Stretching 200 miles from grand junction, colorado to central utah, the book cliffs are the worlds largest continuous escarpment. Towards a sequence stratigraphic solution set for autogenic. Late cretaceous strata that crop out in the book cliffs, eastern utah have. Sequence stratigraphy in the book cliffs, utah goal. Stratigraphic control on laterally persistent cementation, book cliffs. Facies analysis and sequence stratigraphic framework of upper campanian strata neslen and mount garfield formations, bluecastle tongue of the castlegate sandstone, and mancos shale, eastern book cliffs, colorado and utah by mark a. An examination of the chronostratigraphy and sedimentary history of the. 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. An introduction to the book cliffs in utah and their importance in geology. The book cliffs coal field is part of the southern rim of the uinta basin, which is an immense structural trough in western colorado. Feb 17, 2011 an introduction to the book cliffs in utah and their importance in geology.
No evidence for an unconformity at the base of the lower. The book cliffs are one of the most recognizable landforms in western colorado and eastern utah. Reevaluating the sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy. These four larger systems are also accompanied by many smaller side canyons. Using classic outcrops to revise sequence stratigraphic. Sequence stratigraphy and petroleum potential of the san joaquin basin, california 20022003. Sandstone and sego sandstone members in the book cliffs area in utah and colorado, where they have been interpreted as. A comparison of book cliffs stratigraphy with that of the henry mountains area. Highresolution correlation of upper cretaceous stratigraphy between the book cliffs and the western henry mountain syncline, utah. Reevaluating the sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy of. The lower slope exposes marine shales of the cretaceous mancos shale while interfingering. The book cliffs of eastern utah and western colorado figs.
Sequence stratigraphy of the upper cretaceous sego sandstone. Upper cretaceous strata exposed in the book cliffs of east central utah are widely used as an archetype for the sequence stratigraphy of marginalmarine and shallowmarine deposits. Price river basin book cliffs carbon county utah paleogeography mesozoic castlegate sandstone upper cretaceous utah clastic rocks united states sedimentary rocks sandstone cretaceous you do not currently have access to this article. Sequence stratigraphy and stratigraphic trap potential of the. Main canyon, coal canyon, cottonwood canyon and spring canyon. Field data from the upper cretaceous blackhawk formation in the book clitfs utahcolorado demonstrate the presence of laterally extensive carbonate cements beneath major marine flooding surfaces. Sequence, parasequence, and intraparasequence architecture of. They are so named because the cliffs of cretaceous sandstone that cap many of the southfacing buttes appear similar to a shelf of books. The exceptional quality of the wasatch plateau outcrop has given rise to a plethora of stratigraphic studies and serves as a. Book cliffs data sets are often used as outcrop analogues for similar subsurface settings worldwide. The book cliffs, utah have become the premier locality globally for field teaching of sequence stratigraphy. A core component of the sequence stratigraphic model is the implicit. 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.
Sequence stratigraphy of the book cliffs of eastern utah. 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. The occurrence of firmgrounds, compaction around concretions, and high minuscement porosities indicate that cementation occurred during early diagenesis. The book cliffs are a series of desert mountains and cliffs in western colorado and eastern utah, in the western united states. Formation of deep incisions into tidedominated river. Simon provides expertise in the areas of sedimentology, sequence stratigraphy and reservoir geologymodelling and has considerable knowledge of the book cliffs.
Petrographic observations indicate an early diagenetic origin. Pdf the book cliffs of eastern utah and western colorado have been pivotal in the development of outcropbased sequence stratigraphic concepts for. The book cliffs of central utah have been a key testing ground for the concepts of high resolution sequence stratigraphy since the early 1990s. Jan 03, 20 the book cliffs are one of the most recognizable landforms in western colorado and eastern utah. As the sister journal of micropaleontology, articles can be downloaded by ipcontrolled access to connections.
For about 200 miles this escarpment extends from where the colorado river descends south through debeque to price canyon near price, utah. The book cliffs form a large continuous escarpment 250 km that is aligned wnwese. Using classic outcrops to revise sequence stratigraphic models. International journal of geomagnetism and aeronomy. Stratigraphic control on laterally persistent cementation.
These colorado cliffs look like books on a shelf outthere. A good appreciation of the nature of reservoir and nonreservoir rocks in the subsurface is of fundamental importance to sound ep decision making. High resolution correlation of the upper cretaceous stratigraphy between the book cliffs and the western henry mountains syncline, utah, u. Information was gathered from a number of sources see info for more information. 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. These data are used to define the earth filter for a synthetic seismic section. Reevaluating the sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy of classic book cliffs outcrops at tusher and thompson canyons, eastern utah, usa.
The little book cliffs wilderness study area is characterized by gentlysloping plateaus, various small canyons, and four major canyon systems. Formation of deep incisions into tidedominated river deltas. Facies analysis and sequence stratigraphic framework of upper. Reevaluating the campanian desert member blackhawk formation to lower castlegate sandstone interval, book cliffs, utah and colorado, usa. Fielding, christopher 1 1 earth and atmospheric sciences, university of nebraskalincoln, lincoln, ne. 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. Sequence, parasequence, and intraparasequence architecture. Recent publications since 1995 refereed journal articles miall, a.
Stratigraphic control on laterally persistent cementation, book cliffs, utah. Article pdf available in journal of sedimentary research 855. Tectonic control of nested sequence architecture in the. Carbonate cementation potentially has significant impact upon reservoir quality. Correlation table for the castlegate sandstone and related units, book cliffs, utah. The upper cretaceous sego sandstone member of the mesaverde group has been extensively studied in the book cliffs area of utah and colorado, and has been the focus of stratigraphic reconstruction aimed at developing an understanding of the evolution of the western cretaceous interior seaway. Sequence stratigraphy and stratigraphic trap potential of. The book cliffs are a range of eroding, steepsloping cliffs, also called escarpments. Colorado to central utah, the book cliffs are the worlds largest continuous escarpment.
In that period over 100 scientific articles have been published on the outcrops and thousands of people have visited the. Synthetic seismic modelling of a largescale geological. Highlights upper cretaceous fluvial strata exposed in the book cliffs, utah. Stratigraphy and sedimentation of the book cliffs, utah. In this lab, you will put together your knowledge of nearshore facies and sequence stratigraphy to correlate sections and interpret facies changes in the cretaceous stratigraphy of the book cliffs. No evidence for sea level fall in the cretaceous strata of the book. High resolution correlation of the upper cretaceous. Northern colorado plateau by keith rigby geologic history of utah by lehi hintze purchase information. This study presents detailed highresolution correlations of the upper cretaceous stratigraphy between the book cliffs, the wasatch plateau, and the western henry mountains syncline in utah with emphasis on the campanian interval. Desert member to lower castlegate sandstone stratigraphic interval along the southeastern. Sequence stratigraphy of the book cliffs of eastern utah, the. No evidence for significant sea level fall in the cretaceous.
Willis, bj and gabel, sl 2003 formation of deep incisions into tidedominated river deltas. Location of book cliffs, utah, and sections described in this paper. Stratigraphy is the journal of record for the north american commission on stratigraphic nomenclature, established in 2004. 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. Part of the southern edge of this wsa is dominated by the 2,000foothigh face of the book cliffs. Topographically the mancos shale also forms the broad valley paralleling the book cliffs to the south.
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. Extensive carbonate cementation of fluvial sandstones. Book cliffs, geological feature of eastcentral utah and western colorado, u. The exceptional quality of the wasatch plateau outcrop has given rise to a plethora of stratigraphic studies and serves as a natural laboratory in. Stratigraphic variations within the sego sandstone, book. Outcrop analysis and facies model of an upper permian. Mixed meteoricmarine coastal aquifer resulted from baselevel shifts. Stratigraphic variations within the sego sandstone, book cliffs, central utah article pdf available january 2007 with 5 reads how we measure reads. Gold occurrence in the cretaceous mancos shale, eastern utah contract report 915 utah geological and mineral survey a division of by. The book cliffs of utah have become the premier locality globally for field teaching of sequence stratigraphy. This geological wonder cuts through beautiful desert terrain and parallels steep canyons and raging rivers, making it a yearround destination for scenic viewing, hiking, camping and.
Adamson, use of spectral gammaray data to refine subsurface fluvial stratigraphy. Roadside geology of utah by halka chronic field guide. Regional highresolution correlations of the campanian desert member of the blackhawk formation to the lower castlegate sandstone interval, book cliffs, utahcolorado, show no evidence for a single, throughgoing unconformity separating the amalgamated channel sandstones of the castlegate from the underlying blackhawk formation coastalplain deposits. Chinese journal of geophysics 20002018 earth interactions. In that period over 100 scientific articles have been published on the outcrops and thousands of people have visited the region on academic and commercial fieldtrips. Gold occurrence in the cretaceous mancos shale eastern utah. Continuous, wellexposed and easilyaccessible outcrops make it possible to analyze facies relationships of stratigraphic sequences in great detail, both in terms of lateral variation systems tracts and vertical stacking. One powerful method for studying sealevel change in the past is sequence stratigraphy.
Sequence stratigraphy in the upper cretaceous mesaverde group, price canyon, utah. Sequence stratigraphy, paleogeography, and tectonic controls. Outcrop analysis and facies model of an upper permian tidally. The journal is published online with a subscription to print copies as an added option in four issues per year. Book cliffs geological feature, utah, united states. 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. An outcropbased dataset has been used in preference to well data though well data have been incorporated into the study section. Sequence stratigraphy, paleogeography, and tectonic controls article in journal of sedimentary research 714. Utah stratigraphic columns overview page these stratigraphic columns are dynamically created on the fly from information stored in a database. Sequence stratigraphy of the upper cretaceous sego.
T1 sequence, parasequence, and intraparasequence architecture of the grassy member, blackhawk formation, book cliffs, utah, usa. Synthetic seismic sections have been generated from a 125 km long, depositional dip orientated crosssection compiled from outcrop data from the book cliffs of eastern utah, usa. And with the exception of a few privately held parcels of land, almost 96% of the 2. Locally it is known as castle valley, clark valley, gunnison valley and. The mancos shale, book cliffs, eastern utah, represents the open marine mudstones of the cretaceous western interior seaway and contains a number of detached sandstone bodies open quotesmancos bclose quotes which are located 30150 km down depositional dip from contemporaneous highstand shoreline deposits in the blackhawk formation. Implications for the stratigraphy of the sego sandstone, book cliffs, utah, u. Sequence stratigraphy has developed over the last four decades through the. March, pages 414433 a sedimentological and sequence stratigraphic reinterpretation of the upper cretaceous prairie canyon member mancos b and associated strata, book cliffs area, utah, u. Seymour department of earth and atmospheric sciences, university of nebraskalincoln, 214 bessey hall, lincoln, nebraska 68588, u.
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