The regional evolution of a dryland fluvio‐aeolian and lacustrine succession in response to allocyclic forcing: insights from the Early Permian Cutler Group, Utah, <scp>USA</scp>

ABSTRACT Preserved allocyclic signatures in the rock record often reflect basin‐scale climatic variability and serve as key proxies for correlating ancient dryland successions. The notion of climate cyclicity, however, remains largely untested on regionally constrained, outcrop‐calibrated studies. The Cutler Group (Paradox Basin, southeast Utah) captures a diverse range of dryland fluvio‐aeolian, lacustrine, and paralic environments deposited along the western sub‐equatorial margin of Pangaea during the Late Palaeozoic. This investigation integrates outcrop and subsurface datasets to refine a sedimentological scheme and produce a regional allocyclic framework for the Cutler Group, providing new insight into the tempo‐spatial evolution of dryland successions. Aligned with modern analogues, twelve mappable depositional environments are described. Six low‐frequency, regionally correlatable cycles are grouped into three broader climatic intervals, each characterised by alternating wet (humid) and dry (arid) maxima, informing the development of detailed palaeogeographical maps. Restricted paralic deposition dominated the Paradox Basin at the beginning of the Permian. During Climatic Interval 1, the Toroweap Sea regressed westward, and the Cedar Mesa Sandstone aeolian erg advanced over the study area. Alluvial fans (&lt;55 km long) coalesced into bajadas along the Uncompahgre Uplift, while braided fluvial systems filled halokinetic topography of the Salt Anticline Region. During Climatic Interval 2, a major dryland fluvial system – typically ascribed to the Organ Rock Formation – extended into the basin. In outcrop, this system interacts with aeolian deposits, while subsurface interpretations imply fluvio‐lacustrine interactions towards the Blanding Sub‐basin. At this time, a seaway transgressed from the northwest and a secondary, westerly provenance supplied sediment into the basin. Climatic Interval 3 (mid‐Kungurian) saw renewed aridity, facilitating the regional expansion of the White Rim Sandstone aeolian erg. This study considers climatic forcing as a primary driver in sediment dispersal, and presents the first regional‐scale, subsurface‐integrated palaeogeographical maps of the Paradox Basin during the Early Permian.