Upper cretaceous strata exposed in the book cliffs of eastcentral utah are widely used as an archetype for the sequence stratigraphy of marginalmarine and shallowmarine deposits. The recurrence of the same types of sequence stratigraphic surface through geologic time defines cycles of change in accommodation or sediment supply, which correspond to sequences in the rock record. Sequence stratigraphy of the book cliffs of eastern utah. As we approached the east grand junction entrance to the colorado national monument, we left behind the book cliffs, here seen rising in the distance to the ne in the 1st frame. Positioned on top of the sandstone, but usually situated back from the edge, are various early tertiary rock units, for example. Stratigraphy and ijtiiology the study focused on the mancos shale.
Suu geology field trip to book cliffs near price, utah. Cretaceous and tertiary formations of the book cliffs carbon. The sedimentary successions of the book cliffs in eastcentral utah have been extensively studied with respect to sequence stratigraphy e. Stratal architecture of these rocks is controlled by two regionally extensive surfaces of incision and subaerial exposure. The book cliffs form a large continuous escarpment 250 km that is aligned wnwese, oblique to regional depositional dip figs 2 and 3a. Miocene stratigraphy and paleoenvironments of the calvert.
The buck tongue of the mancos shale underlies the sego sandstone member, and the anchor mine tongue divides the lower and upper parts of the sego sandstone member upsection. The video shows some of the field evidence for sealevel change and how the sequence stratigraphy model has been applied to this shallowmarine and fluvial succession. Cretaceous shales book cliffs of utah kenilworth member of the blackhawk formation. Stratigraphy is the science of the layered character of rocks, be these sedimentary, volcanic, metamorphic, or igneous rocks. At their western limit, the book cliffs pass into the northsouthtrending wasatch plateau, which is oriented oblique to regional depositional strike figs 2 and 3b. Additional photos west of 319 are combined into a single photo mosaic 320, part of which is used in. Photo 31 is the easternmost image and 319 is the westernmost image.
A case study in coastal sequence stratigraphy, offered annually through w. Tectonic control of nested sequence architecture in the. It is enriched in uranium, copper, silver, vanadium, mercury, arsenic and, to a certain. The book cliffs of eastern utah and western colorado figs. This video is a virtual field trip to one of the classic locations in the world book cliffs, utah, usa where the sequence stratigraphy method was developed and tested. Book cliffs, geological feature of eastcentral utah and western colorado, u. The shale and cretaceous sandstone cliffs, formed over time by the uncompahgre uplift, are a remnant of the mancos sea floor. During deposition it appears to have acted as a sink for various metals. In exercise 2, students work either with polarized microscopic photographs linked online to specific units in their measured section or directly.
The exercises below involve the analysis of parasequence from outcrops. Free web tutorials sequence stratigraphy, tutorials carbonate petrology, seismic interpretation sequence stratigraphy exercises lower cretaceous south africa, seismic interpretation sequence stratigraphy exercises bahamas miocene, seismic interpretation sequence stratigraphy exercises lower cretaceous alaska, clastic outcrop interpretation sequence stratigraphy exercises of bookcliffs. Marys formations shattuck, 1902, 1904have been the focus of paleontologic and stratigraphic analysis since the late. Reevaluating the sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy. Generalized stratigraphic cross section bb consisting of measured sections, one interpreted geophysical log, and core from the western part of the study area. Their stratal architectures are classically interpreted in terms of accommodation controls that were external to the sediment routing system allogenic, and that forced the formation of flooding surfaces. This combined with the nearhorizontal structural configuration makes the book cliffs a worldclass field laboratory for studying clastic sedimentology and sequence. Highresolution correlation of upper cretaceous stratigraphy between the book cliffs and the western henry mountain syncline, utah. Choose from 147 different sets of stratigraphy geology flashcards on quizlet. The miocene strata exposed in these cliffsthe canonical calvert, choptank, and st.
Book cliffs, which expose the same strata in an overall dip orientation fig. Stratigraphic nomenclature of the book cliffs changes with geographic. This gives a minimum age of the rock falls as 650 years, but they could have fallen as long as 2,200 years or more ago. The sedimentary record of sealevel change angela l. Facies analysis and sequence stratigraphic framework of upper. The mancos formation and its stratigraphic equivalent to the east known as the pierre shale, often contain concretions. The book cliffs form a sinuous southwardfacing escarpment that extends in a. Thus, the existing stratigraphic framework of the shallowmarine blackhawk formation in the book cliffs balsley 1980. Designed for undergraduate and graduate courses in sequence stratigraphy. This new book sets out to define and explain the concepts, principles and applications of this remarkably influential approach to the study of sedimentary strata.
Stratigraphic variations within the sego sandstone, book cliffs, central utah article pdf available january 2007 with 165 reads how we measure reads. Book cliffs data sets are often used as outcrop analogues for similar subsurface settings worldwide. Discover book depositorys huge selection of stratigraphy books online. In the 1980s, exxon scientists used the cretaceous strata of the book cliffs to develop the science of sequence stratigraphy. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Stratigraphic variations within the sego sandstone, book cliffs. The calvert cliffs are a relatively continuous series of natural, 2535 m80120 foot high outcrops along the western shore of the chesapeake bay in calvert county, maryland fig. The initial exercise is followed by the examination of the stacking patterns of the parasequences. A nodule where a pocket of barite and calcite crystals may have been found, in the book cliffs area. From the same vantage, the 2nd frame looks up and sw into the heart of the uncompahgre plateau, where the thin, hard triassic. Sequence stratigraphy is important to study because this approach to stratigraphic correlation helps geologists solve realworld problems in the exploration for and production of resourceswhether the resources be water, coal, oil, or natural gas. Alternative sequence stratigraphic model for the desert. Simon provides expertise in the areas of sedimentology, sequence stratigraphy and reservoir geologymodelling and has considerable knowledge of the book cliffs.
A more useful approach is to define a stratigraphic solution set that. Many times these concretions are quite fossiliferous while others contain beautiful crystals of barite andor calcite. Upper cretaceous strata, book cliffs, utah, usa journal of the. Sequence stratigraphy, a branch of sedimentary stratigraphy, is a methodology that uses the order sedimentary strata accumulated within a framework of major depositional and erosional surfaces to interpret the depositional setting of clastic and carbonate. Book cliffs, utah cretaceous prograding coastal barrier depositional system. The book cliffs have preserved excellent strata of the foreland basin of the ancient western interior seaway that stretched north from the gulf of mexico to the yukon in the cretaceous time. Stratigraphic variations within the sego sandstone, book. It explains this model from basics and shows how the model can be applied to both siliciclastic and carbonate successions. Rock art petroglyphs on several boulders at the base of the book cliffs is from the fremont era of 200 bc to 50 ad. The campanian book cliffs strata of eastern utah and western colorado has been used to develop, test and refine sedimentological and stratigraphic ideas and models over the years, including the principles and concepts of sequence stratigraphy.
Vertical facies trends define two sandy intervals separated by a marine shale, that are. Cretaceous alaska, clastic outcrop interpretation sequence stratigraphy exercises of bookcliffs, exercises sequence stratigraphy interpetation. A good appreciation of the nature of reservoir and nonreservoir rocks in the subsurface is of fundamental importance to sound ep decision making. The book cliffs are one of the worlds best places to study sequence stratigraphy. Digging into the pocket of a nodule in the book cliffs area, working hard trying not to damage any crystals. This places the deposition of the sego sandstone in the book cliffs area sometime between, 77 ma and 75. Sequence stratigraphic interpretations are tightly constrained along 2d cliff.
Beginning near helper, utah, and joined at green river, utah, by a second escarpment, the roan cliffs, the 2,000foot 610metre tall mountain wall, winds a 250mile 400km course along the tavaputs and roan plateaus, ending near grand junction, colorado. Spieker and reeside 1925 named the emery sandstone for a series of prominent, beige and buff sandstones encased by gray siltstones of the blue gate shale at the foot of the wasatch plateau near the town of emery, utah fig. Flint, 1999, a sedimentological and sequence stratigraphic reinterpretation of the upper cretaceous prairie canyon member mancos b and associated strata, book cliffs area, utah, u. This unique textbook describes how past changes in sealevel can be detected through an analysis of the sedimentary record. Together with his experience from spdc shell nigeria, simon effectively demonstrated both theoretical and applied aspects at all levels in a clear, concise and thoughtful manner. Bookcliffs high frequency clastic parasequence sets after coe et al, 2003. Hampson 2010 can be extended into the star point sandstone and blackhawk formation of the wasatch plateau to provide a. Book cliffs geological feature, utah, united states. The desert and castlegate sandstones, 2001 pages iiii, 181.
Free web tutorials sequence stratigraphy, tutorials carbonate petrology. The invasive body of water is called the western interior seaway, or the great cretaceous seaway. The book cliffs are dissected by numerous side canyons and reentrants providing exceptional threedimensional outcrop control, both along depositionaldip and depositionalstrike. Oblique aerial photographs taken along the book cliffs from near hunter canyon to near the book cliffs mine measured section.
Seismic stratigraphy has now become one of the standard tools of the geoscientist, and there is a pressing need for an introductory text on sequence stratigraphy. In particular, it concentrates on the current sequence stratigraphy model. Introductory presentation for a professional field course titled. Information was gathered from a number of sources see info for more information. The cretaceous books cliffs of utah are best known as the mecca of sequence stratigraphers, but besides excellent exposures that allow tracing of sandstone bodies and sequence boundaries the succession also contains abundant shales and mudstones. Chapter 2 also describes the internal stratigraphy of the rollins sandstone member and interprets the history of change in sea level during the deposition of this member. Stratigraphy and sedimentation of the book cliffs, utah.
The rollins sandstone member contains a thick marineshoreface sandstone that is a cliffforming unit of the book cliffs east of grand junction, colorado. The book cliffs coal field is part of the southern rim of the uinta basin, which is an immense structural trough in western colorado and eastern utah, around whose margin the outcrop of coalbearing. Learn stratigraphy geology with free interactive flashcards. Pdf on jan 1, 2007, brian j willis and others published stratigraphic variations within the sego sandstone, book cliffs, central utah find, read and cite all.
The parasequences are separated from each other using subdividing major surfaces that include ts transgressive surfaces, mfs maximum flooding surface, and sb sequence boundary. Stratigraphy in the book cliffs during late cretaceous time, a time of worldwide high sea level, the stable cratonic area of north america was inundated by marine waters. The desert member of the blackhawk formation and the castlegate sandstone in the book cliffs of utah and colorado were analyzed to develop a model of sequence stratigraphy and facies architecture in foreland basins. This means that the processes responsible for known portions of a geological section can be. Fielding, christopher 1 1 earth and atmospheric sciences, university of nebraskalincoln, lincoln, ne this study presents highresolution correlations of the upper cretaceous stratigraphy between the book cliffs and the western henry. Gold occurrence in the cretaceous mancos shale eastern utah. Named for its similar appearance to a stack of books lined up against a shelf, the book cliffs are one of the most wellknown locations for studying sequence stratigraphy. They follow instructions to construct a measured section. Calculation of the rock fall runout distance for rocks falling from the top of the book cliffs was made along. Utah stratigraphic columns overview page these stratigraphic columns are dynamically created on the fly from information stored in a database. Thompson canyon, blackhawk formation and castlegate sandstone.
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