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Stratigraphy and Paleolimnology of the Green River Formation, Western USA pp 61–102Cite as

Stratigraphic Expression of Climate, Tectonism, and Geomorphic Forcing in an Underfilled Lake Basin: Wilkins Peak Member of the Green River Formation

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Part of the book series: Syntheses in Limnogeology ((SYNLIMNO,volume 1))

Abstract

The Wilkins Peak Member of the Green River Formation is a complex amalgam of lacustrine and alluvial lithofacies deposited in a closed basin at the center of the Laramide broken foreland during the Early Eocene (51.6–49.8 Ma). Facies analysis and correlation of surface sections and core document remarkable lateral continuity of depositional cycles within the Wilkins Peak Member. New mapping and facies analysis this stratigraphic framework into Wilkins Peak Member-equivalent strata adjacent to the Uinta Uplift, where a peripheral facies belt contains lacustrine and fluvial facies that are compositionally distinct from basin interior facies. Peripheral belt lithofacies are composed of limestone and quartzose siliciclastic detritus, whereas basin interior strata are largely dolomite and fine-grained arkosic detritus. Strata at both peripheral and interior facies belts contains a clear oscillation between two modes: (1) a lacustrine mode, associated with rapid lake expansion and contraction with precipitation of carbonate and evaporites from saline lake waters; and (2) an alluvial mode, associated with low lake level and lower lake salinity and a basin-ward shift in alluvial depositional environments. Radioisotopic geochronology suggests that lacustrine-alluvial cycles strongly follow 100 k.y. eccentricity, with lacustrine modes occurring during eccentricity maxima, and alluvial modes coinciding with eccentricity minima. Alluvial fans were built into the Bridger subbasin over 2–4 million year timescales, with their coarsest-grained portions corresponding to unroofing of durable Paleozoic strata from the Uinta Uplift. From 56 to 47 Ma, successive fans propagated westward as unroofing expanded away from a structural culmination in the Uinta Uplift. Calcite-rich lithofacies including spring deposits are concentrated near faults and alluvial fan toes, and likely were promoted by the mixing of Ca-rich meteoric and/or hydrothermal waters with bicarbonate-rich lake waters. Accounting for the absence of basin interior-focused lithofacies in the Tipton Member of the Green River Formation, tectonic accommodation appears to have been continuous rather than episodic from the late Paleocene to the Early Eocene.

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Acknowledgments

This manuscript benefited from discussions with Robin Renaut, Meredith Rhodes-Carson, Jeff Pietras, Paul Buchheim, Leroy Leggitt, Joe Smoot, Cynthia Stiles, Tim Lowenstein, and field assistance from Rachel Simpson, Lincoln Freimund, Brooke Norsted, and Terri Graham. National Science Foundation grants EAR-0230123, EAR-0114055 and EAR-0516760, the Donors of the Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, summer research grants from GSA, AAPG, and Sigma Xi, and the Bailey Distinguished Graduate Research Fellowship provided funding for M.E. Smith and A.R. Carroll. Funding for J.J. Scott was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) grants to Robin Renaut (RG629-03) and Luis Buatois (Discovery Grant 311726–05 and −08), and J.J.S. (PGS-D scholarship, Post-Doctoral Fellowship), and summer research grants from GSA, AAPG, and IAS.

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  1. School of Earth Science and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, 602 S. Humphreys, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011, USA

    Michael Elliot Smith

  2. Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1215 W. Dayton St., Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Alan R. Carroll

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, Mount Royal University, Mount Royal Gate 4825, T3E 6K6, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Jennifer Jane Scott

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  1. School of Earth Science and Environmental Sustainablity, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

    Michael Elliot Smith

  2. Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

    Alan R. Carroll

4.1 Supplemental Items (Accessed at http://extras.springer.com )

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary Fig. S4.1

Detailed north-south cross section of measured strata in the Bridger subbasin of the GGRB (PDF 3095 kb)

Supplementary Fig. S4.2

Map of showing bedrock geology and sites of measured section within the southern Bridger subbasin (PDF 4090 kb)

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Smith, M.E., Carroll, A.R., Scott, J.J. (2015). Stratigraphic Expression of Climate, Tectonism, and Geomorphic Forcing in an Underfilled Lake Basin: Wilkins Peak Member of the Green River Formation. In: Smith, M., Carroll, A. (eds) Stratigraphy and Paleolimnology of the Green River Formation, Western USA. Syntheses in Limnogeology, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9906-5_4

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