Anatomy of a late Jurassic Gilbert-type delta in basal strata of the Tantalus Formation, Whitehorse Trough, Yukon

Most chert-pebble conglomerate units within the Late Jurassic to mid-Cretaceous Tantalus Formation were deposited in shallow, deep and meandering gravel-bed rivers. However, the presence of largescale angle of repose foresets of large- to small-pebble conglomerate, with distinct down-slope termination in laminated mudrocks, indicates that at least some >5 m foresets were formed by episodic flood-controlled progradation of a small river-dominated lobate delta. Architectural analysis of exposures at the Whitehorse Coal deposit, 26 km south-southwest of Whitehorse, indicates periodic rapid progradation into a small lake that was at least 6 m deep. Thinning and downlap of some foreset units indicate shifting location of topset distributary channels. Down-slope transition of gravel foresets into thin sub-horizontal beds of massive and graded sandstone and pebbly sandstone suggests that the foresets were inertia-dominated. Deformation of bottomset beds is directly related to foreset progradation over under-compacted lacustrine clays.

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Last Updated April 17, 2026, 17:40 (UTC)
Created April 17, 2026, 17:40 (UTC)
contact_email eservices@gov.yk.ca
contact_person {"en": "Yukon Geological Survey", "fr": "Yukon Geological Survey"}
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open_canada_collection federated
open_canada_date_published 2011-04-04 00:00:00
open_canada_keywords {"en": ["sedimentology", "surficial-geology", "ygs-import", "ygs-import-20250711", "ygs-publications", "yukon-geological-survey"], "fr-t-en": ["sédimentologie", "géologie superficielle", "importation d'ygs", "ygs-import-20250711", "publications de l'YGS", "enquête géologique du yukon"]}
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