Sedimentary Response to Intrabasinal 

Salt Tectonism in the Upper Triassic 

Chinle Formation, Paradox Basin, Utah

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Sedimentary Response to Intrabasinal 

Salt Tectonism in the Upper Triassic 

Chinle Formation, Paradox Basin, Utah

By Joseph E. Hazel, Jr.

EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS PARADOX BASIN 

A.C. Huffman, Jr., Project Coordinator

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 2000-F

A multidisciplinary approach to research studies of sedimentary 

rocks and their constituents and the evolution of sedimentary 

basins, both ancient and modern

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1994
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

BRUCE BABBITT, Secretary

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Gordon P. Eaton, Director

For sale by U.S. Geological Survey, Map Distribution

Box 25286, MS 306, Federal Center

Denver, CO 80225

Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and 

does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hazel, Joseph E., 1933-

Sedimentary response to intrabasinal salt tectonism in the Upper Triassic Chinle 

Formation, Paradox Basin, Utah/by Joseph E. Hazel, Jr.

p. cm. (U.S. Geological Survey bulletin; 2000-F) (Evolution of sedimentary 

basins Paradox Basin; ch. F) 

Includes bibliographical references. 

Supt. of Docs, no.: I 19.3:2000 F

1. Salt tectonics Utah. 2. Sedimentation and deposition Utah. 3. Geology, 

Stratigraphic Triassic. 4. Chinle Formation. I. Title. II. Series. III. Series: 

Evolution of sedimentary basins Paradox Basin; ch. F. 

QE75.B9 no. 2000-F 

[QE513] 

553.7 s dc20

[551.3'03 09792] 94-15632

CIP
CONTENTS

Abstract........................................................................................................................... Fl

Introduction.................................................................................................................... 1

Regional Setting............................................................................................................. 3

Tectonic Setting.................................................................................................... 3

Structural Setting.................................................................................................. 4

Cane Creek Salt Anticline.................................................................................... 5

Stratigraphy.................................................................................................................... 5

Facies Terminology and Methodology........................................................................... 8

Alluvial Architecture and Paleoenvironmental Analysis ............................................... 9

Kane Springs 1 Sand Body Low- and High-Sinuosity Streams........................ 10

Description...................................................................................................... 10

Interpretation.................................................................................................. 11

Kane Springs 2 Sand Body High-Sinuosity Streams......................................... 15

Description...................................................................................................... 15

Interpretation.................................................................................................. 18

Kane Springs 3 Sand Body Low-Sinuosity Streams......................................... 19

Description...................................................................................................... 19

Interpretation.................................................................................................. 20

Black Ledge Low-Sinuosity Streams and Sheetfloods...................................... 23

Description...................................................................................................... 23

Interpretation.................................................................................................. 24

Controls on Deposition................................................................................................... 26

Autocyclic Controls.............................................................................................. 28

Cyclic Sedimentation and Geometry.............................................................. 28

Localization of Axial Drainage...................................................................... 28

Development of Asymmetric Meanderbelts................................................... 28

Allocyclic Controls............................................................................................... 29

Conclusions.................................................................................................................... 30

References Cited............................................................................................................. 30

FIGURES

1-3. Maps showing:

1. Major structural features in Paradox Basin, Utah and Colorado.................................................................. F2

2. Structure, outcrops of Chinle Formation, and location of profiles in study area ......................................... 3

3. Regional tectonic elements in southwestern United States in Middle to Late Triassic time ....................... 4

4. Schematic stratigraphic section showing Pennsylvanian through Early Jurassic nomenclature in southeastern

Utah .................................................. 4

5. Schematic structural cross section, Paradox Basin, drawn normal to tectonic strike............................................ 5

6. Photograph showing intraformational unconformity within Chinle Formation.................................................... 6

7 Schematic section showing formal and informal stratigraphic terminology, depositional systems, and

lithofacies of Upper Triassic Chinle Formation in study area............................................................................... 7

8. Cross section showing generalized stratigraphic relationships within Chinle Formation, southeast Utah and

northeast Arizona................................................................................................................................................... 8

9. Drawing showing fluvial sand-body classification................................................................................................ 10

III
IV CONTENTS

10-13. Photographs showing:

10. Channel element incised into beds of Moenkopi Formation ....................................................................... 12

11. Sheet deposits, Kane Springs 1 sand body................................................................................................... 13

12. Lithofacies Sr oriented perpendicular to third-order lateral-accretion surfaces, Kane Springs 1

sand body..................................................................................................................................................... 14

13. Stacked sets of tangential-planar cross-stratification, Kane Springs 1 sand body....................................... 14

14. Paleocurrent plots for sedimentary structures of the Chinle Formation................................................................ 15

15. Drawing showing models for deposition, Kane Springs 1 sand body................................................................... 16

16-19. Photographs showing:

16. Heterolithic facies association...................................................................................................................... 16

17. Tabular and narrow sheet sand bodies and associated floodplain deposits, Kane Springs 2 and 3 sand

bodies.......................................................................................................................................................... 17

18. Individual fining-upward lateral-accretion bundle....................................................................................... 18

19. Stacked superimposed lateral-accretion macroforms................................................................................... 19

20. Drawing showing suspended- to mixed-load meandering stream model, Kane Springs 2 sand body.................. 20

21-24. Photographs showing:

21. Foreset interbedded mudstone-sandstone facies, Kane Springs 2 sand body.............................................. 20

22. Stacking of sheet geometry, Kane Springs 3 and Black Ledge sand bodies................................................ 21

23. Tabular sheet geometry, Kane Springs 3 sand body .................................................................................... 22

24. Laminated sand sheet, Kane Springs 3 sand body....................................................................................... 23

25. Drawing showing distal braidplain model, Kane Springs 3 sand body................................................................. 23

26-28. Photographs showing:

26. Eastern view of Kane Springs Canyon near Cane Creek anticlinal axis...................................................... 24

27. Complex multistory ribbon geometry of Black Ledge ................................................................................ 24

28. Complex multistory sheet geometry of Black Ledge................................................................................... 25

29, 30. Drawings showing:

29. Model for deposition, Black Ledge.............................................................................................................. 26

30. Architectural styles in Chinle Formation..................................................................................................... 27

TABLES

1. Summary of lithofacies, characteristics, anddepositional interpretations............................................................ F9

2. Architectural elements common to deposits of the Chinle Formation in the study area....................................... 10

3. Architectural characteristics of units of the Chinle Formation in the study area.................................................. 11
Sedimentary Response to Intrabasinal Salt Tectonism in the Upper 

Triassic Chinle Formation, Paradox Basin, Utah

By Joseph E. Hazel, Jr.

ABSTRACT

The Upper Triassic Chinle Formation in the Salt 

Anticline region of the Paradox Basin, Utah, was deposited in fluvial and fluvial-lacustrine depositional environments that developed and evolved in response to salt 

diapirism. In the vicinity of the Cane Creek anticline, the 

Chinle consists of four narrow to broad sheet sandstone 

bodies. The superposition of these sheet sandstone bodies 

is a major architectural feature that affords an example of 

nonmarine sedimentary responses to intrabasinal tectonism. The sand bodies, the informal Kane Springs strata 

and Black Ledge of the Chinle Formation, are characterized by a distinctive suite of calcirudite, calcarenite, and 

quartzarenite. Stratigraphic mapping using bounding-surface hierarchy documents the localized cyclic reoccurrence of sheet geometry. Sheet sandstones are traceable 

for tens of kilometers and are separated by fifth- and sixthorder erosional surfaces.

Salt tectonic influences in the Chinle are indicated 

by (1) intraformational and interformational unconformities; (2) cyclic reoccurrence of sheet geometry and abrupt 

changes in fluvial style; (3) localization of axial drainage; 

(4) variation in sandstone story thickness as a result of differential subsidence in intervening synclinal areas; (5) evidence for cannibalization and redistribution of floodplain 

soil horizons (as calcirudite); and (6) evidence for topographically triggered avulsion via tectonic tilting.

Although allocyclic controls were important in 

Chinle depositional systems, salt tectonism probably was 

a catalyst on both extrinsic and intrinsic controls responsible for syndepositional patterns and systematic changes in 

fluvial style. Episodic rainfall resulted in sedimentation 

by floods on the Chinle alluvial plain. Sheet geometries 

were produced during periods of negligible regional subsidence due to salt anticline uplift. Ribbon geometries 

formed when the salt diapirs were inactive and the area 

was subsiding at moderate regional rates.

INTRODUCTION

The character of sedimentary deposits in nonmarine 

depositional environments is determined by partly interdependent variables including tectonism, climate, sediment 

supply, and base level. Differences of opinion exist as to the 

origin of cyclicity (autocyclic versus allocyclic processes) 

in sedimentary deposits and the relation between variable 

change and resultant sedimentary response. The relationship 

between changes in fluvial style and intrabasinal tectonics is 

also poorly understood. Field studies of alluvial architecture 

and internal Stratigraphic variations ascribable to tectonosedimentary interactions are few in number (Alexander 

and Leeder, 1987).

In this paper, I present a case study in which one control, intrabasinal tectonism, can be confidently linked to the 

sedimentary product. Architectural facies variability in the 

Upper Triassic Chinle Formation, proximal to the Cane 

Creek salt anticline, is attributed to localized salt tectonic 

interactions within the Paradox Basin of southeastern Utah 

(fig. 1). In the Salt Anticline region (Cater, 1970) of the Paradox Basin, the Chinle was interpreted by Blakey and Gubitosa (1983, 1984) to represent distinct depositional phases 

resulting in two fining-upward cycles. Blakey and Gubitosa 

suggested that the two cycles contain several smaller cycles, 

all of which are related to salt tectonics. Drawing on these 

studies, I examined Chinle facies architecture across the 

Cane Creek anticline and used Stratigraphic mapping of 

bounding-surface hierarchy and independent evidence from 

other studies to examine the controlling factors in generating the different alluvial stratigraphies (Hazel, 1991). Specific outcrop sequences were integrated and compared with 

the known regional depositional setting (Stewart and others, 

1972; Blakey and Gubitosa, 1983, 1984; Dubiel, 1987, 

1989; Hazel and Blakey, 1992) (fig. 2).

The Chinle alluvial plain extended far (>100 km) from 

source areas and was dominated by seasonal precipitation 

and low-gradient deposition. In this paper, I attempt (1) to 

show how a part of this alluvial system was affected by

Fl
F2 EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS PARADOX BASIN

110 109°

CANE

CREEK

ANTICLINE

MOAB 

PINCH-OUT

SALT ANTICLINE REGION

PARADOX BASIN

Maximum extent of 

Paradox Formation exaporites

ARIZONA I NEW MEXICO

EXPLANATION 

Breached salt anticline

Anticline

 ^ ^ Thrust or reverse fault in

Precambrian basement rocks

Figure 1. Map showing major structural features in the Paradox Basin region, Utah and Colorado. Breached salt anticlines, the Salt Anticline region (Cater, 1970), Moab pinch-out (Finch, 1959), and maximum extent of Paradox Formation evaporites (Kite, 1960) are also 

shown. Modified from Doelling (1985).
SEDIMENTARY RESPONSE TO INTRABASINAL SALT TECTONISM, PARADOX BASIN, UTAH F3

110° 00' 109° 45' 109° 30'

Canyonlands National 

Park boundary

EXPLANATION 

Outcrop of Upper Triassic Chinle Formation

Fault Bar and ball on upthrown side. Dashed where inferred

Anticline Showing plunge

Syncline Showing plunge

Figure 2. Map of the study area in the Paradox Basin, Utah, showing structure and outcrops of Chinle Formation. Numbers refer to the 

following locations: 1, location of figure 6; 2, location of figures 10, 16, and 24; 3, location of figure 11; 4, location of figure 17; 5, location 

of figures 19 and 28: 6, location of figure 22; 7, location of figures 23; and 8, location of figure 27. Area of map is shown in figure 1.

deformational events within the basin and (2) to differentiate autocyclic mechanisms from allocyclic controls on the 

depositional systems. Autocyclic processes arise from 

energy distribution within the depositional basin (Beerbower, 1964). Intrabasinal tectonism attributed in part to salt 

tectonics controlled syndepositional patterns and the systematic changes seen in fluvial style.

Acknowledgments. Russell Dubiel and Steve Condon, 

U.S. Geological Survey, are greatly acknowledged for constructive review of the manuscript. Preparation of the manuscript was funded by the U.S. Geological Survey Evolution 

of Sedimentary Basins Program. The study was funded in 

part by grants from Sigma Xi and the Northern Arizona 

University Geology Alumni. I thank Larry Middleton for 

helpful discussions and Ron Blakey and Rob Fillmore for 

comments on an initial draft of this paper. Jim Keim, Matt 

Kaplinski, and Janae Wallace contributed generous help as 

field assistants.

REGIONAL SETTING 

TECTONIC SETTING

The Upper Triassic Chinle Formation was deposited 

during a major global reorganization of plate regimes that 

included the initial breakup of Pangea, the opening of the 

Atlantic Ocean, and the consequent westward motion of the

North American plate (Coney, 1978). An arc-continent collision and accretion of terranes along the Cordilleran margin 

terminated Early Triassic marine sedimentation (Moenkopi 

Formation) that represented a continuation of typical miogeoclinal Paleozoic depositional patterns (Speed, 1978). 

This post-Antler orogeny event, the Sonoma orogeny, initiated an Andean-type continental margin tectonic style that 

persisted throughout much of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic.

Middle to Late Triassic subduction and associated 

continental arc magmatism created a nonmarine back-arc 

basin (Coney, 1978; Dickinson, 1981). The Chinle Formation was deposited on the southwestern edge of this basin 

in an area centered about the Four Corners region of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico (Stewart and others, 1972; Blakey and Gubitosa, 1983; Dubiel, 1987, 

1989), approximately 5°-15° north of the paleoequator 

(Van der Voo and others, 1976; Habicht, 1979; Ziegler, 

and others, 1983; Parrish and Peterson, 1988; Bazard and 

Butler, 1991) (fig. 3). Correlation of Chinle continental 

deposits with marine strata of the same age in central and 

northern Nevada suggests that an outlet for Chinle fluvial 

systems was present on the Late Triassic marine shelf 

(Lupe and Silberling, 1985; Elison and Speed, 1988). Convergent plate margin tectonism to the southwest, however, 

may have at least partly isolated the Chinle basin from 

the Pacific Ocean (Blakey and Gubitosa, 1983).
F4 EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS PARADOX BASIN

iFRONT RANGE 

HIGHLAND,-

Figure 3. Map showing regional tectonic elements in the southwestern United States in Middle to Late Triassic time. Arrows indicate general paleocurrent trends within the Chinle depositional 

basin. Modified from Cater (1970), Speed (1978), and Dickinson 

(1981).

Several tectonic features bordered the Chinle depositional basin and were sources of detritus. Sediment was 

supplied from the south by Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks associated 

with uplift of the Mogollon highlands (Cooley and Davidson, 1963; Stewart and others, 1972; Dickinson, 1981) (fig. 

3). This region was also the source for abundant volcanic 

detritus (Stewart and others, 1972). The exact location and 

origin of these highlands is controversial (Bilodeau, 1986; 

Stewart and others, 1986; Wyman, 1987). Volcanic ash was 

supplied to the basin from the inferred volcanic arc off the 

west coast of the Cordilleran margin (Stewart and others, 

1972; Blakey and Gubitosa, 1983). In the Salt Anticline 

region, remnants of the Uncompahgre highlands, the westernmost part of the Ancestral Rocky Mountains to the east, 

were a sediment source, as were penecontemporaneous 

Chinle deposits (Stewart and others, 1972; Blakey and 

Gubitosa, 1983; Dubiel, 1987, 1989) (fig. 3). Coeval sedimentary basins were situated to the southeast, north, and 

northwest of the Chinle depositional basin (Blakey and 

Gubitosa, 1984).

Fossil flora and fauna indicate perennial flow in Chinle 

streams (Ash, 1972; 1975; Gottesfeld, 1972; Colbert, 1985; 

Dubiel and others, 1989); however, paleoclimatic interpretations vary considerably, ranging from arid and semiarid to 

humid tropical (Dubiel, 1987). Robinson (1973) described 

the climate along the western edge of Pangea, the location of 

the Chinle basin, as monsoonal, and in a summary of sedimentologic and paleontologic data from the Chinle, Dubiel 

and others (1991) provided evidence to support a Triassic climate that was dominated by monsoonal circulation and alternating wet and dry seasons. Evidence for increasing aridity

toward the end of deposition of the Church Rock Member of 

the Chinle was documented by Stewart and others (1972), 

Blakey and Gubitosa (1983, 1984), Dubiel (1987), Blodgett 

(1988), and Blakey and others (1988). The increase in aridity 

may reflect the continued northward movement of Pangea 

away from monsoon-dominated, tropical latitudes (Parrish 

and others, 1986; Parrish and Peterson, 1988).

STRUCTURAL SETTING

The northern part of the Chinle depositional basin 

inherited the Paradox Basin, a late Paleozoic feature of the 

Colorado Plateau. The Paradox Basin covers an area of 

approximately 27,000 km2 and contains thick cyclical salt 

beds (Pennsylvanian Paradox Formation) (figs. 1, 3). The 

boundaries of this elongate, northwest-trending basin are 

defined by the maximum geographic extent of salt deposition 

(Hite, 1960).

SERIES

Lower

Missourian

Desmoinesian

Atokan

Morrowan

NORTHWEST

SAN RAFAEL SWELL 

AREA

SOUTHEAST

FOUR CORNERS 

AREA

c 

o

>.

c§°

_0)

CD

Navajo Sandstone

Kayenta Formation

Wingate Sandstone

m«g -Ol

Elephant Canyon 

Formation

c .2-0

I

Honaker Trail Formation

Evaporites

of the 

Paradox Formation

Pinkerton Trail Formation

Molas Formation

Figure 4. Schematic stratigraphic section showing Pennsylvanian through Early Jurassic nomenclature in southeastern Utah. 

Compiled from Pipiringos and O'Sullivan (1978), Molenaar (1981), 

Peterson (1986), and Stevenson and Baars (1986).
SEDIMENTARY RESPONSE TO INTRABASINAL SALT TECTONISM, PARADOX BASIN, UTAH F5

The present-day surface manifestation of the area in 

which salt deposition was greatest has been termed the "Paradox fold and fault belt" (Kelley, 1955). Also known as the 

Salt Anticline region (Cater, 1970), the belt is adjacent to 

the southern flank of the Uncompahgre uplift and parallel 

with the axis of the basin (fig. 1). It is approximately 90 km 

wide and 200 km long and consists of northwest-trending 

elongate salt diapirs that overlie the deeper structural 

depression of the Paradox Basin where evaporites of the 

Middle Pennsylvanian Paradox Formation attained a depositional thickness in excess of 3,000 m (Jones, 1959). The 

diapirs formed as a result of loading by overlying strata and 

were elongated into anticlinal features by salt flowage 

against and over deep-seated, northwest-trending basement 

faults (Baars and Stevenson, 1981) (fig. 4). Synclines 

developed in adjacent areas as salt flowed into the diapiric 

structures. The most active period of salt movement began 

after deposition of the first salt bed in Pennsylvanian time 

and lasted about 75 million years. Diapirism was locally 

active throughout the Mesozoic as evidenced by strati - 

graphic thinning or absence of post-Pennsylvanian strata 

near the salt anticlines (Doelling, 1988). Although most 

structural growth had ended by Cretaceous time, Colman 

(1983) documented movement on the Onion Creek diapir 

throughout the Quaternary, as recently as 250,000 B.P

CANE CREEK SALT ANTICLINE

The Cane Creek anticline, similiar to larger salt structures in the Paradox Basin, strikes northwestward, parallel

with the axis of the basin (figs. 1, 2). The Kings Bottom 

syncline separates the Cane Creek anticline from the collapsed Moab-Spanish Valley salt anticline to the east. The 

dip of strata between the two anticlinal axes is as much as 

11°. Gravity lows over the Moab-Spanish Valley and Salt 

Valley anticlines are related to thickened salt cores (Joesting 

and others, 1966). The residual low at Moab Valley indicates a salt core rising about 2,400 m above the salt on 

either side (fig. 5). Angular intraformational unconformities 

within the Chinle Formation attest to salt activity during the 

Late Triassic (fig. 6). Although the gravity anomaly contrast 

is not as dramatic as the low over Moab Valley, the total 

thickness of salt at the Cane Creek anticline, on the basis of 

well data, is about 1,500 m (Joesting and others, 1966). By 

analogy, the Cane Creek anticline probably has an origin 

similiar to that of the Moab-Spanish Valley anticline but has 

not undergone collapse, breaching, and dissolution. Canyons and side canyons of the Colorado and Green Rivers 

bisect both limbs of the anticline (fig. 2) and have created 

accessible, laterally extensive exposures that permit evaluation of the alluvial architecture. Thus, the Cane Creek anticline is an excellent location in which to study progradation 

of a fluvial system over an active intrabasinal feature.

STRATIGRAPHY

In southeastern Utah, the Chinle Formation unconformably overlies Lower and Middle (?) Triassic coastalplain deposits of the Moenkopi Formation (fig. 4).

SW

CANE CREEK 

ANTICLINE

KINGS BOTTOM 

SYNCLINE

MOAB 

ANTICLINE

NE

COURTHOUSE 

SYNCLINE SALT VALLEY

Permian Cutler 

Group

Permian Cutler 

Group Pennsylvanian Paradox 

Formation salt Pennsylvanian Honaker 

Trail Formation Pennsylvanian Paradox 

Pennsylvanian Honaker Formation salt

Trail Formation

Pre-Paradox strata

5 KILOMETERS

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X 2

Figure 5. Schematic structural cross section, Paradox Basin, Utah, drawn normal to tectonic strike. Subsurface interpretations from Joesting and Case (1960) and Stevenson and Baars (1986).
F6 EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS PARADOX BASIN

Figure 6. Intraformational unconformity within the Chinle Formation at the Portal of the Colorado River along the west side of the 

Moab-Spanish Valley salt anticline. Lower Chinle strata were 

pushed by diapirism above levels of deposition and consequently 

exposed to erosion before the remainder of the formation was deposited. Location is same location as figure 43 of Doelling (1988); 

location is shown in figure 2.

Structural discordance of beds at the contact between the 

Moenkopi and Chinle is slight except locally near the salt 

cores (Shoemaker and others, 1958). Locally on the 

flanks of some of the salt structures, the Moenkopi 

pinches out entirely and the Chinle unconformably overlies upturned strata of the Cutler and Hermosa Groups. 

On the Uncompahgre uplift, the Chinle rests directly on 

Precambrian basement (Molenaar, 1981). A widespread 

erosional event marked by the J-0 unconformity (Pipiringos and O'Sullivan, 1978) beveled the Chinle to successively older units to the west and separates the Chinle 

from the overlying Lower Jurassic Wingate Sandstone of 

the Glen Canyon Group (fig. 4). Biostratigraphic studies 

indicate an age of late Carman to the later middle Norian 

for the Chinle (Ash, 1972, 1975; Breed, 1972; Colbert, 

1972, 1985; Gottesfield, 1972; Litwin, 1986; Conrad, 

1988).

Lithologic heterogeneities in the Chinle caused by 

abrupt changes in depositional environment make it difficult 

to divide the Chinle Formation in the Salt Anticline region 

into the members that are defined elsewhere on the Colorado Plateau. Stratigraphic subdivisions that are useful in 

the study area include, in ascending order, mottled strata, 

Moss Back Member, Kane Springs strata, Black Ledge, and 

Church Rock Member (fig. 7). The Chinle in the Salt Anticline region ranges from 0 to more than 300 m in thickness 

(Doelling, 1988).

Stewart and Wilson (1960) identified a northwesttrending belt of coarse-grained facies extending from southwest Colorado across the Salt Anticline region to central 

Utah. Finch (1959), in a uranium reconnaissance, noticed 

this belt of increased channel density and high sandbody

interconnectedness and postulated that the system had been 

held static and localized along what he termed the "Moabpinchout" (fig. 1), an irregular east-west line along which 

the Moss Back Member to the south pinches out against 

topographic highs along parts of the Cane Creek and Shafer 

anticlines (figs. 2, 8). The high sandstone to mudstone ratio 

on the north side of the Moab-pinchout represents a stacking of fluvial axes that is not present south of the Moabpinchout or toward the northeast. The sand bodies deposited 

by the localized northwest-flowing fluvial systems are the 

focus of this study.

The basal contact of the Chinle with the Moenkopi is 

commonly marked by a thin, discontinuous white conglomeratic sandstone referred to as the "basal sandstone unit" or 

"mottled strata" (Stewart and others, 1972) (fig. 7). This 

unit is lithologically distinct from the overlying Moss Back 

Member and rarely is more than 6 m thick (Stewart and Wilson, 1960). Shoemaker and Newman (1959) noticed that 

this unit was not correlative with the type Shinarump Member of the Chinle to the south and suggested that it might be 

a basal unit of the Chinle, as believed by Dane (1935), or 

that it might represent an interval of Middle Triassic time 

that elsewhere on the Plateau was marked by a regional 

unconformity between the Moenkopi and Chinle Formations (fig. 4).

In the area of the Moab-pinchout, Gubitosa (1981) 

studied a zone of facies change in the Moss Back Member 

that Blakey and Gubitosa (1983) informally named the 

Kane Springs strata. The Kane Springs strata differ from the 

type section of the Moss Back Member of Stewart (1957) in 

that they are mostly intraclastic conglomerate rather than 

dominantly siliceous. The Kane Springs strata are characterized by fluvial, fluvial-lacustrine, and lacustrine facies that 

are stratigraphically equivalent to parts of the Moss Back, 

Petrified Forest, and Owl Rock Members of the Chinle to 

the south and west (fig. 8). The Kane Springs strata are 

about 50 m thick and consist of a lower unit of intraclastic 

conglomerate, calcarenite, and quartzarenite, a middle unit 

of bentonitic and calcareous mudstone, and a upper, discontinuous unit of intraclastic conglomerate, quartzarenite, 

micritic limestone, and calcareous mudstone (Blakey and 

Gubitosa, 1983; Hazel, 1991) (fig. 7).

Strata above the Kane Springs are assigned to the 

Church Rock Member of the Chinle. The Church Rock 

Member was defined by Stewart (1957) as strata above the 

Moss Back and Owl Rock Members in southeastern Utah. 

At or near the base of the Church Rock is a sandstone unit, 

informally called the Black Ledge (Stewart and others, 

1959). The Black Ledge erosively overlies, intertongues, or 

is gradational with Kane Springs strata (fig. 7). It ranges 

from 10 to 12 m in thickness and consists of horizontal and 

cross-stratified sandstone that grades upward through horizontally and ripple-laminated siltstone into structureless or 

thin- to thick-bedded siltstone typical of the Church Rock 

Member (Stewart and others, 1972).
SEDIMENTARY RESPONSE TO INTRABASINAL SALT TECTONISM, PARADOX BASIN, UTAH F7

Wingate 

Sandstone Eolian erg

O m

II

Ji

CD 03 

QQ -Q

W E

Temple 

Mountain 

Member

Hite 

Bed

D) 

T3 

0)

w ^w

c/j

Q. c/j

Eolian sand sheets

Mottled 

strata

Moenkopi Formation

Alluvial plain dominated by lacustrine 

or playa mudflats

40

Low-sinuosity, bedload-dominated streams 

and unconfined sheet floods

Low-sinuosity, bedload-dominated streams, 

unconfined sheet floods, and deltas

High-sinuosity, mixed-load, and low-sinuosity, 

bedload-dominated streams, deltas, and lakes

30

20

Mixed-load, high- and low-sinuosity streams

10

Soil horizon

Figure 7. Formal and informal stratigraphic terminology, depositional systems, and lithofacies of the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation 

generalized from measured sections in the study area, Paradox Basin, Utah. Thickness is in meters.
F8 EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS PARADOX BASIN

N

AXIS OF CANE 

CREEK ANTICLINE

PAINTED DESERT KAYENTA BEARS EARS

INDIAN SHAFER 

CREEK TRAIL

7-MILE 

CANYON

Shinarump Member

Moab pinch-out 

of Moss Back Member

METERS

150 -r

30 KILOMETERS

MOENKOPI FORMATION

Figure 8. Generalized stratigraphic relationships within the Chinle Formation, southeast Utah and northeast Arizona. 

Modified from Blakey and Gubitosa (1983).

FACIES TERMINOLOGY AND 

METHODOLOGY

Lateral- and vertical-facies studies were conducted 

throughout the area to examine the spatial variability of 

sandstone units in the area of the Cane Creek anticline. 

Lithofacies were described, interpreted (table 1), and subdivided into architectural elements based on internal organization (lithofacies associations), bounding relationships, 

and external geometry (table 2). Three-dimensional facies 

architecture was described using two-dimensional vertical 

profiles. The profiles were developed by mapping bounding surfaces and lithofacies in the field on photomosaics. 

The approach used here is similar to the methodology of 

Alien (1983) and Miall (1985, 1988), but the hierarchy of 

bounding surfaces was redefined akin to an adaptation by 

Soegaard (1990). The hierarchy of facies and corresponding bounding surfaces that separate individual architectural elements is explained below.

The architectural elements (table 2) are defined by a 

sixfold hierarchy of bedding contacts (Miall, 1985, 1988). 

First-order contacts bound or envelop individual facies 

and record boundaries within microform and mesoform 

deposits in which little or no internal erosion is apparent. 

Deposits bounded by these surfaces represent the continuous sedimentation of a train of bedforms of similar type 

at a given point in time (Miall, 1985). Second-order contacts outline cosets of genetically related facies (facies 

sequence) and define groups of microform and mesoform 

deposits. Mesoforms include larger scale bedforms such 

as dunes and antidunes (Jackson, 1975). Second-order surfaces separate facies sequences (Soegaard, 1990) and

indicate changes in flow conditions or flow direction but 

no significant break in time. Lithofacies above and below 

a second-order surface can be different, and only minor 

scour is associated with the contacts. Third- and fourthorder surfaces bound genetically related cosets and define 

larger scale depositional elements that constitute facies 

associations. Third-order surfaces outline single depositional architectural elements and indicate changes in fluvial stage or bedform orientation but no significant 

change in sedimentary style. For example, third-order contacts bound laminated sand sheets, gravel bars, sandy bedforms, smaller channels, and individual lateral-accretion 

units in a lateral-accretion macroform.

In the scheme of Miall (1985), fourth-order contacts 

represent the upper bounding surfaces of macroforms and 

are typically planar to convex upward (for example, larger 

channels and lateral- and downstream-accreting macroforms). A macroform represents a large-scale depositional 

feature that reflects the cumulative effect of many 

dynamic events over periods of several years to thousands 

of years (Jackson, 1975). Soegaard (1990) showed, however, that fourth-order surfaces are not restricted to the 

upper surfaces of macroforms, and he redefined fourthorder contacts as those that encase a "complex" of 

stacked, similar depositional elements. His definition is 

used in this study. A grouping or assemblage of sedimentation units that are genetically related by facies and (or) 

paleocurrent direction define a "complex" (Alien, 1983). 

Complexes occur singly or can be composed of stacked 

"storys" (Friend and others, 1979). For example, a channel element can consist of several discrete channel fills 

and is thus considered a complex.
SEDIMENTARY RESPONSE TO INTRABASINAL SALT TECTONISM, PARADOX BASIN, UTAH F9

Table 1. Summary of lithofacies, characteristics, and depositional interpretations. 

[Modified from Miall (1978)]

Facies Abundance

Gm Common

Gt Common

Gp Rare

St Common

Sp Common

Sr Abundant

Grain size 

and texture

Granule to cobble 

size; poorly sorted

Granule to cobble 

size; poorly sorted

Granule to cobble 

size; poorly sorted

Granule to sand 

size; well to poorly 

sorted

Granule to sand 

size; well to poorly 

sorted

Fine to very fine 

sand; well sorted

Structure

Massive to crude horizontal 

stratification; clast-supported 

fabric

Trough cross-stratified; 

reactivation surfaces

Planar cross-stratified

Trough crossbedded; reactivation 

surfaces

Planar tabular cross-stratified

Ripple stratification of all types 

including climbing-ripple

Geometry

Lens to narrow sheet; 

wedge shaped; flat 

scoured base

Lensoid; fills concaveupward base

Lens to narrow tabular 

sheets; scours fills; flatscoured or slightly 

irregular base

Lens to narrow sheet; 

ribbons

Narrow to broad sheets; 

slightly irregular top; flat 

base

Narrow to broad sheets; 

associated with mudstone

Interpretation

Longitudinal bars; intraformational channel-lag deposits.

Channel fills; transverse bar.

Transverse to linguoid bars.

Dunes; lower flow regime.

Sand waves; linguoid or 

transverse bars; lower flow 

regime.

Crevasse-splay and overbank 

deposits; waning flood flow.

Sh/ Abundant Fine to medium 

SI sand size; well 

sorted

Ss Rare Granule to sand

size; well to poorly 

sorted

Se Common Sand size with 

mudstone 

intraclasts; muddy 

matrix

Fm Abundant Fine-grained mud 

and silt

Fl Abundant Very fine sand, silt, 

or mud

crosslamination

Horizontal and low-angle 

laminations; parting lineations

Scour-fill sand

Erosional scours filled with 

massive to crude crossbedding

Massive; structureless; color 

mottling; pedogenic 

modification; mud drapes

Thin horizontal laminations or 

heterolithic interbedding of sandstone, siltstone, and mudstone; 

minor bioturbation, pedogenic 

modification, and color mottling

Broad sheets

Symmetrical hollows; 

sand file conforms to base 

of scour

Erosional base of 

individual sand bodies

Thin tabular sequences; 

thin lenses in sand bodies

Thin to thick tabular 

sequences to podlike or 

lensoid bodies

Plane-bedded simple bars and bar 

tops; shallow upper flow regime.

Bar-top dissection by fluctuating 

discharge.

Intraformation lag deposits of 

flashflood derivation.

Floodplain deposits; lacustrine; 

bar tops; abandoned channels.

Ponding in abandoned channels; 

overbank or waning flood 

deposits; mud drapes; upper flow 

regime in channels and lower 

flow regime on floodplains.___

Fifth-order surfaces are laterally extensive and bound 

major sand bodies or groupings of complexes. These 

surfaces encompass entire depositional environments characterized by genetically related architectural elements specific to that environment (Miall, 1985; Soegaard, 1990). 

They are generally planar to slightly concave upward and 

may be marked by local scours and basal lag gravels. Sixthorder surfaces envelop large-scale depositional features, 

such as groups of channels or paleovalleys, that typically 

constitute a mappable stratigraphic unit such as a formation, 

member, or submember.

ALLUVIAL ARCHITECTURE AND 

PALEOENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS

The Chinle deposits in the study area are dominated by 

four narrow to broad sheet sand bodies. These sand bodies 

correlate to the lower, middle, and upper Kane Springs units 

of Blakey and Gubitosa (1983) and the Black Ledge (fig. 7). 

The Kane Springs sand bodies are designated herein the 

Kane Springs 1, 2, and 3 sand bodies. Sand bodies were 

examined in both transverse (perpendicular to paleoflow
F10 EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS PARADOX BASIN

Table 2. Architectural elements common to deposits of the Chinle Formation in the study area. 

[Architectural elements modified from Miall (1985, 1988). Lithofacies are described in table 1]

Element Lithofacies assemblage Geometry Relationships

Channel (CH)

Lateral-accretion 

macroform (LA)

Downstream-accreting 

macroform (DA)

Gravel bars and bedforms 

(GB)

Sandy bedforms (SB)

Gt, Gm, Gp, St, Sp, Sh, SI, Lens or narrow sheet; 

Sr, Se, Ss, Fl broad to steep, concaveupward erosional base

St, Sp, Sh, SI, Sr, Se, Gm, Wedge or sheet 

Gt,Fl

St, Sp, Sh, SI, Sr, Se, Ss Lenticular; flat base

Gm, Gt, Gp, Se

St, Sh, SI, Sp, Sr, Se

Tabular to sheet

Lens or sheet

Laminated sand sheets (LS) Sh, SI, minor St, Sp, Sr Sheet, 0.5-5 m thick

Overbank fines (OF) Fl,Fm Thin to thick tabular 

sequences

Can contain any of the other elements; smaller channels 

defined by third-order surfaces; a channel complex contains 

similar stacked elements floored by fourth-order surfaces.

Characterized by third-order lateral-accretion surfaces; can 

compose the fill of a channel complex.

Tabular bedforms having convex-upward second-order 

internal erosion surfaces and upper bounding surfaces.

Tabular bodies 1-3 m thick; commonly interbedded with 

sandy bedforms.

Fining-upward from lithofacies Se or St at base to 

lithofacies Sh/Sl; lithofacies Sp rare; third-order flat to 

undulose erosional surfaces with lags separate similiar 

stacked sandy bedform or gravel bar and bedform elements.

Bound by flat to undulose third-order erosional surfaces; 

lithofacies Se ubiquitous at base; lacks fining- or 

coarsening-upward facies sequences.

Rhythmically or massively bedded; abundant subaerial 

features; may fill abandoned channels; may lack bedding 

due to burrowing or pedogenesis.______________

direction) and longitudinal sections (parallel with paleoflow 

direction) (fig. 2). Sand bodies are classified as single-story 

or multistory (fig. 9). Those having width to height ratios of 

less than 15 are ribbons, and those having ratios of greater 

than 15 are sheets (Friend and others, 1979). Blakey and 

Gubitosa (1984) defined narrow sheets as having width to 

height ratios of less than 100 and regionally extensive sheets 

as having width to height ratios of greater than 100.

For each of these four sand bodies, I present description 

and a paleoenvironmental interpretation. Architectural characteristics are summarized in table 3. Only those aspects that 

are crucial to understanding the environment of deposition 

are included herein; for other details and profiles, see Hazel 

(1991). Profiles used to examine the sand bodies consist of a 

photomosaic, a facies and bounding-surface map, and a 

stratigraphic unit interpretation. Architectural elements are 

labeled according to codes listed in table 2 and lithofacies 

according to codes listed in table 1. Circled numbers define 

the order of the erosional bounding surface. Paleocurrents 

within individual facies are denoted by arrows oriented relative to the outcrop (for example, paleocurrents that parallel 

the outcrop are represented by horizontal arrows).

KANE SPRINGS 1 SAND BODYLOW- AND HIGH-SINUOSITY STREAMS

DESCRIPTION

The Kane Springs 1 sand body crops out as a ledge and 

forms a prominent laterally extensive single-story to

SAND-BODY TYPES

RIBBONS 

Width to height < 15

Simple (single story) Multistory

Height

-Width

SHEETS 

Narrow, width to height 15-100; broad, width to height > 100

Simple

Multistory

Figure 9. Classification of fluvial sand bodies. Modified from 

Blakey and Gubitosa (1984).

multistory sheet sandstone. Its width to height ratio is 

almost invariably greater than 100. The thickness of the 

sand body ranges from 0 to 30 m and averages 10 m. The 

base, which has as much as 5 m local relief on the underlying Moenkopi or on the mottled strata of the Chinle, is a 

sixth-order erosion surface (fig. 10). This surface is defined 

by its erosive nature and by the presence of overlying 

intraformational facies Gm or facies Gt. The surface is easily discernible due to the truncation of colorful paleosols of 

the Moenkopi or mottled strata. The Kane Springs 1 sand
SEDIMENTARY RESPONSE TO INTRABASINAL SALT TECTONISM, PARADOX BASIN, UTAH Fll

Table 3. Architectural characteristics of units of the Chinle Formation in the study area.

[Units are listed top to bottom from youngest to oldest. Lithofacies are described in table 1, and architectural elements are described in table 2]

Unit Geometry Elements Relationships

Black Ledge

Kane Springs 3 

sand body

Kane Springs 2 

sand body

Kane Springs 1 

sand body

Mottled strata

Narrow multistory 

ribbon or sheet; width 

to height >50-100:1; 

10-30 m thick

Single-story to 

multistory broad sheet; 

width to height 

>100:1; 5-20 m thick

Ribbon; narrow sheet, 

tabular mudstones; 

width to height <10- 

50:1; 10-30 m thick

Narrow to broad sheet; 

width to height <20- 

100:1; 0-30 m thick

Ribbon to sheet?; 

width to height <25:1

Laminated sand sheets, sandy 

bedforms, gravel bars and 

bedforms, channels

Laminated sand sheets, gravel 

bars and bedforms, sand 

bedforms, channels, lateralaccretion macroforms, rare 

downstream-accreting 

macroforms

Channels, lateral-accretion 

macroforms, sandy bedforms, 

overbank fines

Channels, lateral-accretion 

macroforms, gravel bars and 

bedforms, sandy bedforms

Channels, gravel bars and 

bedforms, sandy bedforms

Exceptionally thick in Long Canyon; separated from the Kane Springs 

3 sand body by an extensive, planar to undulose, sixth-order erosional 

surface; multistory stacking composed of offlapping elements that taper 

against and truncate each other; third-order erosional surfaces defined 

by lithofacies Se separate individual elements; little or no evidence of 

coarsening- or fining-upward cycles; more quartzarenite than in Kane 

Springs 3 sand body, but conglomerate is almost entirely calcirudite; 

unit thins or is missing over the Cane Creek anticline.

First appearance of laminated sand sheets; sand bodies commonly splay 

and thin into proximal floodplain deposits similar to narrow sheets in 

Kane Springs 2 sand body; extensive sixth-order erosional surface at 

base can be traced for several kilometers; undulatory third-order 

bounding surfaces separate individual elements; channel elements are 

broad and have low-relief margins.

Thins or is absent over Cane Creek anticline; lateral-accretion 

macroforms are filled with heterolithic facies assemblage and have 

steeply dipping channel margins; superimposed stacking of channel 

elements commonly forms lateral-accretion complexes; third-order 

lateral-accretion surfaces in heterolithic facies assemblage have 

preferential dip toward the northeast; ribbon and narrow sheet sand 

bodies have low-relief margins; base is a fifth-order erosion surface 

draped by lithofacies Gm.

Thins or is absent over Cane Creek anticline; lateral accretion is present 

only at the base; the base, having as much as 5 m of relief, is a highly 

erosive sixth-order surface; third-order lateral-accretion surfaces have 

preferential dip toward the northeast.

Scattered as lenses and isolated channel fill; 0-10 m thick; rose quartz 

pebbles; friable exposures; dense pedogenic nodule horizons.______

body is present in the western part of the study area (Hell 

Roaring Canyon, Mineral, and Horsethief Bottoms) but 

thins or is absent over the crest of the Cane Creek anticline 

(Long and Kane Springs Canyons) (Hazel, 1991, pi. 1).

Most of the sand body is composed of several architectural elements: channel forms composed of sandy bedforms and gravel bars, and lateral-accretion complexes 

(table 3). The elements are discrete sheetlike to broadly 

lenticular in geometry and 1-7 m thick. Lateral-accretion 

complexes are at or near the base (figs. 11, 12). Stacked 

elements are separated by undulose third- and fourthorder surfaces. The sandy bedforms and gravel bars are 

characterized by a complex, heterolithic facies association, primarily facies Gt, Gm, St, Sp, Sh/Sl, and Sr, and 

numerous internal second-order scour surfaces (fig. 10). 

Fining-upward associations consist of a basal lag of facies 

Gt that passes upward through facies St/Sp or Sh/Sl; 

facies Sr is preserved near the tops of some elements. The 

lithofacies typically are randomly interbedded and exhibit 

no discernible fining- or coarsening-upward trends. 

Sequences of stacked cosets of tangential-planar crossbedding (facies Sp) are common (fig. 13). The foreset dip of 

Sp sets tends to diverge from that of trough-crossbedded 

(facies St) sets (fig. 14). Mudstone drapes, dense

carbonaceous horizons containing logs, and 1-meter-thick 

intraclast lags within a muddy matrix (facies Se) are associated with second- and third-order surfaces. The lithology of the sand body includes calcirudite and hybrid 

conglomerate composed of siliciclastic and carbonate 

clasts but is most commonly medium- to coarse-grained 

calcarenite and quartzarenite.

INTERPRETATION

The Kane Springs 1 sand body is the product of an 

alluvial meander-braidbelt setting that was subject to seasonal discharge. The streams that deposited the singlestory to multistory sheet had a channel pattern intermediate 

between braided and meandering; probably both types of 

channels were present (fig. 15). Initially, the alluvial plain 

was characterized by coarse-grained meanderbelts partially 

confined between anticlinal upwarps. Unconfined braided 

channels developed as the system aggraded between, and 

eventually buried, the positive areas (Blakey and Gubitosa, 

1984; Hazel, 1991). This is evidenced by increased thickness of fluvial sand bodies in synclinal areas, thinning or 

absence of sand bodies over anticlinal crests, and the limited preservation of lateral-accretion surfaces at or near the 

base of the Kane Springs 1 sand body (Hazel, 1991, pi. 1).
F12 EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS PARADOX BASIN

Figure 10. Channel element (CH), approximately 4 m thick, incised into beds of the Moenkopi Formation (~fc m). Note angular unconformity (left arrow) between locally uplifted Moenkopi strata and incised Chinle channel. The element displays a prominent cutbank (right 

arrow) and is filled with alternating heterolithic planar-tabular and trough-crossbedded sandstone and conglomerate (facies Sp/St and Gp/ 

Gt), including a 1-meter-thick set of facies Sp. Location is shown in figure 2. Lithofacies and architectural elements are defined in tables 1 

and 2, respectively.

The absence of persistent lateral accretion-bedding 

implies that the composite single-story to multistory sheet 

originated by aggradation of laterally adjacent and connected channel belts rather than by continuous lateral migration across the floodplain of sinuous streams with point bars 

(Alien, 1970). Lateral accretion is not confined to point or 

side bars but may be associated with mid-channel sand 

shoals and sand flats of low-sinuosity sand-dominated rivers 

(Cant, 1978; Rust, 1978; Alien, 1983; Bristow, 1987). The 

abundant planar and trough cross-stratified conglomeratic 

sandstone (facies Gp, Gt, Sp, and St) and the presence of 

symmetrical to lenticular sandstone-filled scours suggest 

that the Kane Springs 1 fluvial system was similar to modern 

coarse-grained point-bar deposits documented for the Amite 

River in Louisiana and the Colorado River in Texas (McGowen and Garner, 1970). Conversely, vertical stacking of similar bedform types that commonly overlie a gravel lag 

resembles migrating transverse bar deposits of braided rivers

Figure 11 (facing page). Sheet deposits of the Kane Springs 1 

sand body of the Chinle Formation in Hell Roaring Canyon. The 

outcrop face trends N. 40° W. and is oriented oblique to paleoflow. 

This profile illustrates one of the few outcrops where sigmoidal epsilon erosion surfaces that have both offlapped upper terminations 

and downlapped lower terminations are preserved in a lateralaccretion complex (element l-LA). The dip on third-order erosion 

surfaces is as steep as 40°; however, the average dip is closer to 

20°. Each lateral-accretion unit consists of fine- to mediumgrained bluish-gray ripple-laminated sandstone (facies Sr) that 

lacks either fining- or coarsening-upward trends. Shale partings as 

thick as 10 cm drape the third-order surfaces and extend to the base 

of the scour. Stacked on top of the lowermost lateral-accretion element are sandy bedform (SB) and gravelly bedform (GB) elements that together comprise a multistory sheet geometry. 

Location of outcrop is shown in figure 2. Lithofacies and architectural elements are defined in tables 1 and 2, respectively.
Triassic Moenkopi Formation

10 METERS

EXPLANATION

Orientation of outcrop Architectural element 

Sh/SI Lithofacies 

(3) Order of bounding surface

-10 METERS

N. 40° W. ~ 

\ Paleoflow north

on W OW

W 

on

S3

bdr

on3

oo

X 

bd

Paleocurrent direction oriented 

relative to face of outcrop
F14 EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS PARADOX BASIN

Figure 12. Lithofacies Sr (table 1) oriented almost perpendicular 

to a third-order lateral-accretion surface (arrows) in element 1-LA 

(table 2) in figure 11. Hammer is shown for scale.

(Miall, 1985). Thickening-upward, stacked sets of facies Sp 

likely are the result of downstream-migrating transverse and 

linguoid bars in which the coarser bar top migrates over the 

finer base (Gustavson, 1978).

The size and geometry of the channel and lateralaccretion macroforms indicate that the streams were narrow (20-30 m) and deep (5-10 m). Only near the base is 

channelization evident. Point bars can extend two-thirds 

of the distance across the channel (Alien, 1970). A measure of bankfull channel depth for the lateral-accretion 

complex shown in figure 1 1 is given by the average thickness of the lateral accretion bedding (10 m), and the 

approximate bankfull channel width (35 m) is calculated 

by determining the average horizontal width of all lateralaccretion units and multiplying this value by 1.5 

(Ethridge and Schumm, 1978). The resultant width to 

depth ratio of 4 is more indicative of a suspended-load 

river (<10) than a mixed-load river (<40) (Schumm, 

1968). The steep slopes of the lateral-accretion surfaces

Figure 13. Stacked sets of tangential-planar cross-stratification 

(facies Sp, table 1) composed entirely of calcarenite in the Kane 

Springs 1 sand body of the Chinle Formation.

are unusual in that similar suspended- to mixed-bedload 

deposits described from both the recent and ancient are 

not nearly as steep (less than 15°). The closest modern 

analog is the Barwon River in Australia where inclined 

bedding dips at angles as steep as 23° (Woodyer and others, 1979). A deep but narrow thalweg combined with 

bank stability can create steep lateral-accretion surfaces 

(Bridge, 1985). River banks may have been stabilized by 

minimal erosion on the concave bank of the stream due to 

the fine-grained cohesive sediment, vegetation, and possible early cementation. The third-order surfaces could also 

be oversteepened by differential compaction due to changing mud-drape thickness; however, the origin of such 

steep surfaces remains somewhat problematic.

Evidence for flashy, episodic flow includes upper flow 

regime plane beds and chute channels that indicate highstage discharge fluctuation and reactivation surfaces and 

complete set-bounding mud drapes that indicate low-stage 

discharge. The lack of muddy channel fill and the predominance of sandstone and conglomerate suggest that chute 

cutoff was common and neck cutoff was not significant. 

McGowen and Garner (1970) found that the generation of 

chutes on the upper point bar is indicative of seasonal fluctuations in flow and that chute bars form during high-flow 

stage. If chute cutoff was an important abandonment mechanism in channels of the Kane Springs 1 depositional system, the rivers were probably characterized by a seasonally 

fluctuating, perennial flow regime. The third-order mudstone-defined lateral-accretion surfaces extending to the 

basal scour (fig. 11) are similar to features observed in both 

ancient and recent rivers that have been attributed to highly 

variable and possibly seasonal flow regimes (Puigdefabregas and van Pliet, 1978; Stewart, 1981; Campbell and 

Hendry, 1987).
SEDIMENTARY RESPONSE TO INTRABASINAL SALT TECTONISM, PARADOX BASIN, UTAH F15

Unit Trend of 

channel axis

Trough 

crossbedding

Planar 

crossbedding

Current-parting 

lineation

<D 

D) O 

<D

O

_CD

CQ

OOf\ ^^ X=289 

R = 0.93 

N= 18

X=340 

R = 0.78 

N = 27

CO

w ^

f

(/)

X=336 

fl = 0.68 

N = 35

CN 

CO

(/)

<D

C

m

X=303 

R = 0.91 

A/ = 5

X=317

R = 0.53 

A/ = 23

(/) -o

m03 X=317 

R = 0.78 

N =42

Figure 14. Paleocurrent plots for sedimentary structures of units of the Chinle Formation in the study area. Most structures were invariably 

small to medium scale and therefore were not differentiated into size classes. The rose diagram petal width is 10°; X, vector mean paleoflow 

direction; R, vector magnitude (1.0=0 percent dispersion); N, number of measurements. Range of vector magnitudes is greater than 50°, 

indicating low variance between sequences and the individual depositional systems.

KANE SPRINGS 2 SAND BODY 

HIGH-SINUOSITY STREAMS

DESCRIPTION

The Kane Springs 2 sand body typically crops out as a 

slope-forming unit of bluish-gray to greenish-gray mudstone, and its sandstone to mudstone ratio contrasts sharply

with that of the lower Kane Springs 1 sand body (Blakey and 

Gubitosa, 1984). In the study area, the mudstone deposits 

contain two distinctly different types of amalgamated channel deposits that combine to build a complex sand body 

(Hazel, 1991). The thickness of the sand body ranges from 

10 to 30 m and averages 20 m; the sand body is thicker in 

synclinal areas but is present over the crest of the Cane Creek 

and Moab anticlines (Hazel, 1991, pi. 1). The base is a
F16 EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS PARADOX BASIN

OF

SB

GRAVELLY, 

LOW-SINUOSITY RIVER

UPWARD TRANSITION

CH

SB

LA

COARSE-GRAINED 

MEANDERING RIVER

Figure 15. Inferred models for deposition in the Kane Springs 1 

sand body of the Chinle Formation. It is probable that both types of 

channels coexisted on the alluvial plain. Architectural elements are 

defined in table 2. Modified from models 2, 3, and 5 of Miall 

(1985).

poorly defined fifth-order erosion surface that is commonly 

defined by weathered calcirudite (facies Gm).

The Kane Springs 2 sand body is characterized by a 

complex interbedded heterolithic facies association (fig. 

16) and discrete, ribbon or tabular sand bodies. Multistory 

narrow sheets are present in Kane Springs and Long Canyons (fig. 17). Sand bodies range from thin ripple-laminated sequences generally less than 2 m thick to ribbon or 

narrow single-story sheets as thick as 5 m. Channel elements and lateral-accretion complexes are the dominant 

macroforms in the heterolithic facies, and sandy bedforms 

and laminated sheets predominate in the sand bodies.

The basal 5-10 m of the Kane Springs 2 sand body is 

dominated by mudstone (facies Fm). Above the mudstone, 

ribbon or sheet sand bodies typically alternate with equal to 

greater amounts of heterolithic facies. The sand bodies are 

single story, range from 1 to 10 m in thickness, and can be 

traced for 200 m perpendicular to paleoflow. They have lowrelief channelized margins represented by concave-upward, 

fourth-order bounding surfaces. The lithology of the sand 

bodies ranges from fine-grained sandstone to calcirudite. 

The heterolithic facies association displays laterally 

accreted paleochannels that have prominent cutbanks and 

high-relief erosional bases. The average trend on preserved 

cutbank channel margins is N. 60° W. (fig. 14). The heterolithic facies association typically is composed of bluish 

silty mudstone interbedded with sandstone or conglomerate

Figure 16. Interbedded fining-upward couplets composing the 

heterolithic facies association in the Kane Springs 2 sand body 

under protective ledges in Kane Springs Canyon. Map board (35 

cm long) is shown for scale. Location is shown in figure 2.

in discrete fining-upward couplets 0.5-2 m thick (fig. 18). 

The couplets are composed of small-scale facies St and ripple-laminated facies Sr or lack any discernible stratification. 

The base of each couplet is marked by a thin intraclastic 

mudstone veneer of the third-order lateral-accretion surface 

(fig. 18). Mudcracks with interstitial sandstone infilling and 

color mottling are common desiccation features.

A unique feature of the heterolithic facies association 

is lateral-accretion macroforms contained within large concave-up fourth-order scours (fig. 19). These scour-bounded 

lateral-accretion macroforms truncate and erosively overlie 

one another to form stacked superimposed complexes. The 

third-order surfaces in individual macroforms dip preferentially to the northeast. The fill of each scour displays finingupward bundles of heterolithic interbedding of mud, sand,
i^f^i-ip^s,' £ ' '-r?j , .-t * * , Jvf -^ i /-^ ** ' :

Jurassic Wingate Sandstone

Church Rock Member

Black Ledge

Kane Springs 3 

sand body

Triassic Moenkopi Formation

20 METERS

Figure 17. Tabular and narrow sheet sand bodies and associated floodplain deposits in the Kane Springs 2 and 3 sand bodies of the Chinle Formation in Long Canyon. Note channel plug of facies Fl (table 1) in the heterolithic facies association of the Kane Springs 2 sand body. Circled number indicate order of bounding surface. Axis of Cane Creek anticline is to

the left of the profile. Location of outcrop is shown in figure 2.

ontn o

tn

s

ontn3fe

Xwfe

I

a

"fl
F18 EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS PARADOX BASIN

Figure 18. Individual fining-upward lateral-accretion bundle 

within the heterolithic facies association of the Kane Springs 2 sand 

body of the Chinle Formation. Hammer is shown for scale.

and gravel facies, third-order bounding surfaces that dip at 

steep angles (20°-30°), and a surface that commonly is 

defined its entire length by thick mudstone intraclast layers 

(facies Se).

INTERPRETATION

Lateral profiles for the Kane Springs 2 sand body 

detail a fluvial-dominated delta plain constructed by lowgradient, tightly meandering and perhaps anastamosing 

streams (fig. 20). Evidence for a coalescing fluvial-deltaic 

sequence was provided by Blakey and Gubitosa (1984), 

who documented lacustrine and deltaic deposits in the 

Kane Springs 2 sand body along the Green River, just 

west and northwest of the study area (fig. 21).

The heterolithic facies association resembles floodplain, levee, and point-bar deposits common to suspended- and mixed-load meandering-stream deposits 

described from both the ancient and the recent (Jackson, 

1976; Nanson, 1980; Stewart, 1981, 1983; Nanson and 

Page, 1983). This interpretation is based on the presence 

of well-developed lateral-accretion surfaces, rare ridge 

and swale topography, fining-upward accretionary bundles, paleoflow indicators oriented oblique to perpendicular to the lateral-accretion surfaces, preserved cutbanks, 

and channel plugs. Low paleocurrent dispersion, lateralaccretion macroforms, overlying concave-upward erosional scours, and cutbank preservation suggest that lateral sweeping of the fluvial system was limited and that 

the system was confined to partly confined. The crosscutting channel and lateral-accretion macroforms and rare 

abandoned channel plugs indicate that the streams were 

narrow (15-25 m) and deep (2-5 m). It is possible that a 

network of channels coexisted and were anastamosed.

Smith and Smith (1980) showed that, despite the more 

characteristic vertical mode of accretion, lateral accretion 

may occur on channel bends in anastamosing rivers

The unique channel fill contained within the concaveupward fourth-order scours likely was the product of a single flood event in which vertical filling led to avulsion 

and incision of new courses. The accretionary units both 

conform to the fourth-order erosional cour and climb at a 

supercritical angle without merging or truncating the surface; this suggests extreme cutbank stability and rapid vertical aggradation of the channel floor and point bar. The 

repetition of lateral-accretion bundles composing channel 

fills requires a mechanism of progressive abandonment 

whereby floods of prolonged duration, and rapid fluctuations in discharge, allowed continuous aggradation to 

occur. The system would then avulse by diversion of flow 

through an adjacent distributary as former channels were 

rapidly plugged (Friend and others, 1979) rather than by 

neck or chute cutoff. Avulsed distributaries incised the 

pre-existing delta or floodplain deposits resulting in the 

concave-upward fourth-order scours. This type of avulsed 

distributary is distinct from distributaries that form by 

levee accretion and progradation (Brown, 1979). The preferential dip of third-order surfaces, contained within the 

fourth-order scours that bound individual lateral-accretion 

macroforms, suggests preferential downslope erosion and 

meander cutoff. This style of lateral migration is similar 

to channel-belt processes that resulted in preferentially 

abandoned meander loops in the South Fork of the Madison River (Bridge and Leeder, 1987).

The narrow sheet and lenticular sand bodies in the 

Kane Springs 2 sand body are interpreted as superimposed systems of fluvial channels and overbank splays 

formed by multiple periods of lateral and vertical accretion. Indistinct lateral-accretion bedding suggests that 

each episode of channelization was followed by asymmetrical infilling and lateral shifting of channels that were 

2-5 m deep and as wide as 200 m. The rivers were localized within one area of the floodplain for an extended 

period of time and either coexisted or alternated depositional episodes with the finer grained, higher sinuosity 

streams. The low-relief channel margins, sandy bedforms, 

and lack of systematic lateral-accretion bedding in any of 

the individual paleochannels suggest deposition during 

overbank flow or sheetflooding. The color mottling and 

minor nodule development is typical of deposition in a 

floodbasin environment experiencing periodic wetting and 

drying (Bown and Kraus, 1981). Stear (1983) has attributed the origin of extensive sheet splays to poor levee 

development, which allows crevasse splays to coalesce as 

overbank flooding spreads outward from the channels. 

This process is analogous to many flood events (Williams, 

1971; Tunbridge, 1984) and accounts for the high degree 

of sand-body interconnectedness.
SEDIMENTARY RESPONSE TO INTRABASINAL SALT TECTONISM, PARADOX BASIN, UTAH F19

Fm

10 METERS

Crevasse splay

EXPLANATION

Orientation of outcrop C^LST) Architectural element 

Sh/SI Lithofacies

(3) Order of bounding surface 

N. 85° W.- ^ 

Paleocurrent direction oriented 

relative to face of outcrop

Paleoflow north

10 METERS

Figure 19. Stacked superimposed lateral-accretion macroforms (LA) in lower Long Canyon. The profile is approximately 90 m long, and 

the Kane Springs 2 sand body of the Chinle Formation is 30 m thick. A sixth-order surface, extending the length of the outcrop, separates 

the Kane Springs 2 sand body from the Kane Springs 3 sand body. The view is slightly oblique from below. The third-order lateral-accretion 

surfaces that comprise the channel fill of large concave-up fourth-order erosional scours preferentially dip toward the northeast. The undulatory third-order accretionary surfaces in element 6-LA resemble the "concave bench complexes" of Nanson and Page (1983). Lenticularshaped sandy units in elements 6-LA and 7-LA are likely scroll bars that were embedded in the muddy sediments of swales. Location of 

outcrop is shown in figure 2. Lithofacies and architectural elements are defined in tables 1 and 2, respectively.

KANE SPRINGS 3 SAND BODY 

LOW-SINUOSITY STREAMS

DESCRIPTION

The Kane Springs 3 sand body forms a resistant 

ledge throughout the study area. It typically is a singlestory to multistory broad sheet that has width to height

ratios of greater than 100 (Hazel, 1991, pi. 1). To the 

west of the study area, Blakey and Gubitosa (1984) 

showed that the sand body is intercalated with delta foresets and complex limestone and mudstone sequences of 

the Owl Rock Member. Thickness of the Kane Springs 3 

sand body ranges from 5 to 20 m and averages 15 m. The 

base of the sand body is a well-defined sixth-order surface but is ambiguous where underlying sand bodies of
F20 EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS PARADOX BASIN

OF SB

LA

Figure 20. Suspended- to mixed-load meandering stream model 

inferred for the Kane Springs 2 sand body. The streams were subject 

to flooding and extensive sheetlike crevasse splays. Architectural elements are defined in table 2. Modified from models 6 and 7 of Miall 

(1985).

the Kane Springs 2 sand body form similar stacked 

sequences. Where the overlying Black Ledge rests 

directly on the Kane Springs 3 sand body, the two are difficult to discern from one another. Detailed examination 

along the length of Long Canyon and Kane Springs Canyon reveals an extensive, undulatory sixth-order erosional 

surface that separates the two units. Sand-body interconnectedness decreases in the vicinity of the anticlinal crest 

(fig- 17).

Architectural elements and facies associations of the 

Kane Springs 3 sand body are similar to those in Kane 

Springs 1 and 2 sand bodies except that laterally extensive, 

horizontally laminated sand sheets, and downstream-accreting macroforms are also present in the Kane Springs 3 sand 

body (fig. 22, table 2). The multistory sheet is dominated by 

stacked channel and gravel-bar architectural elements and 

sand sheets. Discrete sandstone bodies either superimpose 

locally to form a thick multistory sequence or bifurcate into 

separate, thinner sheets of sandstone and interbedded mudstone (fig. 23). Complex-bounding fourth-order surfaces are 

flat and parallel or gently inclined and extend laterally as 

much as 100 m. Steeply dipping channel margins are rare. 

Both coarsening- and fining-upward sequences are present, 

but typically there is no systematic grain-size variation or 

change in facies sequence either within a single depositional 

element or within a complex (fig. 24). Flame structures are 

common in sand-sheet elements.

INTERPRETATION

The Kane Springs 3 sand body represents unconfined 

low-sinuosity streams that developed on the underlying fluvial-lacustrine sequence (Gubitosa, 1981; Blakey and Gubitosa, 1983, 1984; Hazel, 1991). The lateral profiles reveal 

some interesting architectural variations and suggest differences in depositional setting from the underlying sand 

bodies.

The architecture and internal bedform organization 

of the Kane Springs 3 sand body are most consistent with 

deposition on a extensive sandy braidplain subject to

Figure 21. Foreset interbedded mudstone-sandstone facies (arrows) within the Kane Springs 2 sand body of the Chinle Formation 

interpreted by Gubitosa (1981) to be deltaic in origin. Location is 

across the Green River from Mineral Canyon.

sheetfloods and highly flashy discharge (fig. 25). The 

deposits are similar to channel sandstone bodies in the 

Permian lower Beaufort Group (Stear, 1983). For the 

lower Beaufort Group, Stear detailed an ancient ephemeral stream-playa lake complex typified by channel patterns that were straight or highly sinuous or transitional 

between these two types. Similar to the lower Beaufort, in 

the Kane Springs 3 depositional environment channelization and subsequent confined stream floods were accompanied in most cases by extensive sheetflooding outside the 

channels. For example, the third-order bounding surfaces 

in element 1-LA shown in figure 23 climb and form the 

lowermost erosional bounding surface of the overlying element (2-LS). This relationship suggests that initial lateral 

migration of the channel was followed by unconfined 

sheet flow. The paucity of silt clasts above erosional surfaces indicates nonchannelized flow, and the lack of 

major channel features excludes a crevasse-splay origin.

The multistory sandstone sequences of the Kane 

Springs 3 sand body display features suggestive of seasonal flash flows. The preponderance of internal scour surfaces and intraformational conglomerate indicates 

fluctuating hydrodynamic conditions. Flame structures are 

thought to be a type of water-escape structure that results 

from rapid aggradation (Boggs, 1987). The predominance 

of facies Sh indicates that upper flow regime sheetflooding was common. Bar-top and scour-fill facies (Ss) are 

lacking; their presence has been related to discharge variations resulting in minor channels eroding preexisting sediments at low discharge flow (Abdullatif, 1989). The 

absence of this facies and other low-flow regime structures are suggestive of extremely episodic flash-flow 

events. The thick laminated sheet elements are likely the 

result of catastrophic sheetfloods of prolonged duration 

but could also have resulted from a simple series of
SEDIMENTARY RESPONSE TO INTRABASINAL SALT TECTONISM, PARADOX BASIN, UTAH F21

Black Ledge

Kane Springs 3 

sand body

Kane Springs 2 

sand body

-i - ^ v

10 METERS

EXPLANATION

Orientation of outcrop (l^LS) Architectural element

\

Sh/SI Lithofacies 

(3) Order of bounding surface 

, M oiro IIT

^ Paleocurrent direction oriented N. 85° W.

relative to face of outcrop

10 METERS

Paleoflow north

Figure 22. Multistory sandstone bodies in the Kane Springs 3 sand body and the Black Ledge, both of the 

Chinle Formation, in Hell Roaring Canyon. View looking northeast. The Kane Springs 3 sand body truncates heterolithic facies of the Kane Springs 2 sand body with an abrupt sixth-order surface and is separated 

from the overlying Black Ledge by a covered mudstone interval. Location of outcrop is shown in figure 2. 

Lithofacies and architectural elements are defined in tables 1 and 2, respectively.
to

10 METERS

EXPLANATION

Orientation of outcrop (Jy;) Architectural element 

Sh/SI Lithofacies

(3) Order of bounding surface 

S. 80 W. ^ Paleocurrent direction oriented

cn 

<O

S

O

T1

ontno

Sw

W

>

on

W>on

-10 METERS Paleoflow north relative to face of outcrop
SEDIMENTARY RESPONSE TO INTRABASINAL SALT TECTONISM, PARADOX BASIN, UTAH F23

Figure 23 (facing page). Lateral bifurcation of the tabular sheet 

geometry of the Kane Springs 3 sand body of the Chinle Formation 

laterally into thin sheets separated by interbedded mudstone. The 

outcrop in Long Canyon is 20 m thick and 70 m long and is oriented 

almost perpendicular to paleoflow. Third-order bounding surfaces 

in element 1-LA climb and form the lowermost erosional bounding 

surface of the overlying element (2-LS). Initial lateral migration of 

the channel probably was followed by successive unconfined sheet 

flows. Location of outcrop is shown in figure 2. Lithofacies and architectural elements are defined in tables 1 and 2, respectively.

aggradational events and nonerosional periods. The lack 

of crosslaminated sequences above horizontal lamination 

(facies Sh) suggests rapidly waning flow at the end of the 

flood event. The laterally extensive and internally consistent sheet sand bodies are similar to units described from 

high-energy flood environments (McKee and others, 

1967; Tunbridge, 1981, 1984; Stear, 1983).

BLACK LEDGE LOW-SINUOSITY STREAMS 

AND SHEETFLOODS

DESCRIPTION

The Black Ledge is a narrow complex multistory ribbon or sheet sand body that is present throughout the study 

area. It thins or is absent over the Cane Creek anticline 

(Hazel, 1991, pi. 1) (fig. 26). The thickness of the Black 

Ledge ranges from 5 to 20 m and averages 10 m. The typical exposure is a blackish-maroon, sheet sand body that 

truncates and erosively overlies the Kane Springs 3 sand 

body along an undulose to planar sixth-order surface (fig. 

26). The complex multistory ribbon geometry is best displayed in the western part of the study area in Mineral and 

Hell Roaring Canyons (fig. 27).

The major architectural elements composing the Black 

Ledge are laminated sand sheets and gravel and sandy bedforms (fig. 22, table 2). Lateral-accretion surfaces and 

downstream-accreting macroforms are rare. Individual 

sandstone bodies are laterally extensive (50-100 m) and 

lack interbedded finer facies. Where sheet sandstone bodies 

are superimposed, they typically are offlapping elements 

that taper against and truncate each other with low-relief 

channelized margins (fig. 28). Intraclast-lined third-order 

erosional surfaces separate each element; they extend for 

tens of meters and are undulatory to flat. Intraclast horizons 

(facies Se) between elements are as thick as 1.5 m and contain carbonaceous fragments and whole logs.

Internally, the laminated sand sheets and sandy bedforms are characterized by few internal breaks and little or 

no evidence of fining-upward cycles. In vertical section, it is 

difficult to distinguish between low-angle facies St and Sh 

facies. The typical facies sequence is a basal lag scour assoFigure 24. Laminated sand sheet element from the Kane Springs 

3 sand body of the Chinle Formation. Uniform appearance of medium-grained sandstone and lack of second-order erosional surfaces 

suggest continuous supply of sediment. Hammer at base (arrow) is 

shown for scale. Location of outcrop is shown in figure 2.

SB

LS

Figure 25. Distal braidplain model inferred for the Kane Springs 

3 sand body of the Chinle Formation. The fluvial plain was subject 

to extensive sheetfloods as a result of highly flashy discharge. Architectural elements are defined in table 2. Modified from models 

10 and llofMiall(1985).

ciated with facies Se and an upward transition to Sh/Sl 

facies that may or may not grade into facies Sr. Intercalated 

with this general sequence are minor conglomeratic Sp/St 

facies. Stewart and others (1972) described the composition
F24 EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS PARADOX BASIN

i

Figure 26. Eastern view of Kane Springs Canyon near the Cane Creek anticlinal axis. Note the erosional and (or) depositional thinning 

of both the Kane Springs 3 sand body (KS-3) (lower arrow) and the Black Ledge (BL) (upper arrow), both of the Chinle Formation, along 

sixth-order surfaces. These unit-bounding surfaces are intraformational unconformities. Salt movement occurred at more than one interval 

prior to deposition of the Black Ledge. Rocks of the Triassic Moenkopi Formation ("E m), Jurassic Wingate Sandstone (Jw), and Kane 

Springs 1 and 2 sand bodies (KS-1, KS-2) are also shown.

Figure 27. Complex multistory ribbon geometry of the Black 

Ledge of the Chinle Formation in Mineral Canyon. The ribbon is 

approximately 9 m thick (between arrows). Location of outcrop is 

shown in figure 2.

of the Black Ledge as mostly quartzarenite; however, in the 

study area, calcirudite and calcarenite alternate with equal 

amounts of arenite-rich sandstone.

INTERPRETATION

Dominantly unidirectional paleocurrents, sedimentary 

structures, and low between-sequence paleocurrent variance 

in the Black Ledge suggest deposition by rapidly shifting, 

low-sinuosity sand and gravel bed rivers subject to widespread sheetfloods (fig. 29). The architectural style suggests 

a braidplain characterized by ephemeral runoff due to seasonal flow and is likened to the Si facies assemblage of Rust 

(1978).

Individual sheet sand bodies composing the multistory 

sequence probably formed in low-sinuosity channel networks that were incised during high-stage flows and then 

either were abandoned (mud draped) and later filled or were
SI ^C3K -Sr-s^sSprings 3

Kane Springs 2 

sand body

10 METERS

-10 METERS

Edge of outcrop

EXPLANATION

Orientation of outcrop (TTs) Architectural element 

^ Sh/SI Lithofacies

(D Order of bounding surface

 ^ Paleocurrent direction oriented 

relative to face of outcrop

 * N. 85° W. 

Paleoflow north

Figure 28. An exceptionally thick sequence of the Black Ledge incising into the Kane Springs 3 sand body, Long Canyon, forming a 30-meter-thick superimposed package. A laterally extensive sixth-order surface separates the two and can be traced up Long Canyon for almost a kilometer. Because the lateral profile is oriented almost perpendicular to paleoflow, channel 

outlines are accentuated. The complex multistory sheet is composed of intersecting tabular conglomerate and sandstone bodies constructed by CH, LS, and GB architectural elements. 

Location of outcrop is shown in figure 2. Lithofacies and architectural elements are defined in tables 1 and 2, respectively.

 *+*

s2on W

g

Wr

on

>5Ii it/3 3.

X W

I
F26 EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS PARADOX BASIN

SB

LS

Figure 29. Inferred model for deposition of the Black Ledge of 

the Chinle Formation. An extensive braidplain is dominated by 

sheetfloods and highly flashy discharge. Architectural elements are 

defined in table 2. Modified from models 11 and 12 of Miall 

(1985).

filled during the same event by vertical accretion of plane 

bed sand (Tunbridge, 1981, 1984; Rust, 1984; Lawrence 

and Williams, 1987). The abundance of facies Se is indicative of extensive reworking and redeposition, within a short 

distance, of suspension-deposited muds during subsequent 

flooding (Karcz, 1969; Rust, 1984). Zones of large intraclasts are likely the result of active channel migration by 

bank collapse. Gibling and Rust (1984) attributed similar 

horizons in the Pennsylvanian Morien Group in Nova Scotia 

to deposition and subsequent reworking of cohesive fines 

due to alternating periods of flooding and subaerial exposure on high topographic levels of a braided and ephemeral 

river system. Because low-sinuosity streams tend to accrete 

vertically, they tend to avulse often and incise new channels 

in adjacent areas (Tunbridge, 1984). The constantly shifting 

channels erode adjacent overbank deposits and produce a 

broad sheet of crosscutting sand bodies. Sand-body dimensions in the Black Ledge indicate that the channels ranged 

from 0.5 to 5 m in depth and from 5 to 100 m in width. The 

laminated sand sheets were deposited as bank-to-bank 

sheets and as bar forms analogous to the plane-bedded simple bars of Alien (1983). This type of bar lacks a slipface. 

The predominance of facies Sh in the laminated sand sheets 

is attributed to deposition under extremely high flow velocities during short-lived, high-energy floods (McKee and others, 1967; Tunbridge, 1981; Sneh, 1983). Similar 

orientations in trough and planar cross-sets (fig. 14) suggest 

formation by downstream accretion of mid-channel bars 

(Lawrence and Williams, 1987) during periods of sustained 

flow. Indications of waning flow, such as sequences capped 

by facies Sp, St, or Sr, are rare.

Possible modern analogs, such as the ephemeral terminal River Gash in Kassala, Sudan (Abdullatif, 1989), are

present in semi-arid piedmont environments (Williams, 

1970; Rust and Koster, 1984). Channelized streamfloods 

produced by torrential rainfall may, with decreasing slope 

and waning flow, pass downslope into unconfined sheetfloods (Tunbridge, 1981, 1984).

CONTROLS ON DEPOSITION

Tectonic control on alluvial architecture is common in 

many basin settings. In this discussion, the importance of 

intrabasinal tectonism in construction of Chinle stratigraphy 

is evaluated against expected architectural changes that in 

other studies have been attributed to extrabasinal (allocyclic) control. Basin subsidence (an allocyclic mechanism) 

has been suggested to have strongly influenced sediment 

accumulation rates (Blakey and Gubitosa, 1984), base-level 

changes (Kraus and Middleton, 1987), stream sinuosity 

(Deacon and Middleton, 1989), and, thus, alluvial architecture in the Chinle basin. It is difficult to separate the effects 

of processes operative across the entire Chinle basin from 

those of localized salt diapirism. Architectural patterns in 

the Salt Anticline region, however, contrast dramatically 

with sand-body geometry and architecture of time-correlative units elsewhere in the Chinle basin. Cyclic depositional 

sequences in the study area suggest that floodplain adjustment in this part of the basin was unrelated to allocyclic 

control and instead reflects a sedimentary response to intrabasinal salt tectonism (Hazel, 1991; Hazel and Blakey, 

1992).

The study area contains a part of the Chinle alluvial 

plain that reflects the cumulative effects of several superimposed fluvial systems. The repetition of several coarsegrained progradational fluvial systems may indicate cyclic 

sedimentation common to an alluvial plain (Beerbower, 

1964). Facies architecture analysis of each cycle (Kane 

Springs 1, 2, and 3 and Black Ledge) provides insight to the 

controlling mechanism of cyclicity. Hypothetical controls 

on the geometric distribution of lithofacies and sand-body 

interconnectedness are both allocyclic and autocyclic 

(Beerbower, 1964). Cyclic sedimentation may result from 

allocyclic controls such as changes in base level, gradient, 

discharge, and types of sediment load, controls that are 

directly related to such factors as climate, tectonism, and 

eustacy. Autocyclic controls, in contrast, result in redistribution of energy and sediment input within the depositional 

basin and require no net change in the total energy regime 

(Beerbower, 1964). These controls include channel migration and filling, avulsion, bar migration, crevassing, abanFigure 30 (facing page). Architectural styles in the Chinle Formation of the Paradox Basin. The contrasting styles of alluvial architecture 

resulted from different rates of basin subsidence and sedimentation accumulation. Rates of basin subsidence were altered in the Salt Anticline region by salt tectonism. A, Initial uplift of nearby anticlines, including the Cane Creek anticline, was followed by stability, erosion, 

and slow or negligible subsidence relative to regional subsidence rates. The narrow to broad, single-story to multistory Kane Springs 1 and 

3 sand bodies and the Black Ledge sheet sandstone body were the result. The high sandstone to mudstone ratios resulted from increased
SEDIMENTARY RESPONSE TO INTRABASINAL SALT TECTONISM, PARADOX BASIN, UTAH F27

Uplifted fluvial, lacustrine, and 

floodplain soil horizons

N

Mobile channel belts

partly confined by

diapirs

Narrow to broad, 

single-to multi-story sheet

Low-sinuosity channels 

\

vasse-s 

deposit

Moenkopi 

Formation

Uplift of salt 

anticline

Influx of coarse detritus 

from eroding upwarps

High-sinuosity, partly 

confined channels N

Ribbon 

sand body

B

Well-drained floodplain with 

seasonal wetting and drying

Moenkopi 

Formation

Previous sheet 

deposit

Moderate 

subsidence

Anticline eroded to low relief 

and eventually buried

10 KILOMETERS

frequency of avulsion. Variations in sand-body story thickness and vertical stacking resulted from localized, differential subsidence in intervening synclinal areas, B, The Kane Springs 2 sand body and sand bodies in the fine-grained part of the Church 

Rock Member have ribbon to narrow sheet geometries that resulted when the area subsided at moderate regional subsidence 

rates. Frequency of avulsion and rates of subsidence were low to intermediate, and the resulting sandstone to mudstone ratio is 

low. Model loosely based on a model proposed by Blakey and Gubitosa (1984) for the Kane Springs strata.
F28 EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS PARADOX BASIN

donment, and erosion. The cause and effect of autocyclic 

controls have been discussed extensively by Alien (1978), 

Leeder (1978), and Bridge and Leeder (1979).

In order to understand and reconstruct the temporal and 

spatial evolution of Chinle fluvial systems across the Salt 

Anticline region, the following controls must be considered: 

salt tectonism, basin subsidence rate, avulsion frequency, 

sediment supply, and climate. Vertical superposition of the 

Kane Springs and Black Ledge sand bodies, each with different characteristic fluvial environments, allows potential 

controls to be tested against more than one depositional 

setting.

AUTOCYCLIC CONTROLS 

CYCLIC SEDIMENTATION AND GEOMETRY

The fluvial succession described herein consists of 

small- to large-scale cycles that either fine upward or lack 

vertical grain-size trends. These cycles, represented by the 

Kane Springs 1, 2, and 3 sand bodies and the Black Ledge, 

are characterized by erosive bases that constitute fifth- and 

sixth-order bounding surfaces of limited regional extent 

(fig. 26). Each sand body is characterized by narrow to 

broad sheet geometry. The sheet sand bodies, however, are 

the products of different fluvial styles. Repeated vertical 

changes in fluvial paleoenvironment suggest that the basin 

slope was not constant during deposition.

The cycles probably are the result of successive migration of fluvial channels through the same area of the floodplain (autocyclic mechanism) (fig. 30). The sandbodies are 

a result of the influx of coarse detritus, in direct contrast to 

regional sediment supply, which diminished from Petrified 

Forest to Owl Rock time as evidenced by a decrease in sand 

and an increase in limestone in the Owl Rock Member 

(Blakey and Gubitosa, 1984). Because regional changes in 

sediment supply did not affect the Chinle systems proximal 

to the anticline area, other reasons for sediment influx must 

be considered.

Cyclicity in the study area was due to anticline development, which provided a local sediment source and slowed 

subsidence rates (fig. 30); elsewhere in the Chinle basin 

subsidence rates were moderately rapid (Blakey and Gubitosa, 1984). The narrow to broad sheet geometries and high 

sandstone to mudstone ratios north and northeast of the 

Moab-pinchout resulted from small, localized changes in 

frequency of avulsion versus rate of subsidence. Rapid anticlinal uplift produced local high-relief slopes. Monsooninduced torrential rainfall resulted in high local rates of erosion and fluvial-deltaic sedimentation.

LOCALIZATION OF AXIAL DRAINAGE

The most obvious influence of salt tectonics on sediment dispersal patterns is the alignment of stream courses

by the northwest-trending Cane Creek and Moab anticlines. 

Regional studies of Chinle fluvial systems show that flow 

was to the west and southwest off the Uncompahgre highland in western Colorado (Stewart and others, 1972; 

Blodgett, 1984). In contrast, paleocurrent indicators in the 

study area show a marked unidirectional trend toward the 

north-northwest (fig. 14) and exhibit low variance between 

sequences and individual depositional systems. Thus, fluvial 

systems most likely were deflected by anticline development and forced to flow northwest through the Salt Anticline region before draining into the northern part of the 

basin (fig. 3).

Channel belts tend to be concentrated in areas of greatest subsidence. In these areas, sand-body interconnectedness increases and sandstone to mudstone ratios are greater 

(Bridge and Leeder, 1979). For example, the multistory 

Black Ledge sequence thickens toward the Kings Bottom 

syncline (fig. 28). Conversely, all four sand bodies display a 

reduced interconnectedness and complex interfingering with 

mudstone over the Cane Creek anticlinal crest (figs. 17, 26). 

The increase in channel density and orientation of depositional axes is attributed to uplift of the Cane Creek and 

Moab salt anticlines and salt withdrawal related subsidence 

of the Kings Bottom syncline (fig. 30). In a similar setting, 

Tyler and Ethridge (1983) showed that geometry and orientation of the Slick Rock fluvial axis in the Salt Wash Member of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation was localized 

by the rising Gypsum Valley salt ridge.

DEVELOPMENT OF ASYMMETRIC MEANDERBELTS

There is evidence in the study area for autocyclic controls on stream behavior such as topographically triggered 

avulsion due to tectonic tilting, bedform-bar migration, and 

channel migration and filling. The preservation of predominantly northeast dipping third-order lateral-accretion surfaces in the heterolithic facies of the Kane Springs 2 sand 

body is likely the result of asymmetric channel-belt development and the resulting preferential abandonment of 

meanderloops. This preferred dip is especially obvious in 

Kane Springs and Long Canyons (fig. 19). Combined with 

paleocurrent values (fig. 14), such a skewed distribution is 

unlikely; a freely meandering river should show a more uniform distribution of dip directions around the regional 

paleoflow trend (Miall, 1985).

Alexander and others (1985) and Alexander and 

Leeder (1987) showed that on an alluvial plain undergoing active tectonic tilting in a direction perpendicular to 

regional paleoflow the channel belt may slowly migrate 

laterally by preferential downslope erosion and meander 

cutoff. Thus, meanders on the updip side have a higher 

preservation potential and produce a predominance of lateral-accretion surfaces facing up the paleoslope. The 

marked meanderbelt asymmetry in the heterolithic facies 

of the Kane Springs 2 sand body is suggestive of
SEDIMENTARY RESPONSE TO INTRABASINAL SALT TECTONISM, PARADOX BASIN, UTAH F29

floodplain tilting due to uplift of the Moab salt anticline 

and salt-withdrawal subsidence between the Moab and 

Cane Creek anticlines (Kings Bottom syncline). Although 

it is likely that the system migrated down the tectonic tilt 

toward the southwest, the complex stacking of the preferentially abandoned meanderloops (fig. 19) is suggestive of 

confinement between the two anticlines.

Channel-fill deposits reflect the nature of the stream 

diversion process (Hopkins, 1985). Topographically triggered avulsion occurs when a river aggrades vertically until 

topography is increased such that the channel improves its 

profile by switching positions down a more suitable path 

(Alexander and Leeder, 1987). The rate of topographic 

growth in the study area may have been enhanced by preferential flooding of the downtilted side of the floodplain as the 

Kane Springs and Black Ledge channels moved toward the 

position of maximum subsidence; however, channel migration and filling could also have been a function of other 

parameters that control avulsion.

ALLOCYCLIC CONTROLS

Extrabasinal controls such as tectonic-induced subsidence, climate, and source terrane behavior are not likely 

controls given the depositional patterns in the study area; 

however, knowledge of these allocyclic controls on alluvial architecture is critical to a meaningful evaluation of 

Chinle architecture. The effects of eustacy on base-level 

changes were not examined in this study. The Chinle depositional system was in a partly landlocked basin, and the 

effects of sea-level changes are difficult to correlate without precise age constraints.

The Kane Springs units are time correlative to the Petrified Forest and Owl Rock Members, and one would expect 

similar cyclic thick floodbasin and soil deposits and widely 

scattered ribbon sand bodies in these units. Blakey and 

Gubitosa (1984) reasoned that preservation of these members involved a moderately rapid rate of basin subsidence 

relative to rate of sedimentation; however, Chinle strata in 

the study area do not contain well-developed paleosols. At 

best, only color mottling and minor nodule formation, indicative of a floodbasin environment experiencing periodic 

wetting and drying (Bown and Kraus, 1981), is present 

proximal to the Cane Creek anticline. The predominance of 

pedogenic nodules as clasts in Kane Springs strata and 

Black Ledge conglomerates indicates that soil-forming processes were operating nearby because such clasts do not 

survive long in a dynamic system (Karcz, 1969). It is reasonable to conclude that decreased rates of basin subsidence 

as a result of differential subsidence and uplift related to salt 

diapirism led to sheet sand-body development; however, 

because there was no constancy of river type or rate of avulsion, it is difficult to test the importance of subsidence rate

on sandstone geometry in accordance to the models of Alien 

(1978) or Bridge and Leeder (1979).

Uplift of the ancestral Uncompahgre source area, providing pulses of coarse sediment (allocyclic mechanism), is 

not favored as a control on the depositional cycles. This 

mechanism would reflect progradation of an entire fluvial 

system and would be characterized by symmetrical cycles 

that coarsen and then fine upward (see, for example, Steel 

and others, 1977; Steel and Aasheim, 1978). The Kane 

Springs strata clearly do not represent basinwide facies variations and do not contain extrabasinal-derived detritus 

coarser than medium-grained quartz sand. There is no indication that size availability played any role in differing alluvial architectures. Source-rock control was locally 

important during deposition of the basal mottled strata when 

initial uplift of upper Paleozoic chert-bearing limestone provided an abundance of chert pebbles.

Variations in climate can cause changes in sediment 

grain size and in depositional style as a result of fluctuating 

discharge and weathering modes (Miall, 1980). The three 

Kane Springs sand bodies and the Black Ledge were deposited in fluvial systems subject to episodic flash floods. For 

example, laminated sheet elements indicate that flows traveled as sheetfloods on the order of tens of kilometers. The 

abundance of wood, carbonaceous horizons, and terrestrial 

fossils throughout the sequence suggests that water was 

abundant. The evidence for fluctuating water tables and the 

repeated occurrence of desiccation cracks suggest that the 

environment was episodically wet and the rainfall possibly 

seasonal. Clastic-carbonate couplets in Owl Rock laminated 

limestone have been attributed to seasonal influx of clastic 

sediment (Dubiel, 1989). These observations match the 

interpretation of Dubiel and others (1991) in which the 

Chinle climate in southeast Utah was tropical-monsoonal. 

The abundance of eolian sand-sheet deposits at the top of 

the Chinle suggests that the climate became drier at the 

close of Chinle deposition (Blakey and Gubitosa, 1984; 

Dubiel, 1989; Hazel, 1991), but the color mottling in the 

sand sheets is indicative of at least some seasonal flooding 

(Kocurek and Nielson, 1986).

Blakey and Gubitosa (1984) ruled out climate as a 

major factor in controlling deposition because the sheet-ribbon-sheet geometry in the Kane Springs strata indicates that 

controls on sand-body geometry changed at least twice during aggradation of the system. They noted that this largescale cyclic change is not evident in immediately adjacent 

units of the Petrified Forest and Owl Rock Members. Dubiel 

(1989) suggested that long-term climatic fluctuations are 

represented by large-scale interbedding of siltstone and 

limestone in Owl Rock strata; however, purely seasonal climatic controls would tend to produce coarser, more immature grains in arid cycles and finer, more mature grains in 

humid cycles. This was not observed in the Kane Springs 

strata and Black Ledge. The sand bodies contain consistent 

indication of seasonal climate subject to flash-flood events
F30 EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS PARADOX BASIN

throughout Chinle time, thus arguing for controls other than 

climatic variations.

CONCLUSIONS

Alluvial architecture of the Chinle Formation in the 

study area in the Paradox Basin of southeastern Utah was 

modified through time in response to salt diapirism rather 

than to changes in basinwide subsidence rates, climate, 

base-level, or sediment supply. Evidence presented herein 

shows that these important allocyclic controls were of secondary importance in generating the different styles of 

architecture in the Salt Anticline region. The Chinle 

sequence in the study area is dominated by broad multistory 

sheet sand bodies that are unique to this region. Channel 

morphology changed significantly within only one interval 

(single-story or weakly multistory ribbon and narrow sheet 

sand bodies in the Kane Springs 2 sand body), and the other 

units, although the products of different fluvial styles, have 

similar sand-body geometry and degree of interconnectedness. Only near the end of Chinle deposition is there evidence to suggest the development of vastly different climate 

or new source areas. Sheet development resulted from 

decreased rates of localized basin subsidence due to intrabasinal uplift of salt structures. Intrabasinal tectonic activity 

altered stream gradients and subsidence rates, which in 

turned governed sinuosity, flow regime, energy levels, and 

sediment distribution. During quiescence of the salt structures, moderately rapid basinwide subsidence produced ribbon sand bodies enveloped by overbank deposits.

Evidence supporting intrabasinal tectonism as the principal control on Kane Springs and Black Ledge depositional 

systems includes the following.

1. Cycles of fluvial sand-body sheet geometry are 

separated by extensive fifth- and sixth-order erosional 

bounding surfaces, some of which represent intraformational unconformities.

2. Abrupt changes in fluvial style are indicated by 

significant facies changes both within and between sand 

bodies. Highly variable lithologies resulted from changes in 

depositional environments in areas where salt movement 

occurred.

3. Fluvial sand bodies thin, display less interconnectedness, or are absent over the Cane Creek anticline. Postdepositional erosion between aggradational events was most 

likely caused by localized diapiric uplift of the Cane Creek 

and Moab salt anticlines.

4. The depositional axis of each fluvial sand body 

was controlled by gentle surface flexing between salt anticlines. Paleocurrents in all the fluvial units are remarkably 

consistent with one another and parallel the trend of the salt 

anticlines.

5. Variations in fluvial sand-body story thickness are 

a result of differential subsidence in intervening synclinal 

areas.

6. Heterolithic facies in the Kane Springs 2 sand 

body provide evidence for topographically triggered 

avulsion via tectonic tilting. The preferential preservation of 

bounding surfaces and the unique channel fill are attributed 

to tilting of the depositional slope.

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Shoemaker, E.M., Case, J.E., and Elston, D.P., 1958, Salt anticlines 

of the Paradox Basin, in Geology of the Paradox Basin: Intermountain Association of Petroleum Geologists Annual Field 

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Shoemaker, E.M., and Newman, W.L., 1959, Moenkopi Formation 

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p. 1835-1851.

Smith, D.G., and Smith, N.D., 1980, Sedimentation in anastomosed 

river systems Examples from alluvial valleys near Banff, 

Alberta: Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, v. 50, p. 157-164.

Sneh, A., 1983, Desert stream sequences in the Sinai Peninsula: 

Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, v. 53, p. 1271-1280.

Soegaard, K., 1990, Fan-delta and braid-delta systems in Pennsylvanian Sandia Formation, Taos trough, northern New Mexico Depositional and tectonic implications: Geological 

Society of America Bulletin, v. 102, p. 1325-1343.

Speed, R.C., 1978, Paleogeographic and plate tectonic evolution of 

the early Mesozoic marine province of the western Great 

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paleogeography of the Western United States: Pacific Section, 

Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Pacific Coast Paleogeography Symposium 2, p. 253-270.

Stear, W.M., 1983, Morphological characteristics of ephemeral 

stream channel and overbank splay sandstone bodies in the 

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Collinson, J.D., and Lewin, J., eds., Modern and ancient fluvial 

systems: International Association of Sedimentologists Special 

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Steel, R., and Aasheim, S.M., 1978, Alluvial sand deposition in a 

rapidly subsiding basin (Devonian, Norway), in Miall, A.D., 

ed., Fluvial sedimentology: Canadian Society of Petroleum 

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Steel, R., Maehle, S., Nilsen, H., Roe, S.L., and Spinnangr, A., 

1977, Coarsening-upward cycles in the alluvium of Hornelen 

Basin (Devonian), Norway Sedimentary response to tectonic 

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Stewart, D.J., 1981, A meander-belt sandstone of the Lower Cretaceous of southern England: Sedimentology, v. 68, p. 1-20.

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Stewart, J.H., Anderson, T.H., Haxel, G.B., Silver, L.T. and 

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F34 EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS PARADOX BASIN

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II: Berlin, Springer-Verlag, p. 240-252.

Published in the Central Region, Denver, Colorado 

Manuscript approved for publication March 28,1994 

Edited by Judith Stoeser

Graphics prepared by Gayle Dumonceaux and the author 

Photocomposition by Norma J. Maes

* U.S. GOVETOMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1994-673-046/86053


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