Late Cretaceous fluvial systems and inferred tectonic history, central Utah

Conference · Mon Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1983 · Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6497438

Lawton, T F

Upper Campanian nonmarine sedimentary rocks exposed between the Wasatch Plateau and the Green River in central Utah record a tectonic transition from thin-skinned deformation in the thrust belt to basement-cored uplift in the foreland region. Sandstones within the section consist of two distinct compositional suites, a lower quartzose petrofacies and an upper lithic petrofacies. The volcanic lithic grains of the Farrer and Tuscher Formations were derived from more distal arc sources to the southwest, and transported through the thrust belt somewhere west of the Kaiparowits region, where time-equivalent sedimentary rocks are also rich in volcanic lithic fragments. Disappearance of volcanic lithics and appearance of pebbles at the top of the Tuscher Formation is interpreted to reflect a latest Campanian reorganization of drainage patterns that marked initial growth of the San Rafael swell and similar basement uplifts to the south of the swell. Contemporaneous fluvial systems that deposited the uppermost part of the Price River Formation in the Wasatch Plateau were apparently unaffected by the uplift and continued to flow northeast. Depositional patterns thus indicate that initial growth of the San Rafael swell was probably concurrent with late deformation in the thrust belt. Depositional onlap across the Mesaverde Group by a largely post-tectonic assemblage of fluvial and lacustrine strata (North Horn Formation) indicates a minimum late Paleocene age for growth of the San Rafael swell and deformation within the thrust belt.

• Research Organization: Sohio Petroleum Co., San Francisco, CA
• OSTI ID: 6497438
• Report Number(s): CONF-8309274-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) Journal Volume: 67:8
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200 -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
03 NATURAL GAS
030200 -- Natural Gas-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
58 GEOSCIENCES
580100* -- Geology & Hydrology-- (-1989)
CRETACEOUS PERIOD
FEDERAL REGION VIII
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
LITHOLOGY
MESOZOIC ERA
NORTH AMERICA
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SEDIMENTATION
TECTONICS
USA
UTAH