--> Abstract: LANDSAT-Useful Petroleum Exploration Tool in Idaho-Wyoming Thrust Belt, by J. F. Conrad, Don Erickson, W. V. Trollinger; #90967 (1977).

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Abstract: LANDSAT-Useful Petroleum Exploration Tool in Idaho-Wyoming Thrust Belt

J. F. Conrad, Don Erickson, W. V. Trollinger

Much of the complexly deformed thrust belt of Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah is covered by Tertiary rocks. A detailed photogeologic study, using color aerial photography, followed by a regional tectonic analysis employing LANDSAT imagery and Skylab photography has shown that numerous folds, linear flexures, faults, and fractures are reflected in the Tertiary rocks. These structures provide clues to the location of buried structures and paleotopographic features related to thrust fault deformation in Cretaceous and older units.

Examples include the area of the present Uinta Mountains (Tooele arch), which acted as a buttress to impede the eastward motion of major thrust plates. A zone of northeasterly trending drainage alignments located on the north flank of the Uinta Mountains is apparent on LANDSAT imagery. These drainage alignments may reflect fractures related to differential movement on major thrust plates.

In general, a LANDSAT tectonic analysis combined with a detailed photogeologic study allows a more thorough classification and interpretation of alignments and their relation to other structural features.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90967©1977 GCAGS and GC Section SEPM 27th Annual Meeting, Austin, Texas