Stratigraphy and Depositional Environments of Lower and Middle Cambrian Strata in the Lake Mead Region, Southern Nevada and Northwestern Arizona
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UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-1997 Stratigraphy And Depositional Environments Of Lower And Middle Cambrian Strata In The Lake Mead Region, Southern Nevada And Northwestern Arizona Joseph Kirk Hardy University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Hardy, Joseph Kirk, "Stratigraphy And Depositional Environments Of Lower And Middle Cambrian Strata In The Lake Mead Region, Southern Nevada And Northwestern Arizona" (1997). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 6. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/v7dt-e0l5 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. 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Dissertation contains pages with print at a slant, filmed as received 16. Other University Microfilms International STRATIGRAPHY AND DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS OF LOWER AND MIDDLE CAMBRIAN STRATA IN THE LAKE MEAD REGION, SOUTHERN NEVADA AND NORTHWESTERN ARIZONA by Joseph Kirk Hardy A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Geology Department of Geoscience University of Nevada, Las Vegas December, 1986 The thesis of Joseph Kirk Hardy for the degree of Master of Science is approved. h . Chairperson, Stephen M. Rowland A jlJL Examinjing Conunittee Member, Margaret N. Rees Examining Committee Member, Frederick W. Bachhuber Graduate Faculty Representative, Evangelos A. Yfantis Graduate Dean, Ronald W. Smith University of Nevada Las Vegas, Nevada December, 1986 ©1988 JOSEPH KIRK HARDY All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Lower and Middle Cambrian strata in the Lake Mead region of southern Nevada and northwestern Arizona are divisible into four lithologically heterogeneous formations. The oldest of these, the Lower Cambrian Tapeats Sandstone, rests nonconformably upon Proterozoic crystalline basement rocks, is characteristically cross stratified, and consists primarily of medium- to thick- bedded, medium to coarse sand-sized, well-sorted, subrounded, texturally supermature, silica-cemented quartzarenite. The recessive Lower and Middle Cambrian Pioche Shale gradationally overlies the Tapeats Sandstone and consists of greenish or reddish mudrock interbedded with thin lenses or beds of cross-stratified, glauconitic sandstone. A reddish, ledge-forming, flaggy sandstone unit— herein informally named the Diamond Bar Sandstone Member— occurs in the upper half of the Pioche Shale in all but northernmost parts of the study area. The cliff- forming, Middle Cambrian Lyndon Limestone gradationally overlies the Pioche Shale and typically consists of a light gray or light brown weathering, medium- to thick- bedded, very well indurated, partially recrystallized and dolomitized limestone. The youngest formation studied, the Middle Cambrian Chisholm Shale, sharply overlies the Lyndon Limestone and typically consists of greenish or iii. reddish mudrock intercalated with thin grainstone beds. The Lyndon and Chisholm formations show an antithetic thickness relationship that suggests the existence of a generally east-west oriented, early Middle Cambrian carbonate bank near the center of the study area. Nine intergradational lithofacies are recognized within Lower and Middle Cambrian strata in the Lake Mead region. Each of these facies is inferred to represent a shallow-subtidal, intertidal, or supratidal paleoenvironment. The depositional model proposed for these lithofacies, based solely on vertical facies relationships with limited biostratigraphic control, involves seaward progradation of terrigenous siliciclastic sediments and the expansion of carbonate-accumulation areas in response to variation in the rates of relative sea-level rise and sedimentation. During times of slow relative sea-level rise, terrigenous siliciclastics were deposited throughout that portion of the Cambrian shelf that now lies within the study area. When the rate of relative sea-level rise was rapid, however, siliciclastic sedimentation was confined to coastal areas, allowing carbonates to accumulate. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction......................................................1 Purpose....................................................... 1 Regional Setting............................................ 2 Methods of study............................................ 5 Previous study: Stratigraphy............................ 14 Lake Mead region...................................... 14 Grand Canyon region...................................17 Pioche region..........................................19 Spring Mountains--Death Valley region.............21 Previous study: Depositional environments.............. 24 Lake Mead region...................................... 24 Grand Canyon region...................................24 Pioche region..........................................27 Spring Mountains— Death Valley region.............28 Stratigraphy.....................................................35 Spring Mountains— Death Valley region...................35 Pioche region...............................................36 Grand Canyon region....................................... 38 Lake Mead region........................................... 42 Tapeats Sandstone..................................... 48 Pioche Shale........................................... 59 Lyndon Limestone...................................... 70 Chisholm Shale.........................................77 Summary...................................................... 81 Paleoenvironmental Analysis...................................85 Facies description.........................................85 Facies A: Thinly bedded, friable sandstone..........................................85