| Abstract | The Late Triassic Chinle Formation and the correlative Dockum Group span most of the
southwestern United States, exposed in outcrop from Texas to Nevada. Although the Chinle
Formation west of the Rocky Mountains is extensively studied and dated and shown to be
lithostratigraphically and broadly time equivalent to the more eastern Dockum Group, a more
refined geochronologic correlation is needed to confirm western Chinle strata is equivalent to
Dockum strata east of the Rockies in basins such as the Palo Duro and Tucumcari Basins.
This study provides clarity to initial assessments for provenance of the Dockum Group and
paleogeographical ties to the Chinle Formation through various sedimentological and
geochronological methods, painting a clearer picture of the Late Triassic during a
megamonsoonal climate and initial rifting of the Gulf of Mexico. |
