Laramie Correlation Map of the Denver
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11. Geol. Soc. Am., vol. 67 Reichert R.5I Legend Castle Rock conglomerate l-\ Castle Rock volcanics ~" • Oawton arkose (re-defined and extended) Table Mountain basalt flows Denver formation (re-defined and extended) Cretaceous - Poleocene contact—-/ of R.W.Brown(l943,p.67) Sasal member of Denver formation Base mop drawn from 1935 geological map of Colorado Arapahoe formation (re-defined and extended) Note: Compare with Plate 2 Correlolion by Stanley 0. Reichert 1955 .oramle formation as originally defined) -LARAMIE CORRELATION MAP OF THE DENVER BASIN, COLORADO POST Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/67/1/107/3441540/i0016-7606-67-1-107.pdf by guest on 02 October 2021 BULLETIN OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA VOL. 67. PP. 107-112, 2 PLS. JANUARY 1956 POST-LARAMIE STRATIGRAPHIC CORRELATIONS IN THE DENVER BASIN, COLORADO BY STANLEY O. REICHERT ABSTRACT In mapping and correlating post-Laramie formations in the Denver Basin, clear-cut mappable formation boundaries have been defined and used. It is proposed that (1) the Laramie-Arapahoe contact remain as originally defined by Emmons, Cross, andEldridge (1896); (2) the Arapahoe-Denver contact be placed at the widespread erosional disconformity at the base of the lowest, thickest, and most prominent basalt-andesite pebble conglom- erate bed in the Denver area, instead of at the first appearance of andesitic debris as originally proposed by Emmons, Cross, and Eldridge (1896). The following changes in nomenclature are proposed: (1) The Arapahoe and Denver formations can be mapped throughout the Denver Basin, and these names should replace the term "lower Dawson" of Dane and Pierce (1936). (2) "Dawson formation" (type section at Dawson Butte) should designate only "upper Dawson" of Dane and Pierce. (3) The name "Green Mountain conglomerate" should be abandoned as it is only a partial representative of the proposed Dawson formation as restricted in (2). (4) The Laramie formation should be restricted to its original definition by Emmons, Cross, and Eldridge (1896) rather than extended as proposed by Brown (1943). CONTENTS TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS Page Plate Facing page Introduction 107 1. Post-Laramie correlation map of the Denver Basin, Colorado 107 Formations involved 108 2- Post-Laramie correlation of stratigraphic columns in the Denver Basin, Colorado.... 112 Summary of methods and results 108 TABLE Conclusions and proposed changes in nomen- Table Page clature 110 i. Comparison of thicknesses of post-Laramie sediments, Green Mountain area, Jefferson Bibliography Ill County, Colorado 108 INTRODUCTION mittently on detailed mapping of the Golden- The purpose of the present paper is to review Green Mountain area (Reichert, 1954, Pis. 2, the post-Laramie stratigraphy of the Denver 3> and on reconnaissance mappmg of the post- Basin and show that clear-cut mappable bound- Laramie sediments along the perimeter of the aries between formations can be selected over Denver Basin. The small-scale (1 inch = 2 the entire area. Lithologic characteristics are miles) mapping done directly on the U. S. Geo- the basis for the designation of formations. A logical Survey topographic sheets has been revision of the nomenclature is proposed. transcribed onto a base map of the Denver From 1946 to 1955 the writer worked inter- Basin which was traced from the U. S. Geo- 107 Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/67/1/107/3441540/i0016-7606-67-1-107.pdf by guest on 02 October 2021 108 S. O. REICHERT—POST-LARAMIE CORRELATIONS TABLE 1.—COMPARISON or THICKNESSES or POST-LARAMIE SEDIMENTS, GREEN MOUNTAIN AREA, JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO Thickness (in feet) according to: Formation Emmons, Cross, Marr (1929, Colo. School of Mines, Reichert Eldridge Unpub. Rept., p. 11) (1896, PI. 5) Min. | Max. Green Mountain conglomerate 423 525 590 610 Denver 434] 915] 293] 323) [1125 [ms [966 [1067 Arapahoe 691 j 800J 673J 744J Total post-Laramie thickness 1548 2240 1556 1677 logical Survey 1935 geological map of Colorado. There is disagreement for each individual Plates 1 and 2 show the results of this work and formation thickness wherever the lithologic the correlations proposed. horizon is uncertain. The writer chose prominent lithologic breaks FORMATIONS INVOLVED which could be traced over the entire large- scale aerial-photograph mosaic of the Golden- This paper is concerned only with the post- Green Mountain area (Reichert, 1954, PL 3). Laramie formations in the Denver Basin shown The base of the Arapahoe formation as defined on Plates 1 and 2. In the northern part of the by Emmons, Cross, and Eldridge (1896, p. 154) area the U. S. Geological Survey recognizes the is marked by an arkosic conglomerate 100 feet Arapahoe as the older and the Denver as the thick. It is easily traced on the mosaic and in younger formation. In the Castle Rock area and the field. The base of the Denver formation was southward, these same formations have long placed by Emmons, Cross, and Eldridge (1896, been designated as lower Dawson and upper p. 160) at the first appearance of andesitic Dawson, but exact correlations had not yet debris. This horizon varies and cannot be de- been established when the 1935 geological map lineated on the large-scale mosaic nor on the of Colorado was published, and no attempt was ground. It is unmappable and has led to great made on the Colorado map to differentiate any confusion throughout the Denver Basin. The of the post-Laramie sediments except the writer chose the base of the lowest, thickest, Castle Rock conglomerate. and most prominent basalt-andesite pebble- conglomerate bed as the base of the Denver for- SUMMARY OF METHODS AND RESULTS mation. This bed can be traced on the aerial- photograph mosaic of the Golden-Green In using a semicontrolled aerial-photograph Mountain area. Finlay (1916) mapped this mosaic on the scale of 8 inches to 1 mile for the horizon in the Colorado Springs folio as the field mapping of the Golden-Green Mountain Tda unit of the Dawson arkose, and the writer area in Jefferson County, Colorado, the writer traced it for 10 miles along the strike of the found discrepancies in the total thickness of all beds in the Castle Rock quadrangle (PI. 1). post-Laramie formations as well as in individual The base of the Green Mountain formation formation thicknesses (Table 1). as defined by Hares (1926, p. 175) and Marr Thicknesses in Table 1 were obtained by (1929, Colo. School Mines Unpub. Rept., p. measuring the same section exposed along the 10-13) is marked by an erosional disconformity west side of Green Mountain, SWJ4 Sec. 13, overlain by a basal andesite- and basalt-pebble T. 4 S., R. 70 W. Care was taken to select the conglomerate 50-150 feet thick, which is easily same stratum, as nearly as could be determined traced in the field and on the large-scale mosaic. from Cross' or Marr's description, for the The proportion of basic lava detritus decreases boundary in each case. rapidly up section, being replaced by ever- Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/67/1/107/3441540/i0016-7606-67-1-107.pdf by guest on 02 October 2021 SUMMARY OF METHODS AND RESULTS 109 increasing quantities of boulders of Precam- Monument Creek-Denver contact was traced, brian granites, gneisses, schists, quartzites, and intermittently, from 6 miles north of Sedalia to sandstones toward the top of the Green Moun- 8 miles southeast of Falcon. This Denver- tain conglomerate. The lower basalt-andesite Monument Creek or lower Dawson-upper pebble member of the Green Mountain con- Dawson contact is shown on Plate 1 as a broken glomerate thins and disappears southeastward. line so as to distinguish it from its solid-line Southeast of Littleton in T. 6 S., R. 68 W., the continuation, which had been mapped by basal part of the so-called Monument Creek earlier workers. Lastly, R. W. Brown's Creta- formation is an arkosic sandstone and con- ceous-Tertiary time line (Brown, 1943, p. 67) glomerate, 50 feet thick, very similar litho- was transcribed to Plate 1. logically to the basal part of the upper member Plate 2 shows four measured stratigraphic of the Green Mountain conglomerate on Green sections (1, 2, 3, and 4) corresponding to the Mountain, except that the conglomerate be- numbers on Plate 1. The following horizons, comes finer-grained southeastward. Ten miles from older to younger, were used to establish due south, in Sec. 20, T. 7 S., R. 68 W., this correlations: same 50-foot arkosic sandstone and conglom- (1) The erosional disconformity separating erate is overlain by a 50-foot sandy, carbona- the basal Arapahoe arkosic conglomerate from ceous shale containing abundant fossil plants. the underlying Laramie clays These two beds are correlated with beds 7 and 8, (2) The erosional disconformity between the respectively, of R. W. Brown's (1943, p. 73) base of the basal andesite-basalt-pebble con- section at the Douglas (Lehigh) Coal Mine. glomerate and the underlying light-colored Yet here these beds belong to the upper Daw- arkosic, sandy shales of the Arapahoe forma- son formation; south of Littleton they are called tion (This disconformity marks the base of the Monument Creek formation, and on Green redefined Denver formation of this paper and is Mountain they are called Green Mountain correlated with the disconformity at the base conglomerate (Pis. 1, 2). of the Tda unit of the lower Dawson arkose, Before the boundaries were drawn for the shown on the stratigraphic sections at Castle post-Laramie formations (PI. 1), the location, Rock, Colorado Springs, and Calhan.) geologic age, and lithologic characteristics of (3) R. W. Brown's Cretaceous-Tertiary time every place where plant or animal fossils had line been collected were plotted on the map.