The Pennsylvanian-early permian bird spring carbonate shelf, Southeastern California: Fusulinid biostratigraphy, paleogeographic evolution, and tectonic implications

The Bird Spring Shelf in southeastern California, along with coeval turbidite basins to the west, records a complex history of late Paleozoic sedimentation, sea-level changes, and deformation along the western North American continental margin. We herein establish detailed correlations between deposits of the shelf and the flanking basins, which we then use to reconstruct the depositional history, paleogeography, and deformational history, including Early Permian emplacement of the regionally significant Last Chance allochthon. These correlations are based on fusulinid faunas, which are numerous both on the shelf and in the adjoining basins.