Trace fossils and sedimentology of a Late Cretaceous Progradational Barrier Island sequence: Bearpaw and Horseshoe Canyon Formations, Dorothy, Alberta
- Univ. of Alberta, Edmonton (Canada)
A well-exposed example of a regressive barrier island succession crops out in the Alberta badlands along the Red Deer River Valley. In the most landward (northwestern) corner of the study area, only shallow-water and subaerial deposits are represented and are dominated by tidal inlet related facies. Seaward (southeast), water depth increases and the succession is typified by open-marine beach to offshore-related facies arranged in coarsening-upward progradational sequence. Detailed sedimentologic and ichnologic analyses of this sequence have allowed for its division into three distinct environmental zones (lower, middle, and upper). The lower zone comprises a laterally diverse assemblage of storm-influenced, lower shoreface through offshore deposits. Outcrop in the northeast is dominated by thick beds of hummocky and/or swaley cross-stratified storm sand. In the southeast, storm events have only minor influence. This lower zone contains a wide diversity of well-preserved trace fossils whose distribution appears to have been influenced by gradients in wave energy, bottom stagnation, and the interplay of storm and fair-weather processes. The middle zone records deposition across an upper shoreface environment. Here, horizontal to low-angle bedding predominates, with interspersed sets of small- and large-scale cross-bedding increasing toward the top. A characteristic feature of the upper part of this zone is the lack of biogenic structures suggesting deposition in an exposed high-energy surf zone. The upper zone records intertidal to supratidal progradation of the shoreline complex. Planar-laminated sandstone forms a distinct foreshore interval above which rhizoliths and organic material become increasingly abundant, marking transition to the backshore. A significant feature of this zone is the occurrence of an intensely bioturbated interval toward the top of the foreshore.
- OSTI ID:
- 6635007
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-900605-; CODEN: AABUD
- Journal Information:
- AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA), Vol. 74:5; Conference: Annual convention and exposition of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, San Francisco, CA (USA), 3-6 Jun 1990; ISSN 0149-1423
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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