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Initiation of Eocene Lacustrine Sedimentation in the Greater Green River Basin: Luman Member of the Green River Formation

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Book cover Stratigraphy and Paleolimnology of the Green River Formation, Western USA

Part of the book series: Syntheses in Limnogeology ((SYNLIMNO,volume 1))

Abstract

The Luman Member is the lowermost unit of the lacustrine Green River Formation, and provides an opportunity to examine in detail the initiation of lacustrine deposition within the Greater Green River Basin during the Early Eocene. Well-drained alluvial and fluvial strata of the Wasatch Formation are overlain by carbonaceous mudstone, channelized sandstone and isolated interbedded pond deposits of the lower Luman Member, which are in turn overlain by laterally extensive calcareous mudstone of the upper Luman Member, and together record a conformable progression alluvial to paludal to lacustrine environments. Here we describe alluvial, paludal and lacustrine lithofacies along a basin-scale transect through the Luman Member depocenter. Based on detailed correlation of Luman Member strata, freshwater lakes formed first in isolated regions of high subsidence to the east and west of the Rock Springs Uplift, then expanded and became more prone to carbonate deposition.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dana Geary, Anders Carlson, Patty Blankenberger, Rebecca Tedford, and Brandon Norsted for their assistance. Portions of this work were funded by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Conoco, and Texaco.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1215 W. Dayton St., Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Brooke Ann Norsted & Alan R. Carroll

  2. School of Earth Science and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, 602 S. Humphreys, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011, USA

    Michael Elliot Smith

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  1. Brooke Ann Norsted
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  2. Alan R. Carroll
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Correspondence to Michael Elliot Smith .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth Science and Environmental Sustainablity, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

    Michael Elliot Smith

  2. Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

    Alan R. Carroll

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Norsted, B.A., Carroll, A.R., Smith, M.E. (2015). Initiation of Eocene Lacustrine Sedimentation in the Greater Green River Basin: Luman Member of the Green River Formation. In: Smith, M., Carroll, A. (eds) Stratigraphy and Paleolimnology of the Green River Formation, Western USA. Syntheses in Limnogeology, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9906-5_2

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