Aptian paralic and Paleocene intracratonic mires that bracket the northern reaches of the Western Interior Seaway preserve Milankovitch orbital forcing cycle signals and record the dynamic interplay with craton-linked salt dissolution tectonism in the Alberta Basin foreland and the adjoined intracratonic Williston Basin to the southeast. These mires, now lignite-bearing strata, along the northern Seaway provide a proxy record for Milankovitch orbital signals that would not have been otherwise recorded because of the voluminous clastic sediments accumulated along the western Canadian portion of the Cretaceous Seaway, in contrast to pervasive orbital forcing signals recorded by organic-rich cyclic carbonate deposits accumulated along the central and southern reaches of the Seaway. Prior to opening of the northern segment of the Seaway, the base levels of the paralic mires of the lower McMurray Formation (Aptian) were hydraulically linked to the rising sea-level fluctuations resulting from southward transgression of the Boreal Sea. In contrast, inland fluvial-margin peats of the Paleocene Ravenscrag and Fort Union formations accumulated following the closure of the Cretaceous Seaway. These mires were increasingly sensitive to aquifer-eustatic controls on the water table–mire relationship. Orbital forcing signals were preserved in the central Williston Basin mires in contrast to their masking by salt dissolution collapse-subsidence structures that exerted dominant control on peat mire configurations across the northern Williston Basin. Paralic mires accumulated at the top of the lower McMurray Formation record short-term orbital forcing, possibly representing an obliquity cycle recorded by lithotype sequencing in petrographic profiles. Mires accumulated along the coastal areas during the transition from a lowstand system tract to an early transgressive system tract. The linkage of sea level with coastal water table fluctuations permitted pervasive accumulations of paralic mires at the top of the lower McMurray Formation. Internal mire cycles resulted in coal lithotype profiles responsive to Milankovitch fifth-order and higher sub-cycles. In contrast, concurrent cataclysmic sinkhole collapses and differential fault block displacements were responsive to underlying salt removal patterns. The sea level/water table linkage was punctuated by the salt tectonism and orbital forcing signals were masked, resulting in sinkholes infilled with different coal lithotype sequences. Following the closure of the Western Interior Seaway, inland Paleocene fluvial-margin mires across the northern intracratonic Williston Basin were responsive to larger scale salt removal events in the subsurface. The collapse-subsidence structures were propagated several km up-section, diffused but sufficient to control mire configurations and mask orbital forcing signals. Southward into the central and southwestern Williston Basin, these strong salt dissolution tectonism patterns were out-of-phase with the repetitive mire accumulations, permitting the recognition of the markedly weaker signals of the 100 kyr orbital eccentricity cycle.

位于西部内海航道北部的Aptian抛物线和古新纪克拉通盆地保留了Milankovitch轨道强迫周期信号，并记录了阿尔伯塔盆地前陆和东南部毗连克拉通内威利斯顿盆地与克拉通相关的盐溶构造作用的动态相互作用。这些沿北海道现已成为褐煤的地层提供了米兰科维奇轨道信号的代用记录，否则，由于沿白垩纪海道的加拿大西部部分积聚了大量碎屑沉积物，而与普遍的轨道形成鲜明对比，就无法记录米兰科维奇的轨道信号强迫信号由沿航道中部和南部积累的富含有机物的环状碳酸盐沉积物记录。在Seaway北部航段开放之前，下麦克默里组（Aptian）的准泥潭的底面与北海向南海侵所引起的海平面上升的上升呈水力联系。相反，白垩纪海道关闭后，古新世Ravenscrag和Fort Union组的内陆河床泥炭堆积。这些泥潭对地下水位-泥潭关系中的含水层-恒流控制越来越敏感。威利斯顿盆地中部的轨道强迫信号被保留下来，而盐溶塌陷-沉降结构掩盖了它们，从而对威利斯顿盆地北部的泥炭沼泽构造施加了主导性控制。在麦克默里下层下部堆积的寄生泥潭记录了短期的轨道强迫，可能代表岩性剖面中岩性测序所记录的倾角周期。从低水位系统道过渡到早期的海侵系统道期间，沿海地区积聚的泥沼。海平面与沿海地下水位波动之间的联系允许在McMurray下部下部顶部普遍堆积成堆的泥潭。内部泥潭循环产生了响应米兰科维奇五阶及更高子循环的煤岩性剖面。相比之下，同时发生的灾难性塌陷塌陷和不同的断层块位移都对潜在的盐去除模式有响应。盐构造作用使海平面/地下水位联系被打断，轨道强迫信号被掩盖，导致下陷坑充满了不同的煤岩性序列。西部内陆航道关闭后，北部克拉通威利斯顿盆地内的新世内河边缘泥潭对地下的大规模除盐事件作出了反应。塌陷-沉降结构传播到了几公里的高处，扩散了，但足以控制泥浆构造并掩盖轨道强迫信号。向南进入威利斯顿盆地的中部和西南部，这些强盐溶解的构造模式与重复的泥潭堆积相异，从而使人们认识到了100 km轨道偏心周期明显减弱的信号。塌陷-沉降结构传播到了几公里的高处，扩散了，但足以控制泥浆构造并掩盖轨道强迫信号。向南进入威利斯顿盆地的中部和西南部，这些强盐溶解的构造模式与重复的泥潭堆积相异，从而使人们认识到了100 km轨道偏心周期明显减弱的信号。塌陷-沉降结构传播到了几公里的高处，扩散了，但足以控制泥浆构造并掩盖轨道强迫信号。向南进入威利斯顿盆地的中部和西南部，这些强盐溶解的构造模式与重复的泥潭堆积相异，从而使人们认识到了100 km轨道偏心周期明显减弱的信号。