Depositional history of the southeastern outcrop belt of the Chuckanut Formation: implications for the Darrington – Devil's Mountain and Straight Creek fault zones, Washington (U.S.A.)

Abstract

The southeastern outcrop belt of the Eocene Chuckanut Formation contains the erosional remnants of a larger depositional system. In the study area, the Chuckanut Formation can be split into four units based upon differences in age, lithology, sedimentology, paleocurrents, and provenance relationships. The Coal Mountain unit (Early Eocene) represents a southwest-flowing fluvial system that shows no evidence for fault control of drainage. The overlying Higgins Mountain unit (early Middle Eocene) represents a northeast-flowing fluvial system east of the Devil's Mountain fault zone (DMFZ), with lithologies derived from western source areas. The Sperry Peak unit (early Middle Eocene) represents a fluvial system with a wide dispersion of paleocurrent azimuths and a possible mixture of sediment source areas. We believe the Sperry Peak unit was deposited in a fault-wedge graben at the junction of the DMFZ and Straight Creek fault zone (SCFZ), with sediment sources from both east and west. The Grade Creek unit (age unknown) is a fluvial unit found along the trace of the SCFZ with paleo-flow subparallel to the fault zone. The sedimentary evidence suggests that onset of Paleogene faulting on the DMFZ and SCFZ was at about 50–48 Ma, while movement on the Darrington fault zone may have been later (post-42 Ma).