The Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico: Flexural Modeling and Evidence for Lithospheric Heterogeneity Across the Marathon Foreland

Yang, Kenn-Ming; Dorobek, Steven L.

doi:10.2110/pec.95.52.0037

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…further supports this interpretation. The fact that a number of other ARM uplift‐basin pairs have orientations, structural styles and flexural signals similar to the Uncompahgre–Paradox system (Figs 1 and 3; Soegaard, 1990; Yang & Dorobek, 1995; Geslin, 1998; Gallardo & Blackwell, 1999; Barbeau, 2000; Hoy & Ridgway, 2002), calls into question models that ascribe development of the ARM solely to NW‐directed convergence transmitted from the southern North American margin (e.g. Kluth & Coney, 1981).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Paradox Basin is best explained as a localized flexural basin, similar to many intraforeland flexural basins that developed during the Late Cretaceous to Eocene Laramide orogeny in the North American Cordillera (Hagen et al ., 1985; Hall & Chase, 1989). Although other ARM basins have not been analyzed by flexural modeling, the contractional deformational styles of their associated uplifts (Brewer et al ., 1983; Lindsey et al ., 1986; Yang & Dorobek, 1995; Hoy & Ridgway, 2002) and the similarities between the ARM and Laramide‐style intraforeland flexural basins have led to interpretations of widespread ARM flexural subsidence (Armin, 1987; Soegaard, 1990; Yang & Dorobek, 1995; Geslin, 1998; Hoy & Ridgway, 2002). The recognition of flexural subsidence in the Paradox and other ARM basins requires that any tectonic model for the ARM orogenic event must account for widespread and far‐field shortening.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A flexural model for the Paradox Basin: implications for the tectonics of the Ancestral Rocky Mountains

Barbeau¹

2003

Basin Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Paradox Basin is a large (190 km Â 265 km) asymmetric basin that developed along the southwestern flank of the basement-involved Uncompahgre uplift in Utah and Colorado, USA during the Pennsylvanian±Permian Ancestral Rocky Mountain (ARM) orogenic event. Previously interpreted as a pull-apart basin, the Paradox Basin more closely resembles intraforeland flexural basins such as those that developed between the basement-cored uplifts of the Late Cretaceous±Eocene Laramide orogeny in the western interior USA. The shape, subsidence history, facies architecture, and structural relationships of the Uncompahgre±Paradox system are exemplary of typical`immobile' foreland basin systems.Along the southwest-vergent Uncompahgre thrust,~5 km of coarse-grained syntectonic Desmoinesian±Wolfcampian (mid-Pennsylvanian to early Permian;~310±260 Ma) sediments were shed from the Uncompahgre uplift by alluvial fans and reworked by aeolian-modified fluvial megafan deposystems in the proximal Paradox Basin. The coeval rise of an uplift-parallel barrier~200 km southwest of the Uncompahgre front restricted reflux from the open ocean south and west of the basin, and promoted deposition of thick evaporite-shale and biohermal carbonate facies in the medial and distal submarine parts of the basin, respectively. Nearshore carbonate shoal and terrestrial siliciclastic deposystems overtopped the basin during the late stages of subsidence during the Missourian through Wolfcampian (~300±260 Ma) as sediment flux outpaced the rate of generation of accommodation space. Reconstruction of an end-Permian two-dimensional basin profile from seismic, borehole, and outcrop data depicts the relationship of these deposystems to the differential accommodation space generated by Pennsylvanian±Permian subsidence, highlighting the similarities between the Paradox basin-fill and that of other ancient and modern foreland basins. Flexural modeling of the restored basin profile indicates that the Paradox Basin can be described by flexural loading of a fully broken continental crust by a model Uncompahgre uplift and accompanying synorogenic sediments. Other thrust-bounded basins of the ARM have similar basin profiles and facies architectures to those of the Paradox Basin, suggesting that many ARM basins may share a flexural geodynamic mechanism. Therefore, plate tectonic models that attempt to explain the development of ARM uplifts need to incorporate a mechanism for the widespread generation of flexural basins.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A flexural model for the Paradox Basin: implications for the tectonics of the Ancestral Rocky Mountains

Barbeau¹

2003

Basin Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The basin was located on the western side of Pangea and was covered by an epicontinental sea. The sea had a narrow southwestern connection to the open Panthalassa Ocean (Ziegler et al 1997), referred to as the Hovey Channel (King 1942, King 1948Wright 1962;Ross 1986;Yang and Dorobek 1995;Hill 1995;Fitchen 1997;Beaubouef et al 1999). Gravity anomalies and the lack of the Capitan Reef equivalents in part of the Diablo Platform area may indicate a second, western conduit referred to as the Diablo Channel (Hill 1999).…”

Section: Regional Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concepts Learned from a 3D Outcrop of a Sinuous Slope Channel Complex: Beacon Channel Complex, Brushy Canyon Formation, West Texas, U.S.A.

Pyles

Jennette²,

Tomasso

et al. 2010

Journal of Sedimentary Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sinuous channels are common bathymetric features on Earth's continental margins. Until now, the 3D stratigraphy of these features has primarily been inferred from 3D seismic studies and from limited 2D outcrop exposures of ancient successions. The Beacon Channel Complex of the Permian upper Brushy Canyon Formation is an exceptionally wellexposed example of a 3D exposure of a sinuous slope channel system. The Beacon Channel Complex crops out on five cliff facies in an area of approximately 1 km 2 (0.625 mi 2 ). Nearly one complete wavelength of sinuosity is recorded in the outcrop.An integrated data set was used to evaluate the high-resolution, 3D stratigraphy of the Beacon Channel Complex. The stratigraphy of the Beacon Channel Complex is grouped into a hierarchical framework: one channel complex, two channel elements, and five channel stories. Each hierarchical level is empirically related to internal trends of erosional/ depositional energy, thickness, aspect ratio, and amalgamation ratio. Detailed field mapping reveals that the Beacon Channel Complex laterally migrated by both sweep and swing which temporally affected channel sinuosity. Phases of increasing sinuosity are related to channel downcutting, increasing swing, and basinward sweep, whereas phases of decreasing sinuosity are associated with channel filling, decreased swing, and landward sweep. Cross sections at various positions through the sinuous channel reveal patterns associated with facies and architectural asymmetry, reservoir connectivity, cross-sectional area, and preservation potential.The Beacon Channel Complex is an excellent reservoir and outcrop analog to many of Earth's sinuous slope channels on the basis of sinuosity, stratigraphic architecture, and grain size of its fill. This study provides additional knowledge of the 3D stratigraphy and processes of sinuous slope channels and offers a unique perspective that complements studies based on 3D seismic images of subsurface systems and nearseafloor studies of modern systems.

show abstract

“…Most other indicators of lateral slip on north-striking Pennsylvanian faults in New Mexico and southern Colorado, however, are dextral. These include the dextral, northnorthwest-striking bounding faults of the Central Basin Platform in southeastern New Mexico (Yang and Dorobek, 1995), minor fault arrays and northwest-trending en echelon folds along the west fl ank of the Pennsylvanian Pedernal uplift near Alamogordo, New Mexico (Otte, 1959;Cather, 2000;Howell et al, 2002), contractile, north-northwest-trending en echelon basins and uplifts east of the Picuris-Pecos fault (Baltz and Myers, 1999), and northwesttrending en echelon growth-folds in Pennsylvanian-Permian deposits adjacent to the Pleasant Valley fault near Salida, Colorado (Wallace et al, 2000).…”

Section: Late Paleozoic (Ca 325-290 Ma) Ancestral Rockies Orogenymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…71). 6-Dextral deformation in the Central Basin Platform area (Yang and Dorobek, 1995). 7-Approximate extension direction for a striated late Pennsylvanian fault, Joyita Hills (Beck and Chapin, 1994).…”

Section: Late Paleozoic (Ca 325-290 Ma) Ancestral Rockies Orogenymentioning

confidence: 99%

Palinspastic reconstruction of Proterozoic basement-related aeromagnetic features in north-central New Mexico: Implications for Mesoproterozoic to late Cenozoic tectonism

et al. 2006

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aeromagnetic maps from north-central New Mexico show east-northeast-trending linear features that are offset dextrally across the north-striking Picuris-Pecos, Tusas-Picuris, and (possibly) Nacimiento fault systems. Geologic structures that correspond to these regional aeromagnetic lineaments, where exposed in Phanerozoic uplifts, are major ductile shear zones of Proterozoic age that juxtapose folded metasedimentary rocks associated with areas of low aeromagnetic value with metavolcanic and metaplutonic rocks associated with areas of high aeromagnetic value. Regional aeromagnetic lineaments serve as piercing lines that suggest at least ~55 km and perhaps as much as ~90 km of net dextral separation since 1.4 Ga. The restored aeromagnetic lineaments are interpreted to represent a series of east-northeaststriking, dominantly north-vergent, thrustsense shear zones that formed initially during the ca. 1.65 Ga Mazatzal orogeny and were variably reactivated during the ca. 1.4 Ga magmatic and deformational event. There is no direct evidence for Proterozoic strike or dip slip on the Picuris-Pecos fault, although such slip is possible. The lack of mylonites and other ductile deformation along the Picuris-Pecos fault indicates that it is not older than ca. 1.2-0.9 Ga, the age when the basement rocks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains last cooled through temperatures characteristic of the lower limits of ductile deformation (300-250 ºC). The ~55-90 km net dextral separation on major north-striking faults in northern New Mexico is the cumulative result of numerous tectonic events, not all of them dextral. The directions of horizontal shortening and/or extension were analyzed for the six major deformations that have affected the region since peak metamorphism at ca. 1.4 Ga. For each of these tectonic episodes, the resolved lateral shear sense on north-striking faults in northern New Mexico was inferred from regional deformation patterns. Grenville (ca. 1.1 Ga) and Neoproterozoic (ca. 0.7 Ga) slip potentially had sinistral components. Cambrian slip accompanying the opening of the southern Oklahoma aulacogen potentially had a small dextral component (a few kilometers). Lateral slip during the late Mississippian-Early Permian Ancestral Rocky Mountain orogeny was probably dextral and possibly of large magnitude. Laramide fault slip was dextral and probably of large magnitude (tens of kilometers). The lateral slip component during the main phase of Rio Grande rifting (Miocene) was sinistral, but of small magnitude. The Ancestral Rocky Mountain and Laramide events thus appear to have been largely responsible for the dextral separations seen today. The relative importance of dextral contributions by these two orogenies, however, has not yet been determined.

show abstract

The Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico: Flexural Modeling and Evidence for Lithospheric Heterogeneity Across the Marathon Foreland

Cited by 12 publications

References 0 publications

A flexural model for the Paradox Basin: implications for the tectonics of the Ancestral Rocky Mountains

A flexural model for the Paradox Basin: implications for the tectonics of the Ancestral Rocky Mountains

Concepts Learned from a 3D Outcrop of a Sinuous Slope Channel Complex: Beacon Channel Complex, Brushy Canyon Formation, West Texas, U.S.A.

Palinspastic reconstruction of Proterozoic basement-related aeromagnetic features in north-central New Mexico: Implications for Mesoproterozoic to late Cenozoic tectonism

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About