Effects of Syndepositional Faulting and Folding on Early Cretaceous Rivers and Alluvial Architecture (Lakota and Cloverly Formations, Wyoming, U.S.A.)

Tectonically induced climate and its control on the distribution of depositional systems in a continental foreland basin, Cloverly and Lakota Formations (Lower Cretaceous) of Wyoming, U.S.A.

“…Provenance studies of Cloverly sandstones and conglomerates indicate that they were sourced from lower Mesozoic and Paleozoic rocks exposed by Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous thrusting in western Wyoming and central Utah (Mirsky, 1962;Furer, 1970;DeCelles and Burden, 1992;May et al, 1995;Zaleha, 2006). The provenance and distribution of coarse-grained sediments in this continental foreland basin is consistent with northeast paleoflow of Cloverly rivers (May, 1992;O'Malley, 1994;Way et al, 1994;May et al, 1995;Zaleha et al, 2001). Generally, mudrocks and limestones of the Cloverly and Lakota Formations are characteristic of deposition on floodplains and/or wetlands adjacent to these rivers (Moberly, 1960(Moberly, , 1962Ostrom, 1970;DeCelles and Burden, 1992;May, 1993;Elliott, 2002).…”

“…Yokoyama (1998), Nolan (2000), and Zaleha et al (2001) reconstructed paleohydraulic parameters of chert-bearing sandstones and conglomerates of the Cloverly and Lakota Formations using detailed sedimentologic study of lateral-accretion surfaces and paleocurrent data from trough cross-stratification and ripple cross-lamination. The presence of lateral-accretion bedding is consistent with the migration of point bars and/or medial bars in sinuous rivers.…”

“…The presence of lateral-accretion bedding is consistent with the migration of point bars and/or medial bars in sinuous rivers. Paleocurrent studies of trough cross-stratification in Cloverly and Lakota sandstones indicate a northeast mean flow direction for the formative rivers across Wyoming (Mackenzie and Ryan, 1962;DeCelles and Burden, 1992;May et al, 1995;Zaleha et al, 2001).…”

“…Studies by DeCelles (1986), May et al (1995), Way et al (1998), and Zaleha et al (2001) suggest that active intrabasinal structures controlled the distribution of trunk river systems in the Early Cretaceous Cordilleran foreland basin. Conglomerates of the Cloverly Formation extend up to 1000 km eastward from the Sevier fold-and-thrust belt in western Wyoming.…”

Enigma variations: the stratigraphy, provenance, palaeoseismicity and depositional history of the Lower Old Red Sandstone Cosheston Group, south Pembrokeshire, Wales

“…Movement on the northern bounding fault system is thought to have resulted in repeated avulsion of the SW-flowing LCF rivers in its hangingwall (cf. Zaleha et al 2001).…”