This research will integrate the fields of magnetostratigraphy, sedimentology, biostratigraphy and structural geology to analyze a latest Cretaceous to early Tertiary sedimentary basin, here termed the Axhandle Basin, that developed atop an active thrust sheet in central Utah. The analysis will define the geometry, sedimentation patterns and sedimentation rates of the basin during the time that shortening occurred on the underlying thrust system. As a result, the timing and shortening history of the thrust system may be interpreted and compared with similarly well dated tectonic analyogues such as those in the Tertiary of the Himalaya and Pyrenees. Understanding the tectonics and sedimentation of such basins will aid the search for hydrocarbon resources.