History of the Sevier orogenic wedge in terms of critical taper models, northeast Utah and southwest Wyoming

Problems with applying critical taper models to ancient orogenic wedges are overcome in the Late Cretaceous-late Paleocene Sevier orogenic wedge in Utah and Wyoming by a symptomatic approach in which wedge behavior is inferred from the timespace distribution of thrust faulting, erosion, and synorogenic sediment accumulation in association with the orogenic wedge. In turn, the causes of wedge behavior are interpreted in terms of features that are known about the Sevier wedge, such as the locations of major decollements and the lithologic constituents of major thrust sheets. From Coniacian through late Paleocene time (~35 m.y.), basement and cover rocks in the Sevier wedge were shortened by ~100 km in three major and one minor events. An overall eastward progression of thrusting was punctuated by several episodes of out-of-sequence and hinterland vergent thrusting. -from Authors