Westward overstepping of Lower Mississippian by Upper Mississippian strata in eastern Nevada

Conference · Thu Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:5019580

Nichols, K M; Silberling, N J; Macke, D L ^[1]

---

1. Geological Survey, Denver, CO (United States)

The Mississippian section in western Utah includes three complete, successive stratigraphic sequence, each representing a distinct third-order transgressive-regressive (T-R) cycle. In ascending order, these sequences are informally named the Morris (MO), Sadlick (SA), and Maughan (MA) (Silberling and others, this volume). In west-central Utah, the MO is represented by strata customarily regarded as the lower part of the Joana Limestone, SA by the upper part of the Joana and the Needle Siltstone Member of the Chainman Shale, and MA by the Skunk Spring Limestone Bed and part of the overlying Chainman Shale. The systems tracts that define the stratigraphic boundaries between these three sequences can be traced westward to the southern Egan Range in Nevada. Farther west, in the White Pine Range, MA rests disconformably on MO, and SA is cut out between them. Still farther west, in the north-central Pancake Range where MO limestones are 22 m thick, terra-rossa soil and/or a sedimentary breccia of MO limestone separate MO from a few meters of micritic radiolarian limestone below a thick section of MA argillite. Through stratigraphic thicknesses of as much as a few tens of meters, discontinuous units of this micrite, along with units of encrinite, are interstratified with argillite similar to that which forms much of the overlying strata of the Dale Canyon Formation or Chainman Shale. This sequence, directly overlying the Pilot Shale, could either be MA, and thus mid or late Meramecian in age at its base, or be an older Mississippian sequence unrelated to the sequences occurring farther east in Nevada and in Utah.

• OSTI ID: 5019580
• Report Number(s): CONF-9305259--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States) Journal Volume: 25:5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
580000* -- Geosciences
CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
EVALUATION
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGIC STRATA
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOLOGY
NEVADA
NORTH AMERICA
PALEOZOIC ERA
PETROLOGY
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
STRATIGRAPHY
USA
UTAH