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Geology of the Bonner Quadrangle Montana

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Geology of the Bonner Quadrangle Montana Geology of the Bonner Quadrangle Montana GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1111 -F Geology of the Bonner Quadrangle Montana 3y WILLIS H. NELSON and JOSEPH P. DOBELL :ONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1111-F With special reference to the tratigraphy and structure of he rocks of the Belt series (NITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1961 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D.C. CONTENTS Page Abstract______________-_-._._-_...._____________ 189 Introduction. ____________ _____________________________________ 191 Purpose and scope of the report.________________________________ 191 Topography __________________________________________________ 192 Belt series (Precambrian)________-_______________-_____--___________ 193 Piegan group- _____________________________________________ 193 Newland limestone_-_-__-------------_---___--____________ 193 Missoula group___-____-________-_-__--_-_____-__--_____-_._-__ 195 Miller Peak argillite.__________________________ 196 Bonner quartzite__________________________________________ 199 McNamara argillite______________________________________ 201 Garnet Range quartzite.___________________________________ 204 Pilcher quartzite._________________________________________ 208 Age of the Belt series_____.___.__________________________ 212 Conditions of deposition_-______________________________________ 213 Diabase (Precambrian?)____-__-__-____--__--_----_--_--_--_-_______ 214 Shale and limestone of Cambrian(?) age___________________________ .__ 217 Deposits of Cenozoic age____-__-__-__-_-_-_---__-_-----_--_-_______ 221 Basin deposits of Tertiary age___________________________________ 221 Deposits of Quaternary age_-___________________-_-___-_________ 221 Glacial deposits-__-_-_---__--_-__--_________-__-__________ 221 Deposits of glacial Lake Missoula__________________________ 222 Alluvial deposits_________________________________________ 222 Colluvial deposits_________________________________________ 223 Landslide deposits____-___-__-_-__-________-_______________ 223 Structure.. .__________________________________._. 224 Regional setting-______________________________________________ 224 Clark Fork fault.._______________________________-__.___ 226 Faults south of the Clark Fork fault__-_._____________ 226 Folds in Jumbo Mountain.____________________________________ 227 Bonner Mountain anticline...__________________________________ 227 Wishard Creek syncline____________-_____-___-_-__-_____-_-____ 227 Thrust faults north of the Clark Fork fault.-__-_--___-____-__ 228 Minor structural features________________-_--_--__-______--___ 228 Age of the structural features________-_----_---_--_-_____-____-_ 229 Physiography._ ____-____-__--_-____________-_-_--_______--_-____-_ 230 Literature cited.___-____--_-__-__-__-_-__--_--_-__-__-___-_-_--_-_ 232 Index..__-_-___-_---_-_-----_-__--_--------_-----_----_ --. 235 ILLUSTRATIONS Page PLATE 35. Geologic map and sections of the Bonner quadrangle, Mon­ tana___________________________________________ In pocket 36. A, Crossbedded quartzite of the Pilcher quartzite; B, Shore­ lines of glacial Lake Missoula____________________ Facing 210 FIGURE 19. Index map of western Montana____-____________________- 192 20. Regional structural setting of the Bonner quadrangle- ______ 225 HI CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY GEOLOGY OF THE BONNER QUADRANGLE, MONTANA By WILLIS H. NELSON and JOSEPH P. DOBELL ABSTRACT The geology of the Bonner quadrangle in western Montana was mapped principally to study the Missoula group of the Belt series, and the structure of the area. The type localities of the formations comprising this group are all in or near the Bonner quadrangle. These formations are here redefined and in part renamed. Like the rest of the Belt series, the Missoula group has been regarded heretofore as of late Precambrian age but in our opinion the results of the present study suggest that its upper part may be of Cambrian age. The oldest rocks exposed in the quadrangle belong to the Newland limestone, the local representative of the Piegan group. That group is characterized by the prevalence of calcite-rich rocks and is near the middle of the Belt series. Here clayey and sandy tan to gray limestone is the major component of the Newland limestone. Thin layers of very dark gray argillite are intercalated with the limestone; and noncarbonatic shale, sandy shale, and quartzite oc­ cur locally in units as much as 100 feet thick. The thickness is at least 4,000 feet. The Piegan group is succeeded upward by the Missoula group, which occupies most of the Bonner quadrangle. The Missoula group has an aggregate thick­ ness of about 14,300 feet, and as subdivided here includes, from the base up­ ward, the Miller Peak quartzite (including the Hellgate quartzite member), Bonner quartzite, McNamara argillite, Garnet Range quartzite, and Pilcher quartzite. All components of the Belt series within the quadrangle appear to have gradational contacts. Shallow-water features, such as mud cracks and ripple marks, are plentiful in argillite beds in both the Piegan and Missoula groups. The Miller Peak argillite is composed of red and green silty argillite and ar­ gillaceous quartzite, and locally a little pale-red and tan quartzite, and light-gray impure limestone. Some argillite units several hundred feet thick are of uni­ form color, but in others the colors alternate every few feet. Few argillite beds are free from clastic quartz which locally is sufficiently abundant to war­ rant naming the rocks clayey quartzite, or even quartzite. The quartzite forms isolated lenticular beds and lenses with some intercalated argillite. The Hell- gate quartzite member, high in the formation, is one of the thickest of these lenses. It is about 1,200 feet thick, and has about 3,800 feet of argillite below it and 1,000 feet of argillite above. The Bonner quartzite (here newly named) corresponds to the middle member of the McNamara formation as previously defined. The formation is charac- 189 190 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GENERAL GEOLOGY terized by its tendency to break into blocks speckled with grains of white, trans­ lucent, weathered feldspar. Pink vitreous quartzite predominates; the quart- zite is commonly crossbedded and intercalated with minor amounts of green and red argillite. The formation is about 1,500 feet thick. The McNamara argillite, as here restricted, is composed largely of red and green metamorphosed clayey siltstone and minor amounts of argillite and quartz­ ite. The colors are partly secondary. The formation is characterized by clay balls and chips; many of these clay balls are predominantly clay, but some are mainly very fine grained quartz, and others are mixtures. The formation is about 4,000 feet thick. The Garnet Range quartzite consists of greenish-gray quartzite and dark-green and dark-gray argillite, shale, and sandy argillite; the formation weathers moderate to light brown. The color, abundant detrital mica, and intense internal deformation serve to distinguish the formation. The formation is about 1,800 feet thick. The next succeeding formation is well exposed along Pilcher Creek, and is here named the Pilcher quartzite. Most of the formation consists of pale- to moderate-red crossbedded quartzite. The upper 10 to 20 feet of the formation contains red and green argillite and constitutes a transition zone between the Pilcher quartzite and the shale unit that overlies it. The Pilcher quartzite is from 700 to 1,800 feet thick. The contact between the Missoula group and the overlying rocks may be either gradational or unconformable. The overlying rocks are probably of Middle Cambrian age; so that if the contact is gradational, as we believe is possible, the uppermost part of the Missoula group must be of Cambrian age. If the contact is an unconformity all the Belt series may be of Precambrian age, or there may have been ample time within the Cambrian period, before Middle Cambrian time, for an episode of erosion to have followed the deposition of some of the uppermost rocks of the Missoula group. Above the Pilcher quartzite two lithologic units are recognized: a lower shale unit and an upper limestone unit. The shale unit is various shades of green, brown, red, and dark gray, and it includes some quartzite and limestone; the unit is estimated to be 200 feet thick. The limestone unit is dominantly gray and in part mottled with grayish-orange spots; some of the limestone is oolitic. One hydrozoan of probable early Paleozoic age has been found. The greatest thickness within the quadrangle is 300 to 400 feet; the top is not exposed. The shale and limestone units are thought to correspond lithologically to the Wolsey shale, Meagher limestone, and possibly Mathead quartzite, all of Middle Cam­ brian age of other areas in Montana. Poorly indurated shale, sandstone, and conglomerate of continental origin are exposed along the west edge of the quadrangle, both north and south of Missoula. These beds contain plant fossils considered to be of Oligocene or early Miocene age. Cirques, U-shaped valleys, and small moraines in the northern part of the quadrangle indicate glaciation during Pleistocene time. Larger glaciers were present a short distance north of the quadrangle. Shoreline features at many places below an altitude of 4,200 feet testify to the former glacial Lake Missoula. Sills, dikes, and stocklike
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