Cenozoic Geology of the Cedar City Region and Grand Staircase

Cenozoic Structural Geology

During the late Cretaceous, the subduction zone along the western united states
underwent a major change. The subduction of the Farallon plate under the North
American Plate became much more shallow, altering the deformation style and
magmatism of the western united states. (Rowley et al., 2002). During the Cretaceous,
the subduction angle of the farallon plate as it was sinking beneath the North American
Plate was around 45 degrees (Rowley et al., 2002). At the end of the cretaceous and
beginning of the Cenozoic the Farallon Plate subduction angle shallowed drastically and
began to move almost horizontally underneath the North American Plate (see Fig 1).
The exact cause of the change in subduction angle is currently unknown.

Figure 1. A cross section of the Farallon-Laurentia subduction zone. The four sections show
time progression through the Sevier and Laramide Orogenies. From (Brunsvik et al., 2016)

As the Farallon Plate subduction angle changed, it altered the deformation of the
Western United States. The deformation style before the angle change was thin skinned
deformation shallower in the crust, with compression-induced folding and thrust faults
associated with typical orogenies. The shallow subduction angle caused the Farallon
Plate ride up right underneath the North American Plate, initiating thick-skinned
deformation. Thick skinned deformation is characterized by fault-bounded vertical
uplifts, otherwise known as basement-cored uplifts. Deep crustal material was thrusted

upwards above younger stratigraphy, often times propagating all the way to the surface,
an example being in the Northern Rocky Mountains in Montana. Older Proterozoic rocks
were thrust on top of younger Cretaceous rocks, creating this portion of the Rockies.
Erosional fensters and resistant klippes, like Chief Mountain, allow geologists to piece
together the structural forces of the Laramide Orogeny in this region. Evidence for
Laramide uplift is present in Utah as well. The Kaibab Monocline is a fault propagation
fold from basement cored uplift that did not quite reach the surface. The San Rafael
Swell, the Water Pocket Fold, and the Monument Upwarp are all due to Laramidesourced thick-skinned deformation. The Laramide Orogeny also took advantage of
structural weaknesses from previous orogenies and deformation events. The Uinta
Mountains in northeast Utah are from Laramide compressional forces thrusting up
Proterozoic age rocks to the surface, creating the only east-west striking mountain chain
in the continental United States (Fisher 2004)
The shallowing subduction angle of the Farallon Plate also changed magmatism
throughout the Western United States. During the existence of the Farallon/North
American subduction zone, magmatism was traditional continental arc style. As the
subduction angle swallowed out, it cut off the magmatism of the region. The subduction
angle of the Farallon Plate again changed as it underwent slab rollback (see Fig. 1).
This allowed for hotter asthenospheric material to upwell into the area previously
occupied by the Farallon Plate. The slab rollback of the Farallon Plate also caused
extension of the crust, thinning it and creating zones of weakness as faults that acted as
conduits for magma to reach the surface. This upwelling initiated intraplate volcanism
through zones of weakness, including the Marysvale Volcanic Field.The Marysvale
Volcanic Field formed around 32 Ma with a calc-alkaline trend to its volcanism, and
changed to a bimodal basalt/high silica Rhyolite composition around 20 Ma (Rowley et
al., 2002).
As the Marysvale Volcanic Field evolved over time, it formed various laccoliths.
The Iron Springs Laccolith was emplaced around 20 Ma due to melt traveling up
through vertical dikes into the Bear Valley and Brian Head Formations (Biek 2013). The
Iron Springs Laccolith was formed as this melt spread out into a dome within these
formations. This dome caused structural deformation in the region surrounding it. Field
studies done through SUU have shown that it could be the potential cause of east-west
striking thrust faulting within the Claron Formation in Bryce Canyon National Park. One
fault in particular is thought to have been caused by the Marysvale Volcanic Field, The
Rubys Inn Fault. This fault is a thrust fault striking east-west with its hanging wall
showing movement to the south. This is thought to have been caused by the Iron
Springs Laccolith pushing out material as it grew. The Rubys Inn Fault is due south of
the Iron Springs Laccolith and the southern movement of its hanging wall supports this
theory. In just the footwall of the Rubys Inn Fault there are conjugate joints throughout
the Claron Formation with a north-south oriented sigma one, showing the direction of

maximum compression was north-south. This is another supporting line of evidence for
the Iron Springs Laccolith causing structural deformation in Bryce Canyon.
Another deformational structure caused by the Iron Springs Laccolith and the
Marysvale Volcanic Field is the Markagunt gravity slide. The Markagunt gravity slide
was what has been calculated to be the worlds largest landslide ever. Over 200 sq
miles are thought to have been moved by this huge landslide. The landslide is located
around 15 minutes north of Cedar City, Ut, and has been constrained by associated
bedding to be between 10 to 22 million years old, but most likely 20 Million (Biek 2013).
The lines of evidence for the Markagunt gravity slide had been noted as early as the
1960s but were connected in the 1990s. The body of the slide is the Markagunt
Megabreccia. The cause of the Markagunt gravity slide has been theorized as the Iron
Springs Laccolith causing displacement as it grew, creating the slope necessary for the
mass wasting event. The age and stratigraphy of the landslide match with the formation
of the Iron Springs Laccolith. One interesting thing to note is the existence of glass filled
fractures in the Bear Valley Formation between the contact between it and the above
Mt. Dutton Formation. This has been thought to have been caused by friction melting of
the base of the Markagunt gravity slide as it moved, creating glass and injecting it into
the layer below. The size of the glass veins indicates that it produced very large
amounts of heat, supporting the theory of the massive scale of the slide.
After the deformation caused by slab rollback the Marysvale Volcanic Field
decreased, The region started to undergo extension. This extensional area of the
continent is known as the Basin and Range Province. The continental lithosphere
extended in a east-west trend, creating north-south running normal faults. This zone
runs from the Cedar City area to eastern California. To the east of the Basin and Range
Province is the Colorado Plateau. The Bryce Canyon area is the transition zone
between these two geologic provinces. Starting directly east of Cedar City, a series of
normal faults and cuestas extends to the east until reaching the Colorado Plateau. The
sequence of faults and cuestas are the Hurricane Fault, Markagunt Plateau, Sevier
Fault, Paunsaugunt Plateau, Paunsaugunt Fault, and the Aquarius Plateau. The
hanging walls are down dropped to the west, creating cliff faces and large elevation
changes. The plateaus are all topped by the Claron Formation, which was laid down
from the Paleocene to the Eocene. This shows the extension came after the deposition
of the Claron Formation, indicating that Basin and Range extension came after the
Laramide Orogeny. The normal faults also bisect the Rubys Inn Fault, showing that
extension came afterwards the Marysvale Volcanic Field and its related deformation.
Along the north-south normal faults in this transition zone are large amounts of
deposited basalt. This is unusual within a continent due petrologic processes that
evolve rising magmas into Dacite/Rhyolite. The reason for basalt being there is the
same reason for the normal faulting. Basin and Range extension thinned the crust,
giving less time for magmas to evolve. Also, the magma rose through the planes of
weakness caused by faulting, allowing the magma to rise much faster than usual. These

two factors of thin crust and rapid rise due to structural weakness creating pathways
explain why there is highly mafic volcanic rock in the transition zone.

Cenozoic Stratigraphy and sedimentation

The stratigraphy of the Cenozoic is best represented and exposed in the Claron
Formation. This formation is what makes up the world famous hoodoos of Bryce
Canyon National park. The composition of the Claron Formation varies within its
different layers, but has an overall trend of limestone and limy silt/mud/sandstones.
There is varying induration within the Claron Formation , giving rise to layers of differing
competency. The beds have mottled colors and textures. Within the beds there are silica
veins throughout going up-layer. These observations indicate a lake/fluvial depositional
environment where there was abundant plant and animal life. The mottled textures can
indicate paleosols, showing favorable depositional environments where the paleosols
would have time to evolve. Within the layers there are small irregular pebble
conglomerates, indicating a sudden shift in the hydrous environment. This could be a
transition from lake to fluvial or a small change in stratigraphy elevation.
The Claron Formation has a pebbly conglomerate layer directly above it. Also,
the depositional time of the Claron Formation coincides with the Laramide Orogeny. The
Claron formation was subsequently broken up by Basin and Range extension into the
arrangement we mostly see today. The Colorado Plateau to the east underwent serious
displacement and uplift relative to the Basin and Range Province to the east. One
theory of the cause of the uplift of the Colorado Plateau is basal lithosphere
delamination from 35 to 25 Ma. The lithosphere underneath the Colorado Plateau
became hydrated and subsequently delaminated from the rest of the crust due to
buoyancy differences. This caused isostatic rebound of the crust, elevating the Colorado
Plateau(A. Lavender et al., 2011). After the Colorado Plateau was uplifted the amount of
erosion increased. Canyons were carved out and high places were getting worn down.
The exact sequence of events of canyon erosion are still debated, if they were there
before uplift and simply continued eroding, or were started on younger rocks that were
eroded from the rock record. This erosion continued up until the present day, where
erosional forces are still shaping the diverse landscape around us.

References
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