Variation in Sedimentology and Architecture of Eocene Alluvial Strata, Wind River and Washakie Basins, Wyoming

PATTERSON, PENNY E., and EDWIN E. LARSON, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

Eocene continental, alluvial strata of the Wind River Formation (Wind River Basin) and the Cathedral Bluffs Member of the Wasatch Formation (Washakie basin) provide two examples of Laramide intermontane basin aggradation. These alluvial sediments primarily represent overbank flood deposits marginal to channel complexes. Their sedimentology and architecture, although grossly similar, appear to vary somewhat with proximity to Laramide uplifts.

In both cases, repetitive sedimentation on the floodplain produced a succession of depositional couplets, each composed of a light-gray sand overlain by a red clay-rich silt or sand. The lower sands are tabular bodies that, near their distal margins, taper discernibly. They commonly display planar and ripple-drift laminations. Upper clay-rich layers, which are laminated, are also generally tabular. They vary in thickness, however, in accordance with local topography on the alluvial surface and inversely with the thickness of the underlying sand.

Those floodplain strata deposited proximal to Laramide uplifts show little evidence of scouring prior to deposition of the next, overlying couplet. Most of these sedimentary layers, therefore, are laterally continuous (up to 2 km). This alluvial architecture results in relatively uniform porosity laterally within depositional units but variable porosity stratigraphically through the sequence. In contrast, alluvial sediments deposited farther from the Laramide uplifts have undergone sporadic incision (either during rising flood stage or subsequently) followed by aggradation. As a result, many of these floodplain couplets are discontinuous laterally and, hence, exhibit large-scale lateral variability in porosity. Both alluvial sequences have undergone similar types and extents of burial diagenesis.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91004 © 1991 AAPG Annual Convention Dallas, Texas, April 7-10, 1991 (2009)