Distribution of compaction bands in 3D in an aeolian sandstone: The role of cross-bed orientation

Abstract

We report the occurrence of bed-parallel and high-angle compaction bands as well as crooked or wiggly compaction bands in the aeolian Aztec Sandstone exposed throughout the Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada. Field observations at several locations within the Park show that depositional domains (dune units characterized by cross-beds therein) with particular ranges of cross-bed orientations corresponding to certain deformational/structural domains (compaction bands of different orientations) occur adjacent to each other in a consistent pattern. We distinguish three architectural categories of depositional and structural domains: 1) cross-beds with bed-parallel compaction bands, 2) cross-beds with high-angle compaction bands, and 3) cross-beds with both bed-parallel and high-angle compaction bands overlapping in a relatively narrow transition zone. The field data demonstrates that the orientation of the cross-beds for each of these domains falls into a certain range. In fact, there is a strong correlation between the bottom set and high-angle compaction bands and the top set and the low-angle bed-parallel compaction bands. This implies that the cross-bed heterogeneity and the resulting mechanical anisotropy may play a significant role in the formation, orientation, distribution, and compartmentalization of compaction bands in the study area. Data sets on the dimensions of both depositional and structural domains indicate that they are interrelated and show a wide range of distributions.There is plenty of evidence for contemporaneous age relationships between compaction bands of various orientations. Based on this temporal relationship, we propose that at least one set of bands, and perhaps all of them, accommodated primarily localized compaction oblique to the principal planes of stress. Alternatively, if each set of the compaction bands represents the principal planes, then, the stress orientation must have varied spatially, perhaps due to the anisotropy of the aeolian medium with variable cross-bed orientation.