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

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.