Brigham Young University Geology Studies
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Brigham Young University Geology Studies Volume 27, Part 2 CONTENTS The Kinnikinic Quartzite (Middle Ordovician) in the Type Area, Central Idaho, and a New Reference Section near Arco, Idaho ........................................................ Robert Q. Oaks, Jr., and W. Calvin James Geology of the Sage Valley 7 W' Quadrangle, Caribou County, Idaho, and Lincoln County, Wyoming ....................J ohn L. Conner Geology of the Elk Valley Quadrangle, Bear Lake and Caribou Counties, Idaho, and Lincoln County, Wyoming .... J. Floyd Hatch Geology of the Woodruff Narrows Quadrangle, Utah-Wyoming .....................................................................................Valen D. Ott Geology and Ore Deposits of Mineral Mountain, Washington County, Utah ............................................................ Stuart K. Morris Conodonts and Biostratigraphy of the Lower Mississippian in Western Utah and Eastern Nevada .......................... Gary J. Newman Relative Age Determination of Quaternary Fault Scarps along the Southern Wasatch, Fish Springs, and House Ranges .................................................................................................................................... Lee Piekarski Geology and Mineral Deposits of the Lodi Hills, Nye County, Nevada .....................................................................R. Blaine Rowley The Flagstaff Formation: Depositional Environment and Paleoecology of Clastic Deposits near Salina, Utah ....... Steven W. Sperry Geology of the Sewing Machine Pass Quadrangle, Central Wah Wah Range, Beaver County, Utah .................. Richard F. Wheeler Publications and Maps of the Geology Department Cover: Air photo of House Range fault scarp Courtesy of Lpe P~ekarski. A publicatioll of the Department of Geology Brigham Young Unrversiry Provo, litah 84602 Editors W. Ket~nethHamblin Cynthia hf. Gardner Bllghdm Yomg linzwrfzrjv C;eolo~Stud~ei 17 published by rhe department. Geology Stud- 28 LonsIstS of graduate-student and staff rebearch In the department and occastonal paper\ from othe~contr~bucors Stadzesfor St~dmtssupplements the regular i~~esand IS lntetrded as a serles ut qhort papers of general Inrerest whlch ma? serve AS gu~desto the geolog of Utah for beginning students and laymen ISSN 0068-1016 Distributed November 1980 l t -80600 46504 Conodonts and Biostratigraphy of the Lower Mississippian in Western Utah and Eastern Nevada* GARYJ. NEWMAN bar Petroleum Corp. 1200 011 Center Buzldzng 2601 N.W. Expreway Oklahoma C~Q,Oklahoma 731 12 ABSTRACT-Lower Mlsslss~pplan rocks In western Utah and eastern Nevada are STRATIGRAPHY represented by the Joana Lmestone, the Madison Lmestone, and the comblned Carbonate rock from four formations of Lower Mis- F~tchv~lleFormation and Gardlson Llmestone Great vanabll~tyIn formation th~cknessesand the presence of unconform~t~esmake precise dat~ngand correla- sissippian age was collected and processed for this study. Of the tion difficult four formations, the Joana Limestone, of eastern Nevada and Nine sectlons between the Wasatch Mountalns on the east and Eureka, Ne- western Utah, was selected to be the basic time stratigraphic vada, on the west were sampled Sectlons lnclude Logan, Rock Canyon, Rattle- unit of study. The other three formations, F~tchvilleForma- snake Spur, North Stansbuly Mountalns, Needle Range, and Confus~onRange, Utah; and Wendover, Ely, and Eureka, Nevada Five Utah-Nevada zones were tion, Gard~sonLlmestone, and the Lodgepole Limestone (basal des~gnated,an Upper Devonian zone, three upper K~nderhookian zones, and Madison Group), are time stratigraphic equivalents to the one Valmeyenn zone No lower or m~ddleKlnderhook~an zones were recov- Joana Llmestone. ered The studled sectlons represent essentially equivalent tlme stratigraphic unlts spannlng the upper thlrd of the Klnderhookian. Exceptions to th~sare the Eureka and Wmdover, Nevada, sectlons wh~chare erosional remnants equlva- WESTERN UTAH AND EASTERN NEVADA lent to the lowest Carbon~ferous rocks In the other sectlons In central Utah, Joana Lmestone Devonlan conodont faunas are dlrectly overlam by late Klnderhooklan faunas, lndlcatlng the presence of a substantlal paraconformlty w~th~nthe Fitchvllle Hague (1883) proposed the name White Pine Shale for Format~on outcrops of shales and carbonate rocks in the White Pine INTRODUCTION mining district of Nevada. Hague's White Pine Shale included Lower Mississlpplan formations of the Great Basin have a lower calcareous shale, a siliceous limestone unit, and an up- been described for more than 100 years. They contain a rather per black argillaceous shale. The entire sequence was asslgned distinct coral-brachiopod fauna that led to reasonably sure rec- to the Devonian System. Spencer (1917) divided the Whlte ognition of an Early Mississrppian age. Originally the Lower Pine Shale into three separate units. The lower shale was re- Mississippian formations were zoned and correlated on the basis ferred to as the Pilot Shale, the Ilmestone as the Joana Lime- of these corals and brachiopods. The fauna is easily recognized stone, and the upper shale as the Chainman Shale. He assigned and commonly well preserved, but it does have some limita- the upper two unlts to the Mississippian System and tentatr- tions with respect to detailed correlation. One major limitation vely, because of lack of fossil evidence, considered the Pilot is that most of the corals and brachlopods are not particularly Shale to be Mississippian also. time restrictive but rather tend to be more facies restricted. In 1953 the Eastern Nevada Geological Association Stra- Slnce many of the Lower Mississippian rocks in the Great Basin tigraphic Committee (Easton and others 1953) recognized the have suffered minor to extreme secondary dolomicization, utility of Spencer's subdivision of the White Pine Shale into much of the macrofauna has been destroyed or rendered unrec- the three separate formations. They, however, preferred to as- ognizable. These problems, coupled with the bounding, above sign the three unlts the rank of members within the White and below, of many of the Lower Mississippian sections by un- Plne Shale. Nolan, Merrlam, and Williams (1956) rejected the conformities, have made correlation within the Lower MIS- concept of the White Pine Shale in favor of glvlng formational slssipplan of the Great Basin difficult and somewhat arbitrary. rank to the Chainman Shale, Joana Limestone, and Pilot Shale Conodonts within Lower Mississippian strata have been ex- because of difficulties in mapping the Wh~tePrne-Diamond tensively studied, and detailed zones have been determined. Peak boundary and the extensive stratigraphic range of the Thls fact, plus the widespread nature, ease of preservation, abili- shales referred to as White Pine Shale. In this paper the termi- ty to resist destruction during dolomitlzation, and ease of re- nology of Nolan, Merriam, and Williams (1956) is used, and covery from carbonate rocks, makes conodonts potentially un- the Joana Limestone is assigned formational rank (For a com- surpassed as time indicators for Lower Mississippian rocks of plete h~storyof stratigraphic terminology for the Lower Mis- the study area. sissippian of eastern Nevada, see Langenheim 1960). The study area Includes most of central Utah and east cen- The Joana Limestone is a shallow to deep miogeosynclinal tral Nevada: from the Wasatch Front on the east to Eureka, deposlt of uniform lithologic character (Sandberg and Poole Nevada, on the west, where the Lower Mississippian carbonates 1977). It consists largely of various limestones from micritic to essentially pinch out against the Antler uplift. Nine sectlons coarsely crystalline textures and typically contalns beds of were designated for collection and study (figs. 1-10). These sec- coarse crlnoidal debris and zones of chert, with small amounts tions were located to give best coverage of the study area, com- of interbedded shales and siltstones. pleteness of the vertical section, and, where possible, maximum Within the study area the Joana Limestone ranges in thick- new information. Previously mapped, measured, and described ness from 1000 feet south and east of the Ely Arch to a zero sections were used in this study to insure completeness of sec- edge in the area west of Eureka, Nevada, where it pinches out tions and accessibility and to eliminate any potential stratigra- .on . the flanks of the Devonian-Mississippian Antler orogenic phic or structural complications. belt. 'Thlr ppcr war rubmlrtcd m 1972 tn prrlal fulfillmmr of the rqummenrs for the dcgrec Mvrcr of Sclcncc th,lrrr charrmm, Morns S Pctcrvn Bccaux of a xrlcs of unfor- cvenrs, rhc ppcr war dclaycd xn publtcatton 104 G. J. NEWMAN Six of the ten sections measured and collected for this Fitchville Formation study were from the Joana Limestone. Three sections were col- The Fitchville Formation is at most localities composed of lected in Nevada: 160 feet at Ely, 80 feet at Eureka, and 24 feet interbedded limestone and dolomite. However, dolomitization at Wendover. Three sections were also collected in western is pervasive in the Salt Lake City-Provo area of central Utah Utah; 230 feet in the Confusion Range, and sections of 930 and becomes less complete to the west, north, and south. Do- feet and 610 feet in the Needle Range. All sections produced lomitization has largely recrystallized the shelly macrofauna conodont material except the Ely section. of the Fitchville Formation, in most areas making identification of corals