ABSTRACT The Bighorn Basin (Wyoming, USA) contains some of the most extensively exposed and studied nonmarine early Paleogene strata in the world. Over a century of research has produced a highly resolved record of early Paleogene terrestrial climatic and biotic change as well as extensive documentation of spatiotemporal variability in basin-scale stratigraphy. The basin also offers the opportunity to integrate these data with the uplift and erosional history of the adjacent Laramide ranges. Herein, we provide a comprehensive provenance analysis of the early Paleogene Fort Union and Willwood Formations in the Bighorn Basin from paleocurrent measurements ( n > 550 measurements), sandstone compositions ( n = 76 thin sections), and U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology ( n = 2631 new and compiled age determinations) obtained from fluvial sand bodies distributed widely across the basin. Broadly, we observed data consistent with (1) erosion of Mesozoic strata from the Bighorn and Owl Creek Mountains and transport into the eastern and southern basin; (2) erosion of Paleozoic sedimentary cover and crystalline basement from the Beartooth Mountains eastward into the northern Bighorn Basin; (3) conglomeratic fluxes of sediment from the Teton Range or Sevier fold-and-thrust belt to the southwestern Bighorn Basin; and (4) potential sediment provision to the basin via the Absaroka Basin that was ultimately derived from more distal sources in the Tobacco Root Mountains and Madison Range. Similar to previous studies, we found evidence for a system of transverse rivers contributing water and sediment to an axial river system that drained north into southern Montana during both the Paleocene and Eocene. Within our paleodrainage and provenance reconstruction, the basin-scale patterns in stratigraphy within the Fort Union and Willwood Formations appear to have been largely driven by catchment size and the lithologies eroded from the associated highlands. Mudrock-dominated strata in the eastern and southeastern Bighorn Basin were caused by comparably smaller catchment areas and the finer-grained siliciclastic strata eroded from nearby ranges. The conglomeratic and sand-dominated strata of the southwestern area of the Bighorn Basin were caused by large, braided fluvial systems with catchments that extended into the Sevier thrust belt, where more resistant source lithologies, including Neoproterozoic quartzites, were eroded. The northernmost early Paleogene strata represent the coalescence of these fluvial systems as well as rivers and catchments that extended into southwestern Montana that contained more resistant, crystalline lithologies. These factors generated the thick, laterally extensive fluvial sand bodies common in that area of the basin. When combined with provenance patterns in adjacent Laramide basins, our data indicate asymmetric unroofing histories on either side of the Bighorn and Owl Creek Mountains. The Powder River Basin to the east of the Bighorn Mountains displays a clear Precambrian crystalline provenance, and the Wind River Basin to the south of the Owl Creek Mountains displays provenance similarities to Lower Paleozoic strata, in contrast to provenance in the Bighorn Basin, which indicates less substantial unroofing. We infer that the differing unroofing histories are due to the dominant vergence direction of the underlying basement reverse faults. Overall, this provenance pattern persisted until ca. 50 Ma, when more proximal igneous and volcaniclastic units associated with the Absaroka and Challis volcanics became major sediment sources and the Idaho River system became the dominant transport system in the area.

Abstract The c. 450 km-long Brook Street Terrane (pre-Alpine Fault displacement) sheds light on processes of arc magmatism and related sedimentation. A very thick (up to 15 km) succession accumulated south of the Alpine Fault in the Takitimu Mountains during the Early Permian. Predominant arc-flank talus is intercalated with basic extrusive and intrusive igneous rocks. Volcaniclastic sediments mainly accumulated by mass-flow and turbidity current processes. The sediments were mostly derived from differentiated, arc-core, basaltic–andesitic rocks, contrasting with less evolved arc-flank flows and minor intrusions. Some igneous rocks are mildly enriched, supporting an extensional back-arc setting. After volcanism ended, Middle–Late Permian mixed carbonate–volcaniclastic gravity-flow deposits were derived from a non-exposed carbonate platform. Other volcanogenic successions in the south (Bluff, Riverton) represent smaller eruptive centres. In contrast, north of the Alpine Fault (e.g. Nelson), volcanism began with mostly felsic tuffaceous gravity-flow deposits, followed by extrusion/intrusion of clinopyroxene-rich, primitive magmas, related to arc rifting, and ended with an accumulation of a mixed basic–felsic volcaniclastic forearc apron. Taking account of regional comparisons, the Early Permian arc is interpreted as having formed adjacent to Gondwana (on accreted or trapped oceanic lithosphere), whereas the lithologies north of the Alpine Fault represent contrasting Late Permian continental arc magmatism.

Abstract The Dun Mountain ophiolite and related oceanic-arc rocks (Otama Complex) formed above a westward-dipping subduction zone within Panthalassa, with implications for the emplacement of Cordilleran-type ophiolites and arcs elsewhere. The ophiolite is overlain by the Mid–Late Permian Upukerora Formation (up to 850 m), a predominantly very coarse breccia-conglomerate that mainly accumulated by mass flow. Lesser amounts of sediment accumulated from turbidity currents and as background hemipelagic sediments. The succession unconformably overlies ophiolitic basaltic or, rarely, gabbroic rocks after a regional hiatus. Much of the coarse clastic debris was derived from the underlying ophiolite. However, clasts of plagioclase-phyric basalt, felsic volcanics and quartz-bearing intrusive rocks, including plagiogranite, are over-represented compared to the ophiolite. The evolved igneous material was derived from an incipient oceanic arc (the Otama Complex) that bordered or covered the ophiolite, especially in the south. The coarse clastic material accumulated following the activation of north–south-trending, subaqueous, extensional growth faults within the underlying oceanic crust. Large blocks of mainly basalt, diabase and gabbro were also shed down fault scarps from relatively shallow-water to deeper-water settings. Fault-controlled talus accumulated soon after Mid-Permian docking of the ophiolite and oceanic arc with SE Gondwana to initiate the Mid-Permian–Mid-Triassic Maitai continental margin forearc basin.