Using Ichnology to Determine the Relative Influence of Waves, Storms, Tides, and Rivers in Deltaic Deposits: Examples from Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, U.S.A.

Detailed logging of ichnological variations within parasequences of several Cretaceous (Upper Turonian) delta complexes from Wyoming and Utah are correlated with inferred short and long-term changes in depositional processes. These changes reflect various proportions of river, flood, wave, storm, and tide influences. Event beds, such as storm and river-flood deposits, tend to show low BI (Bioturbation Index) values of 0-2, owing to high accumulation rates, although this also depends on event frequencies. Upper surfaces of individual storm/river-flood beds may show BI values of 4-5, reflecting the transition to longer-lived fair-weather conditions. Fair-weather waves facilitate persistent agitation near the bed, buffering environmental stresses. Therefore, wave-dominated deposits that are not affected by storms yield climax communities with robust and diverse ichnofacies signatures reflecting “uniform and high” BI trend with values that average 4.

River-dominated intervals show the least uniform trends of BI, because of the highly variable conditions related to river jet and plume behavior. BI values vary from 0 to 4, with generally low ichnogenera diversities. These alternations likely record seasonal to centennial fluctuations in sedimentation rate (river discharge) and water turbidity, which influences substrate conditions near distributary mouths.

Tide-dominated intervals tend to show the most ‘stressed’ conditions, reflecting “non-uniform and low” trend of BI, with values of 0-2. These reflect salinity fluctuations, heightened water turbidity, rapidly shifting substrates, and narrow colonization windows associated with daily and monthly changes in tidal periodicity.

Individual parasequences are characterized by either upward-increasing and upward-decreasing trends of BI, indicating protection from storm erosion and proximity to river input, respectively. Ichnological signatures change significantly across initial flooding surface, principally showing a marked increase in BI as delta lobes are quickly abandoned and transgressed. In contrast, across the maximum flooding surface, changes in ichnological signatures are subtle and rather uniform.

We suggest that different parts of a single delta may experience marked differences in river, wave, and tide influence over time, reflecting the enormous complexity of operative processes at various temporal and spatial scales. Detailed intra-parasequence, bed-scale analyses of trace fossils help to reveal this complex evolutionary history of a single delta.