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Depositional History of the Deer Lodge Basin Western Montana

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Depositional History of the Deer Lodge Basin Western Montana University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1987 Depositional history of the Deer Lodge basin western Montana Paul J. McLeod The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation McLeod, Paul J., "Depositional history of the Deer Lodge basin western Montana" (1987). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 9239. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/9239 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COPYRIGHT ACT OF 1976 Th i s is a n unpublished m a n u s c r i p t in w h i c h c o p y r i g h t SUBSISTS. An y f u r t h e r r e p r i n t i n g o f i ts c o n t e n t s m u s t b e APPROVED BY THE AUTHOR. Ma n s f i e l d Li b r a r y Un i v e r s i t y o f Mo n t a n a Date : 1 987 THE DEPOSITIONAL HISTORY OF THE DEER LODGE BASIN, WESTERN MONTANA by PAUL J. MCLEOD B.S. College of William and Mary, 1979 Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science University of Montana 1987 Approved by n. Board of examiners Dean, Graduate School ______ UMI Number: EP40041 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. UMT UMI EP40041 Published by ProQuest LLC (2013). 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 uesf ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 -1346 McLeod, Paul J-» M.S., June 1987 Geology The Depositional History of the Deer Lodge Basin, Western Montana (61 pp.> Directors Graham R. Thompson Examination of drill logs and cuttings from five wells in the Deer Lodge basin, western Montana reveals a maximum thickness of approximately 10,(XX) feet of post middle Eocene sediments. This thickest section of Tertiary sediments is divided into the upper Eocene(?> to lower Miocene Renova Formation and the unconformably overlying middle to Upper Miocene Sixmile Creek Formation. In the deepest part of the basin the unconformity is a lithologie boundary between lithified, dark, mainly lacustrine Renova Formation shales and unconsolidated, fluvial, tuffaceous silts, sands, and conglomerates of the Sixmile Creek Formation. The unconformity is also a clay mineralogical boundary between highly illitic clays of the Renova Formation and smectitic clays of the Sixmile Creek Formation. Diagenesis driven by the heat of burial is responsible for the illitization of the Renova Formation clays and for the generation of oil in the Deer Lodge basin. Ac know1edgements The writer gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Aeoco Production Company which generously lent the cuttings and logs from the five Deer Lodge wells. Amoco personnel who were generous in helping me acquire and interpret the data include Rich Klecker* Ned Sterne, Bill Krebs, George Ecker, Tom Dill, Jo Bernacek, and Butch Oliver. Graham Thompson served as advisor on this project, and I am indebted to him for his inspiration, logic, and patience. Additional thanks go to my committee members Bob Fields and Chuck Miller and to Jim Sears, Bob Derkey, and Debra Hanncman for their assistance in field interpretations. Generous financial support for this project was provided by Amoco Production Company and by the Montana Geological Society. Ill TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction............................ ................. 1 Previous investigations .................................. 5 Structure and stratigraphy of the Deer Lodge basin .... 7 Clay analysis of the Tertiary sediments: Methods . 26 Clay analysis of the Tertiary sediments: D a t a .............28 Clay analysis of the Tertiary sediments: Discussion . 35 Tertiary depositional environments . ................. 49 Conclusion ....... .................................. S3 References Cited ............ 55 Append ix .................................................... 60 IV LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Geothermal wel1 temperatures in the Deer Lodge basin wells based on temperature l o g s ............. 36 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Map of a part of western Montana showing area of study ............ 2 2. Generalized geologic map of the Deer Lodge basin. 3 3. Stream drainages, well locations, and cross section locations in the Deer Lodge basin........... 4 4. Tectonic setting for the Deer Lodge b a s i n .............lO 5. Tertiary stratigraphy of the Deer Lodge basin correlated with the Flint Creek basin and the southeast flank of the Flint Creek Range ........ 12 6. Percent expandabilities in I/S with depth in the Johnson well .......... ................. 30 7. Percent expandabilities in I/S with depth in the Arco wel 1 ............ ....31 8. Percent expandabilities in I/S with depth in the Benson w e l l ............ 32 9. Percent expandabilities in I/S with depth in the Jacobson well .............. 33 lO. Vitrinite-temperature-time nomogram ................. 48 LIST OF PLATES Plate Location 1. West-East cross section through the Deer Lodge b a s i n ................................. in pocket S. South-North cross section through a part of the Deer Lodge b a s i n in pocket CONTENTS OF APPENDICES Table Page 1. Deer Lodge basin well d a t a ............ 60 vi IntrotfcMittmi The Deer Lodge basin is located in Powel1, Deer Lodge, and Silver Bow counties, western Montana (Figs. 1 and 2). It trends north-south and measures 32 miles long by ten miles wide. The Flint Creek Range bounds the basin on the west while the Continental Divide bounds it on the east. The northern end of the basin has a surface elevation of 4,300 feet at Garrison. The surface of the basin rises to an elevation of 5,100 feet at its southern end near Gregson. In the late 1970*s the Tertiary basins of western Montana and eastern Idaho attracted the attention of the oil industry. Before that time the best documented basins were those with the best exposures of basin filling sediments. But the oil industry was interested in the deepest basins with the greatest probability of oil generation. Amoco Production Company’s Tertiary basin exploration program lasted from 1976 to 1984. Amoco spent more than 40 million dollars in the largest exploration program ever undertaken in these basins. Commercial amounts of oil were never discovered, but the data collected was a boon to the study of the Tertiary basins. Amoco concentrated its exploration in the Deer Lodge, Big Hole, Lemhi, Cache, Three Forks, and Canyon Ferry basins. Their first well drilled in the Deer Lodge basin recovered non-commercial amounts of oil from the Renova Formation and led to the drilling of four more wells in that basin, none of which produced oil (Fig. 3). Little had been known about the Helena Anaconda But te M ile s 2 4 Fig. 1 Map of part of western Montano sixiwing area of study (block outline) and adjacent Tertiary basins (stippled). Oeer Lodg« Miles Pleistocene moraines □ Oligocène- Pleistocene basin filling sediments and volcanics pre-Oligocene undifferentiated nor mol fault, hosh nxirte on downthrown side, dashed* inferred Fig. 2 Geology of the Deer Lodge basin (compiled from Mulch, I960; Csejtey, 1962; Wooek and Barctay, 1966; Konizeski, et al., 1968) itono State Prison#! Lewis Johnson Clifford Bernsonm M o Jocobsor Arco A #1 CK Miles Fig. 3 The stream drainages of the Oeer Lodge bosin, the locations of the six wells, and the locations of the two cross sections. 5 Deer Lodge besin owing to the poor Tertiary exposures. The purpose of this study is to determine the Tertiary depositional history of the Deer Lodge basin based upon the data collected fro* the five wells and examination of cuttings. PrgytQWi...lW¥WtlQattggt Earl Douglass (1901» 1903» 1909) first dated and described the Tertiary faunas of the Deer Lodge basin. Billingsley (1916) published the first cross section of the basin in his study of the Boulder batholith. Konizeski's paleoecological study (1957) and hydrologie survey (1968) were the first to discuss the depositional history of the basin. In his study of the southeastern Flint Creek Range» Csejtey (1962) described the Tertiary sediments exposed in the foothills. Rasmussens (1969) stratigraphie analysis of the Tertiary sediments of the Flint Creek basin determined that they are correlative to the adjacent Deer Lodge basin» and his later study (1977) of the Cabbage Patch Formation includes an analysis of the 01igocene-Miocene sediments of the Deer Lodge basin. Pardee (1951)» Alden (1953)» and Ruppel (1962) described the glacial geology of the valley. Cremer (1966) conducted a gravity survey of the basin» determined a maximum sediment depth of S»500 feet» and inferred faults on both sides of the basin. Other workers who mapped and described portions of 6 the Deer Lodge basin include Weed (1912), Gwinn (1960), Mutch (1960), Wanek and Barklay (1966), and Derkey and Bartholomew (1987, in press). 7 Titnictwrg #nd TlrttlariPtrr gf %fm Vmr liwin The Renova and Sixmile Creek formations are the Tertiary basin filling sediments of western Montana and eastern Idaho.
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