Continental sequence stratigraphy of a wet eolian system -- A key to relative sea level change
- Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Dept. of Geological Sciences
The Jurassic Entrada Sandstone, as studied in detail along a 2.7 km traverse in NE Utah, is interpreted as having formed as a wet eolian system, with depositional sequences defined by accumulations and bounding super surfaces. In a wet system, accumulation occurs during a relative rise of the water table, whereas super surfaces mark periods of a static or falling water table when sediment bypass or erosion occur, respectively. The ratio of dune to interdune accumulations within a depositional sequence is an estimate of the available sand supply, which in turn is a function of rates of sediment supply and water-table fluctuations. For the Entrada, variables of sand supply and water table should be regional in nature; moreover, the coastal position of the Entrada suggests relative sea level as the control. Verifying this hypothesis, an 80 km transect of the Entrada from north of Monticello southward to Bluff, Utah, shows a similar sequence architecture as in NE Utah. The geometry and composition of sequences along the transect identify components of a relative water table rise that occurred because of differential subsidence rates and an overall relative rise in sea level. The coupling of eolian sequences with their controls allows not only an understanding of the resultant facies architecture, but also shows the response of continental systems on basin margins to basin interior events.
- OSTI ID:
- 5290860
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9305259--
- Journal Information:
- Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Journal Name: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States) Vol. 25:5; ISSN GAAPBC; ISSN 0016-7592
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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