Episodic deposition and preservation of eolian sands: A late Paleozoic example from southeastern Utah

Stratigraphic architecture of back-filled incised-valley systems: Pennsylvanian–Permian lower Cutler beds, Utah, USA

“…Within these repeated episodes highstands can be demonstrably linked to phases of increased climatic humidity, whereas lowstands equate to relatively more arid climatic phases (Jordan, 2006). Related styles of interaction are also identified in other formations of the Paradox Basin (Loope, 1985;Atchley and Loope, 1993;Dickinson et al, 1994;Goldhammer et al, 1994;Rankey, 1997;Jagger, 2003;Mountney and Jagger, 2004;Jordan, 2006;Mountney, 2006b;Jordan and Mountney, 2010;2012), and also from other Permian basins of North America (Heckel, 1980;Dickinson et al, 1994;Soreghan, 1994;Blakey, 2008).…”

“…Lithofacies accumulated under the influence of a variable arid to sub-humid climate, changes of which were driven by global switches between icehouse and greenhouse conditions (Loope, 1985). Studies of relationships between lithofacies assemblages and the architectural elements that they define have led to the erection of a sequence stratigraphic framework for the succession (Rankey, 1997;Jordan and Mountney, 2010;2012).…”

“…Lancaster, 1983;Kocurek, 1999). The laterally extensive, horizontal bounding surfaces that truncate these elements are deflationary supersurfaces (Loope, 1985;Mountney, 2012). These supersurfaces record an episode of dune-field destruction brought about by an upwind reduction in availability of sediment for aeolian transport, leading to downwind cannibalisation of the dune field to the level of the water table by winds that were undersaturated with respect to their potential sand carrying capacity (see Loope, 1985;Langford and Chan, 1988;1989).…”

“…Loope (1984) convincingly demonstrated that the majority of the sandstone-dominated units in the succession were of continental aeolian and fluvial origin, whereas the bioclastic limestone units were of shallow-marine origin; the succession is therefore considered to record a series of transgressive-regressive events. Loope (1985) suggested that the preserved cycles might have arisen as a result of Milankovitch-style orbital forcing and proposed a ~413 kyr duration for each. The relationship between sandstone units of continental origin and limestone units of marine origin establish a model framework to account for stacked depositional cycles attributed to relative sea-level change (Rankey, 1997).…”

Sedimentary cycles in a Mesoproterozoic aeolian erg-margin succession: Mangabeira Formation, Espinhaço Supergroup, Brazil

“…net erosion) (Loope, 1985;Kocurek and Hunter, 1986;Langford and Chan, 1988;Clemmensen and Hegner, 1991;Mountney et al, 1999;Scherer and Lavina, 2005;Mountney, 2006).…”