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Review and Annotated Bibliography of Ancient Lake Deposits (Precambrian to Pleistocene) G-I in the Western States As Jz;

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Review and Annotated Bibliography of Ancient Lake Deposits (Precambrian to Pleistocene) G-I in the Western States As Jz; o 00 o H Review and Annotated Bibliography of Ancient Lake Deposits (Precambrian to Pleistocene) g-i in the Western States as Jz; GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1080 02 O PH O z eq P S3 Review and Annotated Bibliography of Ancient Lake Deposits (Precambrian to Pleistocene) in the Western States By JOHN H. FETH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1080 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1964 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director The U.S. Geological Survey Library catalog card for this publication appears after page 119. For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 CONTENTS Page Abstract_________._.______-___--__--_---__-_-_------.--_-_-_-__ 1 Introduction.________________________----_-_-____--__-__---._-___- 2 Definitions__ _ _____________--__-_-_--__--_--___-___-___---______ 13 Maps.._____-_______--_-__--------------------------------------- 13 Criteria for the recognition of lake deposits. __-_______.___-_-__.-_____ 17 Definitive criteria____ _ _____-____-__-________---_-___-----_._ 17 Fossils. _-_--____---__-_.---_-------_-----__-_------_. 17 Evaporite deposits..._-_------_------_-------_--------_---. 20 Shore features_________---__-_-------__-_---_-_-_--_-_--_ 21 Suggestive criteria.______.-_-_--___-____---_.-____-__-____.--_. 21 Regional relations._.._-_..-____-..--...__..._..._._.._.... 21 Local evidence.___-__---_--------_--__---_-----_--------__ 22 Grain size, bedding, and lamination...._._.____.___.___.. 23 Ripple marks, mud cracks, and similar features__________ 25 Mineralogy-_-___-----_------_---_-_-._--___--------._ 26 Rock color__._.--_---_.-._.__-___-.___.__---_____._ 27 Limestone.___________________________________________ 28 Chemical criteria._____--_-_--_--________-_-_-_-_-_-___ 30 Checklist of criteria..______-__.--..-._..____._.__-.____-.-___.. 32 Bibliography_ ___________________________________________________ 33 Index by geologic age._--_-_-___-__-___--___-____--_-__-_-_---.-_-. 113 Index by States._____.-._.-___-_-__----_----------_--_-_---___--__ 116 Index by criteria._________________________________________________ 119 Index by subjects of economic importance.___________---_-_-_--_-__-- 119 ILLUSTRATIONS [Plates are in pocket] PLATES 1-4. Maps of Western Conterminous United States showing 1. Known and inferred lake deposits of pre-Tertiary age. 2. Known and inferred lake deposits of Paleocene and Eocene age. 3. Known and inferred lake deposits of Oligocene, Miocene, and Pliocene age. 4. Maximum known or inferred extent of Pleistocene lakes. TABLE Page TABLE 1. List of formations that include lake deposits...__.._-_-____-. 4 in REVIEW AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ANCIENT LAKE DEPOSITS (PRECAMBRIAN TO PLEISTOCENE) IN THE WESTERN STATES By JOHN H. FETH ABSTRACT The occurrence of lake deposits in 11 Western States is shown on three maps representing: (1) pre-Tertiary deposits; (2) deposits of Paleocene and Eocene age; and (3) deposits of Oligocene, Miocene, and Pliocene age. A fourth map shows the maximum known or inferred extent of Pleistocene lakes in the same 11-State area. In this paper, the term "lake" refers to any standing inland body of water having, generally, considerable size. Playa lake is defined as a body of pond­ ed water which temporarily and often repeatedly occupies part or all of a playa, which, in turn, is defined as the lowest part of a closed basin. Lacus­ trine deposits consist of sediments laid down in both relatively permanent lakes and playa lakes, although the latter are little considered in this paper. Lacustrine deposits of pre-Tertiary age are concentrated in a few large areas within a zone that extends northward from Arizona into Montana. These deposits are largely of Mesozoic age. The concentration of major areas of lacustrine sediments of Paleocene and Eocene age in much the same region seems to imply that this part of the continent was stable and continental rather than marine during long periods of time and probably was characterized by rather low relief. Beginning in Oligocene time and continuing through Pliocene time, the lake basins for which we have sedimentary record were characteristically smaller, more numerous, and much more widely distributed than the earlier basins. The distribution of these lake basins suggests a topography similar to that now; existing. By Pliocene time, at least, continental conditions dominated over marine throughout the 11 Western States. A prominent alinement of lacustrine basins, which extends northwestward about 500 miles from Lakes Santa Maria and Guzman in Chihuahua, Mexico, reflects the presence of a major structure coinciding, in part, with the south­ west margin of the Colorado Plateau. The structure is probably a grabem in at least some parts of its length. Early evidence of the structure in Arizona is found in the Pliocene lake deposits in the San Simon and Gila Valleys, the San Carlos area, and the Verde Valley. Search of the literature disclosed very few definitive criteria by which sedi­ ments can be identified as lacustrine. Limestone and diatomite that contain fresh-water fossils are considered conclusive evidence of ponded water. Cer­ tain assemblages of fossil mollusks especially the Sphaeriidae, Valvatidae and Amnicolidae, regardless of their enclosing lithology are also apparently distinctive of lake waters. Among the ostracodes, species of Cytherissa, Lim- nicythere, Oypridea, Darwinula, and Candona, where abundant, strongly sug- 2 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF LAKE DEPOSITS IN WESTERN STATES gest lacustrine waters. Tabular or broadly lenticular deposits of borate min­ erals, celestite, trona, and other evaporite minerals and at places gypsum suggest the former presence of saline lakes commonly in desert or semiarid surroundings. Of the foregoing, the borates and trona seem to have been de­ posited without exception in continental environments. The former existence of Pleistocene lakes can be recognized in many places by the presence of shore features. Reconstruction of palegeography may serve as an aid in defining ancient lake basins and in identifying geologic events that disrupted drainage and caused lakes to form. Suggestive criteria have been discussed by numerous authors. Broad areas occupied by fine-grained laminated clastic rocks of rather uniform lithology, especially where bedding surfaces are flat and individual thin units laterally extensive, have been accepted by some as evidence of lacustrine deposition. Others cite intertonguing of coarse and fine sediments and the saucer shape of the deposits. Individual writers have identified sediments on the basis of bedding and lamination, ripple marks, mud cracks, and similar features; others have made their identification from variations in clay mineralogy, color, and other specific characteristics including the chemistry and isotope variations of the deposits. None of the aforementioned criteria seem broadly applicable as a definitive criterion, although many are suggestive. An annotated bibliography composes the bulk of the present paper. In­ cluded are papers that contain good descriptions of, or maps showing, the lake-sediment areas outlined on the accompanying maps. Also cited are papers that discuss criteria for recognition of lake-deposited materials, and a se­ lected few that provide exceptionally full or useful descriptions of lacustrine sediments. INTRODUCTION Since the earliest geologic explorations in the Western contermi­ nous United States, reference has been made to lake-deposited strata, and their inferred presence has been used in reconstructing the paleo- geography and paleoenvironments of the region. The present re­ port attempts to compile and annotate the most important literature regarding distribution of ancient lakes, Precambrian through Pleis­ tocene, in 11 Western States, and to list and evaluate various criteria by which lacustrine deposits can be distinguished from those of other origins. This paper consists mainly of a selected annotated bibliography on lacustrine sediments of the Western conterminous United States, ranging in age from Precambrian to Pleistocene. It also includes a tabular summary (table 1), four maps showing distribution of lake sediments of various geologic ages, and several indexes. The indexes give cross-references to papers on lake deposits grouped by (a) geo­ logic age of the deposits, (b) States in which the deposits occur, (c) criteria for recognition of lake deposits, and (d) economic importance of lacustrine sediments. In addition, the various criteria for the recognition of lake deposits proposed by the authors cited are re- INTRODUCTION 3 viewed in detail and appraised with respect to their general applica­ bility and reliability. The economic importance of lake deposits is seldom emphasized. In the Western States, they yield or confine large volumes of ground water. In many intermontaine basins it is the presence of ground water in those deposits that has made possible development of hous­ ing, industry, and agriculture. Lake deposits not only form large tracts of agricultural land but contain abundant supplies of sand and gravel that are used for construction. Western lake deposits contain our largest reserves of borate min­ erals. Much of the brick and the clay tile in the Western States and some refined ceramic products are made from lacustrine clays. Other clays are used as a base for drilling mud which is important in the petroleum industry. Numerous other deposits of economic importance either are of lacustrine origin or mineralogically replace lacustrine sediments. Among these are sodium chloride and various other salines, magnesite, strontium minerals, gypsum, diatomite, and manganese oxides. The western lake deposits also contain tremendous resources of oil shale and are the source beds for the significant amounts of petroleum and natural gas produced from continental deposits in Colorado and Utah. Lake deposits also carry less common, but economically valu­ able, hydrocarbons such as gilsonite, wurtzilite, and ozokerite. Lake deposits also provide clues to the climates and land forms of the past.
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