Mesotidal barrier complex, Sundance Formation, north-central Wyoming
The sandstones and coquinas of the upper 20 m of the Sundance Formation are a tidal inlet, back-barrier shoal, and sandy tidal-flat sequence deposited at the close of marine Jurassic sedimentation in north-central Wyoming. The lateral migration of these interbarrier tidal inlets along the regressive shoreline of the late Sundance sea caused the coquinas and sandstones of the uppermost Sundance Formation to be deposited as tabular, laterally extensive units. Earlier models, which attach an offshore environment of deposition to this sequence, fail to explain the tabular gross geometry of the unit and its conformable stratigraphic relationship with the overlying nonmarine sediments of the Morrison Formation. Within the sandstone of the uppermost Sundance Formation, tidal bundles, sigmoidal reactivation surfaces, herringbone cross-lamination, and abundant mud drapes present considerable evidence for tidal influence during the deposition of the unit. The neap-spring cyclicity of the tidal bundles implies they were developed in a diurnal tidal setting. A meso-paleotidal range along the Late Jurassic shoreline is estimated, based on calculations of sediment transport rates during the tidal bundle development.
- Research Organization:
- Iowa State Univ., Ames
- OSTI ID:
- 6962517
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-8609129-
- Journal Information:
- Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States), Journal Name: Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) Vol. 70:8; ISSN AAPGB
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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