The complex sequence stratigraphic packaging of the Laney Member records an overall trend toward decreasing basin subsidence, erosion of basin sills, or increasing sediment + water supply. Balanced fill strata of the lower LaClede Bed constitute a sequence set that can be divided into 4 sequences, which is recognized by an exposure surface and basinward shift in facies at its base. Internally, each of these sequences are composed of repeated1-3 m lacustrine parasequences. The 4 sequences thin upward in succession, which we interpret to record net expansion of Lake Gosiute and a resultant decrease in sedimentation rates near the basin center. Near the top of this succession alluvial facies are closely interbedded with profundal muds, suggesting a decrease in basin-floor gradient.

The overlying “buff marker” and upper LaClede and Sand Butte Beds together are interpreted as a single sequence that comprises both balanced fill and overfilled strata. Deposition of this sequence coincided with a major re-organization in the drainage basin, as evidenced by a shift in basin depocenter from west to east across the Rock Spring Uplift. The basal sequence boundary is identified as a major desiccation event, recorded by mudcracks up to 3 m deep that formed in underlying profundal mudstone. Volcaniclastic and intraclastic fluvial strata were deposited above this sequence boundary, followed by a series of retrogradational, balanced-fill lacustrine parasequences that culminate in a maximum expansion surface. This surface marks a threshold above which the basin remained hydrologically open. The basin was subsequently infilled by progradation of volcaniclastic deltaic sediments as lake level remained relatively stable.