Kerry F. Inman

Bio: Kerry F. Inman is an academic researcher from University of Arizona. The author has contributed to research in topics: Provenance & Cretaceous. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 2 publications receiving 1456 citations.

Provenance of North American Phanerozoic sandstones in relation to tectonic setting

Abstract: Framework modes of terrigenous sandstones reflect derivation from various types of provenance terranes that depend upon plate-tectonic setting. Triangular QFL and QmFLt compositional diagrams for plotting point counts of sandstones can be subdivided into fields that are characteristic of sandstone suites derived from the different kinds of provenance terranes controlled by plate tectonics. Three main classes of provenance are termed “continental blocks,” “magmatic arcs,” and “recycled orogens.” Sandstone suites from each include three variants, of which the subfields lie within the larger subdivisions. Average modes for sandstone suites can be classified provisionally according to tectonic setting using the subdivided QFL and QmFLt plots. To test the validity of the classification, average modes for 233 Phanerozoic sandstone suites from North America were plotted on the triangular compositional diagrams and accompanying paleotectonic maps. Paired maps and ternary diagrams were prepared for eight different time slices, for each of which the tectonic setting of each major region within the continent remained relatively unchanged. Time slices are unequal in length but are controlled by the timing of major orogenic and rifting events that affected North America during the Phanerozoic. Comparison of the sandstone compositions with inferred tectonic setting through the Phanerozoic indicates that the proposed classification scheme is generally valid and yields satisfactory results when applied on a broad scale. Its application, together with other approaches, in regions of the world where over-all trends of geologic history are less well known could lead to important conclusions about the timing and nature of major tectonic events.

Sandstone Detrital Modes, Central Utah Foreland Region: Stratigraphic Record of Cretaceous-Paleogene Tectonic Evolution

Abstract: Within a sedimentary basin, the analysis of sandstone petrofacies defined by detrital modes of framework grains is a powerful means to detect areal or temporal changes in provenance related to evolving paleotectonics and paleogeography. In the central Utah foreland, the regional tectonic transition from thin-skinned Sevier thrusting during the Late Cretaceous to deep-seated Laramide deformation during the Paleogene is recorded by four contrasting petrofacies in uppermost Cretaceous and Paleogene sandstones of fluvial and deltaic facies. Coeval subaqueous environments were marine during the Cretaceous and lacustrine during the Paleogene. The Cretaceous quartzose petrofacies (Qm93, F1, Lt6) of mainly Campanian age was derived from sedime tary sources in the active Sevier thrust belt, and transported into a broad adjacent foreland basin by transverse paleocurrents. The heterogeneous Cretaceous quartzolithic petrofacies (Qm40-70, F5-20, Lt25-40) of uppermost Campanian age was derived from the Sevier orogenic belt during the waning phases of Sevier tectonism, and was distributed by longitudinal paleocurrents within a foreland basin whose floor had begun to be deformed by incipient Laramide tectonism. The Paleogene feldspathic petrofacies (Qm50, F35, Lt15) in Paleocene and Eocene strata is composed of arkosic detritus that was derived principally from basement rocks then exposed in the extensive San Luis uplift of Laramide age in south-central Colorado. The feldspathic sand was transported to the Laramide Uinta Basin and vicinity in Utah by a trunk river which flowed generally northwestward between monoclinal Laramide uplifts of the Colorado Plateau. The Paleogene quartzolithic petrofacies (Qm75, F2, Lt23) of dominantly Eocene age was derived mainly from sedimentary sources in the Laramide Uinta uplift to the north, but also in part from similar sources in the dormant Sevier thrust belt to the west. In the Rocky Mountain and intermountain regions, more widespread and systematic use of petrofacies analysis, in combination with standard paleocurrent and lithofacies analyses, could lead to better definition of the timing of Laramide uplift and improved understandi g of the evolution of complex Laramide paleogeography.

Interpreting Provenance Relations from Detrital Modes of Sandstones

Abstract: Detrital modes of sandstone suites primarily reflect the different tectonic settings of provenance terranes, although various other sedimentological factors also influence sandstone compositions. Comparisons of sandstone compositions are aided by grouping diverse grain types into a few operational categories having broad genetic significance. Compositional fields associated with different provenances can then be displayed on standard triangular diagrams.

Determination of Tectonic Setting of Sandstone-Mudstone Suites Using $SiO_{2}$ Content and $K_{2}O/Na_{2}O$ Ratio

Abstract: Several previous studies have shown that sandstones from different tectonic settings possess characteristic chemistry, particularly $$SiO_{2}$$ content and $$K_{2}O/Na_{2}O$$ ratio. Systematic vari...