Geology of Glenwood Springs Quadrangle and Vicinity Northwestern Colorado
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Geology of Glenwood Springs Quadrangle and Vicinity Northwestern Colorado B'Y N. WOOD BASS and STUART A. NORTHROP CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1142-J The stratigraphy and structure of parts of Garfield, Eagle, Routt, and Rio Blanco Counties UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1963 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D.C. CONTENTS Page Abstract---------------------------------------------------------- Jl Introduction______________________________________________________ 1 Field and office work _______________________ ------------------------ 3 Metamorphic and igneous rocks_____________________________________ 4 Precambrian rocks_____________________________________________ 4 Sedimentaryrocks_________________________________________________ 4 Upper Cambrian______________________________________________ 4 Sawatch Quartzite_________________________________________ 4 Upper Cambrian and Lower Ordovician__________________________ 7 Dotsero Formation________________________________________ 10 Glenwood Canyon Member_____________________________ 11 Clinetop Algal Limestone Member_______________________ 13 Manitou Formation __________________________________ ------ 14 Dead Horse Conglomerate Member______________________ 15 Tie Gulch Dolomite Member____________________________ 17 Upper Devonian_______________________________________________ 17 Chaffee Formation_________________________________________ 17 Parting Member______ __ __ __ __ _ __ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ __ _ __ __ _ __ _ _ 19 Dyer Member_________________________________________ 21 Carboniferous Systems_ _ __ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ __ _ _ __ __ __ __ __ __ _ __ _ __ _ 26 Mississippian_ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ __ _ __ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ __ __ __ __ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ _ 26 Leadville Limestone_ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ __ __ __ __ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ 26 Pennsylvanian____________________________________________ 29 Molas Formation______________________________________ 30 Belden Formation_____________________ __ _ __ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ 34 Paradox Formation ______________________ -----_________ 42 Pennsylvanian and Permian________________________________ 46 Maroon Formation____________________________________ 46 Tongue of Weber Sandstone __________________ ·----- 47 South Canyon Creek Member_______________________ 48 Upper Triassic_ __ __ __ _ _ __ __ __ __ __ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ __ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ __ 54 Chinle Formation__________________________________________ 54 Upper Jurassic________________________________________ __ __ _ __ _ 54 EntradaSandstone________________________________________ 54 Morrison Formation_ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ __ __ _ __ _ _ 54 Lower(?) and Upper Cretaceous ___________ ---------------------- 55 Dakota Sandstone_________________________________________ 55 Upper Cretaceous_____________________________________________ 55 Mancos Shale _________ ·-----------------------------·----- 55 Mesaverde Group_________________________________________ 57 Paleocene and Eocene ________________ ·------- ____ -------------- 58 Ohio Creek Conglomerate, unnamed unit, and Wasatch Forma- tion____________________________________________________ 58 Miocene(?)--------------------------------------------------- 58 Whitesand----------------------------------------------- 58 m IV CONTENTS Sedimentary rocks-Continued Page Late Tertiary or Pleistocene____________________________________ J59 Conglomerate on Canyon Creek_____________________________ 59 Pleistocene _______________ . __ _ __ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ __ __ _ __ __ _ __ __ 59 Glacial deposits_ _ _ __ _ __ __ __ __ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ __ __ _ __ __ _ __ _ _ _ 59 Pleistocene to Recent_----------------------------------------- 60 River terraces and high-level gravel and alluvium______________ 60 Travertine________________________________________________ 61 Slide rock_ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ __ __ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ __ __ _ __ _ __ _ 61 Volcanic ash______________________________________________ 61 lgneousrocks_____________________________________________________ 61 Miocene(?) to Pleistocene _______________ ------------------------ 61 Basalt flows_______________________ __ ___ __ __ _ __ __ _ __ __ __ _ _ _ 61 Basalt sills__________________ _ ___ __ _ ___ __ __ _ __ ___ ___ ___ _ _ _ 63 Structure_________________________________________________________ 63 General structural features ______________________ ----------~----- 63 Joints________________________________________________________ 64 Faults ________________________________________ --------------- 64 Mineral deposits___________________________________________________ 65 Literature cited___________________________________________________ 67 Index____________________________________________________________ 71 ILLUSTRATIONS [Plates are in pocket] PLATE 1. Geologic and structure contour map of the Glenwood Springs quad rangle and vicinity, Garfield, Eagle, Routt, and Rio Blanco Counties, Colo. 2. Generalized columnar section of exposed rocks in the Glenwood Springs quadrangle and vicinity, Colorado. Page FIGURE 1. Principal physiographic features and many known reverse faults in Colorado_____________________________________ J2 TABLES TABLE 1. Fauna of the Dyer Member of the Chaffee Formation_________ 22 2. Fossils of the Belden and Paradox Formations of the Glenwood Springs, Colo., area ____ ----------------------------~___ 36 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY GEOLOGY OF THE GLENWOOD SPRINGS QUADRANGLE AND VICINITY, NORTHWESTERN COLORADO By N. Woon BAss and STUART A. NoRTHROP ABSTRACT The Glenwood Springs quadrangle and vicinity covers an area of about 900 square miles in parts of Garfield, Eagle, Routt, and Rio Blanco Counties in northwestern Colorado. The map area includes much of the White River uplift, where rocks ranging in age from Precambrian to Quaternary are exposed. These exposed sedimentary rocks and lava flows have a total thickness of about 24,800 feet. The general structure of the area is shown on the map by structure con tours drawn on top of the Leadville Limestone at intervals of 500 feet. The uplift is characterized by many reverse and tension faults, many of which trend slightly north of west at about right angles to the trend of reverse faults elsewhere in the State. Several thick beds of bituminous coal, which occur in the Mesaverde Group of Late Cretaceous age, crop out in the southwestern part of the map area. Several formations which crop out in the map area contain beds that are prospectively valuable as reservoirs for oil and gas outside the area of this report. Other de posits of economic importance include four beds of gypsum, which occur in the Paradox Formation and range from 65 to 160 feet in thickness, and thick units of high-grade limestone, which crop out on the Colorado River near the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. Volcanic cinders are quarried and used in the manufacture of cinder block and for road metal. Travertine and volcanic ash are potentially valuable. INTRODUCTION The Glenwood Springs quadrangle and small parts of the adjacent area are in northwestern Colorado and include parts of Garfield, Eagle, Routt, and Rio Blanco Counties. (See fig. 1.) The quadrangle ex tends from long. 107°00' to 107°30' W. and lat. 39°30' to 40°00' N. It includes a large part of the White River uplift, where rocks ranging in age from Precambrian to Quaternary are exposed. Figure 1 shows the main physiographic features of Colorado. The stippled areas represent the mountain ranges, which are large anticlines, elongate northwestward, separated by major synclines. The White River up lift seems to be a northwestward extension of the Sawatch Mountains, but slightly en echelon to them. Jl 41 ·sslO.9" ----~---- !US' 107" 1 ~ -- -~·r:~- -r-- ~:~- -, ~ ~~. I ~~ J '=>fvl'-q D / BLUE 1/vs _j ! ' ~r--: :-M~A~-5-- - J ,-~- --i I I I 40"1 1~10 ALI\NCO ("_) 0 _.__~,~,.- L_Tj i ~ ~ I _]~ ~ ~-~RF•tiO~ .----~ I ___: I;; f-------- ---JJ~ r=,---f--~ I I § I I EXPLANATION 0 J(... (;r:tnd .Junetion ,q·r'V . .I . 0.-;..., l .----/ j __ I D I ~ ___J "'if r ~ I ~"-?<'L__ WAreas of Preeamhrian rocks I :.\,. j r tr;j .--."'""'_ _J 0 "<'"'c.. __ j__ Reverne fault Dashed whe>·• appro:rimate I r ~- I ,_ ___ ~.... I(~ Fault ~ (j Unknmt•n type 38 ..J- ""-.,__ ( ~- I ._jr-- ~ r 1 -- .r 1 c. --- I- 0 ~ ~. I -~•. ~ -y1- 1----n,- ~ ~ -1 ' ' . L ' r--- l"'c. l_ I I'~ Area of this report __ ---1I s I ,) . -v1- I -:v,. j 0 0 50 100 MILES 1-<J ~ '-----'----' I I ' I - ~~ - --i__ l~ ,.~- _j----r-- j__- '____:_\-----,- - < I ~~---- ~-- --- -'-r--- FIGURE 1.-Prlncipal physiographic features and many known reverse faults In Colorado. GLENWOOD SPRINGS QUADRANGLE, COLORADO J3 Altitudes within the quadrangle range from about 5,600 feet, where the Colorado River leaves the west edge of the quadrangle, to 12,246 feet, on Sheep Mountain. Much of the White River Plateau exceeds 10,000 feet in altitude; much of the Flat Tops area ranges from 10,500 to 11,500 feet. Several peaks in the northeast quarter of the quadrangle exceed 12,000 feet. In the north half of the quad rangle are many small lakes. The principal streams in the map area are the Colorado and Eagle Rivers in the south part, the South Fork of the White River in the north part, and their tributaries. The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad follows the Colorado and Eagle Rivers,