Hampson, Gary1
(1) Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
ABSTRACT: Facies Architecture and Stratigraphy of “Stray” Shelf Sandstones, Late Cretaceous Mancos Shale, Northern Utah and Colorado
Isolated, “stray” sandstones are a key component of shelf stratigraphy, but
their origin remains enigmatic and their distribution is challenging to predict. This
ongoing study analyses sandbody character, distribution and stratigraphic architecture in
two continuously exposed, 200-km dip-transects through Campanian (late Cretaceous) shelf
strata of the US Western Interior Seaway in northern Utah and Colorado. An extensive
subsurface dataset comprising c. 3000 well-logs allows 3D sandbody distribution to be
mapped in between these two transects and linked into a high-resolution sequence
stratigraphic framework derived from coeval shoreline strata in the Book Cliffs, Utah.
“Stray” sandstones along the northern shelf transect, through north-western
Colorado, occur at four discrete stratigraphic levels and form widespread, discontinuous
sheets. Each of these sandstones comprises one or more thin (5-15 m), gradationally based,
upward-coarsening successions, which are of two types: (1) shales grading into moderately
bioturbated, cross-bedded sandstones with abundant silt drapes and reactivation surfaces,
and (2) shales grading into “clean”, very well-sorted, cross-bedded sandstones
that are moderately to intensely bioturbated by deep-tier burrows (Thalassinoides,
Ophiomorpha). Hummocky cross-stratification is rare. Palaeocurrents are predominantly
oriented towards the south, perpendicular to the highstand shoreline trend, although
localised populations of opposed, northward-directed palaeocurrents are observed. Both
types of succession are interpreted as the products of tidal currents. The gradational
bases of the “stray” sandstones, which lack transgressive lags, their widespread
extents and their relatively coarse grain size (medium-grained sandstone) imply that the
“stray” sandstones are tide-dominated falling stage and/or lowstand shorelines
with complex, non-linear palaeogeographies.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90026©2004 AAPG Annual Meeting, Dallas, Texas, April 18-21, 2004.