Diagenetic Patterns of the Cretaceous Baseline Sandstone, Southern Nevada: Implications for Controls on Iron-Oxide Cementation and Coloration

Abstract:

The Cretaceous Baseline Sandstone of the Sevier foreland basin deposits in southern Nevada exhibits intense diagenetic iron-oxide coloration and bleaching, and contains abundant cemented masses. The Baseline Formation is ~1 km thick with three alluvial to fluvial members: the basal White (Kbw) Member, overlain by coeval Red (Kbr) and Overton Conglomerate (Kbo) Members. Iron-oxide diagenetic features occur in two broad classes: 1) bedding parallel coloration facies of diffuse to banded red, pink, purple, white, to yellow colors; and 2) concretionary facies of heavily cemented horizons, pods/lenses, spherical to spheroidal concretions, boxworks, pipes, and irregular concretion forms. A distinctive geometry is the occurrence of large (~1 m diameter) spherical “beach ball” concretions within the Kbr. Preliminary mapping of diagenetic features shows that concretionary facies are more common within a ~125 m interval near the bottom of Kbw, and within the lower ~125 m of Kbr. Intense coloration changes are present throughout Kbw but occur only in the lowermost ~150 m of Kbr. In the Kbw, concretionary forms commonly occur in stratigraphic intervals of fine-grained sandstone, siltstone, and mudstone lithologies, whereas cemented masses are much less common in stratigraphic intervals composed of medium-grained sandstone and conglomerate lithologies. Additionally, both Kbw and Kbr Members exhibit rare examples of wood fragments in the center of iron-oxide concretions, suggesting the importance of organics as nucleation sites for precipitation. The distribution of complex and overprinted diagenetic patterns indicates nested scales of processes involving iron-oxide dissolution, mobilization, and precipitation. Overall stratigraphic architecture influenced formation-scale patterns, but specific lithologies and textures influenced the type and distribution of diagenetic facies at outcrop scales, and organic content encouraged cementation at grain-scales.