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Title: Fluvial and glacial implications of tephra localities in the western Wind River basin, Wyoming, U. S. A

Conference · · Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)
OSTI ID:5023496
 [1]
  1. Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States). Dept. of Geology

Examination of Quaternary fluvial and glacial deposits in the western Wind River Basin allows a new understanding of the Quaternary Wind River fluvial system. Interbedded fluvial sediments and volcanic ashes provide important temporal information for correlation of Quaternary deposits. In the western Wind River Basin, six mid-Pleistocene localities of tephra, the Muddy Creek, Red Creek, Lander, Kinnear, Morton and Yellow Calf ashes are known. Geochronologic studies confirm the Muddy Creek, Red Creek, Kinnear and Lander ashes as the 620--650ka Lava Creek tephra from the Yellowstone region in northwestern Wyoming. The stratigraphic position and index of refraction of volcanic glass from the Morton and Yellow Calf ashes are consistent with identification as Lava Creek tephra. Approximately 350 feet (106 meters) above the Wind River and 13 miles downstream from Bull Lake, interbedded Wind River fluvial gravels, volcanic glass and pumice at the Morton locality correlate to late (upper) Sacajawea Ridge gravels mapped by Richmond and Murphy. Associated with the oxygen isotope 16--15 boundary, the ash-bearing terrace deposits reveal the nature of the Wind River fluvial system during late glacial-early interglacial times. The Lander and Yellow Calf ashes, are found in terrace deposits along tributaries of the Wind River. Differences in timing and rates of incision between the Wind River and its tributary, the Little Wind River, results in complex terrace development near their junction.

OSTI ID:
5023496
Report Number(s):
CONF-9305259-; CODEN: GAAPBC
Journal Information:
Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 25:5; Conference: 89. annual meeting of the Cordilleran Section and the 46th annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Section of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Reno, NV (United States), 19-21 May 1993; ISSN 0016-7592
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English