SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY OF THE BRIDAL VEIL FALLS LIMESTONE (BASAL OQUIRRH GROUP): TOWARDS A STANDARD MORROWAN CYCLOSTRATIGRAPHY FOR THE OQUIRRH BASIN, NORTH-CENTRAL UTAH

The Bridal Veil Falls Limestone, lowest 400 meters of the Carboniferous Oquirrh Group, is well exposed on the flanks of Cascade Mountain (Wasatch Front) near Provo, Utah. Eleven partial to complete sections measured along the west and north flanks of Cascade Mountain, permit development of a sequence stratigraphic framework for Morrowan carbonates of the Oquirrh basin, located on the western flank of the Ancestral Rockies. The Bridal Veil Falls Limestone is comprised principally of mud-rich carbonate sequences separated by thin laterally persistent quartz sandstone beds. The predominance of muddy to grain-rich heterozoan carbonate microfacies suggests deposition on a west-dipping ramp that prograded westward throughout Morrowan time. Sandstones reflect transport of siliciclastics from the incipient Weber shelf (located to the NE) coincident with sea-level lowstands. The Bridal Veil Falls Limestone is subdivided into 14, third and fourth order depositional sequences ranging in thickness from 3 to 60 meters each. Constituent parasequences are commonly asymmetrical, reflecting rapid flooding followed by protracted shoaling and/or sea level drop. Significant surfaces delineated at Cascade Mountain are regionally extensive. Selected cycles are recognized in the Lake Mountains, Thorpe Hills, and the southern Oquirrh Mountains to the west of Cascade Mountain.