support fromstudies of carbonate geochemistry, Sr isotopes, C and O isotopes, stratigraphy, and hydrologicmodels (e.g., Poulson and John, 2003;House et al, 2008;Roskowski et al, 2010;Spencer et al, 2008Spencer et al, , 2013Pearthree and House, 2014;Bright et al, 2016).We suggest that some of these datasets should be reevaluated in light of new constraints presented in this paper. The marine-embayment hypothesis (this study) is supported by multiple lines of evidence including micro-and macro-paleontology, Sr, O, and C isotopes, chemical mixing models, process sedimentology, and Fourier transform analysis of tidal rhythmites (Table 3).…”

Section: Depositional Paleoenvironments Of the Southern Bouse Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is generally agreed that the northern Bouse Formation (Fig. 1) accumulated in a series of lakes that filled with water and sediment of the first-arriving Colorado River (Spencer and Patchett, 1997;House et al, 2008;Roskowski et al, The Bouse Formation has previously been subdivided into a basal carbonate unit, an interbedded unit of mudstone, sandstone, and siltstone, and an age-equivalent basin-margin association of tufa and conglomerate (Metzger, 1968;Buising, 1988Buising, , 1990.We refine this nomenclature and divide the southern Bouse into three informal members ( Fig. 3A): (1) basal carbonate consisting of travertine, bioclastic facies, and fine-grained marl (lime mudstone); (2) siliciclastic member which includes green claystone, red mudstone and siltstone, and Colorado River cross-bedded sandstone; and (3) upper bioclastic member.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Punctuated Sediment Discharge During Early Pliocene Birth of the Colorado River: Evidence from Regional Stratigraphy, Sedimentology, and Paleontology

Dorsey¹,

O’Connell²,

McDougall-Reid³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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The Colorado River in the southwestern U.S. provides an excellent natural laboratory for studying the origins of a continent-scale river system, because deposits that formed prior to and during river initiation are well exposed in the lower river valley and nearby basinal sink. This paper presents a synthesis of regional stratigraphy, sedimentology, and micropaleontology from the southern Bouse Formation and similar-age deposits in the western Salton Trough, which we use to interpret processes that controlled the birth and early evolution of the Colorado River. The southern Bouse Formation is divided into three laterally persistent members: basal carbonate, siliciclastic, and upper bioclastic members. Basal carbonate accumulated in a tidedominated marine embayment during a rise of relative sea level between ~6.3 and 5.4 Ma, prior to arrival of the Colorado River. The transition to green claystone records initial rapid influx of river water and its distal clay wash load into the subtidal marine embayment at ~5.4-5.3 Ma. This was followed by rapid southward progradation of the Colorado River delta, establishment of the earliest through-flowing river, and deposition of river-derived turbidites in the western Salton Trough (Wind Caves paleocanyon) between ~5.3 and 5.1 Ma. Early delta progradation was followed by regional shut-down of river sand output between ~5.1 and 4.8 Ma that resulted in deposition of marine clay in the Salton Trough, retreat of the delta, and re-flooding of the lower river valley by shallow marine water that deposited the Bouse upper bioclastic member. Resumption of sediment discharge at ~4.8 Ma drove massive progradation of fluvial-deltaic deposits back down the river valley into the northern Gulf and Salton Trough.These results provide evidence for a discontinuous, start-stop-start history of sand output during initiation of the Colorado River that is not predicted by existing models for this system. The underlying controls on punctuated sediment discharge are assessed by comparing the depositional chronology to the record of global sea-level change. The lower Colorado River Valley and Salton Trough experienced marine transgression during a gradual fall in global sea level between ~6.3 and 5.5 Ma, implicating tectonic subsidence as the main driver of latest Miocene relative sea-level rise. A major fall of global sea level at 5.3Ma outpaced subsidence and drove regional delta progradation, earliest flushing of Colorado River sand into the northern Gulf of California, and erosion of Bouse basal carbonate and siliciclastic members. The lower Colorado River valley was re-flooded by shallow marine waters during smaller changes in global sea level ~ 5.1-4.8 Ma, after the river first ran through it, which requires a mechanism to stop delivery of sand to the lower river valley. We propose that tectonically controlled subsidence along the lower Colorado River, upstream of the southern Bouse study area, temporarily trapped sediment and stopped delivery of sand to the lower river valley and nort...

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Stratigraphic evidence for the role of lake spillover in the inception of the lower Colorado River in southern Nevada and western Arizona

Cited by 60 publications

References 21 publications

Evidence for a marine incursion along the lower Colorado River corridor

Evidence for a marine incursion along the lower Colorado River corridor

Importance of groundwater in propagating downward integration of the 6–5 Ma Colorado River system: Geochemistry of springs, travertines, and lacustrine carbonates of the Grand Canyon region over the past 12 Ma

Punctuated Sediment Discharge During Early Pliocene Birth of the Colorado River: Evidence from Regional Stratigraphy, Sedimentology, and Paleontology

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