SEDIMENTOLOGY AND CHEMOSTRATIGRAPHY OF THE DEVIL’S GATE SECTION OF THE NEWARK CANYON FORMATION

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

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Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/5q47rp326

Abstract

The Cretaceous Newark Canyon Formation in central Nevada lies in the hinterland of the Sevier fold-thrust belt. This formation is the oldest syn-contractional unit associated with the Sevier Orogeny, which resulted from significant crustal thickening at the time. The Newark Canyon Formation was deposited during times of climatic fluctuation in the Early Cretaceous. Sedimentological description, clast counts, and bulk organic carbon analyses were used to determine the depositional environment, provenance, and chemostratigraphy of the Devil’s Gate Section of the Newark Canyon Formation. Sediments deposited in conglomerate beds were likely sourced from Mississippian to Permian-aged sediments that were deformed and exposed by the Garamendi anticline. Facies analysis of the Devil’s Gate Section suggests that it was deposited first by a low energy river and lake, which transitioned to a braided river, and then finally to an anastomosing river. Sedimentological description, clast count analyses, and bulk organic carbon analyses of the Devil’s Gate Section of the Newark Canyon Formation help to understand deformation related to the Nevadaplano and the greater Sevier fold-thrust belt and provide information on the climate of Nevada during the Early Cretaceous.

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