Foraminifera from the Arctic Slope of Alaska Part 2, Jurassic Foraminifera GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 236-B Prepared in cooperation 'with the U. S. Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves. Foraminifera from the Arctic Slope of Alaska By HELEN TAPPAN Part 2, Jurassic Foraminifera Description and illustrations ofJurassic Foraminifera, including thefirst Liassic Foraminifera discovered in the Western Hemisphere. Prepared in cooperation with the U. S. Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves. UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1955 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Douglas McKay, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY W. E. Wrather, Director For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D. C. - Price $1.50 (paper cover) OUTLINE OF THE REPORT General introduction Part 1. Triassic Foraminifera 2. Jurassic Foraminifera 3. Cretaceous Foraminifera 4. Pleistocene Foraminifera CONTENTS Page Foraminiferal studies of northern Alaska—Continued Page Abstract-____ .____.__. __.__ ._-____•______-__-____-__ 21 Characteristics of the Jurassic Fauna of Alaska..--- 32 Introduction _______________________________________ 21 Acknowledgments. ______________________________ 34 Field investigations in the Jurassic of northern Alaska. __ 21 Systematic descriptions.__-___-_-_______...._-____-___ 35 Foraminiferal studies of northern Alaska.-______-_-_-__ 22 Rhizamminidae.-.- _ ____________________________ 35 Source of material-_______ _____________________ 22 H yperamminidae. ______________________________ 35 Areas of outcrop-__ _________________________ 22 Reophacidae. __________________________________ 35 Canning River region. __________________ 23 Tolypamminidae_-__ . _-_-_-_-__-____---___--__- 38 Sadlerochit River region_________________ 24 Lituolidae.____________________________________ 42 Siksikpuk-Nanushuk Rivers region. _-__-__ 24 Textulariidae_ __________________________________ 46 Subsurface material-_____-__.________-_..__- 25 Verneuilinidae__-___________________________ ..__ 47 Simpson Test Well !____...__.__._._..___ 26 Valvulinidae.__________________________________ 49 South Barrow Test Well 2____________ .._ 26 Trochamminidae_ _______________________________ 49 South Barrow Test Well 3____-_ .---__-__ 27 Nodosariidae _ _ _______________________________ 51 South Barrow Test Well 4_____ _________ 27 Polymorphinidae. ______-_-_-..____--_____---____ 83 Topagoruk Test Well l___________-____-_ 27 References—__ ___________________________________ 84 Correlation.___ _______________________________ 28 Index._____---.--_-_--__---_----_--_------__-----_ 87 Jurassic of North America.__________________ 28 German Lias-____---__-_________--___-__-__ 29 Jurassic of England and France.. ____________ 31 ILLUSTRATIONS [Plates 7-28 follow page 90] PLATE 27. Lingulina, Frondicularia. PLATE 6. Outcrop of Kingak shale on the Canning 28. Citharina, Lagena, Eoguttulina, Paleopoly- River______________________________ Facing 22 morphina, Globulina. 7. Bathysiphon, Jaculella, Reophax. FIGURE 3. Index map of northern Alaska, showing out­ 8. Reophax, Involutina, Glomospira, Gaudryina. crop areas of Jurassic rocks and location of Page 9. Involutina, Glomospira, Lituotuba, Haplo- test wells-_____________________________ 23 phragmoides. 4. Map of Canning River area, showing location 10. Haplophragmoides. of Jurassic samples collected by Gryc, 1947. 23 11. Haplophragmoides, Ammobaculites. 5. Map of Sadlerochit River area, showing out­ 12. Ammobaculites. crop areas of Jurassic rocks and location of 13. Ammobaculites, Triplasia, Spiroplectammina, samples collected by Sable, 1948-_________ 24 Textularia, Gaudryina. 6. Map of Siksikpuk-Nanushuk Rivers area, 14. Gaudryina, Dorothia, Trochammina. showing outcrop areas of Jurassic rocks and 15. Lenticulina, Darbyella. location of samples collected by Patton and 16. Lenticulina. Keller, I960—____________.__--__-_._ 25 17. Astacolus, Marginulinopsis. 7. Cross section of Barrow area, showing bevelling 18. Lenticulina, Astacolus, Marginulina. of the Jurassic strata to the north________ 26 19. Astacolus, Marginulina. 8. Correlation of Jurassic strata of North 20. Marginulina. America, from which Foraminifera have 21. Marginulina, Dentalina. been described________________________ 29 22. Marginulina, Vaginulina. • 9. Correlation of the Jurassic of northern Alaska, 23. DentaMna, Vaginulina. showing ammonite zones and the equivalent 24, 25. Nodosaria. stages in Europe._______________________ 30 26. Vaginulina, Vaginulinopsis, Nodosaria, Recto- glandulina, Planularia, Saracenaria. CHART CHART 1. Foraminiferal range chart of South Barrow Test Well 3----------------- ----------------------------Facing 26 FORAMINIFERA FROM THE ARCTIC SLOPE OF ALASKA By HELEN TAPPAN' PART 2. JURASSIC FORAMINIFERA ABSTRACT end of the Sadlerochit Mountains. The shales are A fauna of 111 species of Foraminifera was obtained from thin bedded and friable, nearly black in color, and con­ Jurassic strata of northern Alaska, ranging in age from Early tain many concretions. Jurassic or Liassic of Europe (Sinemurian, Pliensbachian, and Toarcian) to Late Jurassic (Callovian and upper Oxfordian- Fossils recorded from the Kingak shale include Kimmeridgian). Pentacrinus cf. P. subangularis Miller (identified by This includes the first Lower Jurassic foraminiferal fauna to be Frank Springer), Inoceramus cf. 7. lucifer Eichwald, recorded from the western hemisphere, and it correlates closely Hammatoceras cf. H. howelli (White), and Harpoceras with the Liassic faunas of Germany, France, and England. A whiteavesi (White) (identified by T. W. Stanton). few of the species were found in outcrops, but the major part of the fauna was obtained from core samples from wells drilled in These species occur throughout the lower 1,500 feet Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4, in the Arctic Coastal Plain of the formation and were originally used as a basis for province of northern Alaska. correlation with the European Liassic and Lower Oolitic Thirty-three genera of Foraminifera are represented, belonging strata. Some very similar species were found in the to 11 families. The family Nodosariidae has 74 species, 8 belong to Kialagvik formation of the Alaska Peninsula, and the Lituolidae, 7 to the Tolypamminidae, 5 to the Verneuilinidae, 4 each to the Reophacidae, Trochamminidae, and Polymor- various European paleontologists considered them to phinidae, 2 to the Textulariidae and one each to the Rhizam- be Late Liassic (Toarcian) in age, although Stanton minidae, Hyperamminidae, and Valvulinidae. Thirty-six of the considered them to be of Middle Jurassic age. species are described as new, and 4 new names are proposed for After LeffingwelTs early exploration, very little was homonyms. done in this area, until the U. S. Geological Survey INTRODUCTION field parties began geologic studies in Naval Petroleum This report is the second of a series describing the Reserve No. 4 in 1923. Foraminifera of northern Alaska. The material de­ Exploratory trips were made by Survey geologists in scribed was obtained during the field exploration and the Reserve in the next few years, but although a dili­ drilling program being conducted by the U. S. Navy in gent search was made, no Jurassic rocks were recognized Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4, and adjacent areas of in the areas traversed (Smith, 1927, p. 117). As Juras­ the Arctic Slope of Alaska. The U. S. Geological sic rocks were oil bearing in southern Alaska, it was Survey is cooperating with the U. S. Navy in the geo­ hoped that such would be the case in the north as well. logic aspects of this program. A general discussion of However, it was not until 1949 that Jurassic rocks were the investigations, with an outline map showing the found to crop out west of the Canning River region location of the Reserve, may be found in the first of where they had first been recognized by Leffingwell. this series (Tappan, 1951b). George Gryc and Marvin D. Mangus worked in the Only the foraminiferal faunas are described in this region of the Shaviovik and Canning Rivers, in the report; a preliminary report on the stratigraphy, summer of 1947, to determine the structural and strati- structure, and other phases of the geology of the area graphic relationships of this area with the other parts may be found in a report by T. G. Payne and others of northern Alaska. They found the Kingak shale ex­ (1952). posed at only two localities on the Canning River, the best outcrop being opposite Cache Creek, where no less FIELD INVESTIGATIONS IN THE JURASSIC OF than 4,000 feet is exposed. A few beds and concretions NORTHERN ALASKA of calcareous ironstone contain fossils, but practically The earliest mention of Jurassic strata in northern no material of sand size was found in the entire section. Alaska was made by Leffingwell (1919). He described The overlying Ignek formation was thought by Leffing­ the Kingak shale as Early Jurassic in age, and as con­ well to be Early Jurassic in age, but Gryc found it to. sisting of about 4,000 feet of black shale, conformably be Cretaceous, probably in large part Late Cretaceous. overlying the Shublik formation of Late Triassic age Three fairly good outcrops of black shale with ironstone and probably underlying the Ignek formation of interbeds and concretions were found in the Shaviovik Jurassic? age. The type locality of the Kingak shale River traverse, and mapped as the Kingak shale, as the is at Kingak Cliff,