Paradox Basin

Paradox Basin is an asymmetric foreland basin located in southeast Utah and southwest Colorado. The basin is a large elongate northwest to southeast oriented depression formed during the late Paleozoic Era. The basin is bordered on the east by the Uncompaghre uplift, on the northwest by the San Rafael Swell and on the west by the Circle Cliffs Uplift.

Unlike most Rocky Mountain basins, the Paradox Basin is an evaporate basin containing sediments from alternating cycles of deep marine and very shallow water. As a result of the thick salt sequences and the fact that salt is ductile at relatively low temperatures and pressures, salt tectonics play a major role in the post-Pennsylvanian structural deformation within the basin. [ [http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/coloradoplateau/lexicon/paradox.htm Colorado River Basin Stratigraphy ] ]

Much of the production in the basin has come from porous carbonate buildups, such as asalgal mounds, of Pennsylvanian age. Additional reservoir types include uplifted fault blocks and discontinuous clastic beds with both stratigraphic and structural traps. The principal productive horizons in the basin include the Mississippian age Leadville Limestone, the Pennsylvanian Age Hermosa Group (Honaker Trail, Paradox, and Pinkerton Trail formations) and the Permian age Culter Formation. [http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-1105102-162215/unrestricted/Brown_dis.pdf]

Natural Resources

Natural resources extracted from the basin include petroleum, uranium, copper, and potash.

References