Abstract
Outcrops of the Laney Member of the Green River formation that rim the Washakie basin provide a well exposed ~60 km stratigraphic transect that records the final stages of Eocene Lake Gosiute. The Laney Member comprises two main facies associations: fluctuating profundal facies of the lower LaClede Bed; and fluvial-lacustrine facies of the upper LaClede and Sand Butte Beds. The lower LaClede Bed consists of repetitive, 1–5 m scale facies successions that record episodes of lake expansion and contraction that occurred over time scales in the range of 10–50 ky. These deposits are also punctuated by a ~12 m interval of dolomitic siltstone and siliciclastic siltstone and sandstone (the “buff marker bed”), that has previously been interpreted to record a unique event of basinwide desiccation due to temporary blockage of a major influent stream. The maximum extent of lower LaClede Bed lakes progressively increased though time, as recorded by northeastward advance of successive shorelines within the study transect. The upper LaClede Bed in contrast lacks clearly defined parasequences, and instead consists of continuous mudstone deposits that grade upward into deltaic volcaniclastic facies of the Sand Butte Bed. The latter includes well-developed foresets reaching up to 25 m in relief, that record progressive infill of Lake Gosiute from the northwest to southeast.
We interpret the lower LaClede Bed to record deposition in a balanced-fill lake basin, in which lakes of varying salinity expanded and contracted across a low-relief basin floor. The preservation of shoreline and alluvial facies in the northeastern part of the transect suggest maximum lake depths of ~50 m or less, based on analogy to the modern Bear River Delta in Utah. We interpret the upper LaClede Bed to record deposition in an overfilled lake basin, that was continuously occupied by a relatively stable, freshwater lake with an outlet to the south.
Previous studies concluded that the transition to overfilled conditions resulted from capture of the Idaho River. The results of this study suggest a more complex process of continuous watershed expansion that occurred throughout Laney Member deposition. Based on 87Sr/86Sr ratios, the base of the Laney Member in the Bridger basin appears to be slightly older than in the Washakie basin. Capture of the Idaho River did trigger the shift to overfilled conditions however, and southward spillage of Lake Gosiute caused lakes in the Piceance Creek and Uinta basins to merge and deposit the highly organic-rich Mahogany zone. Detritus from the Challis volcanic field eventually filled in Lake Gosiute, and was then carried downstream to partly fill Lake Uinta.
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Acknowledgments
We thank B.L. Beard, K.M. Bohacs, H.P. Buchheim, G. Grabowski, C.M. Johnson, J.T. Pietras, and M.E. Smith for their helpful assistance, advice, and discussions concerning the Laney Member. E. Drew, E. Parcher-Wartes, and J. Van Alstine served as tireless field assistants during this project, and A. DeVaughn assisted with laboratory analyses. We are grateful for funding received from Conoco, Texaco, the U.S. National Science Foundation (EAR-9406684 and EAR-9628549 to C.M. Johnson), the Donors of the Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society, the J. David Love Wyoming Field Geology Fellowship, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Geoscience, and the Morgridge Distinguished Graduate Fellowship. We also thank M.E. Smith for thoughtfully reviewing the manuscript.
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Rhodes, M.K., Carroll, A.R. (2015). Lake Type Transition from Balanced-Fill to Overfilled: Laney Member, Green River Formation, Washakie Basin, Wyoming. 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_5
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