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“Almost to the Beach”
Author: Earth Science
Published: 06/07/2022

Article Title: PARALIC SEDIMENTOLOGY OF THE MUSSENTUCHIT MEMBER COASTAL PLAIN, CEDAR MOUNTAIN FORMATION, CENTRAL UTAH, U.S.A.

SU Sedimentologist, Dr Ryan T Tucker (Department of Earth Sciences) in on-going international collaboration with palaeontologists and sedimentoliogists from the United States have recently published a revision of the sedimentology and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction for the Mussentuchit Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation, in Central Utah (USA).  Published in the Journal of Sedimentary Research, this paper investigates a broad suite of palaeoenvironments that indicate that deposition occurred on the landward part of a paralic depocenter (backshore), influenced by both distal alluvial (river and floodplain) and proximal coastal systems (beach). This study conclude that the Mussentuchit Member was a sink for suspension-settling fines with most undergoing pedogenic (soil) alteration, analogous to the modern coastal plain of French Guiana.  This study further finds that this habitat was slowly drying out, corresponding to a regional fall in sea level and ongoing regional tectonic processes. This work is part of “The Mid-Cretaceous Project” (Partnership with Dr Lindsay E Zanno [North Carolina Museum of Natural Science]; Drs Celina Suarez and Glen Sharman [University of Arkansas, USA]; Dr. Pete Makovicky [University of Minnesota, USA]; Drs Rich Cifelli and Rick Lupia [University of Oklahoma, USA]; Dr Marina Suarez [University of Kansas, USA]; Dr. Ethan Hyland [also at NCSU, USA]; and Dr. Ryan King [Western Colorado University]) and is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Frontier Research in Earth Science program

Citation: 
Tucker, R.T., Suarez, C.A. Makovicky P.J., Zanno L.E., 2022 Paralic sedimentology of the Mussentuchit Member Coastal Plain, Cedar Mountain Formation, Central Utah. SEPM, Journal of Sedimentology, v92, 1-24

WEBSITE link for paper:
https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sepm/jsedres/article-abstract/92/6/546/614757/Paralic-sedimentology-of-the-Mussentuchit-Member?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Photo’s Captions
Photo 1: Mussentuchit Wash, Cathedral Valley near to the Last Chance Desert, Central Utah USA (Tucker)
Photo 2: Dr Tucker in the field assessing Mussentuchit sediments
Photo2 (FossilExcavation): Dr Tucker helping to excavate vertebrate fossils from the KCC site in 2019