Spatial and temporal cycle variations in the Eocene Lacustrine Green River Formation, Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado

Abstract

Lithological cycles in the lacustrine Green River Formation of the Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado, vary spatially and temporally, and are challenging to correlate across the basin. In the center of the basin, lacustrine deposits contain bedded evaporites and kerogen-rich carbonate mudstone, whereas basin margin deposits contain alluvial sandstone, kerogen-poor mudstone, stromatolite, and mud cracks. Because coarsening upward cycles identified at the basin center differ significantly from cycles at the basin margin, exactly how cycle boundaries extend from one location in the basin to another is commonly unclear. In this investigation, eleven lithofacies are identified based on rock composition, sedimentary textures, physical sedimentary structures, biogenic structures, and chemical features. Lithofacies are grouped into four facies associations: (1) Alluvial Facies Association; (2) Shoreline Facies Association; (3) Shallow Lake Facies Association; and (4) Deep Lake Facies Association. Lithological cycles in the Green River Formation vary temporally and spatially, with each stratigraphic section preserving a record of deposition in a particular area of the basin as the Piceance lake evolved. To address the temporal and spatial variation of the cycles, multiple “type” cycles are described for each location in the study area. Facies associations and temporal stacking of cycles suggest that the Piceance lake was initially a deep, freshwater lake, following the Long Point transgression, as lake level rose above the Douglas Creek Arch to fill both the Uinta and Piceance Creek basins. Lake levels then stabilized but later began a period of increased fluctuation. Following basin closure, the Piceance lake became hypersaline under evaporative concentration conditions, precipitating nahcolite and halite at the basin center, with exposure of mudflats at the basin margin. The lake would remain this way until the Mahogany transgression deepened and diluted the lake. Together, facies associations and “type” cycles described in the Green River Formation lacustrine deposits reveal a record of lateral and vertical facies changes that occurred in the Piceance lake during its evolution.