Characterization of hard‐to‐differentiate dune stratification types in the Permian Coconino Sandstone (Arizona,USA)

Dune stratification types, which include grainfall, grainflow and ripple lamination, provide a record of the fine‐scale processes that deposited sediment on palaeo‐dune foresets. While these facies are relatively easy to distinguish in some cross‐bedded sandstones, for others – like the Permian Coconino Sandstone of northern and central Arizona – discrete stratification styles are hard to recognize at the bedding scale. Furthermore, few attempts have been made to classify fine‐scale processes in this sandstone, despite its renown as a classic aeolian dune deposit and Grand Canyon formation. To interpret depositional processes in the Coconino Sandstone, cross‐bed facies were characterized using a suite of sedimentary textures and structures. Bedding parameters were described at multiple scales via a combination of field and laboratory methods, including annotated outcrop photomosaics, strike and dip measurements, sandstone disaggregation and laser‐diffraction particle analysis, high‐resolution scans of thin sections, and scanning electron microscopy. Cross‐beds were observed to be laterally extensive along‐strike, with most dip angles ranging from the mid‐teens to mid‐twenties. While some cross‐bed sets are statistically coarser near their bases, others exhibit no significant vertical sorting trends. Both massive and laminated textures are visible in high‐resolution scans of thin sections, but laminae contacts are commonly indistinct, making normal and reverse grading difficult to define. Diagenetic features, such as stylolite seams and large pores, are also present in some samples and might indicate alteration of original textures like detrital clay laminae and carbonate minerals. Observed textures and sedimentary structures suggest that the cross‐beds may consist of grainflow and grainfall deposits, but these remain difficult to differentiate at outcrop and thin‐section scales. This characterization of fine‐scale processes will play a critical part in the development of depositional models for the Coconino Sandstone and elucidate interpretations for similar cross‐bedded formations.     

Grainfall processes in the lee of transverse dunes, Silver Peak, Nevada

Grainfall deposition and associated grainflows in the lee of aeolian dunes are important in that they are preserved as cross‐beds in the geological record and provide a key to the interpretation of the aeolian rock record. Despite their recognized importance, there have been very few field, laboratory or numerical simulation studies of leeside depositional processes on aeolian dunes. As part of an ongoing study, the relationships among grainfall, wind (speed and direction), stoss sand transport rates and dune morphometry (height and aspect ratio) were investigated on four relatively small, straight‐crested transverse dunes at Silver Peak, Nevada. Between 55% and 95% of the total grainfall was found to be deposited within 1 m of the crest, and 84–99% within 2 m, depending primarily on dune size and shape. Grainfall decay rates on high dunes of large aspect ratio were observed to be very consistent, with a weak positive dependence on wind speed. For small dunes with low aspect ratios, grainfall deposition was more varied and decreased rapidly within 1 m of the dune crest, whereas at increased distance from the dune crest, it eventually approached the smaller decay rates observed on the large dunes. No dependence of grainfall on wind speed was observed for these small dunes. Comparison of field data with predictions from 1 ) saltation model of grainfall, based on the computation of saltation path lengths, indicates lack of agreement in the following areas: (1) deposition rate magnitude; (2) variation in decay rate with wind speed; and (3) the magnitude and location of the localized lee‐slope depositional maxima. The Silver Peak field results demonstrate the importance of dune aspect ratio and related wake effects in determining the rate and pattern of grainfall. This work confirms earlier speculation by 7 ) that temporary, turbulent suspension (or `modified saltation') of relatively large grains does occur within the dune wake, so that transport distances generally are larger than predicted by numerical simulations of `true' saltation.