Comparative development of the Western United States and southern Kazakhstan, Soviet Union - Two early Paleozoic carbonate passive margins

Conference · Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 1991 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States)

OSTI ID:5200637

Cooke, H E ^[1]; Taylor, M E ^[2]; Zhemchuzhnikov, S V; Apollonov, M K; Ergaliev, G Kh; Sargaskaev, Z S ^[3]; Dubinina, S V ^[4]

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1. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA (United States)
2. Geological Survey, Denver, CO (United States)
3. Inst. of Geological Sciences, Alma-Ata (Kazakhstan)
4. Geological Inst., Moscow (Russian Federation)

Early Paleozoic passive continental margins of the Western united States and southern Kazakhstan evolved at low latitudes on rifted Precambrian continental crust adjacent to the proto-Pacific Ocean. In the Western United States, early Paleozoic carbonate submarine fans and slides formed on continental slopes in central Nevada. Coeval shoal-water carbonate sediments occurred to the east, in Utah, where they interfingered with siliciclastic sediments and onlapped the craton. In contrast, early Paleozoic carbonate sediments of the Malyi Karatau, southern Kazakhstan, were deposited on isolated microcontinental blocks that developed during Late Proterozoic rifting of the continental crust. Comparison of stratigraphic sections from Nevada and Malyi Karatau indicate a similar upward-shallowing and seaward-prograding evolution. The Hot Creek Range section in Nevada consists of the Upper Cambrian Swarbrick Formation and Tybo Shale, and Upper Cambrian and lowest Ordovician Hales Limestone. These depositional facies include basin plain (about 500 m), carbonate submarine fan and slides (200 m), upperslope (150 m), and platform margin (150 m). The Kyrshabakty and Batyrbay sections in the Malyi Karatau consist of Cambrian and lowest Ordovician rocks of the Shabakty Suite. Stratigraphic sections in both the Western United States and Malyi Karatau record three coeval episodes of sea level lowstands. These lowstands, which the authors interpret to be eustatic, are recognized by times of seaward collapse of large segments of the platform margins and deeper water slopes and by solution breccias and faunal discontinuities in shoal-water platform-interior sites.

• OSTI ID: 5200637
• Report Number(s): CONF-9103128-; CODEN: AABUD
• Journal Information: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States), Vol. 75:2; Conference: American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)/Society of Economics, Paleontolgists, and Mineralogists (SEPM)/Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG)/Society of Professional Well Log Analysts (SPWLA) Pacific Section annual meeting, Bakersfield, CA (United States), 6-8 Mar 1991; ISSN 0149-1423
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
CARBONATE ROCKS
DEPOSITION
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
STRATIGRAPHY
NEVADA
USSR
UTAH
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONTINENTAL CRUST
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
PALEOZOIC ERA
RIFT ZONES
SEA LEVEL
VARIATIONS
ASIA
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
EARTH CRUST
EUROPE
EVALUATION
FEDERAL REGION IX
FEDERAL REGION VIII
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOLOGY
LEVELS
NORTH AMERICA
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
USA
580000* - Geosciences