Extensive thin sequences spanning Cretaceous foredeep suggest high-frequency eustatic control: Late Cenomanian, Western Canada foreland basin

Abstract

Research Article| August 01, 2007 Extensive thin sequences spanning Cretaceous foredeep suggest high-frequency eustatic control: Late Cenomanian, Western Canada foreland basin A. Guy Plint; A. Guy Plint 1Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Michael A. Kreitner Michael A. Kreitner 1Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Geology (2007) 35 (8): 735–738. https://doi.org/10.1130/G23662A.1 Article history received: 08 Jan 2007 rev-recd: 06 Mar 2007 accepted: 23 Mar 2007 first online: 09 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation A. Guy Plint, Michael A. Kreitner; Extensive thin sequences spanning Cretaceous foredeep suggest high-frequency eustatic control: Late Cenomanian, Western Canada foreland basin. Geology 2007;; 35 (8): 735–738. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G23662A.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Early-late Cenomanian rocks of the Doe Creek unit are near the base of the Kaskapau Formation and were deposited in a broad, very shallow embayment that occupied the foredeep of the Western Canada foreland basin. The Doe Creek unit consists of 13 upward-shoaling sequences, typically 3–10 m thick. Subsurface correlation shows that sequences can be traced for 100–350 km from the fore-deep toward the forebulge. On the proximal and distal margins of the embayment, each sequence is capped by a flooding surface, commonly underlain by a paleosol developed in marine mudstone. In the center of the embayment, most sequences are capped by one or more isolated, sharp-based sandstone bodies interpreted as lowstand delta-front deposits. Flooding surfaces on top of each sequence are continuously traceable in well logs from the foredeep to the vicinity of the forebulge, implying simultaneous transgression across the basin. Every sequence shows an abrupt upward shallowing, usually to emergence, that was caused by accommodation loss, not sediment accumulation. A vertical relative sea-level excursion of ∼10 m on a time scale spanning a maximum range of ∼9–74 k.y. is estimated for each sequence. Because transgressions and regressions appear to be in phase across the basin, sequences are better explained by eustasy rather than by flexural reciprocal sedimentation: a glacioeustatic mechanism provides the most likely explanation. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.