Pennsylvanian and Permian Stratigraphy of the Northern Argus Range and Darwin Canyon Area, California
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Pennsylvanian and Permian Stratigraphy of the Northern Argus Range and Darwin Canyon Area, California U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1691 Pennsylvanian and Permian Stratigraphy of the Northern Argus Range and Darwin Canyon Area, California By PAUL STONE, CALVIN H. STEVENS, and ROBERT T. MAGGINETTI U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1691 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR DONALD PAUL HODEL, Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Dallas L. Peck, Director UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1987 For sale by the Books and Open-File Reports Section U.S. Geological Survey Federal Center, Box 25425 Denver, CO 80225 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Stone, Paul. Pennsylvanian and Permian stratigraphy of the northern Argus Range, Darwin Canyon area, California. (U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1691) Bibliography Supt. of Docs. No.: 119.3:1691 1. Geology, stratigraphic-Pennsylvanian. 2. Geology, stratigraphic-Permian. 3. Geology-California-Argus Range region. I. Stevens, Calvin H. II. Magginetti, Robert T. Ill. Title. IV. Series: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1691. QE75.B9 No. 1691 557.3 s 86-600364 [QE673] [551.7'52'0979487] CONTENTS Abstract 1 Introduction 1 Overview of the stratigraphy and stratigraphic nomenclature 1 Underlying rocks 1 Pennsylvanian rocks 1 Permian rocks 3 Overlying rocks 4 Tihvipah Limestone 4 Osborne Canyon Formation 5 Darwin Canyon Formation 7 Millers Spring Member 10 Panamint Springs Member 11 Regional extent of the Tihvipah Limestone, Osborne Canyon Formation, and Darwin Canyon Formation 12 Depositional history 12 References cited 13 Measured sections 14 FIGURES 1. Location map of region between Owens and Death Valleys, California 2 2. Chart showing comparison of stratigraphic nomenclature in northern Argus Range and Darwin Canyon area and southern lnyo Mountains, California 3 3. Geologic map of northern Argus Range and Darwin Canyon area, California, showing locations of measured sections 6 4. Measured stratigraphic sections 1-5 9 ID Pennsylvanian and Permian Stratigraphy of the Northern Argus Range and Darwin Canyon Area, California By Paul Stone, Calvin H. Stevens, and Robert T. Magginetti Abstract formational rank instead of two-a basal unit of Pennsylvanian age and two units of Permian age--and The 2-km-thick Pennsylvanian and Permian that the Pennsylvanian and Permian rocks are stratal sequence in the northern Argus Range and separated by a major disconformity not previously adjacent Darwin Canyon area is herein divided into documented. We here describe these three units and three formations: the Lower and Middle Pennsylvanian introduce new formational names for two of them. We Tihvipah Limestone, originally described in the also present a geologic map of the northern Argus Cottonwood Mountains (northern Panamint Range) 50 Range and Darwin Canyon area, showing the locations km to the northeast, and the herein-named Lower of measured sections discussed in the text, and graphic Permian Osborne Canyon and Darwin Canyon columns of the measured sections. Written Formations, both of which are herein included in the descriptions of the sections follow the main text. newly revised Owens Valley Group. The Darwin Canyon Formation is divided into the herein-named Millers Spring and Panamint Springs Members. The OVERVIEW OF THE STRATIGRAPHY AND Tihvipah Limestone, which disconformably overlies the STRATIGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURE Upper Mississippian Santa Rosa Hills Limestone, is composed of cherty micritic limestone that was Underlying Rocks deposited on a deep carbonate ramp. The disconformably overlying Osborne Canyon Formation is Pennsylvanian rocks in the northern Argus Range composed of calcareous mudstone, bioclastic and Darwin Canyon area disconformably overlie about limestone, limestone conglomerate, and minor 200 m of massive light-gray limestone that Hall and calcareous siltstone that were deposited in slope and MacKevett (1962) and Hall (1971) mapped as the Lee basinal environments. The conformably overlying Flat Limestone, which they considered to be Darwin Canyon Formation is composed of very fine Mississippian and Pennsylvanian(?) in age. We here grained sandstone, bioclastic limestone, limestone reassign these rocks to the Upper Mississippian Santa conglomerate, and mudstone that were deposited in a Rosa Hills Limestone as defined by Dunne and others basinal environment. Unnamed marine strata of Early (1981), with which they are both lithologically and Triassic age overlie the Darwin Canyon Formation stratigraphically equivalent, and geographically along an angular unconformity that represents an restrict the Lee Flat Limestone from the area of this episode of uplift and tilting during which at least 1,000 report (fig. 2). This restriction follows the usage of m of strata was removed in places by subaerial Dunne and others (1981), who considered the Lee Flat erosion. to be a valid unit only at its type locality (fig. 1), where they demonstrated it to be a local member of the Perdido Formation (which underlies the Santa Rosa Hills Limestone) and thus not equivalent to the unit INTRODUCTION that previous workers have called the Lee Flat Limestone in the northern Argus Range and Darwin Sedimentary rocks of Pennsylvanian and Permian Canyon area. age are widely exposed in the northern Argus Range and the adjacent Darwin Canyon area in east-central California (fig. 1). In mapping these areas, Hall and PeiUlSylvanian Rocks MacKevett (1962) and Hall (1971) assigned these rocks to the Pennsylvanian and Permian Keeler Canyon Lying disconformably above the Santa Rosa Hills Formation and the Permian Owens Valley Formation, Limestone in the northern Argus Range and Darwin which Merriam and Hall (195 7) had defined in the Canyon area is a 100- to 125-m-thick sequence of nearby southern Inyo Mountains. As part of a regional dark-gray cherty limestone of Pennsylvanian age. This stratigraphic study, we recently examined the limestone is characterized by the abundance of small Pennsylvanian and Permian sequence in the northern spherical chert nodules that previous workers have Argus Range and Darwin Canyon area in greater detail called golfball chert. Pennsylvanian cherty limestone than had been done in the past. Our work has shown sequences of similar lithology and thickness are that this sequence consists of three units of present throughout much of the region between Owens Overview of tbe Stratigraphy and Stratigraphic Nomenclature 1 ',,\ \ \ \ I \ ' \ '\ \ J..... \ \ I () I I I /0 Type locality -; \~(,y / .A \<< 1. ~ \~~ \)\ ~---:_ ~ ~ L_ () '1 a EXPLANATION () 0 a ~ Paved rood '1 -:n ---- Unpaved road G) ~ v't- c (j) -z_ () -\ Warm Spring ~ 0 Canyon ( v .( A ~ ~~ \ \ AREA OF MAP v't \"f\ () ~ ~ 0 10 20 KILOMETERS Figure 1. Region between Owens and Death Valleys, California, showing area discussed in report (see figure 3) and other localities mentioned in text. and Death Valleys (McAllister, 1952, 1956; Merriam Valley region was the Tihvipah Limestone, which was and Hall, 1957; Hall and MacKevett, 1962; Ross, 1965; used by McAllister (1952) for a sequence exposed near Hall, 1971; Moore, 1976; Stone, 1984; Stone and Quartz Spring in the Cottonwood Mountains (fig. 1). Stevens, 1984). Later, Merriam and Hall (1957) considered a The first formal name applied to a Pennsylvanian correlative cherty limestone sequence exposed in the cherty limestone sequence in the Owens Valley-Death southern Inyo Mountains as the informal lower member 2 Pennsylvanian and Permian Stratigraphy, Northern Argus Range and Darwin Canyon Area, California SOUTHERN INYO NORTHERN ARGUS RANGE-DARWIN CANYON AREA MOUNTAINS AGE MERRIAM AND HALL (1957l; ROSS HALL AND MACK EVETT THIS REPORT (1965); STONE AND STEVENS (1987) (1962); HALL(I971) ~ ~~· ....,.... t.l? .l~l l .I lJ J ~ -rl..,- ....... t.l? ~ ~1-llJJ < -;:: Unnamed marine strata c::::- 0 Unnamed marine strata ~ w ........ _., _.,_., ........, ~ ~ Q) 0. Conglomerate Mesa ::::J Owens -0 0 Formation ...J ~ 1--- (!) Valley ~ ~~ ~ ~.....r- !"'~~ ,...,.,_ _,... z >. PUft rr-""-~ Q) Formation' >. Pan am in t <{ Q) Darwin - - - Springs Mbr. ~ 0 - Canyon >. 0 0. Millers a:: - > Lone Pine > ::::J w ~ 0 Formation Spring Mbr. 0 (/) (/) ~ a.. w c Formation Q) ~(!) 3: 3: Osborne Canyon Formation 0 0 ,...._ ~ ..._, ~ ....... ~r-- ~ z ......Q) <{ 0 Keeler - ...J Keeler z 1--- Canyon Q) <{ - Canyon Formation 2 > "0 ...J "0 Formation .....__. ~ ...... ....... .,.... ........ ~~~ ~ ....... ~ >- ~ (/) 1--- z >. Tihvipah Limestone z ~ 0 w ........ a.. w .._,...,__ .......?.....r- ........ ~ ........ r~ .,.... ~ u) ~ ....... L ~ (/) ~ Rest Spring Shale Lee FIat Limestone 3 - 0 Santa Rosa Hi II s Limestone ~ ...J I Age given as Permian in reports cited. 2 Age given as Middle Pennsylvanian to Lower Permian in reports cited. 3Age given as Mississippian and Pennsylvanian(?) in reports cited. Figure 2. Comparison of stratigraphic nomenclature used in this report with that used by previous workers in the northern Argus Range and Darwin Canyon area and southern Inyo Mountains, California. of the Pennsylvanian and Lower Permian Keeler considered the cherty limestone sequence in the Canyon Formation, rather than assigning this sequence northern Argus Range and Darwin Canyon area to be to the previously defined Tihvipah Limestone. part of the Pennsylvanian and Lower Permian Bird Following Merriam and Hall (195 7), Hall and Spring Formation, the type locality of which is in MacKevett (196 2) and Hall (1971) mapped the southern Nevada (Hewett, 1931). That assignment was Pennsylvanian cherty limestone sequence