Tectonic and eustatic control of Mesaverde Group (Campanian−Maastrichtian) architecture, Wyoming-Utah-Colorado region, USA

We describe and analyze the depositional history and stratigraphic architecture of the Campanian and Maastrichtian succession of the southern greater Green River basin of Wyoming, USA, and surrounding areas to better understand the interplay between tectonic and eustatic drivers that built the stratigraphy. By integrating new measured sections with published outcrop, well-log, and paleogeographic data, two new stratigraphic correlation diagrams, 35 new paleogeographic reconstructions, and six new tectonic diagrams were created for this part of the Western Interior Seaway. From this work, two time-scales of organization are evident: (1) 100−300 k.y.-scale, mainly eustatically driven regressive-transgressive shoreline oscillations that generated repeated sequences of alluvial-coastal plain-shoreline deposits, passing basinward to subaqueous deltas, then capped by transgressive estuarine/barrier lagoon deposits, and (2) 3.0−4.0 m.y.-scale, tectonically driven groups of 10 to 15 of these eustatically driven units stacked in an offset arrangement to form larger clastic units, which are herein referred to as clastic wedges. Four regional clastic wedges are recognized, based on the architectures of these clastic packages. These are the: (1) Adaville, (2) Rock Springs, (3) Iles, and (4) Williams Fork clastic wedges. Pre-Mesaverde deposition in the Wyoming-Utah-Colorado (USA) region during the Middle Cretaceous was characterized by thickening of the clastic wedge close to the thrust-front, driven primarily by retroarc foreland basin (flexural) tectonics. However, a basinward shift in deposition during the Santonian into the early Campanian (Adaville clastic wedge) signaled a change in the dominant stratigraphic drivers in the region. Shoreline advance accelerated in the early to middle Campanian (Rock Springs clastic wedge), as the end of activity in the thrust belt, growing importance of flat-slab subduction, and steady eastward migration of the zone of dynamic subsidence led to loss of the foredeep and forebulge, with the attendant formation of a low-accommodation shelf environment. This “flat-shelf” environment promoted large shoreline advances and retreats during sea-level rise and fall. During the middle to late Campanian (Iles clastic wedge), deep erosion on the crest of the Moxa Arch, thinning on the crests of the Rock Springs and Rawlins uplifts, and subsequent Laramide-driven basin formation occurred as the Laramide blocks began to partition the region. The next clastic package (Williams Fork clastic wedge) pushed the shoreline over 400 km away from the thrust belt during the late Campanian. This was followed by a very large and persistent marine transgression across the region, with the formation of a Laramide-driven deepwater turbidite basin with toe-of-slope fans into the early Maastrichtian. The Mesaverde Group in the Wyoming-Utah-Colorado region is thus characterized by: (1) a succession of four tectonically driven classic wedges, each comprised of a dozen or so eustatically driven packages that preserve large basinward and landward shoreline shifts, (2) broad regional sand and silt dispersal on a low-accommodation marine shelf setting, (3) a progressive, tectonically driven, basinward shift of deposition with offset, basinward stacking of successive clastic wedges, and (4) the gradual formation of various uplifts and sub-basins, the timing and sizes of which were controlled by the movement of deep-seated Laramide blocks. The Mesaverde Group in the Wyoming-Utah-Colorado region provides an outstanding opportunity to study the dynamic interaction among the tectonic control elements of a subducting plate (crustal loading-flexure, dynamic subsidence/uplift, and regional flat-slab basin partitioning), as well as the dynamic interaction of tectonic and eustatic controls.

A Mechanism for Tectonic Inheritance at Transform Faults of the Iapetan Margin of Laurentia

Transform faults along the Iapetan rifted continental margin of Laurentia offset the continental rift and/or bound domains of oppositely dipping low-angle detachments. Rift-parallel and transform-parallel intracratonic fault systems extend into continental crust inboard from the rifted margin. Ages of synrift igneous rocks, ranging from 765 to 530 Ma, document non-systematic diachroneity of rifting along the Iapetan margin. Synrift sedimentary accumulations show abrupt variations in thickness across transform faults, and some concentrations of synrift igneous rocks are distributed along transform faults and transform-parallel intracratonic fault systems. The greatest thicknesses of Cambrian–Ordovician passive-margin shelf-carbonate deposits are along transform margins and in continental-margin basins along transform faults, as well as along transform-parallel intracratonic fault systems, indicating anomalously great post-rift thermal subsidence along transform faults. Along the Ordovician–Permian Appalachian-Ouachita orogenic belt, a diachronous array of synorogenic clastic wedges fills foreland basins, recording tectonic-load-driven flexural subsidence of the lithosphere. The greatest thicknesses of synorogenic clastic wedges of all ages are consistently in foreland basins along transform margins and inboard from intersections of transform faults with the rifted margin, indicating systematically weaker lithosphere along transform faults. The distinctive and pervasive properties and behaviour of the lithosphere along transform faults in successive tectonic settings suggest fundamental controls on tectonic inheritance at transform faults. Recent models for continental rifting incorporate ductile extension of the mantle lithosphere beneath brittle extension of the crust; the domain of ductile extension of the mantle lithosphere may reach significantly inboard from the rifted margin of the brittle crust, accounting for rift-parallel extensional faults in the crust inboard from the rifted margin. A transform offset of a rift in brittle crust requires a similar offset in ductile extension of the mantle lithosphere, leading to differential ductile flow on opposite sides of the transform and imparting a transform-parallel distributed-shear fabric. Transform-parallel distributed shear in the mantle lithosphere provides a mechanism for brittle transform-parallel fault systems in the continental crust. Studies of seismic anisotropy show fast directions parallel with transform faults, indicating systematic orientation of crystals through transform-parallel distributed shear in the mantle lithosphere.SOMMAIRELes failles transformantes le long de la marge continentale divergente japétienne de la Laurentie décalent le rift continental et/ou les domaines accrétés en des décollements à pendages opposés faibles. Des systèmes de failles intracratoniques parallèles au rift, et parallèles à la transformation, pénètrent vers l’intérieur de la croûte continentale à partir de la marge de rift. Les âges des roches ignées syn-rift, entre 765 Ma et 530 Ma, témoignent d’une activité de rifting diachronique non-systématique le long de la marge japétienne. Des empilements sédimentaires syn-rifts montrent des variations abruptes d’épaisseur d’une faille transformante à l’autre, et des concentrations de roches ignées syn-rifts se répartissent le long des systèmes de failles transformantes et de failles intracratoniques parallèles. Les accumulations les plus épaisses de carbonates de plateforme de marge continentale passive se trouvent le long des marges de cisaillement et dans les bassins de marge continentale le long de failles transformantes, de même qu’au long des systèmes de failles intracratoniques parallèles, évoquant une subsidence anormalement forte le long des failles transformantes. Le long de la bande orogénique ordovicienne-permienne Appalaches-Ouachita, une gamme diachronique de prismes clastiques synorogéniques remplit les bassins d’avant-pays, attestant d’une subsidence par flexure lithosphérique d’origine tectonique. Les plus grandes épaisseurs de prismes clastiques synorogéniques à tous les âges sont toujours situées dans les bassins d’avant-pays le long des marges transformantes, et vers l’intérieur, à partir des intersections des failles transformantes avec la marge de rift, indiquant une lithosphère systématiquement plus fragile le long des failles transformantes. Les propriétés particulières et le comportement généralisés de la lithosphère le long des failles transformantes dans les contextes tectoniques successifs sont la marque de contrôles fondamentaux sur l'héritage tectonique des failles transformantes. Les modèles récents de rifting continental comportent une extension ductile de la lithosphère mantellique sous l’extension cassante de la croûte; le domaine d'extension ductile de la lithosphère mantellique peut s’étendre significativement vers l’intérieur de la marge de divergence de la croûte cassante, d’où les failles d'extension parallèle au rift, à l’intérieur de la croûte de la marge de divergence. Un décalage de transformation de rift de la croûte comporte un décalage du même genre de l’extension ductile de la lithosphère mantellique, ce qui implique un différentiel de flux ductile sur les bords opposés de la transformation, d’où cette fabrique d’extension parallèle à la transformation. L’extension parallèle à la transformation de la lithosphère mantellique fournit un mécanisme qui explique les systèmes de failles transformantes parallèles dans la croûte continentale. Les études de l’anisotropie sismique montre les grandes vitesses de propagation parallèles aux failles de transformations, ce qui indique une orientation systématique des cristaux induite par une extension répartie selon les cassures transformantes dans la lithosphère mantellique.