This is a detailed study of two synorogenic conglomerates that were deposited in response to thrust faulting in the Rocky Mountain foreland and the Cordilleran thrust belt in northeastern Utah and northwestern Wyoming. The chief objectives of the proposed work will be to develop facies models for thrust- generated alluvial-fan deposits and to develop quantitative provenance models for synorogenic conglomerates. Standard sedimentologic, petrographic and palynologic data will be collected and the three-dimensional distribution of architectural facies elements within each fan deposit will be determined by detailed facies mapping in large, three-dimensional exposures. Results of the work will provide a comprehensive model for the unroofing of thrust-faulted uplifts and consequent deposition of alluvial-fan sediments in adjacent basins. In addition, the proposed work will yield important new data to constrain major episodes of thrusting in the Cordillera of northeastern Utah and the Rocky Mountain foreland of northwestern Wyoming.
