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Geology of the Northern Part of the Slate Mountains, Pinal County, Arizona

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Geology of the Northern Part of the Slate Mountains, Pinal County, Arizona Geology of the northern part of the Slate mountains, Pinal county, Arizona Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic); maps Authors Hogue, William Gibson, 1914- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 26/09/2021 20:11:37 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/551077 GEOLOGY OF THE NORTHERN PART OF THE SLATE MOUNTAINS, PINAL COUNTY, ARIZONA by William Gibson Hogue A Thesis Vy submitted to the faculty of the Department of Geology in .partial fulfillment of =' . j j the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the Graduate College University of Arizona 1940 Approved: /Date. <^9'79/ TABLE OF CONTENTS .gage. Acknov/ledgments .... Location Previous Work ...... Climate ...... Flora and Fauna ...... Topography and Drainage Miscellaneous ..... Sedimentary Rocks ..... Sedimentary Section ... Pinal Schist ........................... 11 Pioneer Shale ......................... .....12 Barnes Conglomerate ........................... 13 Dripping Spring Quartzite .................... -= 14 Mescal Limestone ............................. 15 Troy Quartzite ...........•.................. 16 Santa Catalina Formation ...................... 17 Southern Belle Quartzite ............. 19 Abrigo Formation ............... *............. 20 Martin Limestone ............ ....... 21 Lower Ouray Formation . ..........J........... 22 Esoabrosa Limestone .. ......................... 26 Apache Diabase ........................... 28 Andesite Porphyry Dike ............ .■...,.... 29 Andesite Porphyry Sill ................ 30 Folding 31 Faulting 32 Northwest Faulting .... ....................... 33 Papago Fault .... ........................... 34 Dividend Fault .w.........v.................... 35 Minor Faults .............................. 36 Possible Interpretations ...................... ; 36 Economic Geology .............................. 38 Ramona Mine ........................ 40 Red Chief Mine .............. ........... 40 Dividend Mine ...... 41 Future of District ............................ 42 \ Plate I In pocket Plate II In pocket Plate III Facing p. 43 Plate IV Facing p. 44 Plate V Facing p. 45 130748 -1- ACKNOWLEDGMEOTS The writer wishes to express appreciation to the faculty members of the University of Arizona for the assistance they gave him. Drs. M. N. Short and E. W. Galbraith made trips to the Slate Mountains to examine' the area. Dr. A. A. Stoyanow examined all paleontological specimens carefully and gave invaluable aid in strati­ graphic determinations. Drs. B. S. Butler and R. M. Hernon assisted with laboratory work and made valuable suggestions pertinent to work in the field. Mr. Hunter Goheen was jointly responsible for getting up a triangulation network and helped to map part of the topography. The writer wishes to thank Mr. Charles Birdseye of the topographic division of the U. S. G. S. who occupied one of the triangulation stations in the area in order to establish an azimuth. -2- LOCATION The Slate Mountains are located 23 miles southwest of Casa Grande within the boundaries of the Papago Indian Reservation in Pinal County. The area studied is located near the northern extremity of the range. The Casa Grande-Covered Wells road passes within one- half mile of the area. The road affords easy transportation during good weather, but may sometimes be difficult to use during the rainy season. The area is about 90 miles from Tucson. It may be reached by following State Highway 84 from Tucson to Casa Grande and turning south on the Covered Wells road. —3— PREVIOUS WORK No detailed study of the Slate Mountains area has been made. However, the area is given brief mention by J. B. Tenney in an article entitled ECONOMIC GEOLOGICAL RE­ CONNAISSANCE OF CASA GRANDE MINING DISTRICT. Mr. Tenney's paper was published by the Casa Grande Chamber of Commerce by permission of the Arizona Bureau of Mines. The paper covers broad geologic features and is economic in nature. - V.V: . ; ' : ■ ' - The general distribution of the rocks of the range is shown on the geological map of Arizona published by the Arizona Bureau of Mines. CLIMATE The nearest weather station is located at Casa Grande 100 feet lower than the base of Slate Mountain and the climates of the two areas are probably essentially identical. Average annual precipitation at Casa Grande is 19.4 inches. Average monthly precipitation varies from a low of 0.05 inches in May to a high of 5.5 inches in July. Mean annual temperature is about 70 degrees. The temperature varies from a mean maximum of 105 degrees in July to a mean average of 64 degrees in December. 1 The Climate of Arizona - H. V. Smith. Bull. 130, Agricultural Experiment Station, College of Agriculture, University of Arizona. -5- FLQRA AMD FAUNA T- Vegetation, and animal life present in the area consist of those forms typical of the Upper Sonoran zone. Mesquite, catsclaw, and palo-verde are common, partic­ ularly along drainages. Ocatillo, cholla, sahuaro, prickly pear, and pinchshion, barrel, and hedgehog cacti are abun­ dant. A few organ pipe cacti have been found. Very little grass is present in the region. Most of the fauna common to the desert province have been observed. Jackrabbits, both blacktailed and the , spotted variety common in Mexico, cottontails, coyotes, foxes, snakes, lizards, hawks, falcons, ravens, quail, buzzards, and many varieties of insects have been observed by the writer. i .... or- — 6— TOPOGRAPHY AND DRAINAGE The area studied consists of a series of roughly parallel ridges and draws whose trend is about N. 45° E. The draws terminate in saddles which connect the parallel ridges. Streams head in these saddles and flow northeast into a playa and southwest into Santa Rosa Wash, a tributary stream of the Santa Cruz River. The steep ridges are drained by streams some of whose locations are determined by rock character and by faulting. The northwest slopes of the ridges approximate dip- slopes. The southeast scarps of these ridges cut across the bedding and are very steep. The highest point in the area is 2500 feet above sea level. The valleys which surround the area have an ele­ vation of about 1500 feet. -7- M33CELLAS101B The area studied would be of particular interest to archaeologists. The writer found numerous caves in the limestones which were once occupied by Indians. Pottery is abundant in and around the caves, and the amount of pottery indicates a rather long period of occupation. Sherds were identified by Dr. Sail W. Haury^ as early Pima and dates about 1750. 2 Haury, Emil V/. - Personal communication (Apr. 1940 ) —8— GENERAL GEOLOGY Sedimentary Rocks The core of the Slate Mountain range is made up of Pinal schist. The contact of the Pinal schist with the Apache Pioneer shale is on the southeast edge of the area mapped. The youngest sedimentary rock in the area is the Escahrosa limestone, exposed in the northwest part of the area. The Escahrosa limestone disappears to the north under valley fill. If younger Paleozoic, Mesozoic, or Tertiary sediments were deposited in the area, they have been removed by erosion. The sedimentary rocks above the Pioneer shale are con­ formable. All of the rocks in the Slate Mountain region have been tilted and now strike N. 50° E. and dip to the northwest at an angle of 30 degrees. -9- The sedimentary section as determined in the area is as follows: Sedimentary Section Thickness Feet Quaternary Recent Alluvium 0—30 Alluvium, caliche and valley fill Mississippian Escabrosa lime­ 200 Thick-bedded gray stone and blue limestone with cherty lenses. Devonian Lower Ouray 96 Pink and yellow thin- formation bedded mudstone, limestone and sandstone. Martin limestone 49 Light blue-gray, tan and yellow limestone with cherty lenses. Upper Abrigo for­ 87 Thin bedded tan Cambrian mation to gray lime­ stone. 75 Thj_n bedded lime­ - stone and light brown sandstone and shale. Pink sandstone • weathering to \,U tan. -10- Middle Cambrian Southern Belle 50 Dark brom to pur­ quartzite ple sandstone and quartzite. Middle Cambrian Santa Catalina 24 Thin-bedded buff formation limestone and tan grits and sandstone. 4 Brown to purple quartzite 141 Brown limestone and sandy shale. 93- Gray and green micaceous shale. Middle Cambrian Troy 360 Maroon and red cross- - . : quartzite bedded coarse­ grained quartzite. Proterozoic Apache Mescal lime­ 240 Tan to dark banded group stone cherty limestone. Dripping Springs quartzite 850 Light colored quartz­ ite and sandstone; ripple marked. Barnes conglom­ erate 2-4 Ellipsoidal water worn pebbles of quartzite, vein quartz, and jasper in a sandy matrix. Pioneer shale 450 Red, gray, and maroon spotted sandstone and shale. Archaeozoic Pinal schist Well foliated siliceous schist. -11 PINAL SCHIST The Archaeozolo Pinal schist is the oldest rock in the area. It is well foliated and splits into thin sheets. The schistosity of the rock strikes N. 10° E. and dips 80 degrees to the southwest, at marked variance with the dip and strike of younger rocks in the area. Surfaces of the rook are shiny gray. In places layers of quartz occur parallel to the schistosity. Microscopic examination of fragments shows that the rock consists predominately of sericite and quartz and a few small grains of magnetite. -12- PIONEER SHALE Hie contact of the schist
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