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 Geology of the Sage Valley 7 M' Quadrangle, Caribou County, Idaho, and Lincoln County, Wyoming* JOHN L. CONNER Texaco, Inc. P.O. Box 2420 Tul~a,Oklahoma 74102 ABSTRACT.-T~~Sage Valley Quadrangle straddles the Idaho-Wyoming border continue to study this region, but no well data or geophysical in the central part of the Overthrust Belt. Approximately 5,400 m of primarily information has thus far been published on the Sage Valley sedimentary strata are exposed, including from the Pennsylvanian Wells Forma- tion through the Tertiary Salt Lake Formation. Rocks within the Cretaceous Quadrangle. Gannett Group previously mapped as Ephraim Conglomerate are now known Mansfield (1927, p. 131-72) summarized the structural his- to include Ephraim Conglomerate, Peterson Limestone, Bechler Conglomerate, Draney Limestone, and Smoot Formation. Rocks previously mapped as the Cre- tory of southeastern Idaho and western Wyoming. Armstrong taceous Wayan Formation in the quadrangle are now mapped as Smoot Forma- and Cressman (1963) described the prominent folded Bannock tion and Tygee Member of the Bear River Formation. Overthrust, which was later named the Meade Overthrust by Two major thrust sheets, the Absaroka and Meade Plates, are recognized in Cressman (1964, p. 62). the quadrangle. Six major imbricate thrust faults, including the West Sage Val- ley Branch, the East Sage Valley Branch, the West Tygee Branch, the East Several quadrangles near and adjacent to the Sage Valley Tygee Branch, the West Hardman Branch, and the East Hardman Branch, were Quadrangle have been mapped recently, mostly by the U.S. mapped as well as two minor unnamed thrust faults. Several minor east-west Geological Survey, to define and evaluate deposits of phosphate trending tear faults and normal faults offset the thrust faults, the fold axes, and individual rock units. The Boulder Creek Andcline, the Afton Anticline, the rock. Montgomery and Cheney (1967) mapped the geology of Spring Creek Syncline, an unnamed anticline, and an unnamed syncline are ma- the Stewart Flat 7%-minute quadrangle, adjacent to the west, jor north-south trending folds mappable across the quadrangle and were prob- and Cressman (1964) mapped the geology of the Georgetown ably formed contemporaneously with thrusting. Canyon-Snowdrift Mountain area, which is adjacent to the Only a single deep well has tested the hydrocarbon potential of the quad- rangle; additional tests seem warranted. Phosphate rock from the Phosphoria southwest (fig. 1). In addition, Gulbrandsen, McLaughlin, Formation and other occurrences of materials for construction were evaluated for exploitab~liry. INTRODUCTION The Sage Valley 7%-minute quadrangle is included in the region mapped by Mansfield and others (Mansfield 1927) dur- ing early investigations of the western phosphate field. The Sage Valley Quadrangle straddles the Idaho-Wyoming border in the central part of the Overthrust Belt and is approximately 35 km northeast of Montpelier, Idaho, and 7 km west of Af- ton, Wyoming (fig. 1). A .8-km-wide strip along the western border of the quadrangle is in the Caribou National Forest, and a 15.5-kmz area in the southeast corner of the mapped area is in the Bridger National Forest. The remainder of the quadrangle is privately owned, and permission to cross private lands must be obtained from local owners. Numerous ranch and U.S. For- est Service dirt roads branch from gravel roads along Crow Creek and along the eastern border of the map area and provide ready access to most of the area. Primitive roads lead into all but the most rugged areas. Previous Work Geologic studies done in the region prior to 1927 were summarized and updated by Mansfield (1927). He mapped the Crow Creek 15-minute quadrangle on a scale of 1:62,500 as part of his study of the geology of southeastern Idaho. Stratigraphic nomenclature used by him is applicable to most units in the quadrangle. Kummel (1954) more recently described the re- gional Triassic stratigraphy of sou theastern Idaho and adjacent areas. Eyer (1964) also made a significant contribution in his of the rocks of western and south- FIGURE1.-Index map of the Sage Valley Quadrangle in southeastern Idaho and eastern Idaho. Petroleum and phosphate mining companies western Wyoming. .A thesis p-nrcd ro rhc Dcprtmrnr oiGcology, Brigham Young Univcnlv, in pnrr~alfulfillmcnr of rhc rcquiremcnrr for the degree Masrer of Sclcncr, April 1980. Thcsir chrlrman: Jtmcr L Baer Honkala, and Clabaugh (1956) mapped the Johnson Creek 7%- 2842) later restricted the Wells Format~onto the lower two of minute quadrangle, Cressman and Gulbrandsen (1955) mapped these unlts The Wells Format~onIS used In thls report In th~s the Dry Valley 7%-minute quadrangle; and R~oux,Hite, Dyn~, modified sense, and the two units are referred to as the upper and Gere (1975) mapped the Upper Valley 7%-minute quad- and lower members. Cheney and others (In McKelvey and rangle, all nearby. Other U.S. Geological Survey and private others 1959, p. 12-15) defined the upper unit as the Grandeur sector studies have been published that deal malnly with the Tongue of the Park C~tyFormation, to be discussed later phosphate depos~ts. The Wells Formation crops out in the core of the Boulder Creek Anticline west of Sage Valley (plate 1). Only the upper F~eldMethods member of the Wells Format~oncrops out withln the quad- Fieldwork was done between June and October 1979. Struc- rangle, and it forms a low, tree-covered ridge It IS overlain ap- tural features and contacts were plotted on colored aerial pho- parently conformably by the Grandeur Tongue of the Park tographs (scale 1:15,000) and subsequently transferred to the City Format~on A partial measured section, 238 m thick, con- 1:24,000 scale topographic base map of the Sage Valley 7%- taining only the upper unlts, was measured on the east flank of minute quadrangle (fig. 1). Stratigraphic sections were mea- the antlcllne The measured sectlon consists of light colored, sured using a l>-m tape, a Brunton compass, and an Abney lev- fine-grained sandstone that forms alternating ledges and slopes el. Samples of rocks were taken for later detailed description The sandstone IS composed mainly of quartz grams, usually and fossll analysis. well cemented by sll~ca,though porosities, probably secondary in origin, of up to 15 percent were observed in some unlts The ACKNOWLEDGMENTS matrix of some of the sandstone units is calcareous. Much of The writer wishes to express appreciation to Drs. James L the sandstone 1s brecc~atedand rehealed. It is apparent that the Baer and J Keith Rigby for their time and numerous helpful breccia IS not sedimentary in origin, but resulted from fractur- suggestions pertaining to the geology and the preparation of Ing of the rock, slight rotatlon of the fragments, and recemen- the thesis Marlon Nance, Gary Oberhansley, and Floyd Hatch tatlon. A light gray sandy llmestone unit was observed near the helped w~ththe fieldwork. Special thanks to Dr. Morris Peter- top of the formation. No fossils were observed In exposures of sen for helplng on identificat~onsof the Thaynes fossils. Steve the format~onin the quadrangle Sperry helped with the laboratory work Doug Taylor,