Jurassic-Cretaceous Orogen-Basin Linkages: Stratigraphy and Geochronology of the Western Interior Basin, Alberta and Montana
Abstract
Foreland basins form and fill in response to convergent-margin tectonism; as such, in this thesis the detrital zircon and stratigraphic record of the Western Interior basin
(Montana-Alberta) are studied in order to deduce the geological history the North
American Cordillera.
Detrital zircon data presented here are generally characterized by either: (1) diverse
detrital zircon spectra that reflect recycling from pre-foreland sedimentary strata; and (2) detrital zircon spectra dominated by Mesozoic populations, which indicate provenance dominated by the Cordilleran magmatic arc. The spatial and temporal variation amongst populations from across the basin suggest that the orogen evolved through cyclic pulses of tectonism, and that intrabasinal topography and wedge-top evolution significantly influenced development of sediment-routing systems across the basin. Pulses of arc activity are linked to increased subsidence in the basin, which are commonly reflected in stacking patterns of Early Cretaceous fluvial strata.
Description
Keywords
Geology
Citation
Quinn, G. M. (2016). Jurassic-Cretaceous Orogen-Basin Linkages: Stratigraphy and Geochronology of the Western Interior Basin, Alberta and Montana (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26695