Interactions between axial and transverse drainage systems in the Late Cretaceous Cordilleran foreland basin: Evidence from detrital zircons in the Straight Cliffs Formation, southern Utah, USA

Abstract

New detrital zircon geochronologic data from the Straight Cliffs Formation of southern Utah provide insight into the controls on stratigraphic architecture of the Western Interior Basin during Turonian-early Campanian time. Detrital zircon ages (N = 40, n = 3650) derived from linked fl uvial and shallow-marine depositional systems of the Kaiparowits Plateau indicate the majority of zircons in fl uvial strata were derived from the Mogollon Highlands (1.25-1.90 Ga, 67% of fl uvial zircons), with subordinate contributions delivered from the Sevier fold-andthrust belt (265-1250 Ma, 17%) and Cordilleran magmatic sources (81-265 Ma, 16%). Integration of these data with fl uvial facies distributions, petrography, clast counts, and evidence of magmatic arc sources from the Mohave region of California implies the presence of a northeast-fl owing, axial fl uvial system. This system was fed by rivers draining the Mogollon Highlands to the south and by transverse drainages from the Sevier fold-and-thrust belt to the west. Compared to the fl uvial deposits, shallow-marine sandstones have a greater proportion of Sevier fold-and-thrust belt-derived zircons (42%), which were delivered via longshore currents from the north. Shallow-marine samples also contain less Mogollon input (44%) compared to contemporaneous fl uvial systems, and similar input from the magmatic arc (14%). Although Proterozoic zircons associated with the Mogollon Highlands are also present in the Sevier fold-and-thrust belt, several lines of evidence argue for a distinct southerly source for the Straight Cliffs Formation. These include (1) moderate proportions of feldspar and angular quartz grains in fl uvial sandstones, which favor a felsic intrusive source, and (2) prominent 1.4 and 1.7 Ga zircon populations. The 1.4 and 1.7 Ga peaks are the only dominant Proterozoic peaks in samples from the Straight Cliffs Formation, whereas samples derived more directly from the Sevier fold-and-thrust belt tend to have a broader distribution of Proterozoic age peaks. Up-section architectural trends in the Straight Cliffs Formation are linked to trends in detrital zircon geochronologic data, underscoring the likelihood of common drivers and controls. The axial system depositing Straight Cliffs fl uvial strata was primarily fed by drainages originating in the Mogollon Highlands during a pulse of tectonic activity in the Maria fold-and-thrust belt and generally high subsidence rates in the foreland basin (Turonian-Santonian). Over time, activation of the Paxton duplex in the Sevier fold-and-thrust belt (early Campanian) exhumed proximal foreland basin strata and enabled drainage systems from the Sevier fold-and-thrust belt to feed into the basin more prominently. The results presented here underscore the potential signifi cance of axial fl uvial systems and their complex interplay with transverse drainage networks in foreland basins.

Detrital record of initial basement exhumation along the Laramide deformation front, southern Rocky Mountains

“…Depending on the drainage configurations, potential sediment sources include the following: Along the distal western margin, the Jurassic–Cretaceous Cordilleran (Sierra Nevada) magmatic arc produced calc‐alkaline granitoid batholiths and related volcanic rocks on the western margin of North America from ~200 to 80 Ma [ Busby‐Spera et al ., ; Barth and Wooden , ; Dickinson , ; Lamaskin , ], until the onset of Laramide flat‐slab subduction. Two high‐flux magmatic events are recorded in the Sierra Nevada batholith during the Jurassic (170–150 Ma) and Cretaceous (100–70 Ma), separated by a ~50 Myr magmatic gap [ DeCelles et al ., ]. The Cordilleran (Sevier) fold‐thrust belt formed by crustal shortening associated with ongoing convergence between the North American and Farallon plates, inducing large‐scale exhumation of principally Neoproterozoic–Mesozoic sedimentary units in thin‐skinned thrust sheets [ DeCelles , ; Horton et al ., ; Painter et al ., ; Szwarc et al ., ]. Jurassic–Cretaceous fill of the Cordilleran (Sevier) foreland basin was exhumed during eastward migration of the deformation front, representing another potential sediment source to the Raton basin [ Lawton , ; Lawton and Bradford , ; Laskowski et al ., ; Painter et al ., ; Szwarc et al ., ]. The regionally extensive marine deposits of the Western Interior Seaway were largely recycled as Laramide basement block uplifts partitioned the expansive foreland basin into smaller, late‐stage flexural basins. Basement exposures in the northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains are primarily composed of Proterozoic gneiss and Pennsylvanian–Permian sedimentary rocks [ Brill , ; Tweto , ; Lindsey , ].…”

Sediment routing evolution in the North Alpine Foreland Basin, Austria: interplay of transverse and longitudinal sediment dispersal

“…Along‐strike variations in sediment input along a foreland, if deduced, can provide key spatial insight into orogenic processes that control sediment flux (e.g. Graham et al ., ; Hubbard et al ., ; Raines et al ., ; Szwarc et al ., ). For example the interplay between transverse and longitudinal drainages in foreland basins has been used to differentiate tectonically vs. climatically driven erosion of mountain ranges (Burbank, ).…”

Basin‐axial progradation of a sediment supply driven distributive fluvial system in the Late Cretaceous southern Utah foreland

“…Orogen‐transverse drainages are thus inferred to be the primary sediment transport mechanism, feeding basin‐axial drainages in the foredeep during rapid subsidence, and prograding across the foredeep during periods of decreased subsidence and higher relative erosion rates near the thrust front (Heller et al ., ; Burbank, ; Jordan, ). Alternatively, basin‐axial drainage systems may play major roles in the organization of fluvial strata within some ancient foreland basins (Decelles & Cavazza, ; Brozovic & Burbank, ; Garcia‐Castellanos, ; Miall, ; Raines et al ., ; Lawton et al ., ; Szwarc et al ., ).…”