Two paleogeographic configurations of the Jurassic of western North America
have been proposed with differing locations of the entrance to the Jurassic Sundance
Seaway, referred to as the southern-entrance and northern-entrance hypotheses. Here,
analyses of facies architecture, sedimentary structures, sandstone provenance and species
richness are used to determine the location of the entrance to the seaway. In southern
Alberta and British Columbia, the Sundance Seaway and the transition to a terrestrial
environment are recorded by the upper Fernie Formation and lower Kootenay Group.
Analyses of this succession offer varying degrees of support for the two proposed
hypotheses. The presence of wave-formed structures supports the southern-entrance
hypothesis, sandstone provenance analysis is consistent with the southern-entrance
hypothesis, and species richness and facies architecture support neither hypothesis. This
evidence illustrates a complex paleogeographic history of the Jurassic in western North
America.
have been proposed with differing locations of the entrance to the Jurassic Sundance
Seaway, referred to as the southern-entrance and northern-entrance hypotheses. Here,
analyses of facies architecture, sedimentary structures, sandstone provenance and species
richness are used to determine the location of the entrance to the seaway. In southern
Alberta and British Columbia, the Sundance Seaway and the transition to a terrestrial
environment are recorded by the upper Fernie Formation and lower Kootenay Group.
Analyses of this succession offer varying degrees of support for the two proposed
hypotheses. The presence of wave-formed structures supports the southern-entrance
hypothesis, sandstone provenance analysis is consistent with the southern-entrance
hypothesis, and species richness and facies architecture support neither hypothesis. This
evidence illustrates a complex paleogeographic history of the Jurassic in western North
America.