Table 13-01. Major Geologic Events in Colorado and Their Influence On
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Millions of Major Geologic Events (map color) 2) Significant Features Era Period Years Ago 1) Type of Deposits/Aquifer Type and Locations Quaternary: glaciation, development of present topography and Great Sand Dunes; South Quaternary Present-2.6 stream systems unconsolidated sand and gravel, silt, and clay/alluvial aquifers Platte River Valley Cenozoic Extension: Uplift, block faulting, and formation of deep basins San Luis Valley, Glenwood Neogene 2.6-23 semi-consolidated sand and gravel, mudstone and siltstone, basalt Canyon, Grand Mesa flows/bedrock sedimentary aquifers, local fractured bedrock aquifers Transition to extension: Widespread volcanism San Juan volcanic Tertiary lava flows, volcanic breccias, welded tuff, ash beds, conglomerate, Cenozoic Paleogene field, Creede Caldera, (Age ofMammals) 23-66 interbeds of sand and gravel/fractured crystalline rock and localized Mount Princeton Batholith bedrock sedimentary aquifers compressional tectonism, Laramide mountain building event: Denver Basin, Front Range uplifting ranges and development of deep basins, K/P boundary and end of “Age of Dinosaurs”, and beginning of “Age of Mammals” Upift, Sawatch Uplift, Grand Hogback, Pikes Peak, semi-consolidated iinterbedded sandstone, conglomerate, siltstone and mudstone with some coal/basin-centered bedrock sedimentary South Park, Roan aquifers Cliffs , oil shale, coal Cretaceous 66-145 Interior Seaway: regional downwarp with flooding by shallow seas Shale badlands, Mesa Verde marine shale, limestone, offshore sandstone members, widespread National Park, ammonite delta and shoreline sandstone deposits with coal/regional bedrock fossils, Book Cliffs, oil and sedimentary aquifers gas, coal Mesozoic Mesozoic Sandstones: relatively stable continent with semi-arid (Age of Reptiles) Jurassic 145-201 and arid conditions Dinosaur National Park, Colorado National Monument sandstone, siltstone, mudstone with minor conglomerate and non-marine limestone/regional bedrock sedimentary aquifers uranium deposits Triassic 201-252 Ancestral Rocky Mountains: uplifting ranges and development of Permian 252-299 basins with periods of marine flooding; restricted circulation and Red Rocks Park, Flatirons, high evaporation Paradox Valley, Maroon sandstone, conglomerate, siltstone, and mudstone; marine shale, Bells, crinoids, gypsum beds in Eagle Valley, evaporite Pennsylvanian 299-323 limestone, and thick accumulations of salt and gypsum/ basin-centered bedrock sedimentary aquifers, localized saline aquifers collapse features Paleozoic Carbonates: relatively stable continent with flooding by Mississippian 323-359 warm shallow seas marine and shoreline sandstone and quartzite; marine limestone and Devonian 359-419 dolomite, marine shale/ regional bedrock sedimentary aquifers, localized groundwater flow in solution cavities and channels as well Glenwood Canyon, as fracture flow proliferation of shelled (Age of Fishes) invertibrates, evolution of Paleozoic Silurian 419-444 vertibrates, Cave of the Winds, Glenwood Hot Springs Ordovician 444-485 Cambrian 485-541 Precambrian basement: continental expansion, deposition of sedimentary rocks, regional metamorphism, deformation, Proterozoic 541-2,500 igneous intrusions Eon Gneiss and schist with a variety of composition and texture, intrusive Front Range “core”, Pikes rocks of varying composition, localized quartzite /fractured Peak, Rocky Mountain crystalline rock aquifers National Park, soft-bodied Archeozoic marine organisms Eon 2500-4,600 Precambrian 1) Not scaled to time. 2) After Raynolds and Hagadorn (2017). Table 13-01. Major geologic events in Colorado and their influence on groundwater. Colorado Geological Survey ON-010 Colorado Groundwater Atlas..