The Shannon Sandstone and Isolated Linear Sand Bodies: Interpretations and Realizations

Isolated linear sandbodies inthe Cretaceous Western InteriorSeaway have been remarkably resistant to a consensus interpretation The best known of these deposits is the Shannon Sandstone the primary focus of this volume and the SEPM Research Conference from which itderived Our purpose inthissummary paperis to attempt an objective evaluation of the various interpretations for the Shannon given our own backgrounds experience and resultant biases We are notchargedwith coming up withour own model for thisenigmaticdeposit and its isolated linear sandbody siblings We compare and find substantialdifferences inthe investigatorsperceptions of theShannon inoutcrop inthe Salt Creek anticline area innortheastern Wyoming and in the subsurface in therelatively nearby Hartzog Draw Field We examine their interpretations in light of modern analogues and paleogeographic constraints and conclude that no interpretationproposed to date adequately explains all aspects of the Shannon We suspect that the Shannon Sandstonemay be morecomplex thanpreviously thought and that single interpretationmay not be sufficient to explain the whole system We also came away with renewed respect for the principle of multiple working hypotheses