Title: Influence of mechanical stratigraphy on clastic injectite growth at Sheep Mountain anticline, Wyoming: A case study of natural hydraulic fracture containment
Abstract: Sandstone injectites ranging from <30 m to >1 km in outcrop length intrude the Cretaceous Mowry Formation in the vicinity of Sheep Mountain anticline (Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, USA). These injectites were sourced from the Peay Sandstone Member of the overlying Cretaceous Frontier Formation and represent a significant possible fluid pathway through impermeable shales. Sand injection occurred along dikes and sills, interacting with bedding discontinuities and preexisting joints in the Mowry Formation during the early folding of Sheep Mountain anticline. We argue that, in contrast to the passive sweeping of sediments into fissures characteristic of Neptunian dike formation, downward intrusion of the Peay sand was forceful and made possible by a highly stratified horizontal stress field resulting from the deposition, burial, and lithification history of the rock units in the area.