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