The sedimentology and stratigraphic architecture of the Cathedral Bluffs Tongue of the Wasatch Formation, South Pass, Wyoming

• Author / Creator

  McHugh, Luke P

• The early Eocene (Gardnerbuttean) Cathedral Bluffs Tongue of the Wasatch Formation near South Pass, Wyoming preserves a succession of continental fluvial deposits, which interfinger with lacustrine strata of the Green River Formation in a basinward direction. This thesis focuses on the sedimentology of the Cathedral Bluffs Tongue and identifies the dominant influences on sediment accumulation. Previous studies focused primarily on the regional (basin-scale) lithostratigraphic architecture of Eocene strata in the Green River Basin. Detailed sedimentological analyses of the study interval have not previously been completed. Using whole-rock geochemistry, gamma spectrometry, outcrop description and petrography, fine-scale correlations were made through the study interval. As climate remained constant throughout the ~ 1. 5 million year study interval, and syndepositional structural influences can be demonstrated in the study area, it is shown that movement of the Wind River Thrust Fault, played a dominant role in Early Eocene sediment accumulation at South Pass.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Whole-rock geochemistry
  • Wasatch Formation
  • Outcrop gamma
  • Fluvial
  • Sequence stratigraphy
  • Lacustrine
  • Green River Basin
  • Cathedral Bluffs Tongue
  • Sedimentology
  • South Pass
  • Chemostratigraphy

• Graduation date

  Fall 2012

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3F61B

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.