Interactions between axial and transverse drainage systems in the late cretaceous Cordilleran Foreland Basin: evidence from detrital zircons in the Straight Cliffs Formation, Southern Utah

Update Item Information
Title Interactions between axial and transverse drainage systems in the late cretaceous Cordilleran Foreland Basin: evidence from detrital zircons in the Straight Cliffs Formation, Southern Utah
Publication Type thesis
School or College College of Mines & Earth Sciences
Department Geology & Geophysics
Author Szwarc, Tyler Scott
Date 2014-05
Description New detrital zircon geochronologic data from the Straight Cliffs Formation of southern Utah provide insight into the controls on stratigraphic architecture of the Western Interior basin during Turonian-Campanian time. Straight Cliffs Formation deposition was influenced by the development of topography in the Sevier fold-thrust belt, but to date, little emphasis has been placed on the tectonic development of the Mogollon highlands of central Arizona. Detrital zircon ages (N=40, n=3650) derived from linked fluvial and shallow marine depositional systems throughout the Kaiparowits Plateau indicate the majority of fluvial sediment was derived from the Mogollon highlands (67%), with subordinate contributions delivered from the Sevier thrust belt (17%) and Cordilleran volcanic sources (16%). The proportion of Sevier detritus increases upsection from 17% in basal fluvial samples to 27% in uppermost strata. Fluvial strata record sediment transport subparallel to the Sevier thrust belt, implying the presence of a northeast-flowing axial fluvial system fed by transverse distributive fluvial systems (DFSs) draining the Mogollon highlands and Sevier thrust belt. Shallow marine samples contain Mogollon (44%), volcanic arc (14%), and an increase (relative to contemporaneous fluvial strata) of Sevier thrust belt-derived sediment (42%), which was delivered via longshore currents into southern Utah.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Axial fluvial system; Cordilleran Foreland Basin; Detrital zircon geochronology; Mogollon highlands, Straight Cliffs Formation; Western interior seaway
Dissertation Institution University of Utah
Dissertation Name Master of Science
Language eng
Rights Management Copyright © Tyler Scott Szwarc 2014
Format application/pdf
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 2,908,982 Bytes
Identifier etd3/id/2783
ARK ark:/87278/s6fz0jmw
Setname ir_etd
ID 196356
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6fz0jmw
Back to Search Results