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Geology 2004;32;397-400
doi: 10.1130/G20318.1
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Geology; May 2004; v. 32; no. 5; p. 397–400; doi: 10.1130/G20318.1; 4 figures. 397
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Flexural Backstripping
Flexural-backstripping methodology is sim-
ilar to that used by Jordan (1981), and Flem-
ings and Jordan (1990), and is not discussed
further here. The backstripping was conducted
in two steps. First, we used only the thrust
load to forward model the foredeep and the
forebulge; then the load of the sediment
Figure 3. Sequential restoration of Sevier thrust belt, based on cross section GG9 of Royse
(1993). Deformation and shortening of Hogsback, Absaroka, and Crawford faults were bal-
wedge was added to the simulation to recon-
anced, mountain profiles restored, and deformed basin fill rebuilt. This is section II in struct the complete basin shape. Finally, the
Figure 1. simulated subsidence for the combined thrust
dence. Flexural subsidence during the mod- large retroarc basin during the interval from Utah: Geological Survey of Wyoming Public In-
formation Circular 29, p. 89–124.
eled time interval reached a maximum of ;6 97.2 to 73.4 Ma. As postulated before, the Cross, T.A., 1986, Tectonic controls of foreland basin
km near the thrust belt in the earliest Cam- subsidence pattern is consistent with the subsidence and Laramide style deformation,
panian (at 78.5 Ma), rebounding by ;3 km at change in subduction of the Farallon plate western United States, in Allen, P., and Home-
the end of the tectonically quiet phase (at 73.4 from steep to shallow. Accommodation for the wood, P., eds., Foreland basins: International As-
sociation of Sedimentologists Special Publica-
Ma). The wavelength of this subsidence is the westward-thickening wedge of sediments on tion 8, p. 15–39.
width of the foredeep, ;180–120 km. When this cratonic margin was provided by com- DeCelles, P.G., 1994, Late Cretaceous–Paleocene syn-
the load of the sediment wedge is added to bined flexural loads and dynamic subsidence orogenic sedimentation and kinematic history of
the Sevier thrust belt, northeast Utah and south-
that of the thrust belt, we also find that the due to mantle flow. The associated basin was west Wyoming: Geological Society of America
forebulge is reduced to only a region of lesser at least 1500 km wide, of which only the west- Bulletin, v. 106, p. 32–56.
subsidence; it never rises above the ‘‘zero ernmost 180–120 km represent a flexural fore- Dyman, T.S., Merewether, E.A., Molenaar, C.M., Cob-
level.’’ land basin. Almost all of the foredeep deposits ban, W.A., Obradovich, J.D., Weimer, R.J., and
Bryant, W.A., 1994, Stratigraphic transects for
Total subsidence during the modeled inter- in western Wyoming were subsequently in- Cretaceous rocks, Rocky Mountains and Great
val exceeded that due to flexure by ;1 km corporated in the Sevier thrust belt or eroded. Plains regions, in Caputo, M.V., et al., eds., Me-
and a wavelength that exceeds the width of The effects of the two phases of Absaroka sozoic systems of the Rocky Mountain region,
USA: Denver, Colorado, Rocky Mountain Sec-
the studied profile (600 km). We infer that the thrusting are quite evident within this foreland
tion, SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology),
Late Cretaceous accommodation space docu- basin. Movement on the thrust created a fore- p. 365–392.
mented by Bunker et al. (1988) across Ne- deep that attained a maximum depth of 6 km Flemings, P.B., and Jordan, T.E., 1990, Stratigraphic
braska and Iowa records this same background at 78.5 Ma (early Campanian). Subsequent modeling of foreland basins: Interpreting thrust
deformation and lithosphere rheology: Geology,
subsidence; its wavelength, therefore, exceeds cessation of thrusting was associated with ma- v. 18, p. 430–434.
1500 km. Because the wavelength of subsi- jor foredeep rebound, creating a significant Gill, J.R., and Cobban, W.A., 1973, Stratigraphy and
dence is proportional to the thickness of the unconformity followed by deposition of the geologic history of the Montana Group and
Ericson Formation as a westward-onlapping equivalent rocks, Montana, Wyoming, and North
deforming substrate, processes involving the and South Dakota: U.S. Geological Survey Pro-
mantle caused the background subsidence wedge (Fig. 2) of nonmarine clastic fessional Paper 776, 37 p.
documented in this study. We think it records sediments. Gurnis, M., 1992, Rapid continental subsidence fol-
The numerical model of Burgess et al. lowing the initiation and evolution of subduc-
the dynamic topography generated by east-
tion: Science, v. 255, p. 1556–1558.
ward subduction of the Farallon plate beneath (1997) for dynamic topography at the western Jordan, T.E., 1981, Thrust loads and foreland basin
North America (Burgess et al., 1997). margin of the North American craton is con- evolution, Cretaceous, western United States:
The findings are consistent with theoretical sistent with our quantification of the dynamic American Association of Petroleum Geologists
subsidence component for the Late Creta- Bulletin, v. 65, p. 2506–2520.
modeling by Gurnis (1992) and Burgess et al. Kauffman, E.G., Sageman, B.B., Kirkland, J.I., Elder,
(1997) and with an earlier study of the entire ceous, except that their magnitudes for sub- W.P., Harries, P.J., and Villamil, T., 1993, Mol-
Rocky Mountains by Pang and Nummedal sidence exceed our calculations by ;45%. luscan biostratigraphy of the Cretaceous Western
Interior basin, North America, in Caldwell,
(1995). Several models for dynamic subsi- W.G.E., and Kauffman, E.G., eds., Evolution of
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
dence due to mantle flow (e.g., Lithgow- Funded by the Chinese Natural Science Foundation the Western Interior basin: Geological Associa-
Bertelloni and Gurnis, 1997), however, predict (grants 40272055, 40234041, 49732080, and tion of Canada Special Paper 39, p. 397–434.
amplitudes greater than those observed, prob- 49772119), the Chinese 973 project (grant Lithgow-Bertelloni, C., and Gurnis, M., 1997, Ceno-
G1999043303), the Institute for Energy Research zoic subsidence and uplift of continents from
ably because of uncertainties related to the time-varying dynamic topography: Geology,
(University of Wyoming), and the Project Sponsored
mantle-viscosity profile used in such models. by the Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned v. 25, p. 735–738.
Such is also the case for the Late Cretaceous Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry Merewether, E.A., Blackmon, P.D., and Webb, J.C.,
(grant to Liu). We thank Paul Heller, Ronald Steel, 1984, The mid-Cretaceous Frontier Formation
of Wyoming, where the cumulative dynamic near the Moxa arch, southwestern Wyoming:
Peigui Yin, Hongjun Luo, and Huaiyu Yuan for their
subsidence between 97 Ma and 73 Ma ranged help, and the Wyoming Geological Survey for provid- U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1290,
from ;800 m at the eastern state line to ing well-log data. Peter DeCelles and Michael Gurnis 29 p.
Obradovich, J.D., 1993, A Cretaceous time scale, in
;1800 m near the thrust belt. In contrast, the provided helpful reviews of the paper.
Caldwell, W.G.E., and Kauffman, E.D., eds.,
model results of Burgess et al. (1997, their Evolution of the Western Interior basin: Geolog-
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