Colorado River terraces in the canyonlands region of southeastern Utah can be dated and analyzed to address the controls of incision and nature of the Colorado Plateau's largest channel-steepness anomaly, Cataract Canyon. Field correlations supported by luminescence and cosmogenic-nuclide ages on strath terraces along Meander Canyon, upstream of Cataract Canyon, reveal a complex record of unsteady incision over the past ∼340 k.y. at an average rate of ∼0.4 mm/yr. Both an upstream progression of rapid incision and a unique sigmoidal long-profile pattern of terraces indicate incision in response to episodic baselevel fall. Also, terraces converge downstream with the anomalously low-gradient modern channel above Cataract Canyon. We interpret these results as indicating that growth of the Cataract Canyon knickzone is due to an erosion-salt tectonics feedback since at least the Mid Pleistocene, which has imparted unsteady, and currently elevated, local baselevel. More broadly, the canyonlands region is marked by rapid and unsteady incision that is complicated by local geologic controls even while being absent of any regional or mantle-driven uplift.
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Research Article|
November 20, 2023
Pleistocene Colorado River terraces in the canyonlands region (Utah, USA) record unsteady, transient incision and growth of the Cataract Canyon knickzone by salt tectonics
Natalie M. Tanski;
Natalie M. Tanski
1
Department of Geosciences, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322, USA
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Joel L. Pederson;
Joel L. Pederson
1
Department of Geosciences, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322, USA
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Tammy M. Rittenour;
Tammy M. Rittenour
1
Department of Geosciences, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322, USA
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Alan J. Hidy
Alan J. Hidy
2
Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA
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Natalie M. Tanski
1
Department of Geosciences, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322, USA
Joel L. Pederson
1
Department of Geosciences, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322, USA
Tammy M. Rittenour
1
Department of Geosciences, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322, USA
Alan J. Hidy
2
Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA
Publisher: Geological Society of America
Received:
25 Jul 2023
Revision Received:
18 Oct 2023
Accepted:
04 Nov 2023
First Online:
20 Nov 2023
Online ISSN: 1943-2682
Print ISSN: 0091-7613
© 2023 Geological Society of America
Geology (2023)
Article history
Received:
25 Jul 2023
Revision Received:
18 Oct 2023
Accepted:
04 Nov 2023
First Online:
20 Nov 2023
Citation
Natalie M. Tanski, Joel L. Pederson, Tammy M. Rittenour, Alan J. Hidy; Pleistocene Colorado River terraces in the canyonlands region (Utah, USA) record unsteady, transient incision and growth of the Cataract Canyon knickzone by salt tectonics. Geology 2023; doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G51599.1
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