Short-term sediment accumulation rates determined from Eocene alluvial paleosols

Authors

Mary J. Kraus, University of Colorado
Thomas M. Bown, U.S. Geological Survey

Date of this Version

1993

Comments

Published in GEOLQGY, v. 21, p. 743-746, August 1993.

Abstract

A new method uses alluvial paleosols to calculate sediment accumulation rates for thin (25 m) stratigraphic intervals and allows the reliable interpolation of ages for stratigraphic levels within a thick stratigraphic interval bounded by established dates. Sediment accumulation rates calculated for a 650 m composite section in the Eocene Willwood Formation of Wyoming span time intervals ranging from only 0.05 to 0.25 may. Important sedimentologic changes coincide with changes in accumulation rate and indicate close and direct relations between the history of basin subsidence and depositional patterns.