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Copyright by Rebecca Helen Jones 2016 The Thesis Committee for Rebecca Helen Jones Certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: Comparative paleoenvironmental and architectural analyses of the Anchor Mine Tongue to Upper Sego interval along the Book Cliffs of Utah and the Rangely Anticline of Colorado APPROVED BY SUPERVISING COMMITTEE: Supervisor: William Fisher Co-Supervisor: Peter Flaig Charles Kerans Comparative paleoenvironmental and architectural analyses of the Anchor Mine Tongue to Upper Sego interval along the Book Cliffs of Utah and the Rangely Anticline of Colorado by Rebecca Helen Jones, B.S. Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geological Sciences The University of Texas at Austin August 2016 Dedication I dedicate this thesis to all of the people who have encouraged me, challenged me, reassured me, and supported me during this processes. Acknowledgements I thank my advisor Dr. Peter Flaig for his endless guidance, patience, optimism, and endless support. This project would have been impossible without you. I truly appreciate the opportunity to work on such a great project. I thank Drs. Fisher and Kerans for their assistance as committee members, their edits, and their support. I extend my endless thanks and appreciation to Stephen Hasiotis, Timothy Prather, and Dolores van der Kolk for their insight and assistance in and out of the field. Thank you Quantitative Clastics Laboratory and Industrial Associate Members for providing funding. Thank you to all my friends I have made during my time at UT. Your camaraderie made this experience so much more enjoyable. Rock Bottom, you will always hold a special place in my heart. Thank you for helping make Austin home for the past two years. Katherine Shover, thank you for being an amazing lab partner and constantly being someone to lean on. Mum and Dad, thank you for your unconditional love and encouragement. Your support helped me through the toughest times and I am forever grateful for the presence you have in my life. Katherine Freeman, your consistent emotional support and encouragement, as well as your ability to make light of even the darkest situations is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your continued optimism and always believing in me. Finally, I thank my brother, Michael Jones, for always reminding me that you truly cannot stop the rock. v Abstract Comparative paleoenvironmental and architectural analyses of the Anchor Mine Tongue to Upper Sego interval along the Book Cliffs of Utah and the Rangely Anticline of Colorado Rebecca H Jones, M.S. Geo. Sci. The University of Texas at Austin, 2016 Supervisor: William Fisher Co-Supervisor: Peter Flaig A recent, revised regional sequence stratigraphic correlation indicates that outcrop belts along the Rangely Anticline, Colorado contains strata that correlate with the Anchor Mine Tongue and upper Sego of the Book Cliffs, Utah. A detailed sedimentologic and ichnologic investigation of the Anchor Mine Tongue and upper Sego (Campanian) equivalent strata exposed the Rangely Anticline in the Piceance Creek Basin of Colorado revealed that these deposits record the evolution of a mixed fluvio-tidal deltaic system with a delta front significantly modified by tides. This system prograded over lower Sego tidal bars. Predominant structures that support this interpretation include combined flow ripples, trough cross-stratification, low-angle planar-lamination, mud drapes, mud rip-up clasts, mud balls, and trace fossils within sands that are interbedded with finer-grained bioturbated sediments. Ichnology was utilized to refine paleoenvironmental interpretations, and to distinguish between: tidally modified distal and proximal delta fronts and river-dominated vi deltas; subaqueous tidal channels and distributary channels; interdistributary bays and tidal flats; and marine mudstones and mud-rich paleosols. The Anchor Mine Tongue and upper Sego stratigraphy that is exposed along the Book Cliffs in the Uinta and Piceance Creek was also investigated using a combined sedimentologic and ichnologic approach. Deposits record a marine transgression followed by renewed progradation of tide-dominated deltas with wave-influence along the distal delta front. Paleoenvironments were similar to those of the Rangely area with the addition of marine shelf, wave-modified proximal prodelta, and tidally influenced, wave-modified distal delta front in the Book Cliffs region. The Anchor Mine Tongue and upper Sego in the Book Cliffs preserves the proximal and distal expressions of tide-dominated systems. The Anchor Mine Tongue and the upper Sego both along the Rangely Anticline and along the Book Cliffs are compared-contrasted. Deposits along the Rangely Anticline exhibit more fluvial-flood dominance than deposits along the Book Cliffs. The Rangely stratigraphy represents a mixed fluvio-tidal system whereas the Book Cliffs stratigraphy is tide-dominated. The distribution and variation of paleoenvironments supports a northwest- southwest trending shoreline during the Campanian. vii Table of Contents List of Tables ........................................................................................................ xii List of Figures ...................................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1 Introduction of Projects ..........................................................................1 Chapter 2 A mixed fluvio-tidal coastline at the marine-continental transition: Anchor Mine Tounge and upper Sego equivalent strata (Campanian) along the Rangely Anticline, Colorado .....................................................................3 Abstract ...........................................................................................................3 Introduction .....................................................................................................4 Geologic History and Nomenclature ..............................................................9 Methods.........................................................................................................12 Facies Analysis .............................................................................................16 Facies Association I (FA-I): Tidally Modified Distal Delta Front ......16 Description ..................................................................................16 Interpretation ...............................................................................20 Facies Association II (FA-II): Tidally Modified Proximal Delta Front .....................................................................................................22 Description ..................................................................................22 Interpretation ...............................................................................25 Facies Association III (FA-III): Tidal Bars .........................................26 Description ..................................................................................26 Interpretation ...............................................................................26 Facies Association IV (FA-IV): Subaqueous Tidal Channels .............30 Description ..................................................................................30 Interpretation ...............................................................................31 Facies Association V (FA-V): River-Flood Dominated Delta ............34 Description ..................................................................................34 Interpretation ...............................................................................34 Facies Association VI (FA-VI): Interdistributary Bay ........................35 viii Description ..................................................................................35 Interpretation ...............................................................................36 Facies Association VII (FA-VII): Tidal Flats ......................................39 Description ..................................................................................39 Interpretation ...............................................................................39 Facies Association VIII (FA-VIII): Distributary Channels .................41 Description ..................................................................................41 Interpretation ...............................................................................42 Facies Association IX (FA-IX): Floodplain and Lower Delta Plain .....................................................................................................45 Facies Association IXa (FA-IXa): Levee-Splay ..................................45 Description ..................................................................................45 Interpretation ...............................................................................46 Facies Association IXb (FA-IXb): Lake-Pond ....................................46 Description ..................................................................................46 Interpretation ...............................................................................47 Facies Association IXc (FA-IXc): Swamp ..........................................47 Description ..................................................................................47 Interpretation ...............................................................................47