Jurassic Paleobiogeography of the Conterminous United in Its Continental Setting GEOLOGICAL SLFRV£Y PRQFESSIQNAL PAPER Jurassic Paleobiogeography of the Conterminous United States in Its Continental Setting By RALPH W. IMLAY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 1062 Paleogeographic changes in the United States during Jurassic time are revealed by the distribution, succession, and differentiation of molluscan faunas; by gross stratigraphic changes; by the position, extent, and duration of unconformities; and by comparisons with Jurassic data elsewhere in North America UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1980 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR CECIL D. ANDRUS, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY H. William Menard, Director Library of Congress Catalog-card No. 80-600017 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 Stock Number 024-001-03105-1 CONTENTS Page 1 39 3 39 3 39 Paleobiogeographic setting ————————————————————— 4 Gulf region of the United States ———————————— 46 4 48 4 49 17 51 18 i!. astern L^ninudJiua and west iexas-~™™-™™™~~~~™™-~™ 51 19 JT ddiic v^oa&t region ——————————————————————— ——————— ————— 51 Skllpppcai/YKl rj-p aTYlTYiri'nii'PQ 3TlH rlllp'hJf.G \\\T C^QOTAC — — — — — — ______ 19 51 19 52 19 Western California and southwestern Oregon ——— — 61 19 Eastern Oregon and western Idaho —————————— 63 21 66 63,10013.11™ - - ——————————— 23 66 Bathonisn™™— • _ • _ — — — — — _ 25 67 29 Montana and North Dakota ——————————————— 67 o±±:::z::::::::::i:i:z:::i:z::ii 30 Southeastern Idaho to western South Dakota ————— 82 Tith ^ glEn 30 91 31 93 31 96 Lower Tithonian of the Gulf region ———————— 32 Midcontinent region —————————————————————— 99 Upper Tithonian of the Gulf region ——————————— 34 99 A.Tmnonite seouences - - ————————— —— 34 102 V' f\ o oiyyt /iflfl- Dlf Wl » /TF?" //? Q Q TY1TY1 rty.1 i" P 9 CCPTY1 V_l Q OTP _____ 34 102 Substeueroceras-Proniceras ammonite assem- Gulf of Mexico and nearby regions —————————————— 103 35 106 rPi'fliriyii£iyi n"f f^fllifrviTiiQ ayiH f}v&crf\n — — 36 108 rPl'f Vl/\y»igy» rt-p /"^ayiaHn 3TlH Aloclrs ———____-.__——____ _____ 36 114 Intercontinental faunal relationships ———————————— 37 Index ———————— 127 ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE 1. Jurassic basins of deposition in North America ———————————————— 2-12. Maps showing distribution of Jurassic fossils and inferred seas in North America: 2 6 J-j 7 8 9 ^\ Rai oClciri™—™"—— — ~ 10 11 12 9. Early to early middle Oxfordian————————— 13 10. Late middle Oxfordian to early Kimmeridgian-- 14 11. Late Kimmeridgian to early Tithonian ————— 15 12. 16 13. Succession and correlation of Hettangian to Toarcian ammonites in North America: A. Mexico to southern British Columbia —————————————————————— 20 B. Northern British Columbia to East Greenland————————————————— 21 III IV CONTENTS Page FIGURE 14. Succession and correlation of Bajocian to Callovian ammonites in North America: A. Mexico to western interior region-——————————————————————————————————————————————— 22 B. British Columbia to East Greenland—————————————————————————————————————————————— 23 15. Succession and correlation of Oxfordian to Tithonian ammonites in North America: A. Gulf of Mexico, Pacific Coast, and western interior region————————————————————————————————— 24 B. Southwestern Canada to Greenland ——————————————————————————————————————————— 25 16. Comparisons of the Tithonian and Volgian Stages and the suggested subdivisions of the Tithonian————————————— 26 17. Index map of Jurassic areas in the Gulf of Mexico and nearby regions—————————————————————————————— 40 18. Index map of Jurassic areas in the Pacific Coast region from California and Nevada to Washington————————————— 41 19. Index map of Jurassic areas in the Pacific Coast region from British Columbia to southern Alaska————————————— 42 20. Index map of Jurassic areas in the western interior region————————————————————————————————————— 43 21. Correlations and comparisons of Jurassic rocks in the Gulf of Mexico and nearby regions: A. Western Cuba to Victoria, Mexico————————————————————————————————————————-—————— 44 B. Huasteca area, Mexico, to Malone Mountains, Tex————————————————————————————————————— 45 22. Correlations and comparisons of Jurassic rocks in the Pacific Coast region in California, Nevada, and western to east- central Oregon: A. Western Nevada and eastern California ——————————————————————————————————————————— 54 B. Western California to east-central Oregon —————————————————————————————————————————— 55 23. Correlations and comparisons of Jurassic rocks in the Pacific Coast region from eastern Oregon and western Idaho to north- \VCStcFIi WclSiiliigjT'OIi --—-—™™~---——-—.———.„—.—.——_______.________.___..__._-.-._________.______.„_._______-..__._______-_.______.»-_,.____________.._._ u\/ 24. Correlations and comparisons of Jurassic rocks in the Pacific Coast region in British Columbia, Yukon Territory, and south­ ern Alaska: A. Southwestern to central British Columbia—————————————————————————————————————————— 58 B. Northwestern British Columbia to southern Alaska———————————————————————————————————— 59 25. Correlations and comparisons of Jurassic rocks in the western interior region from southwestern Alberta through central Montana to southern Saskatchewan: A.. OOUtllin' GStGiTi A.lDCFt<** tO CCni/IclI JYLOntEliicl™™'—"~~~——-—<—._-___—______—________—_______—_____—__..___——______________________________— B. Central Montana to southern Saskatchewan————————————————————————————————————————— 69 26. Correlations and comparisons of Jurassic rocks in the western interior region from southeastern Idaho to southwestern South Dakota: A. Ammon area, Idaho, to Red Creek, Wyo——————————————————————————————————————————— 70 B. Hyattville area in north-central Wyoming to Minnekahta area, South Dakota————————————————————— 71 27. Correlations and comparisons of Jurassic rocks in the western interior region from north-central Utah to north-central Colorado: A. Burr Fork to Whiterocks Canyon, Utah———-*••——————————————————————————————————————— 72 B. Dinosaur Quarry, Utah, to Hahns Peak, Colo———————————————————————————————————————— 73 28. Correlations and comparisons of Jurassic rocks in the western interior region from north-central Utah to southwestern Colorado: A. Monks Hollow to Black Dragon Canyon, Utah——————————————————————————————————————— 74 B. San Rafael River, Utah, to McElmo Canyon, Colo-———-—~—————~———~—————————————-—— 75 29. Correlations and comparisons of Jurassic rocks in the western interior region from southwestern Utah to northeastern Arizona: A. Gunlock to Brown Canyon, Utah——————————————————————————————————————————————— 76 B. Little Bull Valley, Utah, to Cow Springs, Ariz———————_~~——-—————-——-———-——-—————— 77 30. Jurassic unconformities in Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Coast regions———————————————————————————————— 100 31. Jurassic unconformities in western interior region —————————————————————————————————————————— 101 32. Inferred extent of Jurassic seas of early Bajocian to earliest Callovian Age in western interior region———————————— 110 33. Inferred extent of Jurassic seas of late early Callovian to early Kimmeridgian Age in western interior region——————— H2 TABLE TABLE 1. Thickness of the Piper and underlying Gypsum Spring Formations in parts of north-central Wyoming and south- CONTENTS CONVERSION FACTORS Metric unit Inch-Pound equivalent Metric unit Inch-Pound equivalent Length Specific combinations— Continued millimeter (mm) = 0.03937 inch (in) liter per second (L/s) = .0353 cubic foot per second meter (m) = 3.28 feet (ft) cubic meter per second = 91.47 cubic feet per second per kilometer (km) = .62 mile (mi) per square kilometer square mile [(ft?/s)/mi2] [(m*/s)/km8] meter per day (m/d) = 3.28 feet per day (hydraulic Area conductivity) (ft/d) square meter (m2) = 10.76 square feet (ft2) meter per kilometer = 5.28 feet per mile (ft/mi) square kilometer (km2) = .386 square mile (mi2) i<m/km) hectare (ha) — 2.47 acres kilometer per hour — .9113 foot per second <ft/s) (km/h) Volume meter per second (m/s) — 3.28 feet per second cubic centimeter (cm*) = 0.061 cubic inch (in«) meter squared per day = 10.764 feet squared per day (fta/d) liter (L) = 611.03 cubic inches (mVd) ( transmissivity ) cubic meter (m3) = 35.31 cubic feet (ftf) cubic meter per second = 22.826 million gallons per day cubic meter = .00081 acre-foot (acre-ft) (mf»/s) (Mgal/d) cubic hectometer (hm3) = 810.7 acre-feet liter = 2.113 pints (pt) cubic meter per minute = 264.2 gallons per minute (gal/min) liter = 1.06 quarts (qt) (m3/min) liter = .26 gallon (gal) liter per second (L/s) = 15.85 gallons per minute cubic meter = .00026 million gallons (Mgal or liter per second per = 4.83 gallons per minute per foot 10" gal) meter [CL/s)/m] [(gal/min)/£t] cubic meter = 6.290 barrels (bbl) (1 bbl = 42 gal) kilometer per hour — .62 mile per hour (mi/h) Weight (km/h) meter per second (m/s) — 2.237 miles per hour gram (g) = 0.035 ounce, avoirdupois (oz avdp) gram per cubic = 612.43 pounds per cubic foot (A/ft") gram = .0022 pound, avoirdupois (Ib avdp) centimeter (g/cm3) metric tons (t) = 1.102 tons, short (2,000 Ib) gram per square = 2>048 pounds per square foot (lb/ft2) metric tons = 0.9842 ton, long (2,240 Ib) centimeter (g/cm2) gram per square = .0142 pound per square inch Ob/In2) Specific combinations centimeter kilogram per square = 0.96 atmosphere (atm) centimeter (kg/cm2) Temperature kilogram per square — .98 bar (0.9.869 atm) centimeter degree Celsius (°C) = 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (°F) cubic meter per second