Title: Sedimentology and Provenance of Late Cretaceous(?)-Eocene Sheep Pass Formation Conglomerates in Hinterland of Sevier Orogenic Belt, East-Central Nevada: ABSTRACT
Abstract: The Late Cretaceous(.)-Eocene Sheep Pass Formation of east-central Nevada is a thick (1500-m) sequence of nonmarine conglomerate, sandstone, mud rock, and limestone. Detailed stratigraphic analyses of the basal conglomerate (50 to 450 m thick) in the Egan, Pancake, and Fish Creek ranges was performed. The presence of large (up to 400 m) Paleozoic limestone slide blocks and paucity of sandstone lithofacies within conglomeratic sequences in the Egan Range suggest deposition on the proximal to medial portion of streamflow-dominated alluvial fans. Clast imbrication measurements document east-northeast to west-southwest paleoflow directions throughout the region. In the Egan and Pancake Ranges, gravel is comprised predominantly of Pennsylvanian-Permian carbonate and Mississippian quartzarenite (Scotty Wash). Gravels in the Fish Creek Range consist of paleozoic dolomite and Ordovician quartzarenite (Eureka) at the base of the Sheep Pass, and Paleozoic limestone and dolomite, Mississippian quartzarenite, and Ordovician quartzarenite near the top. Preliminary interpretations of our data indicate that Late Cretaceous-early Tertiary sedimentation in the hinterland of the Sevier orogenic belt occurred in a series of small basins characterized by general westward sediment dispersal patterns. Further interpretations of hinterland basin development and structural setting of basin-bounding uplifts await further work on Cretaceous-Eocene strata now in progress.
Publication Year: 1986
Publication Date: 1986-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 1
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