Applying detrital zircon geochronology to identify variations in sedimentary provenance of the...
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Transcript of Applying detrital zircon geochronology to identify variations in sedimentary provenance of the...
Applying detrital zircon geochronology to identify variations in sedimentary
provenance of the Cretaceous Straight Cliffs Formation, Southern Utah
Tyler SzwarcAdvisor: Cari Johnson
Project Overview
• Infer sedimentary provenance of John Henry Member, Straight Cliffs Formation• Use detrital zircon ages from ~20
sandstone samples as “tracers”• Look for changes in provenance
through time and space
What is a Detrital Zircon?• Silicate mineral that forms in felsic igneous melts• Incorporates radioactive uranium into the crystal• U/Pb ratio provides crystallization age• “detrital” implies the zircon has been transported
from origin
COUT
NMAZ
Late Cretaceous (~80 Ma)http://www2.nau.edu/rcb7/ColoPlatCret_PictCliffs.jpg
Sevi
er F
old/
Thru
st B
elt
Mogollon
Highlands
UT CO
Dickinson and Gehrels, 2008
Importance
• Provenance studies help determine spatial extent of sandstones• Better understand the nature of
sequence boundaries in fluvial strata• Obtain a better understanding of
foreland basin evolution
References
• Blakey, Ron, 2011, Paleogeography of the Colorado Plateau and Vicinity, http://www2.nau.edu/rcb7/ColoPlatPalgeog.html
• Dickinson, W., and Gehrels, G., 2008. Sediment delivery to the Cordilleran Foreland Basin: Insights from U-Pb ages of detrital zircons in upper Jurassic and Cretaceous strata of the Colorado Plateau. American Journal of Science, vol. 308, December 2008, P. 1041 – 1082.
• Lawton, T., Polluck, S., and Robinson, R., 2003. Integrating sandstone petrology and nonmarine sequence stratigraphy: Application to the Late Cretaceous fluvial systems of southwestern Utah, U.S.A., Journal of Sedimentary Research, vol. 73, No. 3, May 2003, P. 389 – 406.