Initiation and early evolution of the Great Valley Forearc basin, California

The Great Valley forearc (GVF) basin preserves >13 km of stratigraphy deposited during latest Jurassic-earliest Cretaceous to Miocene time, preserving one of the most complete sedimentary archives of the North American Cordillera. This research investigates the mechanisms driving forearc basin development through integration of sedimentology, sandstone petrography, and geochronology. In turn, I compare the evolution of the northern and southern segments of the basin during the Cretaceous time, including potential drivers for a ~40 myrunconformity within the southern GVF that suggests the forearc region was a highly segmented since its initiation.

Speaker: Devon Orme, Montana State University