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Piedmont Interstream Surfaces of the Colorado Springs Region. Benjamin Almon Tator Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College

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Piedmont Interstream Surfaces of the Colorado Springs Region. Benjamin Almon Tator Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1948 Piedmont Interstream Surfaces of the Colorado Springs Region. Benjamin Almon Tator Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Part of the Earth Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Tator, Benjamin Almon, "Piedmont Interstream Surfaces of the Colorado Springs Region." (1948). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 7915. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/7915 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PIEDMONT 1NTBR3IR5IAM SURFACES Of THE COLORADO SPRINGS REGION A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor ©f Philosophy in The School of Geology by Benjamin Almon Tator M.S. Louisiana State University, 1941 May, 1948 UMI Number: DP69293 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI' Dissertation Publishing UMI DP69293 Published by ProQuest LLC (2015). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProOuest ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 - 1346 (9 SU7 06 TABLE OF OGNTBWES INTRODUCTION ............................. i Region Studied .............. 4 Geologic Setting .................... 4 Structural Setting ... ......... 4 F ield Work 5 Acknowledgments ....................... 5 Previous Work 6 CONCEPTS OF ORIGIN OF BEDROCK EROSION SURFACES ...... 7 TOPOGRAPHIC UNITS OF THE COLORADO SPRINGS REGION .... 10 Southwest Area .••»•••••• 10 Manitou Embayment Area .* 10 Lower Piedmont Area 11 High Divide Area .... .......... 11 PIEDMONT IN TER STREAM FLATS .. 12 High Level Group........... .....* 12 Intermediate Group . ........... 13 Low Level Group . .................. 13 The Stream Terraces ....... 14 DEADMAN CANTON SURFACE OF THE HIGH LEVEL GROUP ............ 15 Location and Extent ....... 15 Surface Features .......... 15 E levation and Slope .............. 18 The Alluv 1 urn 19 T'ho TfinV Surface ........... .. 21 Other High Level Group Surfaces ............................. 21 v ? %n (c Lci3 d c U 1 1 ^•*5- D ; ; a z 3 Page L lfflB TURKEY CREEK SURFACES OF THE INTERMEDIATE GROUP 26 Location and Extant 26 Surface Features .......................................... *.... ...................... 26 Elevation and Slope .......... 26 The Alluvium ................. 29 The Bedrock Surface ................................ 30 Other Intermediate Group Surfaces ............. 30 ROOK CREEK SURFACES OF THE LOW LEVEL GROUP......................... 34 Location and Extent .............................«.................... 34 Surface Features................ ........................................... 36 Elevation and Slope ..»*, .................. 36 The Alluvium ............................ * *. 37 The Bedrock Surface ...................... 3? THE MESA SURFACE OF THE LOW LEVEL GROUP............................... 39 Location and Extent ............... 39 Surface Features • • . * .. 39 Elevation and Slope ................. 41 The Alluvium ............ ....................................................... 41 The Bedrock Surface ................... 43 Other Low Level Surfaces...................... *................................. 44 THE STREAM TERRACES ........................................................................ 43 CLIMATIC CONSIDERATIONS ............................................ ................. $0 VALLEY CHARACTERISTICS ................................................ 53 In the Mountain Canyons ................................ ............. 53 In the Piedmont ........... ..................................................... *. • • * 56 i l l Page MECHANICS 01 VALLEY WIDENING ............................... 59 Climatic Pastors ............... 99 Retreat of Slopes .............................. 59 Channel Shifting ................. 61 Bedroek Erosion ................................................ 64 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VALLEY DEEPENING AND VALLEY WIDENING ..................... 68 DEVELOPMENT OP PIEDMONT PLATS AND TERRACES ................ 71 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DAKOTA RIDGE AND THE SURFACES ........... 75 E levation ........... 75 Trend ....................................... 76 Extent of Preservation ....................................... 77 EROSIONAL HISTORY OP THE DSADMAN CANYON AREA ............ 78 AGE CONSIDERATIONS ............................................................... 87 CONCLUSIONS ..................................... 91 REFERENCES CITED .................................................................. 95 iv LIST OF FIGURES Fag© Figure 1# Index of Region Studied ...................... x l Figure 2. View last along Broad Valley Flat Hor tli of Rook Creek ...................... 3 Figure 3 . Stratigraphy of the Colorado Springe Region in Tabular Form ........... ........... 4a Figure 4* Contour Map of the northern Fortion of the Deadmn Canyon Surface ................. 16 Figure 5 . View Northeast on the Southern Portion of the Deadman Canyon Surface ......... 17 Figure 6 , Alluvial Section in the Northeast edge of the Deadiaan Canyon Surface showing old Channel in the Surface ............ 19 Figure 7 * Alluvial Section in the High Level Croup Surface on the South Slop© of the Rampart Range ............... 24 Figure 8. Contour Map of the L ittle Turkey Creek Surfaces of the Intermediate Croup .... 27 Figure 9- View South on the lowest of the Inter* mediate Croup le v e ls Just N ortheast of Turkey Creek 31 Figure 10. View Mountainward on the stripped pied­ mont f l a t on the Red Greek-Turkey Creek d ivid e ................... 33 Figure 11. Contour Map of the Rock Creek Surfaces of the Low Level Croup ............. 35 Figure 12. Scour Channels In the Highway 115 road- cut through the Red Creek Surfaces •.•• 36 Figure 13. Contour Map of The Mesa Surface of the Low Level Croup ..................... • 40 Figure 14. Alluvial Section in the Colorado Springs C ity Gravel Pit • • • .......... 42 Figure 15. View South across a steeply-sloping piedmont f l a t flank in g the Rampart Range in Northern portion of the Colorado Springs Region ................. 46 v. Page Figure 16* View Northeast toward little fountain Creek Canyon upsiope along the h igh est stream terraoe of that Valley • • * * * 49 Figure 17* View of Modern Channel Impingement against the Basin Wall in the Canyon Basin of Upper Bed Creek .................. ..................... 55 Figure 18, View Northward in the basin of Upper led Creek ............................................ ................. 55 Figure 19. Map showing the canyon basin of Upper Bed Creek ................. ............... 58a Figure 20. Map showing Valley Characteristics in the upper piedmont portion of the Valley of Rook Creek ............. 58b Figure 21. Map Of Deadman Canyon Area showing the Various Piedmont Surfaces ............... 86a v i. LIST OF PLATES (Appendix) P la te I .... Map of the Colorado Springs Begioa showing the location and extent or the various piedmont Interstream surfaces« P la te II Orosa~aeetioos along Highway 115 readouts through the middle and lowest levels of the Hook Creek Surfaces of the how Level Croup, and the middle level of the Intermediate Croup west o f Bed Creek. P la te I I I Surface profile® of the Dea&man Canyon Surface levels, the Little Turkey Greek Surfaces, and the Bock Creek Surfaces; and adjacent streams including Little Turkey, Turkey, Little Bear, Little fountain, and Bock Creeks. ABSTRACT Three major groups of broad piedmont levels: the High Levels, the Low Levels, and the Stream Terraces, flank the Front Range in the Colorado Springs region* The High and Low Level groups are late Pleistocene in age and the Stream Terraces are Recent. A fourth Croup, the Intermediate, is the age equivalent of the Low Level Croup, but occurs in upper piedmont areas held at higher elevations because of the confining effect of the re­ sistant Dakota unit* These piedmont interstream flats stand above the modern v a lle y bottoms and slope outward from the range. They consist of relatively thin alluvium blanketing roughly planate bedrock surfaces. The alluvium is a coarse fangiomarate made up of poorly stratified and poorly sorted torrential deposits. The bedrock surfaces truncate the homoclinal structure of the piedmont. The development of the piedmont levels is related to processes active at present in the modern valley bottoms. The Front Range is being uplifted continuously and not intermitt­ ently. The piedmont surfaces occur in multiple arrangement with minor vertical intervals separating the several member levels of each group, and major vertical intervals separating the High Level Group from the Intermediate and Low Level groups. The levels of each
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