Two-phase stratigraphie model of foreland-basin sequences
Paul L. Heller, Charles L. Angevine, Nancy S. Winslow
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming 82071
Christopher Paola
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
ABSTRACT
Application of flexural models to nonmarine foreland-basin evo-
lution indicates that two different stratigraphic styles of basin fill may
develop over time. Basin subsidence is most rapid during times of
thrust-load emplacement; associated sedimentation is coarse grained
immediately adjacent to the thrust front and grades rapidly into fine-
grained deposits that cover most of the basin. The distal part of the
basin may also contain deposits derived from streams that flow from
beyond the basin toward the thrust belt.
Subsequent removal of the thrust load by erosion and other proc-
esses results in flexural rebound of the thrust belt and adjacent
foreland basin. During this postorogenic phase of adjustment, a re-
gional unconformity develops in the proximal part of the foreland
basin. Proximal deposits, along with thrust-derived sediment, are re-
deposited in the distal foreland basin and beyond.
This two-phase model of foreland sedimentation predicts that
coarsening-upward sequences in the proximal and distal parts of the
basin have reciprocal significance: the proximal sequence represents
thrust-belt advance, whereas the distal sequence represents thrust-belt
cessation.
INTRODUCTION
Foreland basins are asymmetric structural depressions that deepen
toward an adjacent thrust belt, which serves as the primary source for
basin-filling sediments. Modeling studies show that the asymmetric geome-
try of foreland basins is primarily due to flexure of the lithosphere under
the bounding thrust belt and associated tectonic loads (Jordan, 1981;
Beaumont, 1981; Karner and Watts, 1983). These studies demonstrate
that the depth and width of the basin depend on the mass and geometry of
the adjacent thrust belt, attendant subsurface and deposited sediment
loads, and the flexural rigidity of the lithosphere beneath the foreland
basin.
A corollary of the flexural model of foreland-basin development is
that flexural uplift will occur as the load is removed. For example, if the
thrust belt is eroded after emplacement, the basin will rebound slightly to
reestablish regional isostatic balance. Sediments previously deposited in
the foreland basin will also be uplifted and may begin to be eroded.
Continued erosion will further reduce the size of the load, leading to more
isostatic uplift, and so on, thereby reducing the thickness of the foreland-
basin fill. If the thrust belt is the sole tectonic load, the basin may eventu-
ally be eroded away, leaving only a regional unconformity as evidence that
it once existed.
This example, although extreme, suggests that if movement of a thrust
belt is discontinuous, the adjacent foreland will undergo two phases of
basin development. One phase of sedimentation (synorogenic) is asso-
ciated with rapid tectonic subsidence of the basin during load emplace-
ment in the adjacent thrust belt. A succeeding phase of basin evolution
(postorogenic) occurs when erosion of the thrust belt dominates and there
is flexural rebound in the proximal part of the foreland basin, leading to
redistribution of deposits across the basin. These contrasting phases of
GEOLOGY, v. 16, p. 501-504, June 1988
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foreland-basin development may occur at nearly the same time as a
threshold is crossed between orogenic buildup (i.e., load emplacement)
and erosion of the thrust belt (i.e., load removal). Because movement in
thrust belts can be episodic (Bally et al., 1966), this threshold may be
crossed many times during a single orogenic phase.
In this paper we examine in detail the different sedimentary styles
associated with these two stages of basin development, citing an example
of each. Our model of sedimentary response to thrust-belt movement
provides an alternative tectonic interpretation of gravel deposition and
coarsening-upward cycles in foreland-basin sequences that contrasts
sharply with many published interpretations.
FORELAND-BASIN DEPOSITION
The overall distribution of sedimentary facies within a foreland basin
reflects the interplay between tectonic subsidence, the grain-size distribu-
tion and rate of sediment supply to the basin, and for subaerial basins,
fluvial processes. Other factors such as sea-level changes and climate also
play roles in the development of basinal sequences, but they are not
considered here. Although our discussion focuses on nonmarine foreland-
basin sequences, the principles established here apply to marine settings.
Coarsening-upward conglomeratic sequences are potentially impor-
tant sedimentary indicators of tectonic events, especially in fault-bounded
basins (Van Houten, 1974; Steel et al., 1977). Although grain-size distribu-
tion supplied to a basin is controlled by many factors, including type and
relative abundance of rock types in the source area, source-area relief,
climate, vegetation, and sea level (Folk, 1974), it is the relation between
grain size and source-area relief that is emphasized in the tectonic interpre-
tation of conglomeratic sequences (e.g., Rust and Koster, 1984). Thus,
orogenic events in thrust belts have been dated by the age of conglomeratic
units in the adjacent foreland basin (e.g., Wiltschko and Dorr, 1983).
Nonetheless, times of active thrusting are also times of rapid basin subsi-
dence, which competes with sedimentation rate in the development of
foreland-basin sequences.
BASIN RESPONSE TO TECTONIC LOADING
(SYNOROGENIC PHASE)
Flexural models indicate that subsidence of a foreland basin is com-
mensurate with thrust emplacement and that the most rapid subsidence
occurs beneath and immediately adjacent to the advancing thrust sheet and
diminishes exponentially away from the load (Beaumont, 1981; Jordan,
1981). Deposition of sediment derived from the uplifted thrust sheet tends
to follow the subsidence pattern, the thickest accumulation occurring im-
mediately adjacent to the thrust front (Fig. 1A). There is considerable
evidence that most of the downstream fining in aggrading alluvial systems
is due to selective deposition of the least transportable (usually the coarsest)
clasts (cf. Shaw and Kellerhals, 1982). Paola (1988) has used this connec-
tion between subsidence-induced sedimentation and downstream fining to
model the cross-sectional geometry of gravel bodies in alluvial basins.
According to his model, rapid proximal subsidence, such as occurs in
foreland basins, should produce thick but areally restricted gravel bodies,
because most of the gravel supplied will be selectively deposited near the
501
 source (Fig. 1 A). For example, in Death Valley, a rapidly subsiding exten- Sandstone interval consists of quartz arenites that were deposited in
sional basin, coarse grains dominate along the mountain front and grade streams that flowed westward (MacKenzie and Ryan, 1962; Kvale and
rapidly into very fine-grained deposits a few kilometres away on the valley Vondra, 1985) or northwestward (Gustason and Ryer, 1985) toward the
floor (Denny, 1965). thrust belt. The position of the Greybull Sandstone along the distal part of
In nonmarine foreland basins, the distribution of coarse-grained de- the foreland basin (Fig. 2), its correlation with fine-grained lacustrine rocks
posits is affected by the presence of large lakes or trunk streams that flow closer to the thrust belt, and the rapid thickening of these deposits toward
parallel to the thrust belt (Miall, 1978). This drainage pattern reflects the adjacent thrust belt agree with the predicted stratigraphy associated
asymmetric basin subsidence. Alluvial progradation from the thrust belt with rapid foreland-basin subsidence during the orogenic phase of thrust-
across the basin is inhibited by flexurally induced back-tilting of the litho- belt development. Comparison of our reconstructed basin geometry with
sphere beneath the basin that deepens toward the thrust belt (Fig. 1 A). The the results of simple elastic flexural models by using the palinspastically
position of the lakes or longitudinal trunk streams is controlled by the reconstructed thickness of the Paris thrust sheet (Royse et al., 1975) shows
balance between the rate of subsidence and the rate of alluvial prograda- that the basin geometry is compatible with a lithospheric flexural model
tion into the basin. Streams derived from beyond the flexural wavelength (Fig- 2).
of the basin may flow toward the subsiding foreland region, resulting in
fluvial units in the distal part of the basin which prograde toward, and not BASIN RESPONSE TO THRUST-BELT EROSION
away from, the thrust belt (Fig. 1A; cf. Armin, 1987). (POSTOROGENIC PHASE)
The foregoing model of nonmarine foreland-basin sedimentation A second phase of sedimentation takes place after a thrust belt is
(Fig. 1 A) suggests that during times of tectonism and uplift in the thrust emplaced and erosional processes dominate over uplift and advance of the
belt, coarse alluvial deposits accumulate only in the most proximal part of thrust sheet. Isostatic rebound associated with erosion of the thrust belt will
the basin and grade rapidly into fine-grained deposits toward the distal part lead to flexural uplift of the adjacent foreland basin. The amount of uplift
of the basin. The rate of grain-size diminution will depend primarily on the will decrease away from the thrust belt, but over time more distal parts of
distribution of subsidence rate in the basin and the grain-size distribution of the basin will become involved. As the thrust belt rebounds, sediments
sediment supplied to the basin. Farther out in the basin, deposition will be
primarily fine-grained sediment of fluvial or lacustrine origin; fluvial sys-
tems in the distal part of the basin may flow toward the thrust belt down
the flexurally tilted distal basin margin or off the forebulge area, which
extends many tens of kilometres beyond the distal edge of the basin.
An example of this sedimentary model associated with times of load
emplacement in the adjacent thrust belt (the synorogenic phase) is pro- © ©
vided by deposits of Aptian (mid-Cretaceous) age in western Wyoming. 4, 4,
The development of the western margin of the Cretaceous seaway in the
western interior is the flexural result of thrust-load emplacement in the
Sevier orogenic belt to the west (Jordan, 1981). The Aptian units extend-
ing from the Idaho-Wyoming sector of the thrust belt to the eastern side of
the Bighorn Basin are correlated and shown in cross section (Fig. 2).
Stratigraphic sequences from nine measured sections include interbedded
lacustrine, braided stream, and alluvial fan units in the Gannett Group of
the thrust belt (section 1) to the Greybull Sandstone Member of the
Cloverly Formation in the Bighorn Basin (sections 7-9). The Greybull

w
UJ 1000
CE
EXTRABASlNAL t-
STREAMS 111
s

SUBSIDENCE

Figure 2. Diagrammatic cross section of deposition in Wyoming fore-

land during emplacement of Paris-Willard thrust sheet. Details of flex-
ural modeling, paleocurrents, basin geometry, and basis for stratigraph-
REWORKED DEPOSITS ic correlation can be found in Winslow (1986). Theoretical configura-
tions of sediment-filled basin resulting from emplacement of Paris thrust
plate with flexural rigidities of 10 2 3 N • m and 10 2 4 N • m are shown for
Figure 1. Depositional comparison. Thicknesses shown are from measured sections (circled
models for synorogenic numbers): 1—section 26 of Eyer (1969); 2, 3, and 5—D. L. Blackstone
(A) and postorogenic (B) (1949, unpub. data); 4—section 6V-1 of Furer (1970); 6—section 5 of
phases of foreland-basin Love (1945); 7 and 8—from Winslow (1986); 9—section 11 of Mirsky
evolution. REBOUND (1962).

502 GEOLOGY, June 1988

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 shed from the thrust sheets will be deposited farther out across the basin.
At the same time, sediments previously deposited in the proximal part of
the foreland basin are also uplifted and eroded, transported more distally
across the foreland region, and redeposited (Fig. IB). Hence, the sedimen-
tary record predicted for times when erosion predominates in the thrust
belt consists of relatively coarse-grained deposits extending across the more
distal finer grained parts of the foreland basin and beyond (Fig. IB).
Moreover, these coarse deposits would correlate with erosional surfaces in
the proximal part of the basin and in the thrust belt (Fig. IB). As uplift of
the foreland basin continues, the coarse proximal deposits will continue to
be eroded and redistributed out across the foreland region. As the proximal
part of the foreland basin is uplifted during this second phase, the basin
shape becomes less asymmetric and the reworked coarse deposits will tend
to have a sheetlike geometry (Fig. IB; cf. Paola, 1988) rather than forming
an asymmetric wedge as they do during the orogenic phase of deposition
(Fig. 1 A). Thus, the characteristic signature of the postorogenic phase of
sedimentation is widespread gravel sheets that correlate with unconformi-
ties near the eroded thrust belt.
An example of this style of deposition comes from the late Cenozoic
record of the western Great Plains. Uplift of the southern Rocky Moun-
tains in late Miocene and Pliocene time resulted in the deposition of fluvial
sands and gravels of the Ogallala Formation (Stanley and Wayne, 1972;
Scott, 1975). In Colorado and New Mexico, the Ogallala Formation has
largely been eroded away within 150 km of the Rocky Mountain front,
exposing Cretaceous and early Cenozoic sedimentary units (Fig. 3). Depo-
sition of sediments with a Precambrian basement provenance (in part,
reworked Ogallala Formation) continued into Pleistocene time in Kansas
and Nebraska (Stanley and Wayne, 1972; Scott, 1975). The uplift and
redistribution of Ogallala deposits has not been caused solely by erosion of
the Rocky Mountains, but probably by lithospheric thinning under the
Rockies and western Great Plains (Eaton, 1986; Angevine and Flanagan,
1987) as well. Nonetheless, a similar stratigraphic record would be gener-
ated by erosion alone, except at a much slower rate. Carried to
completion, the foreland basin may be largely eroded away, which may
explain the absence of a foreland basin adjacent to the Grenville orogeny
(ca. 1.0 Ga; Davidson, 1985).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
Consideration of flexural models of emplacement and subsequent
removal of thrust belts suggests that there are two different types of sedi-
mentary responses recorded in foreland-basin-filling sequences. During
thrust emplacement the basin subsides rapidly, trapping the coarsest allu-
vial sediment immediately adjacent to the thrust front. Finer grained
sediments are deposited farther out in the basin. During times when ero-
sion dominates in the thrust belt, or some other process that removes the
FRONT
/ RANGE
SOUTH
PLATTE
RIVER
OGALLALA FM.
200 300
kilometres
Figure 3. Cross section of Ogallala depositional system across north-
east Colorado and western Nebraska. Compiled from Stanley and
Wayne (1972) and Babits (1987).
502 GEOLOGY, June 1988
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PROXIMAL DISTAL Figure 4. Correlation and
FORELAND FORELAND interpretation of coarsen-
ing-upward sequences
from proximal and dis-
tal foreland-basin se-
quences based on two-
phase model of this
study.
CESSATION
OF
THRUSTING
tectonic load, the proximal part of the foreland basin will be uplifted along
with the rebounding orogenic belt, forming a regional erosion surface.
Farther out in the basin, coarse-grained sediments derived from the erod-
ing thrust sheet and reworked sediments from the proximal part of the
basin will be deposited. Although the examples used here deal with non-
marine foreland sequences, the same principles apply to marine sequences
where deltas prograde from the thrust belt toward the basin (e.g., the
Martinsburg/Tuscarora interval in the Appalachian basin; McBride, 1962;
Yeakel, 1962).
These simple models suggest that in the proximal part of a basin,
coarsening-upward sequences consisting primarily of sandstone and con-
glomerate accurately record the initial uplift and advance of thrust sheets.
In contrast, in the more distal parts of the basin, active loading in the thrust
belt is recorded by the fine-grained lower parts of the coarsening-upward
sequences. The coarse-grained upper parts of the distal sequences, instead,
represent periods when thrusting in the source area has ceased and/or has
been overwhelmed by erosion. In this context, the proximal sequence
records the onset and climax of thrusting, whereas the distal sequence
represents the waning and cessation of thrusting and the attendant increas-
ing influence of erosion in the source area (Fig. 4).
Our discussion has not included specific durations and areal extent
over which these two phases of sedimentation occur, because specific
sedimentary response is a function of several factors that vary over time
and space within a thrust belt as well as between thrust belts. Factors such
as uplift and erosion rates control the rate and style of sedimentary re-
sponses modeled here. The two phases of basin formation may occur as
distinct phases, even though erosion takes place as the thrust belt is being
emplaced. During the time that the thrust belt is primarily advancing and
rising, thereby loading the lithosphere, the basin subsides rapidly and the
orogenic model of sedimentation dominates, even though some erosion
occurs. The postorogenic phase dominates when erosion rate overwhelms
the uplift rate on the advancing thrust and the magnitude of the tectonic
load decreases. Many factors are involved in these rates—episodic move-
ment on the thrust fault, emplacement rate and geometry of the fault,
flexural rigidity, climatic fluctuations, and lithologic and topographic vari-
ations. As a result, it is likely that alternation between the two phases will
occur many times during a single orogenic event as the threshold between
uplift and erosion rates is crossed. Hence, the final record may be more
complicated than the models shown here, with many small unconformities
in the proximal basin and many thin gravel sheets prograding into the
distal part of the basin.
The specific wavelength over which the different sedimentary re-
sponses occur is also controlled by many variables: the size and distribu-
tion of the thrust load, erosion rates, the grain-size distribution and
 transport mechanics of the erosional products, and the flexural rigidity of
the lithosphere. These factors may be difficult to determine and can vary
along a thrust system as well as over time. In addition, if new thrust sheets
are emplaced before older thrust plates are eroded, then the older sedimen-
tary record may be buried by the new foreland depositional sequence
before the postorogenic phase occurs. Our understanding of long-term
sediment production and transport is not sufficient to allow us to quantify
the terms "proximal" and "distal" basin deposits as used here.
The model suggests that the most effective way of interpreting tec-
tonic timing in foreland-basin sequences involves the following criteria.
The deposits of a foreland basin should provide a clear record of asymmet-
ric subsidence associated with flexural loading of the lithosphere. The
subsidence will increase exponentially toward the adjacent thrust belt. The
asymmetric subsidence is recorded by either a great increase in thickness of
the deposits toward the thrust belt, regardless of grain size, or, in starved
lacustrine or marine basins, by an increase in paleo-water depth toward
the thrust belt, or a combination of the two (cf. Van Hinte, 1978). In
addition, coarsening-upward sequences that are found within a few ki-
lometres of the toe of the thrust, and hence are undoubtedly in the most
proximal part of the basin, may actually represent the onset of loading in
the adjacent thrust belt. Coarsening-upward cycles in proximal sequences
can only be used to interpret tectonic timing if the effects of varying
subsidence rates, sedimentation progradation rates, and the nature and
composition of the shifting depositional system are taken into account.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Supported by National Science Foundation Grant EAR-8707041 to Heller,
Angevine, and Paola. W e thank D. L. Blackstone for access to unpublished mea-
sured sections used in this study, and F. B. Van Houton and N. H. Sleep for helpful
reviews.
Manuscript received November 3 0 , 1 9 8 7
Revised manuscript received February 11, 1988
Manuscript accepted February 2 2 , 1 9 8 8
Printed in U.S.A. GEOLOGY, June 1988