Stages of sedimentary prism development on a convergent margin — Eocene Tyee Forearc Basin, Coast Range, Oregon, USA

Abstract

Architecture of ancient forearc basin successions can be difficult to reconstruct because of the widespread syn-depositional and post-depositional deformations experienced by many forearc basin-fills. For this reason various techniques have been used for reconstructing forearc basin-infill geometry, including geochemical correlation. The Tyee Basin succession exposed in Coast Range of Western Oregon, USA, is an Eocene forearc-fill that includes genetically related non-marine, shallow marine and deepwater clastic deposits and is gently deformed. Reconstruction of the depositional geometry of the Tyee Basin succession from detailed outcrop and subsurface data reveals two distinct stages of development for this active basin-margin. These stages are characterized by two different basin-margin clinoform architectures and also by a pronounced change in the character of the associated deepwater deposits. During the initial stage, the basin-margin clinoforms are smaller (<250m clinoform height) and strongly progradational, with clinoform topset dominated by fluvial deposits. At this stage thick sand-rich unconfined turbidite beds accumulated on the slope segment of the clinoforms and extended out onto the basin-floor. Large scale slope conduits such as slope channels or canyons, are notably absent in this stage. The second stage is characterized by larger clinoform height (>500m), a greater degree of topset aggradation with repeated fluvio-deltaic cycles on the shelf, and well-organized, large turbidite channels on the slope. The turbidite channels supplied medium-grained sands to the extensive, stacked basin-floor fans. The first stage described above marks the early development of a shelf-slope prism on the Tyee continental margin, and has been interpreted by some earlier workers as an unique category of basin-margin architecture, termed as a ‘submarine ramp’. However, this was only the initial stage of development of the Tyee margin and it was followed by a period of basin-filling when repeated fluvial and shallow marine shelf-transit cycles fed well-organized turbidite channels on the slope as well as Tyee Basin floor fans. The large volume of sediment deposited during the initial stage, resulted from of the unique geometry of the Tyee Basin, as influenced by the presence of pre-existing topography on the accreted oceanic basement underlying the Tyee succession.