The Aspen paleoriver: Linking Eocene magmatism to the world’s largest Na-carbonate evaporite (Wyoming, USA)

Deposition of trona, nahcolite, and other Na-carbonate evaporite minerals in lakes is commonly closely associated with active volcanism, suggesting that the excess alkalinity required for their formation may arise from fluid-rock interactions involving hydrothermal waters that contain magmatic CO2. Paradoxically, the world’s largest Na-carbonate occurrence, contained within the Eocene Green River Formation in Wyoming, USA, was not associated with nearby active magmatism. Magmatism was active ∼200 km southeast in the Colorado Mineral Belt, however, suggesting that a river draining this area could have supplied excess alkalinity to Eocene lakes. Sedimentologic studies in southwestern Wyoming, along the course of the hypothesized Aspen paleoriver, document fluvial and deltaic sandstone with generally northwest-directed paleocurrent indicators. Sandstone framework grain compositions and detrital zircon ages are consistent with derivation from the Colorado Mineral Belt and its host rocks. These results provide the first confirmation of a fluvial connection to downstream Eocene lakes, and indicate that lake deposits may offer a unique perspective on upstream magmatic and hydrothermal histories.

Expression of the Colorado Mineral Belt in Upper Cretaceous Niobrara Formation Source Rock Maturity Data from the Denver Basin

New source rock maturity data along the Colorado Mineral Belt trend in the Denver Basin reveal that source rocks in the deepest portion of the basin range from the onset of oil generation to wet gas maturity across a distance of less than 30 miles along present day structure. Additionally, sampled rock core and cuttings along a northeast-southwest transect reveal that the Niobrara Formation is within the oil maturity window all the way to the Nebraska-Colorado border. The correlation of these analyses to an identified thermal anomaly demonstrate that maturity along these trends is affected by a historical increase in heat flow that can still be seen in the present-day bottom-hole temperatures. The identified maturity anomaly has significant implications for Niobrara prospectivity within the basin. Crossplotting, mapping, and numerical modeling show the onset of hydrocarbon maturity in the Niobrara is represented by 432 °C Tmax and that hydrocarbon expulsion occurs between 438 °C and 443 °C Tmax. In the Niobrara Formation of the Denver Basin there is a strong correlation between oil and gas shows, elevated bottom-hole temperatures (and thermal gradients), and geochemical maturity parameters. Through mapping of maturity and free hydrocarbon anomalies, more than 80% of the present day production can be predicted with source rock mapping.