Facies characterization and architectural context of terminal splay sandstone beds in the Cretaceous-Paleocene Raton Formation, Colorado

Abstract

The high-accommodation fluvial strata of the Cretaceous-Paleocene Raton Formation in Colorado are characterized by fine-grained floodbasin dominant deposits, with discrete channel bodies, and poorly understood laterally extensive thin sandstone beds. Few recently published studies have focused on the facies associations of these strata, and previous publications have been vague in addressing the geometric relationships and internal characteristics of thin sandstone beds found within the Raton Fm. Through the use of outcrop and core data analysis, an alternative interpretation of the Raton Formation as distal deposits of a distributive fluvial system is proposed.