1 Geology of the Luckiamute River Watershed, Upper Willamette Basin
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Geology of the Luckiamute River Watershed, Upper Willamette Basin, Polk and Benton Counties, Oregon Stephen B. Taylor, Department of Earth and Physical Science, Western Oregon University, Monmouth, Oregon 97361, [email protected] (May 2004) INTRODUCTION River to 1016 m (3333 ft) at Fanno Peak. The Luckiamute has an average gradient of 3 m/km, a total This report is compiled as part of the stream length of 90.7 km, and an average basin Luckiamute Watershed assessment, conducted under elevation of 277 m (910 ft) (Rhea, 1993; Slack and the auspices of the Luckimaute Watershed Council. others, 1993). Fanno Ridge separates the watershed This work forms part of long-term research on the into two tributary subbasins, with the Little Luckiamute by faculty and students at Western Luckiamute to the north and the main stem of the Oregon University. The project was derived from a 6- Luckiamute proper to the south (Kings Valley) week Environmental Science Institute course (Figure 1). Lower-order tributaries include Boughey convened in Summer 2001 at Western Oregon Creek, Waymire Creek, Vincent Creek, Plunkett University. The institute course targeted Creek, Woods Creek, Maxfield Creek, and Soap undergraduate science majors, preservice education Creek. majors, practicing education professionals, and The greater Willamette Valley extends masters-level education students. The course was northward 190 km from Eugene to Portland, Oregon. designed with four integrated science modules in This lowland is up to 60 km wide, separating the geomorphology, field botany, paleoclimatology, and Coast Range to the west from the Cascade Range to environmental chemistry. The geomorphology the east. Valley floor elevations range from 150 m module focused on landscape analysis, geographic (500 ft) to 3 m (10 ft), with an average gradient of 2 information systems, surficial mapping methodology, m/km (Slack and others, 1993). and field hydrology. The botany module emphasized characterization of riparian habitats, floristic changes TECTONIC SETTING over time, impacts of invasive plant species, and field monitoring methodologies. The paleoclimatology The Luckiamute Watershed is situated on a module included derivation of climate variables from convergent tectonic margin with the Juan de Fuca modern and ancient flora, and examination of the Plate subducting eastward beneath North America Tertiary fossil record of the mid-Willamette Valley. (Figure 2). This subduction zone is associated with a The environmental chemistry module examined land long history of oblique convergence, tectonic use and water quality issues in the Willamette Basin, accretion, arc volcanism, dextral shear, and clockwise with a focus on aqueous chemistry, field measurement rotation (Wells and others, 1984). Paleomagnetic techniques, and pesticide contamination. studies indicate that the Coast Range experienced A significant portion of this report is greater than 50o clockwise rotation during the Eocene excerpted from a published field guide by Taylor and (58 to 38 m.y. ago) (Simpson and Cox, 1977). Long- others (2001). A new addition is the hydrogeology term rates of plate convergence average 3.5 to 4.0 section which reflects recent advances in cm/yr (Adams 1984). Paleoseismic studies along characterizing the geologic framework of the coastal Oregon suggest that the region experiences Luckiamute Basin. Figures and tables are presented at large magnitude, subduction-style earthquakes with a the end of the appendix. recurrence interval of approximately 300 to 500 years (Darienzo and Peterson, 1990). PHYSIOGRAPHY The western two-thirds of the Luckiamute River drains the central Oregon Coast Range (Figure The Luckiamute River comprises a portion of 1). This mountain system began to uplift between 15 the Willamette Basin in west-central Oregon (Figure and 10 Ma (Snavely and others, 1993). The Coast 1). This seventh-order watershed (Strahler, 1957) Range continues to be neotectonically active with drains eastward from the Coast Range into the variable rates of uplift along its length (Adams, 1984). Willamette River and occupies a total drainage area of Thus present-day relief in is a combination of net 815 km2. The Luckiamute Basin is bounded by the uplift due to plate convergence and vertical incision Willamette River to the east, the crest of the Coast by surface processes (Kelsey and others, 1994). Range to the west, Green Mountain and Marys River Tectonic convergence, accretion, and to the south, and the Rickreall Creek Watershed to the mountain builing in the Coast Range resulted in north (Figure 1). Land surface elevations range from extensive faulting, folding, and fracturing of bedrock. 46 m (150 ft) at the confluence with the Willamette Notable structures in the vicinity of the Luckiamute 1 include the Kings Valley and Corvallis faults, in Yamhill Formation (middle and upper Eocene; 48-44 addition to numerous smaller-scale fractures Ma), Spencer Formation (upper Eocene; 44-41 Ma), throughout the region (Figure 3). The Corvallis fault and undifferentiated mafic intrusions (middle zone trends northeast, dips approximately 10o NW, Oligocene; 34-30 Ma) (Figure 4). and is associated with 11 to 13 km of crustal The Siletz River Volcanics are composed shortening (Yeats and others, 1996). The net result is primarily of submarine basalt lava flows interbedded westward juxtaposition of older lower Eocene Siletz with breccia, sandstone, and siltstone (Figure 4). River Volcanics next to younger Tertiary sedimentary Snavely and others (1968) suggested that this unit is strata (to the east). Snavely and others (1993) approximately 10,000 feet thick, thus forming the extended the Corvallis Fault offshore to the southwest, basement rocks of the Coast Range. Siletz River where it intersects a north-trending dextral strike-slip basalts and related sedimentary rocks are interpreted fracture referred to as the Fulmar Fault. Their to be the result of in situ eruption in an extensional rift offshore mapping suggests that the Corvallis Fault is a basin associated with northeast oblique convergence major geologic feature associated with convergent- of the ancestral Kula and Farallon plates (Snavely and margin tectonics. Wells, 1996). Historic re-leveling surveys of western The Tyee Formation is characterized by Oregon suggest that the western boundary of the thickly-bedded arkosic sandstone and siltstone Luckiamute is presently tilting eastward at a rate of lithofacies (Figure 4). The Tyee outcrops extensively approximately 1 x 10-8 rad/yr with crustal shortening in the central to southern Coast Range, with the of 10-7 yr-1 (Adams, 1984). Although tilt data suggest northernmost occurrence located in the southwest that portions of the Luckiamute are neotectonically portion of the Luckiamute Basin (Figure 3). The Tyee active, Mitchell and others (1994) reported no is interpreted as deltaic and submarine fan deposits evidence for historic uplift in this part of the Coast that were derived from an uplifted Klamath terrane Range. By comparing topographic relationships in and Jurassic-Cretaceous arc complexes in Idaho this region to the southern Coast Range and Olympics, (Heller and others, 1985). Kelsey and others (1994) hypothesized that the The Yamhill Formation is comprised of subducting Juan de Fuca slab is likely segmented at interbedded siltstone and shale of marine origin; the latitude of the Luckiamute. marking the onset of rapid subsidence in the Cascadia The Willamette Valley proper represents a forearc basin and deposition in a deep marine trough forearc basin situated between the accretionary Coast (Snavely, 1987). This unit is overlain by shallow Range and Cascade Volcanic arc (Figure 2). The marine deposits of the Spencer Formation (Figure 4). valley has formed a lowland depocenter for fluvial and The Spencer is composed of over 1000 ft of lacustrine sediments since the Pliocene (McDowell, tuffaceous sandstone, siltstone, and mudstone, with 1991). The northern Coast Range forms a broad, volcaniclastics derived from the early Teritiary north-plunging anticlinorium, with pre-Miocene strata Cascade volcanic arc to the east. dipping eastward across the Willamette Valley (Yeats The Eocene volcanic-sedimentary sequence and others, 1996). The Cascades are associated with a in the Luckiamute was subsequently intruded by long history of intermediate to mafic volcanism dating renewed rift-related magmas during the Oligocene from late Eocene (40-35 Ma) to present. Arc (30-34 m.y. ago) (Figures 3 and 4). These Oligocene volcanism has been narrowing and migrating eastward intrusives are composed of sheets, sills, and dikes of over time, with the geometry of High Cascade iron-rich gabbros. The Oligocene intrusives represent volcanoes controlled by the present-day subduction- a final phase of rift-related extension and magmatism zone configuration (Priest, 1990) (Snavely and Wells, 1996). BEDROCK GEOLOGY Lithospatial Distribution Lithostratigraphy Bedrock map units are grouped into four lithospatial domains in the Luckiamute, as recognized Yeats and others (1996) and Snavely and on the basis of outcrop pattern (Figure 3). These Wells (1996) provided comprehensive summaries of include the Siletz River Volcanics Domain (south), the the bedrock geology in the Luckiamute region. Tyee Domain (west-southwest), the Yamhill-Intrusive Bedrock is comprised of an Eocene to Oligocene Domain (north-northwest), and the Spencer-Valley sequence of basaltic volcanic rocks, marine Fill Domain (east). The Siletz River Volcanics sedimentary