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Floodplain evolution during the early Paleogene within the Piceance Creek Basin, northwest Colorado, U.S.A

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Abstract

Characteristics of floodplain strata document local, regional, and even global paleoenvironmental conditions. In this study, we examine floodplain deposition within the early Paleogene Wasatch Formation in the Piceance Creek Basin of northwestern Colorado, U.S.A., using sedimentology, environmental magnetism, and whole-rock geochemistry with the purpose to constrain the long-term influence of boundary conditions on basin-scale depositional patterns. Overbank strata represent a spectrum of floodplain environments from organic-rich swamps and poorly drained floodplains to well-drained, oxidized paleosols that are identifiable as distinct lithofacies. For each facies, there is a high degree of coherence between pedogenic features and magnetic properties that support drainage variation as a dominant control on floodplain development. We characterize the frequency of occurrence for depositional facies through the basin by integrating three new stratigraphic sections with fluvial and geochemical records from previous studies. In addition, we present a new subsidence analysis for the Piceance Creek Basin to aid in our understanding of temporal trends. Floodplain deposition shifts from poorly drained conditions to well-drained conditions from the Paleocene to early Eocene. This difference in long-term overbank deposition between the two epochs corresponds with an increase in basin subsidence rates. Moreover, the change in floodplain deposition is mimicked in other Laramide basins within the Western Interior of the United States, which suggests a coherent regional shift and driver. This shift correlates with a major phase of Laramide tectonism linked with accelerated basin subsidence rates, increased uplift rates, and higher paleoelevations in the Rocky Mountain region. We suggest these factors, potentially along with long-term global warming trends into the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum, led to greater trapping of sediment within Laramide basins during the Eocene and depressed water tables, which were reflected in floodplain characteristics. Surprisingly, the impact of the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum, a ~ 200 kyr global warming event, did not generate distinct changes in paleosol development apart from an abbreviated increase in the prevalence of crevasse splay events. This observation is coherent with coeval fluvial lithofacies indicative of peaked river discharge and enhanced river mobility, which may imply greater rainfall variability during the hyperthermal event.

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Acknowledgements

L. Gipson, R. Reynolds, and D. Foreman are thanked for assistance with fieldwork. Funding for this study was partially provided by a National Geographic Society Research and Exploration Grant (#9867-16) to B.Z.F. and internal funds from Carleton College and Western Washington University to A.K.L., D.P.M., and B.Z.F. Part of this work was performed as a Visiting Fellow (D.P.M.) at the Institute for Rock Magnetism (IRM) at the University of Minnesota. The IRM is a US National Multi-user Facility supported through the Instrumentation and Facilities Division of the National Science Foundation, Earth Sciences Division, and by funding from the University of Minnesota. O. Lieber-Kotz, O. Laub, and A. Papajohn are thanked for assistance with magnetic measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, 98225, USA

    Brady Z. Foreman, Anna K. Lesko, Dirk M. Rasmussen & Eve F. Lalor

  2. Department of Geology, Carleton College, Northfield, MN, 55057, USA

    Daniel P. Maxbauer

  3. Department of Geosciences, Baylor University, Waco, TX, 76798, USA

    Anna K. Lesko

  4. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40506, USA

    Andrea M. Erhardt

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Correspondence to Brady Z. Foreman.

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Communicated by M. V. Alves Martins.

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Foreman, B.Z., Maxbauer, D.P., Lesko, A.K. et al. Floodplain evolution during the early Paleogene within the Piceance Creek Basin, northwest Colorado, U.S.A. J. Sediment. Environ. 7, 711–744 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43217-022-00117-3

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