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University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Publications of the US Geological Survey US Geological Survey 2007 Reconnaissance Study of Pleistocene Lake and Fluvial Deposits In and Near Ancestral Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming J. D. Love U.S. Geological Survey John M. Good U.S. Geological Survey D. G. Browne U.S. Geological Survey Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgspubs Part of the Earth Sciences Commons Love, J. D.; Good, John M.; and Browne, D. G., "Reconnaissance Study of Pleistocene Lake and Fluvial Deposits In and Near Ancestral Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming" (2007). Publications of the US Geological Survey. 75. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgspubs/75 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the US Geological Survey at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Publications of the US Geological Survey by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Reconnaissance Study of Pleistocene Lake and Fluvial Deposits In and Near Ancestral C Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming By J.D. Love, John M. Good, and D.G. Browne Chapter C of Integrated Geoscience Studies in the Greater Yellowstone Area— Volcanic, Tectonic, and Hydrothermal Processes in the Yellowstone Geoecosystem Edited by Lisa A. Morgan Professional Paper 1717 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Foreword This reconnaissance study of the Pleistocene lake and fluvial sediments in and near the ancestral Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park (the Park) was begun in 1956 by J.D. Love, joined by John M. Good, Chief Park Naturalist-Geologist of the Park, in a cooperative project in 1963, and completed in 1967. It then went through technical review by G.M. Richmond, K.L. Pierce, and H.E. Malde of the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS). At the time the original report was completed, no modern topographic maps were available for this area so key localities were only approximately located. Coincidentally, near the end of the field work, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) proposed and financed a major program that included (1) constructing modern topographic maps on which new geologic mapping was completed and (2) making related and adequately financed geological studies in the Park, with helicopter support and a staff of experienced field geologists. It seemed likely that our reconnaissance studies would be duplicated and (or) replaced by more sophisticated studies—so this report was withdrawn in 1968. During the subsequent 30 years, seven chapters in the USGS/NASA Professional Paper 729 volume (Baker, 1976; Christiansen, 2001; Christiansen and Blank, 1972; Love and Keefer, 1975; Pierce, 1979; Ruppel, 1972; Smedes and Prostka, 1972), many 15-minute geologic quadrangle maps (Blank, 1974; Christiansen, 1974, 1975; Christiansen and Blank, 1974a, 1974b, 1975; Christiansen and others, 1978; Prostka, Ruppel, and Christiansen, 1975; Prostka, Smedes, and Christiansen, 1975; Prostka and others, 1975; Smedes and others, 1989) (fig. 1), one general geologic map of the Park (U. S. Geological Survey, 1972), and one general geologic map of the Park and surrounding areas (Christiansen, 2001, pl. 1) were published. However, none of these reports attempted to duplicate or expand on data on the Pleistocene lake deposits—so the authors have, for the present report, resurrected the stratigraphic, litho- logic, and paleontologic data with little alteration. A modern study of the glacial history of the region was published by Pierce (1979) and his colleagues in the USGS, and the tectonic history was summarized in Pierce and Morgan (1992) and references cited by them and Christiansen (2001). Therefore, the original discussion of these topics has been deleted. This manuscript might still have remained dormant, except for the fact that colleagues within the USGS and other institutions recently discovered a siliceous-spire field on the floor of Yellowstone Lake in Bridge Bay less than three miles south of our study area. These spires consist mainly of bacterial mats and diatoms bound into a hard rock by silica cement (Morgan and others, 2003; Shanks and others, this volume). Individual spires rise as much as 25 feet and most are located in hydrothermal craters (see Morgan and others, this volume). Even more interesting to us, these spires contain about the same assemblage of some trace elements as those in some of the lacustrine and fluvial strata in our study area (Krajick, 2001). Therefore, data on nearby diatom assemblages as well as our data on the geochemical and spectrographic composition of the sediments have been included. In addition, the authors were faced with the problem of how to reconcile 35-year-old sci- entific observations and interpretations with more modern work (including that presented in the remainder of this volume). In most cases, the original stratigraphic descriptions and lists of biota have been retained. Lisa A. Morgan About the Author In 1956, J. David Love began his reconnaissance studies of the Yellowstone Lake area and continued them through the late 1960s when he began collaborating with John Good, writing the first version of Reconnaissance study of Pleistocene lake and fluvial deposits in and near ancestral Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming. At the time, no modern topographic base map of the area was available to record their detailed observations. In anticipation of possible new mapping in concert with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s efforts in Yellowstone National Park and perhaps new interest in Yellowstone Lake, Love and Good withdrew their manuscript from publication in 1968 thinking it would be incorporated in a renewed effort. Love’s interest in Yellowstone Lake never languished, and efforts by the U.S. Geological Survey to complete a high-resolution bathymetric survey of Yellowstone Lake proceeded, and included many stimulating and helpful discussions with Dave. We have included the following chapter, Reconnaissance study of Pleistocene lake and fluvial deposits in and near ancestral Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming, by J.D. Love, John M. Good, and D.G. Browne, originally written in the 1960s, in the current Professional Paper as a com- panion and historical paper to the chapters on Yellowstone Lake. It has been modified slightly since, but the main parts of the manuscript have not been changed. Hydrothermal explosions and their associated breccia deposits were not understood in the 1950s and 1960s. In this chap- ter, hydrothermal-explosion breccia deposits were identified as distinct units but were referred to as “beach rock.” This term has been retained in the manuscript. Today, we understand the “beach rock” units to be products of hydrothermal explosions. Reconnaissance study of Pleistocene lake and fluvial deposits in and near ancestral Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming, by J.D. Love, John M. Good, and D.G. Browne is a marvelous example of the detailed and solid work performed by geologists 50 years ago. While technol- ogy in the geological sciences has advanced remarkably over this same time frame allowing us to “see” images never previously imagined, the observations made in the field and the never- ending attention to fine detail were trademarks of David Love. This is obvious in his ancestral Yellowstone Lake work. We include this historical manuscript for clues into Yellowstone Lake’s past and as an example of work few have ever replicated. Lisa A. Morgan Contents Abstract .........................................................................................................................................................59 Introduction and Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................59 Previous Work ..............................................................................................................................................60 Chemical and Spectrographic Analyses .................................................................................................60 Stratigraphy ..................................................................................................................................................60 Pleistocene(?) Strata Possibly Underlying Turbid Lake Sequence ............................................65 Turbid Lake Sequence ........................................................................................................................65 Yellowstone Falls Sequence .............................................................................................................65 Hayden Valley Sequence ...................................................................................................................69 Alum Creek Sequence .......................................................................................................................78 Mudkettle Sequence ..........................................................................................................................79 Measured Section of Mudkettle Sequence ..........................................................................79 Astringent Creek Sand .......................................................................................................................81 Pelican Valley Sequence ...................................................................................................................82 Section of Pelican Valley Sequence Along Astringent

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