Post-Eocene west-stepping thrust faulting in the Utah-Wyoming thrust belt: Implications for the genesis of the Cretaceous Interior Seaway
- Amoco Production Co., Denver, CO (USA)
Field relations suggest that thrust faulting began in western Wyoming and eastern Utah with movement on the Absaroka thrust, possibly during the Late Cretaceous. It seems likely that the Darby thrust became active shortly thereafter. Intraplate deformation of the Absaroka package occurred during or after the Eocene, resulting in belts of folds and faults along the Commissary, Tunp, and Crawford trends. This Absaroka intraplate deformation resulted from compression produced by movement on the Ogden thrust to the west. The Ogden thrust is exposed along the Wasatch fault between Ogden and Salt Lake City, Utah and extends as far east as the Devil's Slide area, west of Croyden Utah. This thrust has not previously been recognized. The Precambrian crystalline rocks of the Wasatch Mountains are carried on the Ogden thrust along with Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks that crop out east of the range. The Willard thrust moved after the Ogden and initiated still farther to the west. The Willard includes Proterozoic and lower Paleozoic rocks not recognized on any of the more easterly thrust sheets. The unique occurrence of oil and gas within the Absaroka package is related to many factors including its initial geometry and the remigration of fluids associated with the post-Eocene modification of this geometry. The source of pre-Maestrichtian sediments to the Cretaceous Interior Seaway becomes problematic as a result of this analysis, as does the assumption that the seaway was a foredeep related to flexural loading by the thrust belt.
- OSTI ID:
- 6797139
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-900605--
- Journal Information:
- AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA), Journal Name: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA) Vol. 74:5; ISSN AABUD; ISSN 0149-1423
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
58 GEOSCIENCES
580000 -- Geosciences
CENOZOIC ERA
CRETACEOUS PERIOD
FEDERAL REGION VIII
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
MESOZOIC ERA
MINERAL RESOURCES
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
NORTH AMERICA
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
RESOURCES
TERTIARY PERIOD
USA
UTAH
WESTERN US OVERTHRUST BELT
WYOMING