COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Correlation and Significance of Super Bounding Surfaces in Eolian Sandstones: Jurassic PageSandstone, Colorado Plateau

由于缺乏内部对比的工具，对风成沉积的研究一直受到严重阻碍。然而，最近对风成单元内的不整合面(称为超边界面)的识别允许进行局部和区域对比，并识别组成风成单元的不同的遗传序列。这些不整合代表了沙海发育的间歇期，是气候、构造和海平面事件的结果。有人建议将这一新概念应用于科罗拉多高原侏罗纪佩奇砂岩的研究。该单元在原始佩奇沙海的整个宽度上提供了出色的、几乎连续暴露的露头，进入了横向相邻的卡梅尔海相地层。到目前为止，工作已经识别出佩奇砂岩中的几个超级表面。构成佩奇砂岩的基因序列是截然不同的。拟议的工作包括(1)识别佩奇内部的超表面，(2)通过一系列紧密相距的地层剖面将这些超表面与卡梅尔组进行仔细对比，(3)描述和解释由表面限定的成因序列，以及(4)解决超表面发育的原因和沙海形成的脉冲。这项工作的意义在于，这是一项开创性的研究，开发了用于理解横向广泛的厚风成层序的超边界曲面工具。人们认为，这些不整合面对于了解风成单位的成因历史具有巨大的价值，并有可能在风成单位对比中发挥作用。

Studies of eolian deposits have been severely handicapped by the lack of tools for internal correlation. However, recent recognition of unconformities within eolian units (termed super bounding surfaces) allows local and regional correlation, and the recognition of distinct genetic sequences composing eolian units. These unconformities represent hiatuses in sand-sea development and result from climatic, tectonic, and eustatic events. It is proposed to apply this new concept to a study of the Jurassic Page Sandstone on the Colorado Plateau. This unit affords excellent, almost continuously exposed outcrops across the entire breadth of the original Page sand sea into the laterally adjacent Carmel marine formation. Work thus far has recognized several super surfaces in the Page Sandstone. The genetic sequences that compose the Page Sandstone are distinct. The proposed work consists of (1) identifying super surfaces within the Page, (2) carefully correlating these through a series of closely spaced stratigraphic sections into the Carmel Formation, (3) describing and interpreting genetic sequences bounded by the surfaces, and (4) addressing the causes of the super-surface development and pulses of sandsea formation. The significance of this work is that is is a pioneer study developing the tools of super bounding surfaces for understanding laterally extensive, thick eolian sequences. It is believed that these unconformable surfaces can be of tremendous value in understanding the genetic history of eolian units, and potentially of utility in correlation of eolian units.