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Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 5-1955 The Salt Lake Group in Cache Valley, Utah and Idaho Robert D. Adamson Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the Geology Commons Recommended Citation Adamson, Robert D., "The Salt Lake Group in Cache Valley, Utah and Idaho" (1955). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 6621. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/6621 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. OTr11lST1-ffE AGdCULTU!,AL COLLEGE 'rtiis volume i s tHe property of tlie colleJe, uut ti1e liter­ ary rights of tHe ,.rntllor must be :cespected, l'affages must not tJe copied or closely par::ipiLl:'Jsed i·1ititout L.e previous written con~ent of the auti.or. If the reader oiJtai11f any a~d~t..rnce from tiiis volume, :ie must ~ive proper credit in i.i5 otvr. ivork. 'Ld~ t .•e~if :,as 1..,een used by the follo !·Jin~ pec~ons, 1Vi10<'.e ~ivnaturef attest tileir acceptc11.ce of t..e auove re~t:dc­ tion~. ,, Liurnry 1i.ic .. L>0rro1•Jf t .ii!: Le~ L for u~e uy its pa­ troi.s is expecteJ to feC tire t.1e f iv11ature of edc ,1 uc:er. NJ.\.MEJ-\i~D ADO:;ESS THE SALT LAKE GROUP IN CACHE VALLEY, UTAH AND FARO by Robert D. Adamson A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF' SCIENCE in Geology UTAH STATE AGRIC1JLTURAL COLLEGE Logan, Utah 1955 ACKNOWLEDGMENT I am grateful to Dr. Clyde T. Hardy and Dr. J. Stewart Willia.ms for their assistance in the field work and the preparation of this marmscript. Dr. C. Lewis Gazin. Curator, Vert ebrate Paleontology, Smithsonian Institution. identified the vertebrate fossil, and Tukeo Susuki. Junior Research Geologist, U. c. L.A •• identified the mollusks. A grant from General Petroleum Corporation helped finance this study. Robert D. Adamson TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction. • 1 General statement 1 Geologic setting. ,.z, Previous investigations 5 Field work • 7 Area Descriptions 8 Wellsville Mountains - Clarkston Mountain area, Utah • 8 Northern end of Wellsville Mountains 8 Cutler Dam • 14 North of Bear River Narrows 14 Clarkston ar ea, Utah • 16 Worm Creek - Cub River area., Idaho. 16 Richmond - Smithfield area, Utah 24 Hyrum - Avon area., Utah 24 Wellsville are a , Uta h 27 Areal stratigraphy. 28 General statement 28 Strati graphic units 29 Collinston conglomerate . 29 Cache Va lley formation 29 Mink Creek conglomerate • 32 Regional strati graphic relations 36 Southeas tern Ida.~o 36 Southwestern Idaho 36 Northeastern Nevada. 37 Snowville, Uta.h, area • • • 38 North-Central Utah 38 Geologic history • 41 fre-Salt Lake group erosion surface 41 Deposition o!' sediments 41 Intrusion • • 43 Faulting and folding • • • L4 Page References cited. • • • • • • 47 Appendix • • • 49 LIST OF' TABLES Table Page 1. Rock units exposed in Cache Valley, Utah and I daho • • 4 2. Salt Lake group nomenclature. • 28 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Index map • 2 2. Aerial oblique of the northern end of Ca.ohe Valley 6 3. Geologic sketch map of the northern end of the Wellsville Mountains • • • 9 4. Sketch s howing the stratigraphic relations of the Salt Lake group and rtwasatch" beds at the northern end of the Wellsville Mountains • • • • • 11 5. Deformed tuff beds in a readout on U. s. Highway 89 west of Logan, Utah. • • 11 6. Geolo ~ic sketch map of t he Worm Creek - Cub River ar ea, Idaho • 17 7. Aerial view of Worm Creek Valley northeastward from the wester n end of the Glendale Reservoir • 18 8. Mink Creek conglomerate near the bottom of t he formation on the divide between Worm Creek and Cub River • 21 9. Calcareous tuff beds in the upper part of the Cache Valley formation in Worm Creek Valley 21 10. View southward of the Bear River Ranr,e across the Cub River • • • 23 11. Stromatolitio limestone at the base of the Salt Lake group in Big Spring Hollow • • • 26 12. Diagra.matio sketch of the stratigraphic relations of the Salt Lake group 34 13. Columnar representation of the measured sections in Cache Valley • • • 35 INTRODUCTION General statement Fluvial and lacustrine sediments of great thickness accumulated in the intermountain basins of the western United States during Tertiary time. The Salt I.Ake group in northern Utah and parts of surrounding states is a conspicuous stratigraphic unit of these basins. The "beds of light color" in Morgan Valley in the Wasatch Mountains of northern Utah were named the "Salt Lake group" by Hayden (1869) because of similar occurrences in Salt Lake Valley and because he reasoned that the succession cruld be divided into formations. Similar rocks crop out in Ogden Valley• north of Morgan Valley• and in Cache Valley• Utah and I daho. Cache Valley is bounded b :,r the Wasatch and Malad Ranges to the west and the Bear River Range to the east (Fig. 1). It extends from the divide between Ogden and Cache valleys about 18 miles south of Los an. Utah. to Red Rock Pass. about 19 miles northwest of Preston. Idaho. The Bear Riv er enters Cache Valley northeast of Preston. Idaho. and leaves through the Bear River Narrows west of Logan. Utah. at a point between the northern end of the Wasatch Ra~ e and the Ma.lad Range. Red Rock Pass. northwest of Preston. I daho. was the outlet of Lake Bonneville. The Salt Lake group of Cache Valley. as described in this paper. includes three formations: (1) the basal Collinston conglomerate. (2) the Cache Valley fonnation, and (3) the upper Mink Creek conglomerate. The Cache Valley formation is partly ~ciiivalent to the Collinston con­ glomerate of the southern part of Cache Valley and is overlain by the Mink Creek conglomerate in the northern part of the valley. It consists 2 RED ROCK PASS u.J (!) w z (!) D MINK CREEK <l z 0: <( a: MALAD CITY 0 <( ..J <( 0: u.J ~ > 0: ... cf> BEAR ~ - 0 N " .. 0.: / v 0: <l 1/) u.J I~ a> Ii . > <2 !: ii: .., .....J u 1/) ..;; ID 0 \ ,. _-v \ Figure 1. Index map 3 largely of tuff and some limestone. The upper part of the Cache Valley forTIRti.on is of Pliocene age, although similar beds in Morgan Valley a.re as old as late Eocene. Recent exploration for petroleum in the western United States has concentrated attention on the continental sediments of Tertiary age. Particularly, the commercial discovery of petroleum in volcanic rocks of probable Tertiary age in Nye County, Nevada, has intensified studies of the Salt Lake group and equivalent stratigraphic uioi t s of Nevada, Utah, and I dar:o. In Cache Valley, these rocks are well enoup,:h exposed to warrant a deta i led stratigraphic study and correlation vdth surround­ ing areas. Geologic setting Cache Valley is a broad north-south valley located near the northea~tern corner of the Great Basin section of the Basin and Range Province. It is bcun ded on the west by t he northern part of the Wasatch Range and the Malad Ranre and on t he east by the Bear River Range. The rocks that constitute t hese mountain masses are lar g ely of Paleozoic are, and every system is represented except the Permian, which was no doubt erode d prior to deposition of Tertiary rocks 0 The valley sides are paralleled by high-angle faults, although relief similar to that of to day existed previous to deposition of the Tertiary Salt Lake group. Tertiary ''Wasatc h" beds and rocks of the Salt lAke group are exposed in the foothills adjacent to Paleozoic rocks in the south ern part of the valley. In the northern part of the valley, Salt Lake group is exposed ad.iacent to Paleozoic rocks. Quaternary Lake Bonneville group covers the valley bottom. Rock units exposed in Cache Valley are summarized in a table ( Table 1). Table 1. Rock uni ts exposed in Cache Valley, Utah and Idaho Thickness . Age Rock unit Lithology (Feet) Lake Bonneville group Silt, clay and gravel 120 Williams Qua.ternary Pleistocene (Personal communication) Pre-Lake Bonneville group Fang 1 omera te, gravels ? Light-gray to pale-orange 3 ,435+ p.. Mink Creek conglomerate g tuffaceous conglomerate Keller ( 1952) M bD PL _ocene ------------ Light-colored tuff, lime- G) Cache Ve.lley formation atone, sandstone, and ~ ?, (_,74 ~ conglomerate - - - +" ..-4 cd Cl.l Coll:n~ Light-gray tu f faceous 1, 500+ Tertiary Miocene conglomerate conglomerate .._ - ~----------:::::....< Oligocene Eocene -------------- 'twasa.tch" beds Reddish conglomerate 530 Paleocene and limestone \'iilliams (1 948) Sandstone, limestone and Paleozoic Pe.l eozoic rocks dolorni te 5 Light-colored conglomerates, tuffs, limestones, and sandstones of the Salt Lake group orop out in the foothills along the eastern side of Cache Valley almost continuously from Red Rock Pass at the northern end, to Mink Creek, Idaho (Fig. 1). Salt Lake grm ip outcrops also are continuous from Mink Creek to Green Canyon, northeast of Logan, Utah. Between Green and Blacksmith Fork canyons, Quaternary deposits overlie the tuffaceous sediments. South of Blacksmith Fork Canyon, the Salt Lake group reappears and is exposed continuously to the southern end of the valley. Here an extensive pediment has formed on rocks of the Salt Lake group. Along the western side of the valley, from the southern end to within few miles of HyruM, Utah, Salt Lake group is well exposed.

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