Problems of Stratigraphy of the Colorado Plateau and Adjoining Areas Clay T
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Tetrapod Biostratigraphy and Biochronology of the Triassic–Jurassic Transition on the Southern Colorado Plateau, USA
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 244 (2007) 242–256 www.elsevier.com/locate/palaeo Tetrapod biostratigraphy and biochronology of the Triassic–Jurassic transition on the southern Colorado Plateau, USA Spencer G. Lucas a,⁎, Lawrence H. Tanner b a New Mexico Museum of Natural History, 1801 Mountain Rd. N.W., Albuquerque, NM 87104-1375, USA b Department of Biology, Le Moyne College, 1419 Salt Springs Road, Syracuse, NY 13214, USA Received 15 March 2006; accepted 20 June 2006 Abstract Nonmarine fluvial, eolian and lacustrine strata of the Chinle and Glen Canyon groups on the southern Colorado Plateau preserve tetrapod body fossils and footprints that are one of the world's most extensive tetrapod fossil records across the Triassic– Jurassic boundary. We organize these tetrapod fossils into five, time-successive biostratigraphic assemblages (in ascending order, Owl Rock, Rock Point, Dinosaur Canyon, Whitmore Point and Kayenta) that we assign to the (ascending order) Revueltian, Apachean, Wassonian and Dawan land-vertebrate faunachrons (LVF). In doing so, we redefine the Wassonian and the Dawan LVFs. The Apachean–Wassonian boundary approximates the Triassic–Jurassic boundary. This tetrapod biostratigraphy and biochronology of the Triassic–Jurassic transition on the southern Colorado Plateau confirms that crurotarsan extinction closely corresponds to the end of the Triassic, and that a dramatic increase in dinosaur diversity, abundance and body size preceded the end of the Triassic. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Triassic–Jurassic boundary; Colorado Plateau; Chinle Group; Glen Canyon Group; Tetrapod 1. Introduction 190 Ma. On the southern Colorado Plateau, the Triassic– Jurassic transition was a time of significant changes in the The Four Corners (common boundary of Utah, composition of the terrestrial vertebrate (tetrapod) fauna. -
The Sauropodomorph Biostratigraphy of the Elliot Formation of Southern Africa: Tracking the Evolution of Sauropodomorpha Across the Triassic–Jurassic Boundary
Editors' choice The sauropodomorph biostratigraphy of the Elliot Formation of southern Africa: Tracking the evolution of Sauropodomorpha across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary BLAIR W. MCPHEE, EMESE M. BORDY, LARA SCISCIO, and JONAH N. CHOINIERE McPhee, B.W., Bordy, E.M., Sciscio, L., and Choiniere, J.N. 2017. The sauropodomorph biostratigraphy of the Elliot Formation of southern Africa: Tracking the evolution of Sauropodomorpha across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 62 (3): 441–465. The latest Triassic is notable for coinciding with the dramatic decline of many previously dominant groups, followed by the rapid radiation of Dinosauria in the Early Jurassic. Among the most common terrestrial vertebrates from this time, sauropodomorph dinosaurs provide an important insight into the changing dynamics of the biota across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary. The Elliot Formation of South Africa and Lesotho preserves the richest assemblage of sauropodomorphs known from this age, and is a key index assemblage for biostratigraphic correlations with other simi- larly-aged global terrestrial deposits. Past assessments of Elliot Formation biostratigraphy were hampered by an overly simplistic biozonation scheme which divided it into a lower “Euskelosaurus” Range Zone and an upper Massospondylus Range Zone. Here we revise the zonation of the Elliot Formation by: (i) synthesizing the last three decades’ worth of fossil discoveries, taxonomic revision, and lithostratigraphic investigation; and (ii) systematically reappraising the strati- graphic provenance of important fossil locations. We then use our revised stratigraphic information in conjunction with phylogenetic character data to assess morphological disparity between Late Triassic and Early Jurassic sauropodomorph taxa. Our results demonstrate that the Early Jurassic upper Elliot Formation is considerably more taxonomically and morphologically diverse than previously thought. -
(Arthropoda, Crustacea) from the Lower Jurassic Moenave Formation, Arizona and Utah, USA
Journal of Paleontology, 92(4), 2018, p. 648–660 Copyright © 2018, The Paleontological Society. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 0022-3360/18/0088-0906 doi: 10.1017/jpa.2017.150 The ‘Last Hurrah of the Reigning Darwinulocopines’? Ostracoda (Arthropoda, Crustacea) from the Lower Jurassic Moenave Formation, Arizona and Utah, USA Lucas S. Antonietto,1 Lisa E. Park Boush,1 Celina A. Suarez,2 Andrew R.C. Milner,3 and James I. Kirkland4 1Center for Integrative Geosciences, University of Connecticut, Charles Lewis Beach Hall, 354 Mansfield Road, U-1045, Storrs, Mansfield, Connecticut 06269, USA 〈[email protected]〉〈[email protected]〉 2Department of Geosciences, University of Arkansas, G. David Gearhart Hall, 340 North Campus Drive, Fayetteville, Arizona 72701, USA 〈[email protected]〉 3St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm, 2180 East Riverside Drive, St. George, Utah 84790, USA 〈[email protected]〉 4Utah Geological Survey, 1594 West North Temple, P.O. Box 146100, Salt Lake City, Utah 84114, USA 〈[email protected]〉 Abstract.—An ostracode fauna is described from lacustrine sediments of the Hettangian, Lower Jurassic, Whitmore Point Member of the Moenave Formation. The Moenave is well known for its rich, Late Triassic?–Early Jurassic fossil record, which includes fossil fishes, stromatolites, ostracodes, spinicaudatans, and a diverse ichnofauna of invertebrates and vertebrates. Four ostracode species, all belonging to the suborder Darwinulocopina, were recovered from these sediments: Suchonellina globosa, S. -
Mesozoic Stratigraphy at Durango, Colorado
160 New Mexico Geological Society, 56th Field Conference Guidebook, Geology of the Chama Basin, 2005, p. 160-169. LUCAS AND HECKERT MESOZOIC STRATIGRAPHY AT DURANGO, COLORADO SPENCER G. LUCAS AND ANDREW B. HECKERT New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, 1801 Mountain Rd. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104 ABSTRACT.—A nearly 3-km-thick section of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks is exposed at Durango, Colorado. This section con- sists of Upper Triassic, Middle-Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous strata that well record the geological history of southwestern Colorado during much of the Mesozoic. At Durango, Upper Triassic strata of the Chinle Group are ~ 300 m of red beds deposited in mostly fluvial paleoenvironments. Overlying Middle-Upper Jurassic strata of the San Rafael Group are ~ 300 m thick and consist of eolian sandstone, salina limestone and siltstone/sandstone deposited on an arid coastal plain. The Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation is ~ 187 m thick and consists of sandstone and mudstone deposited in fluvial environments. The only Lower Cretaceous strata at Durango are fluvial sandstone and conglomerate of the Burro Canyon Formation. Most of the overlying Upper Cretaceous section (Dakota, Mancos, Mesaverde, Lewis, Fruitland and Kirtland units) represents deposition in and along the western margin of the Western Interior seaway during Cenomanian-Campanian time. Volcaniclastic strata of the overlying McDermott Formation are the youngest Mesozoic strata at Durango. INTRODUCTION Durango, Colorado, sits in the Animas River Valley on the northern flank of the San Juan Basin and in the southern foothills of the San Juan and La Plata Mountains. Beginning at the northern end of the city, and extending to the southern end of town (from north of Animas City Mountain to just south of Smelter Moun- tain), the Animas River cuts in an essentially downdip direction through a homoclinal Mesozoic section of sedimentary rocks about 3 km thick (Figs. -
Geologic Story of Canyonlands National Park
«u GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1327 JUL 1 7 1990 Dacus Library Wmthrop College Documents Department -T7 LOOKING NORTH FROM EAST WALL OF DEVILS LANE, just south of the Silver Stairs. Needles are Cedar Mesa Sandstone. Junction Butte and Grand View Point lie across Colorado River in background. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1327 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ROGERS C. B. MORTON, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY V. E. McKelvey, Director Library of Congress catalog-card No. 74-600043 Reprinted 1977 and 1990 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1974 For sale by the Books and Open-File Reports Section, U.S. Geological Survey, Federal Center, Box 25425, Denver, CO 80225 . Contents Page A new park is born 1 Major Powell's river expeditions 4 Early history 9 Prehistoric people 9 Late arrivals 14 Geographic setting 17 Rocks and landforms 20 How to see the park 26 The high mesas 27 Island in the Sky 27 Dead Horse Point State Park 30 North entrance 34 Shafer and White Rim Trails 34 Grand View Point 36 Green River Overlook 43 Upheaval Dome 43 Hatch Point 46 Needles Overlook 47 Canyonlands Overlook 48 U-3 Loop 49 Anticline Overlook 50 Orange Cliffs 54 The benchlands 5g The Maze and Land of Standing Rocks 58 The Needles district 60 Salt, Davis, and Lavender Canyons _ 64 The Needles and The Grabens 73 Canyons of the Green and Colorado Rivers 85 Entrenched and cutoff meanders 86 Green River 87 Colorado River _ 96 Summary of geologic history H2 Additional reading H7 Acknowledgments H8 Selected references n% Index 123 VII Illustrations Page Frontispiece . -
Earliest Jurassic U-Pb Ages from Carbonate Deposits in the Navajo Sandstone, Southeastern Utah, USA Judith Totman Parrish1*, E
https://doi.org/10.1130/G46338.1 Manuscript received 3 April 2019 Revised manuscript received 10 July 2019 Manuscript accepted 11 August 2019 © 2019 The Authors. Gold Open Access: This paper is published under the terms of the CC-BY license. Published online 4 September 2019 Earliest Jurassic U-Pb ages from carbonate deposits in the Navajo Sandstone, southeastern Utah, USA Judith Totman Parrish1*, E. Troy Rasbury2, Marjorie A. Chan3 and Stephen T. Hasiotis4 1 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Idaho, P.O. Box 443022, Moscow, Idaho 83844, USA 2 Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794, USA 3 Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, 115 S 1460 E, Room 383, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0102, USA 4 Department of Geology, University of Kansas, 115 Lindley Hall, 1475 Jayhawk Boulevard, Lawrence, Kansas 66045-7594, USA ABSTRACT with the lower part of the Navajo Sandstone New uranium-lead (U-Pb) analyses of carbonate deposits in the Navajo Sandstone in across a broad region from southwestern Utah southeastern Utah (USA) yielded dates of 200.5 ± 1.5 Ma (earliest Jurassic, Hettangian Age) to northeastern Arizona (Blakey, 1989; Hassan and 195.0 ± 7.7 Ma (Early Jurassic, Sinemurian Age). These radioisotopic ages—the first re- et al., 2018). The Glen Canyon Group is under- ported from the Navajo erg and the oldest ages reported for this formation—are critical for lain by the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation, understanding Colorado Plateau stratigraphy because they demonstrate that initial Navajo which includes the Black Ledge sandstone (e.g., Sandstone deposition began just after the Triassic and that the base of the unit is strongly Blakey, 2008; Fig. -
Redbeds of the Upper Entrada Sandstone, Central Utah
Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive All Theses and Dissertations 2016-12-01 Redbeds of the Upper Entrada Sandstone, Central Utah: Facies Analysis and Regional Implications of Interfingered Sabkha and Fluvial Terminal Splay Sediments Jeffery Michael Valenza Brigham Young University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Geology Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Valenza, Jeffery Michael, "Redbeds of the Upper Entrada Sandstone, Central Utah: Facies Analysis and Regional Implications of Interfingered Sabkha and Fluvial Terminal Splay Sediments" (2016). All Theses and Dissertations. 6112. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6112 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Redbeds of the Upper Entrada Sandstone, Central Utah: Facies Analysis and Regional Implications of Interfingered Sabkha and Fluvial Terminal Splay Sediments Jeffery Michael Valenza A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Thomas H. Morris, Chair Jani Radebaugh Sam Hudson Scott M. Ritter Department of Geological Sciences Brigham Young University Copyright © 2016 Jeffery Michael Valenza All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Redbeds of the Upper Entrada Sandstone, Central Utah: Facies Analysis and Regional Implications of Interfingered Sabkha and Fluvial Terminal Splay Sediments Jeffery Michael Valenza Department of Geological Sciences, BYU Master of Science First distinguished from other sedimentary successions in 1928, the Entrada Sandstone has been the subject of numerous studies. -
Paleoecology of the Lowermost Part of the Jurassic Carmel Formation, San Rafael Swell, Emery County, Utah
Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 5-1969 Paleoecology of the Lowermost Part of the Jurassic Carmel Formation, San Rafael Swell, Emery County, Utah R. Joseph Dover Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the Geology Commons Recommended Citation Dover, R. Joseph, "Paleoecology of the Lowermost Part of the Jurassic Carmel Formation, San Rafael Swell, Emery County, Utah" (1969). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 1676. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/1676 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PALEOECOLOGY OF THE LOWERMOST PART OF THE JURASSIC CARMEL FORMATION, SAN RAFAEL SWELL, EMERY COUNTY, UTAH by R. Joseph Dover A thesis submitted in partial fulfullment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Geology AooJ?t)\1ed: Major Professor ;Dea~ tf Graduate Studies UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 1969 ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis was made possible by Mr. and Mrs. H.C. Dover, whose moral and monetary support are gratefully acknowledged. Field work was greatly enhanced by Dr. Robert Q. Oaks, Jr., the author's major professor, who supplied transportation to otherwise inaccessible sections, aid in measuring sections, inspiration and motivation, and critical discussion of ideas contained herein. Aid was given by Mr. Kelly of Castle Dale, Utah, who described orally characteristics of the Carmel Formation at several localities not visited. -
Magnetostratigraphy and Paleopoles of the Kayenta Formation and the Tenney Canyon Tongue
Volumina Jurassica, 2014, Xii (2): 31–38 Doi: 10.5604/17313708 .1130125 Magnetostratigraphy and paleopoles of the Kayenta Formation and the Tenney Canyon Tongue Maureen STEINER1, Lawrence H. TANNER2 Key words: Pliensbachian magnetostratigraphy, Kayenta Formation, paleopole, J-1 cusp, North America apparent polar wander curve. Abstract. The Kayenta Formation is the third in a series of stratigraphic units making up the Glen Canyon Group that were sampled along US Hwy 89 in southern Utah. The Kayenta is dominantly reversed polarity with a number of very short normal polarity intervals. Above the Kayenta and interbedded in the Navajo Sandstone is the Tenney Canyon Tongue of the Kayenta Formation. The lower half of the Ten- ney Canyon Tongue was also sampled and is dominantly normal polarity with three short reversed polarity intervals. The dominantly re- versed magnetostratigraphy of the Kayenta appears to match that of Early Pliensbachian polarity interval “e-Pli R.” The dominance of normal polarity of the Tenney Canyon Tongue suggests that the Tenney Canyon may have been deposited in the upper half of the Pliensbachian polarity interval “ePli-N.” The suggested polarity matches indicate that the Kayenta and Tenney Canyon Tongue strata are 187–190 Ma in age. The paleopoles of the two units are statistically identical. The combined data of the Kayenta-Springdale-Whitmore Point show that the J-1 cusp terminated before the deposition of the Kayenta Formation. The North American continent/pole returned to its Late Triassic position during/after Springdale time, apparently along the same path used to reach the apex of the J-1 cusp. -
Paleontology of the Bears Ears National Monument
Paleontology of Bears Ears National Monument (Utah, USA): history of exploration, study, and designation 1,2 3 4 5 Jessica Uglesich , Robert J. Gay *, M. Allison Stegner , Adam K. Huttenlocker , Randall B. Irmis6 1 Friends of Cedar Mesa, Bluff, Utah 84512 U.S.A. 2 University of Texas at San Antonio, Department of Geosciences, San Antonio, Texas 78249 U.S.A. 3 Colorado Canyons Association, Grand Junction, Colorado 81501 U.S.A. 4 Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706 U.S.A. 5 University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90007 U.S.A. 6 Natural History Museum of Utah and Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Utah, 301 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, Utah 84108-1214 U.S.A. *Corresponding author: [email protected] or [email protected] Submitted September 2018 PeerJ Preprints | https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.3442v2 | CC BY 4.0 Open Access | rec: 23 Sep 2018, publ: 23 Sep 2018 ABSTRACT Bears Ears National Monument (BENM) is a new, landscape-scale national monument jointly administered by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service in southeastern Utah as part of the National Conservation Lands system. As initially designated in 2016, BENM encompassed 1.3 million acres of land with exceptionally fossiliferous rock units. Subsequently, in December 2017, presidential action reduced BENM to two smaller management units (Indian Creek and Shash Jáá). Although the paleontological resources of BENM are extensive and abundant, they have historically been under-studied. Here, we summarize prior paleontological work within the original BENM boundaries in order to provide a complete picture of the paleontological resources, and synthesize the data which were used to support paleontological resource protection. -
Aalenian, Whitby, 124 Abandonment Deposits, 103, 108, 150, 269, 298
Index Aalenian, Whitby, 124 bioturbation abandonment deposits, 103, 108, 150, 269, 298 deltaic deposits, 86 ablation events, 69 Kayenta Formation, 205 Absaroka thrust plate, 322-4 palaeosols, 24 accretionary palaeosols, 24 Rotliegend, 298-9 adhesion ripples, 263, 295 Tumblagooda Sandstone, 220 aggradation bitumen, 324, 331 sandurs, 62-3, 66, 71 bivalves, 146 Willwood Formation, 24, 26 black mudrocks, 106, 134, 149 aggradation rates, 38, 46-7 black shales, 108 algal limestones, 206, 210-11 Bootie Fault, 247 Algeria, earthquakes, 16 borehole spacing, 3 Algodones, 173 boundary shear stress, 61 alluvial fans bounding surfaces footwalls, 13 aeolian, 2, 167 formation of, 11 erosional, 17 hangingwalls, 14 Kayenta Formation, 201,216 Iceland, 53 Page sandstone, 368 Rotliegend, 302, 315 recognition, 80-1,304-45 Rough Gas Field, 266 Brahmaputra River, 37 alluvial plains, 47 braid-plains alluvial ridges, 46 Pennant Sandstone, 143, 151 anhydrites, 182, 276, 286, 298, 303 Texas, !12 anisotropy, fluvial reservoirs, 2 Tumblagooda Sandstone, 226 ankerite, 287, 346 braided rivers, 37, 55, 73 Ann Field, 303 break-up features, 224, 227 Anschutz East Ranch Field, 321-38 Brent Group, 126, 138, 436 antecedent drainage, 16 Bridgnorth Sandstone, 300 Arabian Gulf, 286 Brithdir Beds, 146 attenuation, 424 Broad Fourteens Basin, 315 Auk Field, 377-97 Brownstones Group, 112 autocycles, 162, 199 Buchan Field, 154 avalanche facies, 169-70, 234, 294 buckle folds, Hercynian, 19 axial channels, 15 bulk porosity, 361 axial drainage, 11-12, 15 Bunter Sandstone, 154, 175 -
An Inventory of Non-Avian Dinosaurs from National Park Service Areas
Lucas, S.G. and Sullivan, R.M., eds., 2018, Fossil Record 6. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 79. 703 AN INVENTORY OF NON-AVIAN DINOSAURS FROM NATIONAL PARK SERVICE AREAS JUSTIN S. TWEET1 and VINCENT L. SANTUCCI2 1National Park Service, 9149 79th Street S., Cottage Grove, MN 55016 -email: [email protected]; 2National Park Service, Geologic Resources Division, 1849 “C” Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20240 -email: [email protected] Abstract—Dinosaurs have captured the interest and imagination of the general public, particularly children, around the world. Paleontological resource inventories within units of the National Park Service have revealed that body and trace fossils of non-avian dinosaurs have been documented in at least 21 National Park Service areas. In addition there are two historically associated occurrences, one equivocal occurrence, two NPS areas with dinosaur tracks in building stone, and one case where fossils have been found immediately outside of a monument’s boundaries. To date, body fossils of non- avian dinosaurs are documented at 14 NPS areas, may also be present at another, and are historically associated with two other parks. Dinosaur trace fossils have been documented at 17 NPS areas and are visible in building stone at two parks. Most records of NPS dinosaur fossils come from park units on the Colorado Plateau, where body fossils have been found in Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous rocks at many locations, and trace fossils are widely distributed in Upper Triassic and Jurassic rocks. Two NPS units are particularly noted for their dinosaur fossils: Dinosaur National Monument (Upper Triassic through Lower Cretaceous) and Big Bend National Park (Upper Cretaceous).