Research conducted as part of this project will supply detailed information about the evolution of foreland basins. In foreland basins, sea level change, variations in thrust propagation and changes in sediment supply influence depositional processes. Collection of detailed field data coupled with numerical modeling of the processes active during foreland basin evolution will help constrain interpretations of hinterland and basin development. Our understanding of the interaction of tectonics, eustasy and sedimentation is currently limited for these complex environments. The application of theoretical modeling to a detailed data set will provide important information which can be used for future interpretation of stratal patterns in foreland basins. Field data for this study will be collected in the Upper Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation, and will focus on the stratigraphic record of progradational and transgressive events. The relatively short time interval modeled (580,000 years) distinguishes this study from previous numerical modeling studies of foreland basins.
