Paleogeographic and paleotectonic setting of Laramide sedimentary basins in the central Rocky Mountain region

Abstract

Research Article| July 01, 1988 Paleogeographic and paleotectonic setting of Laramide sedimentary basins in the central Rocky Mountain region WILLIAM R. DICKINSON; WILLIAM R. DICKINSON 1Laboratory of Geotectonics, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar MARGARET A. KLUTE; MARGARET A. KLUTE 1Laboratory of Geotectonics, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar MICHAEL J. HAYES; MICHAEL J. HAYES 1Laboratory of Geotectonics, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar SUSANNE U. JANECKE; SUSANNE U. JANECKE 1Laboratory of Geotectonics, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar ERIK R. LUNDIN; ERIK R. LUNDIN 1Laboratory of Geotectonics, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar MARY A. McKITTRICK; MARY A. McKITTRICK 1Laboratory of Geotectonics, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar MARK D. OLIVARES MARK D. OLIVARES 1Laboratory of Geotectonics, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information WILLIAM R. DICKINSON 1Laboratory of Geotectonics, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 MARGARET A. KLUTE 1Laboratory of Geotectonics, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 MICHAEL J. HAYES 1Laboratory of Geotectonics, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 SUSANNE U. JANECKE 1Laboratory of Geotectonics, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 ERIK R. LUNDIN 1Laboratory of Geotectonics, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 MARY A. McKITTRICK 1Laboratory of Geotectonics, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 MARK D. OLIVARES 1Laboratory of Geotectonics, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 Publisher: Geological Society of America First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (1988) 100 (7): 1023–1039. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1988)100<1023:PAPSOL>2.3.CO;2 Article history First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation WILLIAM R. DICKINSON, MARGARET A. KLUTE, MICHAEL J. HAYES, SUSANNE U. JANECKE, ERIK R. LUNDIN, MARY A. McKITTRICK, MARK D. OLIVARES; Paleogeographic and paleotectonic setting of Laramide sedimentary basins in the central Rocky Mountain region. GSA Bulletin 1988;; 100 (7): 1023–1039. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1988)100<1023:PAPSOL>2.3.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract In the Rocky Mountain region between central Montana and central New Mexico, sedimentologically isolated nonmarine basins were produced by basement deformation during the Laramide orogeny within the area formerly occupied by a broad Late Cretaceous foreland basin in which laterally continuous marine facies had accumulated previously. Laramide structures of varying trend and scale reflect heterogeneity of crustal strain caused by shear between the continental lithosphere and an underlying subhorizontal slab of subducted oceanic lithosphere. Laramide basins include perimeter basins along the cratonic periphery of the arcuate Laramide province, axial basins along a north-south intramontane trend, and ponded basins located farther west closer to the overthrust belt.Twelve specific stratigraphic and sedimentologic criteria for the onset, duration, and termination of Laramide deformation allow the chronology of basin development to be inferred independently for each basin. Maastrichtian initiation of Laramide deformation was approximately synchronous throughout the Laramide province, but termination of Laramide deformation was systematically diachronous from north to south between early and late Eocene time. Widespread Eocene erosion surfaces truncate syntectonic Laramide sequences and are overlain by largely volcanic and volcaniclastic post-Laramide strata of Eocene age in the north and Oligocene age in the south.Fluvial depositional systems draining toward the Great Plains were dominant in perimeter and axial basins, but ponded basins were occupied at times by large lakes that served as regional sediment traps. Paleocene drainages from ponded basins also led eastward toward the continental interior, but partly interconnected lakes that developed within several ponded basins by mid-Eocene time were either closed hydrologically, or else they drained westward into the "Tyee" paleoriver of the Pacific Northwest. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.