Appendix 1 Descriptions of the GIS Geologic Units, Greater Green River Basin, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah – for Plate 2
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Appendix 1 Descriptions of the GIS geologic units, Greater Green River Basin, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah – for Plate 2 10-1 his appendix describes the 171 Geographic Information System (GIS) geologic units (includ- ing surface water) that compose the Greater Green River Basin of Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah – including the Great Divide and Little Snake River basins (Plate 2). The stratigraphic descrip- Ttions in this appendix are for the units shown on Plate 2. The GIS geologic units are ordered as follows: Wyoming 105 GIS units page 10-2 Colorado 40 GIS units page 10-21 Utah 25 GIS units page 10-29 These geologic units are compiled from those parts of the three 1:500,000-scale digital state maps that cover the GGRB. These maps give a code and rock-type description for each unit within the mapped state: each state has its own set of codes, and neither codes nor unit boundaries necessarily match across state borders. In this appendix, for each state, each GIS code and rock-type citation in italics is followed by a description of the corresponding geologic units and rock-stratigraphic units as defined in that state. Plate 7 summarizes these determinations. The abbreviation Ma denotes mega annum or million years before present. GREATER GREEN RIVER BASIN GEOLogic units – WyOMING There are 105 digital GIS geologic units in the Wyoming Greater Green River Basin, including surface water and ice units (Love and Christiansen, 1985; Stoeser et al., 2005). The stratigraphic descriptions below are taken directly from Love and Christiansen (1985) with minor additions. References Love, J.D., and Christiansen, A.C., compilers, 1985, Geologic map of Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey, scale 1:500,000, 3 sheets. Love, J.D., Christiansen, A.C., and Ver Ploeg, A.J., compilers, 1993, Stratigraphic chart showing the Phanerozoic nomenclature for the state of Wyoming: Geological Survey of Wyoming Map Series 41 (MS-41). Stoeser, D.B., Green, G.N., Morath, L.C., Heran, W.D., Wilson, A.B., Moore, D.W., Van Gosen, B.S., 2005, Preliminary integrated geologic map databases for the United States Central States – Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2005-1351. [Includes both Wyoming and Colorado at 1:500,000-scale, though different states within this database have different scales.] Unit symbol Unit description Cenozoic geologic units, Wyoming Quaternary geologic units, Wyoming Water Water [surface water] Ice Ice [glacial ice only mapped in Wind River Range of this study area] Qa Quaternary: Pleistocene-Holocene: alluvium and colluvium deposits. Alluvium and colluvium (Qa) (Pleistocene to Holocene) – Clay, silt, sand, and gravel present in flood plains, fans, terraces, and slopes (Love and Christiansen, 1985). 10-2 Qls Quaternary: Pleistocene-Holocene: landslide and glacial drift deposits. Landslide deposits (Qls) (Pleistocene to Holocene) – Locally includes intermixed land- slide and glacial deposits, talus, and rock-glacier deposits (Love and Christiansen, 1985). [Exposed in scattered areas and along highlands in the Wyoming GGRB.] Qs Quaternary: Pleistocene-Holocene: dune sand and loess deposits (eolian deposits). Dune sand and loess (Qs) (Pleistocene to Holocene) – Includes active and dormant sand dunes and in northwestern Wyoming is chiefly loess (12,000-19,000 years old) (Love and Christiansen, 1985). Ql Quaternary: Pleistocene-Holocene: playa lake or marine deposit (nonglacial). Playa lake and other lacustrine deposits (Ql) (Pleistocene to Holocene) – Chiefly clay, silt, and fine sand. Includes travertine deposits (Love and Christiansen, 1985). [Exposed mostly in the Great Divide Basin and in a few outcrops north of the Rock Springs Uplift.] Qg Quaternary: Pleistocene-Holocene: glacial drift deposits. Glacial deposits (Qg) (Pleistocene to Holocene) – Till and outwash of sand, gravel, and boulders (Love and Christiansen, 1985). [Exposed in the northern Overthrust Belt, Wind River Range, northern flank of the Uinta Mountains, and in a few outcrops in the Sierra Madre.] Qi Quaternary: alkalic volcanic rock and alkalic intrusive igneous rock units. Alkalic extrusive and intrusive igneous rocks (Qi) (Pleistocene, 1.25 Ma) – Consists of leucite- and nepheline-rich flows, scoria, and necks (Love and Christiansen, 1985). [Exposed in the Leucite Hills located in the northern Rock Springs Uplift.] Qt Quaternary: Pleistocene-Holocene: unconsolidated deposit. Gravel, pediment, and fan deposits (Qt) (Pleistocene to Holocene) – Composed mostly locally derived clasts; includes some glacial deposits along flanks of Wind River Range; and locally may include some Tertiary gravels (Love and Christiansen, 1985). [Exposed in the northern and western Green River Basin, Great Divide Basin, and in a few out- crops in the Washakie Basin.] Qu Quaternary: Pleistocene-Holocene: alluvium and colluvium deposits. Undivided surficial deposits (Qu) (Pleistocene to Holocene) – Mostly alluvium, col- luvium, and glacial and landslide deposits (Love and Christiansen, 1985). [Exposed on the northern flank of the Uinta Mountains and mostly within eastern Uinta County and a small area of adjacent Sweetwater County.] QTg Tertiary-Quaternary: Pliocene-Pleistocene: gravel deposit. Terrace gravel (QTg) (Pliocene(?) to Pleistocene) – Partly consolidated gravel above and flanking some major streams (Love and Christiansen, 1985). [The terrace gravel unit is exposed in the southern Green River Basin (Bridger Valley area).] 10-3 Upper Tertiary geologic units, Wyoming Tmu Tertiary: Upper Miocene: sandstone and claystone. Upper Miocene rocks (undivided) (Tmu) Upper Miocene rocks (Tmu) – South end of Wind River Range – Siliceous, arkosic, and locally radioactive sandstone, claystone, and conglomerate. Fission- track age ~27 Ma. Recent work suggests that part of these deposits may be of Eocene age. These rocks were originally defined as the Miocene-Pliocene South Pass Formation (Love and Christiansen, 1985). [Exposed only in the South Pass area at the southern end of the Wind River Range.] Tm Tertiary: Miocene: sandstone and conglomerate. Miocene rocks (undivided) (Tm) Miocene rocks (Tm) – Southern Rock Springs Uplift – Pale-green to tan tuf- faceous sandstone and claystone of Miocene(?) age. Conglomerate of uncertain correlation locally present at the base (Love and Christiansen, 1985). Miocene rocks (Tm) – [Exposed on the west flank of Sierra Madre and south- west into Colorado; in a few small outcrops in the Great Divide and Washakie basins.] – White massive soft tuffaceous sandstone and lesser amounts of white marl; lower part conglomeratic. To the west and southwest called the Browns Park Formation (Love and Christiansen, 1985). Miocene rocks (Tm) – Rawlins Uplift area – White massive soft tuffaceous sandstone (Love and Christiansen, 1985). Miocene rocks (Tm) – [South Pass area at southern end of the Wind River Range] – White soft tuffaceous sandstone. Locally derived conglomerate in up- per and lower parts of sequence; in places lower conglomeratic sequence may be of Oligocene age (Love and Christiansen, 1985). Tbf Tertiary: Miocene: basalt. Basalt flows and intrusive igneous rocks (Tbf) (Miocene, ~11 Ma) – West side of Sierra Madre (Love and Christiansen, 1985). [This unit is only exposed on the western flank of the Sierra Madre uplift in southwestern Carbon County, and it is time-equivalent to the Browns Park Formation in that area.] Lower Tertiary geologic units, Wyoming Tbi Tertiary: Oligocene: conglomerate. Bishop Conglomerate (Tbi) (Oligocene) – Clasts of red quartzite, gray chert, and limestone in a gray to white tuffaceous sandstone matrix (Love and Christiansen, 1985). [Bishop Conglomerate is stratigraphically equivalent to the Oligocene White River Formation elsewhere in Wyoming. The conglomerate is exposed in the southern Rock Springs Uplift and southern Green River Basin (Bridger Valley area).] Twru Tertiary: Oligocene: medium-grained mixed clastic and conglomerate. White River Formation: Upper conglomerate member (Twru) (Oligocene) – Light-gray soft conglomeratic tuffaceous sandstone and conglomerate of Precambrian clasts (Love and Christiansen, 1985). [Exposed only in a few outcrops that are located in the Wind River Range area and the northern Green River Basin.] 10-4 Twr Tertiary: Oligocene: fine-grained mixed clastic and medium-grained mixed clastic. White River Formation (Twr) (Oligocene, 31-35 Ma) – White to pale-pink blocky tuf- faceous claystone and lenticular arkosic conglomerate (Love and Christiansen, 1985). [Exposed only in a few outcrops that are located in the northern Great Divide Basin in northeastern Sweetwater County.] Toe Tertiary: Eocene-Oligocene: mixed clastic/volcanic and medium-grained mixed clastic. Oligocene and/or Upper and Middle Eocene rocks (Toe) (Middle Eocene to Oligocene) – Light-gray tuff, arkosic sandstone, and lenticular conglomerate (Love and Chris- tiansen, 1985). [This unit is exposed mostly in one large outcrop area located along the southern flank of the Wind River Range and in the northern Green River Basin.] Tip Tertiary: Eocene: conglomerate. Ice Point Conglomerate (Tip) (Eocene) – Reddish-brown conglomerate, chiefly of Paleozoic rock fragments (Love and Christiansen, 1985). [The Ice Point Conglomerate is exposed in a few outcrops in the northern Great Divide Basin along the line between Fremont and Sweetwater counties.] Twa Tertiary: Eocene: medium-grained mixed clastic and fine-grained mixed clastic. Washakie Formation (Twa) (Eocene,