Triassic paleosol catenas associated with a salt-withdrawal minibasin in southeastern Utah, U.S.A.

Prochnow, Shane J.; Nordt, Lee C.; Atchley, Stacy C.; Hudec, Michael R.; Boucher, Thomas E.

doi:10.2113/40.1.25

Cited by 8 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Lehner (1969) was probably the fi rst to illustrate synclinal minibasins sinking into thick salt masses on the Gulf of Mexico slope. Minibasins have since been described in the Aptian salt basins of Brazil (e.g., Demercian et al, 1993;Cobbold et al, 1995;Roberts et al, 2004) and West Africa (e.g., Duval et al, 1992;Marton et al, 2000;Hudec and Jackson, 2004), the Pricaspian Basin (e.g., Barde et al, 2002;Volozh et al, 2003;Ismail-Zadeh et al, 2004), Sverdrup Basin (Jackson and Harrison, 2006), Canadian Maritime basins (e.g., Balkwill and Legall, 1989;Shimeld, 2004), Zechstein salt basin (e.g., Stewart and Clark, 1999;Baldschuhn et al, 2001;Mohr et al, 2005), Flinders Ranges (e.g., Dyson, 1999;Rowan and Vendeville, 2006), Paradox Basin (Hudec and May, 1998;Prochnow et al, 2005Prochnow et al, , 2006Matthews et al, 2007), the Red Sea (Heaton et al, 1995), and in several Mesozoic salt basins of northwest Africa (e.g., Tari et al, 2003). However, minibasins are best known on the continental slope of the northern Gulf of Mexico, where they have subsided into thick allochthonous salt canopies (Fig.…”

Section: Previous Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

The paradox of minibasin subsidence into salt: Clues to the evolution of crustal basins

Hudec

Jackson

Schultz-Ela

2006

Geol Soc America Bull

175

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Why do salt-fl oored minibasins subside? An almost universal explanation is that salt is forced from beneath the sinking basin by the weight of its sedimentary fi ll. This explanation is valid if the average density of the basin fi ll exceeds that of salt, which in the Gulf of Mexico needs at least 2300 m of siliciclastic fi ll to ensure enough compaction. However, most minibasins start sinking when they are much thinner than this. Some mechanism other than density inversion must explain the early history of these minibasins. Conventional understanding of minibasin subsidence is thus incomplete. Here, we identify fi ve alternatives to density-driven subsidence of minibasins. (1) During diapir shortening, the squeezed diapirs infl ate, leaving the intervening minibasins as bathymetric depressions.(2) In extensional diapir fall, stretching of a diapir causes it to sag, producing a minibasin above its subsiding crest. (3) During decay of salt topography, a dynamic salt bulge subsides as upward fl ow of salt slows, which lowers the salt surface below the regional sediment surface. (4) During sedimentary topographic loading, sediments accumulate as a bathymetric high above salt. (5) Finally, subsalt deformation affecting the base of salt may produce relief at the top of salt. Each mechanism (including density-driven subsidence) produces a different bathymetry, which interacts with sediment transport to produce different facies patterns in each type of minibasin. The particular mechanism for minibasin subsidence depends on the tectonic environment, regional bathymetry, and sedimentation rate. Their spatial variation on a continental margin creates provinces in which a given minibasin style is dominant.An appreciation of subsidence mechanisms should thus improve our understanding of minibasin fi ll patterns and allow genetic comparisons between minibasins.The mechanics of a minibasin sinking into fl uid salt is in many ways analogous to a crustal basin sinking into a fl uid asthenosphere. However, minibasins lack the complex rheologies, thermal histories, and compositional variations that make study of crustal basins so challenging. Minibasins are thus natural analogs and have the potential to elucidate fundamentals of subsidence mechanics.

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Section: Previous Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

The paradox of minibasin subsidence into salt: Clues to the evolution of crustal basins

Hudec

Jackson

Schultz-Ela

2006

Geol Soc America Bull

175

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“…Aspects of the sedimentology and ichnology of the Chinle Formation in the study area have been described in detail previously by Blakey & Gubitosa (1983, Doelling (1985); Dubiel et al (1991), Hazel (1991Hazel ( , 1994, Hasiotis (2002), Prochnow et al (2005Prochnow et al ( , 2006 and Matthews et al (2004Matthews et al ( , 2007. The following analysis is a summary of our observations and those of previous workers where appropriate.…”

Section: Facies Analysismentioning

confidence: 60%

“…Due to the significant facies variations that occur within the salt mini-basins we believe this lithostratigraphy cannot be applied to each mini-basin, consequently we have simplified the lithostratigraphy to recognize three informal lithostratigraphic units: the lower Chinle, main Chinle and Hite Sandstone Unit. 4) have been described in detail previously (Matthews et al, 2004(Matthews et al, , 2007Prochnow et al, 2005Prochnow et al, , 2006 a brief outline is given for each unit below, together with the main Chinle unit that forms the main focus of this work. 5.…”

Section: Chinle Formation Stratigraphy In the North-eastern Paradox Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1) means that they have been studied extensively, with particular reference to the influence of salt movement on sedimentation (Jones, 1959;Blakey & Gubitosa, 1984;Hazel, 1994;Matthews et al, 2004Matthews et al, , 2007Banbury, 2005;Prochnow et al, 2005Prochnow et al, , 2006Trudgill, 2011). 1) means that they have been studied extensively, with particular reference to the influence of salt movement on sedimentation (Jones, 1959;Blakey & Gubitosa, 1984;Hazel, 1994;Matthews et al, 2004Matthews et al, , 2007Banbury, 2005;Prochnow et al, 2005Prochnow et al, , 2006Trudgill, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fluvial architecture in actively deforming salt basins: Chinle Formation, Paradox Basin, Utah

Hartley

Evenstar

2017

Basin Research

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Determining the response of fluvial systems to syn-sedimentary halokinesis is important for reconstructing the palaeogeography of salt basins, determining the history of salt movement and predicting development and architecture of sandstone bodies for subsurface fluid extraction. To assess both the influence of salt movement on fluvial system development and the use of lithostratigraphic correlation schemes in salt basins we have analysed the Triassic Chinle Formation in the Paradox Basin, Utah. Results indicate that sandstone body development proximal to salt bodies should be considered at two scales: intra-(local) and inter-(regional) mini-basin scale. At the intra-mini basin or local scale, conformable packages of up to 12 m deep meandering fluvial channel deposits and associated overbank deposits are developed, which may thin, pinch-out or become truncated towards salt highs. When traced down the axis of a mini-basin, individual stories extend for a few hundred metres, and form part of amalgamated channel-belt packages up to 60 m thick that can be traced for at least 25 km parallel to palaeoflow. Where salt movement outpaces sediment accumulation, progressive low angle unconformities are developed along the flanks of salt highs. Significantly, in mini-basins with high sand supply, sandstone bodies are present across salt highs where they show increased amalgamation, decrease in thickness due to truncation and no change in internal sandstone body character. At inter mini-basin or regional scale, spatial and temporal variations in accommodation space generated by differential salt movement strongly influence facies distributions and facies correlation lengths. Broad lithostratigraphic packages (5-50 m thick) can be correlated within mini-basins, but correlation of these units between adjacent mini-basins is problematic. Knowledge of fluvial system development at a regional scale is critical as, fluvial sediment distribution is focussed by topography generated by growing salt bodies, such that adjacent mini-basins can have significant differences in sandstone body thickness, distribution and lateral extent. The observations from the Chinle Formation indicate that lithostratigraphic-based correlation schemes can only be applied within mini-basins and cannot be used to correlate between adjacent mini-basins or across a salt mini-basin province. The key to predicting sandstone body development is an understanding of the timing of salt movement and reconstructing fluvial drainage system development.

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“…A figura 10 representa as diferentes relações possíveis entre os horizontes pedológicos e a dinâmica sedimentar, ora com predomínio da pedogênese, ora com predomínio da sedimentação. Nessa escala de trabalho, alguns autores (Atkinson, 1986;Prochnow et al, 2005Prochnow et al, , 2006Tabor et al, 2006) estão trabalhando com "paleocatenas" em materiais pré-quaternários, indicando a sequência típica de paleossolos em determinadas situações. Apesar de esses casos estudados significarem importante contribuição, esses trabalhos não são comuns, pois raramente encontramse sequências contínuas de exposição para esse tipo de análise.…”

Section: Identificação De Paleossolosunclassified

Solos do passado: origem e identificação

Ladeira

2010

Rev. Bras. Ciênc. Solo

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RESUMOSolos resultam da interação de fatores e processos operantes nas diferentes paisagens da superfície terrestre. Ao longo do tempo geológico, essas paisagens se modificam, bem como os perfis de solo a elas associados. Decorrentes de processos eólicos, hídricos, tectônicos, climáticos ou mesmo da atividade antrópica, essas mudanças remodelam a paisagem de forma gradual ou catastrófica e, geralmente, irreversível, destruindo os solos associados. Entretanto, determinadas situações permitem que os solos sejam originalmente preservados em áreas específicas dessa paisagem pretérita, incorporando-se a sequências sedimentares ou vulcânicas, gerando os denominados paleossolos. Estes fornecem informações e evidências valiosas em estudos de reconstituições paleoambientais, principalmente quando o registro fossilífero é raro ou inexistente, na caracterização de antigas atmosferas e paleoclimas, de correlações estratigráficas, como indicativo de antigas superfícies de relevo, de certas concentrações minerais, de paleoprocessos pedogenéticos, processos sedimentares, como indicativo de deriva continental, na geoarqueologia. No Brasil, pesquisas envolvendo paleossolos são ainda relativamente raras e recentes, cujo marco inicial data da década de 1970, ao passo que nos Estados Unidos e na Europa pesquisas em que os paleossolos constituem o cerne da investigação ou possuem papel de destaque estão bastante avançadas e disseminadas. Esta revisão trata dos conceitos básicos da paleopedologia, objetivando despertar o interesse, no meio científico pedológico, para esse tema ainda pouco explorado no País.

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Triassic paleosol catenas associated with a salt-withdrawal minibasin in southeastern Utah, U.S.A.

Cited by 8 publications

References 39 publications

The paradox of minibasin subsidence into salt: Clues to the evolution of crustal basins

The paradox of minibasin subsidence into salt: Clues to the evolution of crustal basins

Fluvial architecture in actively deforming salt basins: Chinle Formation, Paradox Basin, Utah

Solos do passado: origem e identificação

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