Correlation of Aptian-Albian Carbon Isotope Excursions in Continental Strata of the Cretaceous Foreland Basin, Eastern Utah, U.S.A.

Abstract

Abstract Nodular carbonates (“calcretes”) in continental foreland-basin strata of the Early Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation (CMF) in eastern Utah yield δ13C and δ18O records of changes in the exogenic carbon cycle related to oceanic anoxic events (OAEs), and terrestrial paleoclimate. Chemostratigraphic profiles of both forebulge and foredeep sections show two prominent positive δ13C excursions, each with a peak value of −3%0 VPDB, and having background δ13C values of about −6%0 VPDB. These excursions correlate with the global early Aptian (Ap7) and late Aptian–early Albian (Ap12-Al1) carbon isotope excursions. Aptian–Albian positive δ13C excursions in the CMF also correspond to 3–4 per mil increases in carbonate δ18O. These phenomena record local aridification events. The chemostratigraphic profile on the thinner forebulge section of the CMF is calibrated, for the first time, by a radiogenic U-Pb date of 119.4 ± 2.6 Ma on a carbonate bed, and by detrital zircon U-Pb dates on two bounding sandstone units (maximum depositional ages of 146 Ma and 112 Ma). Petrographic observations and diagenetic analyses of micritic to microsparitic carbonates from nodules indicate palustrine origins and demonstrate that they crystallized in shallow early meteoric phreatic environments. Meteoric calcite lines derived from CMF carbonates have δ18O values ranging between −8.1 to −7.5%0 VPDB, supporting an estimate of zonal mean groundwater δ18O of −6%0 VSMOW for an Aptian–Albian paleolatitude of 34° N. Furthermore, our two chemostratigraphic profiles exhibit a generally proportionate thinning of correlative strata from the foredeep on to the forebulge, suggesting that there were consistently lower rates of accumulation on the forebulge during the Aptian–Albian. Identification of the global Aptian–Albian δ13C excursions in purely continental strata, as demonstrated in this paper, opens a new avenue of research by identifying specific stratigraphic intervals that record the terrestrial paleoclimatic impacts of perturbations of the global carbon cycle.