OREGOM GEOLOGY published by the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries VOLUME 44 , NUMBER 11 NOVEMBER 19B2 '" ;. OREGON GEOLOGY OIL AND GAS NEWS (ISSN 0164-3304) Columbia County VOLUME 44, NUMBER 11 NOVEMBER 1982 Reichhold Energy Corporation drilled Adams 34-28 to a total depth of 2,572 ft. The well, in sec. 28, T. 7 N., R. 5 W., Published monthly by the State of Oregon Department of was abandoned as a dry hole in September. Geology and Mineral Industries (Volumes I through 40 were en­ The company will soon spud Libel 12-14 in the Mist gas titled The Ore Bin). field. The proposed 2,900-ft well is to be located in sec. 14, T. 6 N., R. 5 W .. The location is half a mile from the recently Governing Board completed redrill of Columbia County 4. C. Stanley Rasmussen ........................... Baker Allen P. Stinchfield ........................ North Bend Clatsop County Donald A. Haagensen. .. Portland Oregon Natural Gas Development Company's Patton 32-9 in sec. 9, T. 7 N., R. 5 W., is idle pending the decision State Geologist .. .. Donald A. Hull whether to redrill. Deputy State Geologist ..................... John D. Beaulieu Douglas County Editor .... .. Beverly F. Vogt Florida Exploration Company has abandoned the 1-4 well near Drain. It is not known whether the company will drill Main Ollice: 1005 State Office Building, Portland 97201, other locations. phone (503) 229-5580. Yamhill County Baker Field Office: 2033 First Street, Baker 97814, phone (503) Nahama and Weagant Energy Company recently drilled 523-3133. Klohs 1 in sec. 6, T. 3 S., R. 2 W. The well was abandoned as a Howard C. Brooks, Resident Geologist dry hole. Grants Pass Field Office: 312 S.E. "H" Street, Grants Pass 97526, phone (503) 476-2496. Recent permits Len Ramp, Resident Geologist Status and Mined Land Reclamation Program: 1129 S.E. Santiam Road, depth Albany 97321, phone (503) 967-2039. TD=total Paul F. Lawson, Supervisor Permit Operator and depth (ft) no. well name Location RD = redrill (ft) Subscription rates: I year, $6.00; 3 years, $15.00. Single issues, $.75 at counter, $1.00 mailed. 219 Reichhold Energy Corp.; SW~ sec. 21 Abandoned; Available back issues of The Ore Bin: $.50 at counter, $1.00 Werner 14-21 T. 5 S., R. 2 W. dry hole; mailed. Marion County TD: 3,354. 220 Reichhold Energy Corp.; NE~ sec. 33 Permit issued. Address subscription orders, renewals, and changes of address Crown Zellerbach 31-33 T. 6 N., R. 4 W. to Oregon Geology, 1005 State Office Building, Portland, OR Columbia County 97201. 221 Reichhold Energy Corp.; SE~ sec. 23 Permit issued. Send news, notices, meeting announcements, articles for publi­ Crown Zellerbach 44-23 T. 5 N., R. 4 W. cation, and editorial correspondence to the editor, Portland of­ Columbia County fice. The Department encourages author-initiated peer review 222 Reichhold Energy Corp.; NE~ sec. 13 Permit issued. for technical articles prior to submission. Any review should be Siegenthaler 42-13 T. 6 N., R. 5 W. noted in the acknowledgments. Columbia County 223 Reichhold Energy Corp.; SW~ sec. 36 Permit issued. Permission is granted to reprint information contained herein. Crown Zellerbach 14-36 T. 7 N., R. 5 W. Credit given to the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Columbia County Industries for compiling this information will be appreciated. 224 Reichhold Energy Corp.; NW~ sec. 14 Permit issued. Libel 12-14 T. 6 N., R. 5 W. Second class postage paid at Portland, Oregon. Columbia County 0 Postmaster: Send address changes to Oregon Geology, 1005 State Office Building, Portland, OR 97201. COVER PHOTO CONTENTS Newberry Volcano, Oregon, a Cascade Range View to the northeast of the caldera of Newberry Volcano. geothermal prospect. .. 123 The paper beginning on next page discusses the geothermal potential of this Quaternary volcano. Features visible in this Abstracts. .. 132 photo include Big Obsidian Flow in the foreground; Paulina Brightly colored digital map shows U.S. elevations Lake on the left; East Lake on the right; Little Crater, central at a glance. .. 133 pumice cone, and interlake obsidian flow in the middle; and Diamond Craters Outstanding Natural Area dedicated. .. 133 north wall of the caldera behind. In the background are some of the 400 cinder cones and ,fissure vents that dot the flanks of Department releases geological, geothermal, Newberry. and geophysical data ............................. 134 GSOC luncheon meetings announced ................. 134 122 OREGON GEOLOGY, VOL. 44, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 1982 Newberry Volcano, Oregon: A Cascade Range geothermal prospect * by N.S. MacLeod, U.S. Geological Survey, Vancouver, Washington, and E.A. Sammel, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California. INTRODUCTION Temperatures as high as 265 0 C in a 932-m-deep drill hole 60 Kilometer in the caldera of Newberry Volcano (Figure 1) marked the ~~~ culmination of a series of geologic and geothermal studies in central Oregon undertaken by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in its Geothermal Research Program. These tempera­ BEND 0 tures, easily the highest recorded in the Pacific Northwest, as well as the large volume and wide areal distribution of young silicic volcanic rocks, suggest that a large heat source underlies the volcano and that it may have a potential for electric power generation. Butte Many of the electric-power-producing geothermal reser­ voirs in the world occur in or near young silicic volcanic fields. Magma chambers that feed rhyolitic volcanism are commonly large and located in the upper crust; if the rhyolitic bodies have 120' Figure 2. Age progression of silicic domal rocks (pat­ BRITISH COLUMBIA terned) in southeast Oregon. Isochrons in increments of 1 million years. Modified from MacLeod and others (1976). not cooled substantially, they offer a heat source within the ® Glacier Peak range of modern drilling technology (Smith and Shaw, 1975). Basalt fields fed by narrow dikes extending from great depth WASHINGTON are less favorable geothermal targets, although in some places such as Iceland and Hawaii they form important geothermal systems. \® Mount Rainier Mount Saint The USGS geothermal project in Oregon began with studies of young rhyolitic rocks that occur in a broad zone that Heleni" _.~~unt Adams _____I, extends about 320 km eastward from the Cascade Range ~ ~ /---/ ~ (Figure 2). Field work by G.W. Walker suggested that the ~- I rhyolitic rocks were progressively younger toward the Cascade / 45' Range. Extensive potassium-argon (K-Ar) dating of the I rhyolites by E.H. McKee confirmed this progression and showed that the rhyolites have a monotonic decrease in age OREGON ( from about 10 million years (m.y.) in southeastern Oregon to / less than 1 m. y. near the Cascade Range in the vicinity of New­ berry Volcano (Walker, 1974; MacLeod and others, 1976). ! 0 1 I This age progression suggested that geothermal resources .. ~ 1 ~ related to young rhyolitic volcanism are most likely to occur at >frater lake I the west end of the rhyolite belt near Newberry. The occur­ i~!t~~unt Mcloughlin I rence of hot springs, fumaroles, and young obsidian flows and pumice deposits in the caldera at Newberry's summit further H~ ----.-----~-- suggested it as a target for additional geologic and geophysical :::::':::';:.iMedicine lake studies. Mount Shas~ Vol I ........ ~cano I Williams (1935, 1957) and Higgins (1973) considered NEVADA Newberry Volcano to be a basaltic shield with rhyolites mainly restricted to the caldera. Later mapping of the volcano, how­ lassenp~~ : ever, showed that rhyolitic domes and flows and andesitic to I 40' 1 100 200 kilometer CALIFORNIA ? • Because of similarities between Newberry Volcano in Oregon and I L.. ------1.'------', the Medicine Lake region in California, the editors of California Geology solicited this article from the authors and are publishing it in the November issue of their magazine. We are printing it in Oregon Figure 1. Major volcanic centers and areas of Quaternary Geology because we believe it will provide useful and interesting infor­ volcanic rocks in the Cascade Range. mation to our readers as welL - Editor OREGON GEOLOGY, VOL. 44, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 1982 123 EXPLANATION Undifferentiated basalt and basaltic andesite flows El (Lava Butte flow is labeled); early Pleistocene to Holocene Rhyolite to dacite domes, flows, pumice rings, and vent m complexes; early Pleistocene to Holocene Undifferentiated pumice falls, ash flows, and alluvial ~ deposits of the upper flan-ks; Pleistocene and Holocene Ash-flow tuffs and agglutinated pyroclastic rocks of upper 1{9,~:rJ west flank; Pleistocene Lapilli tuff of west flank; Pleistocene Undifferentiated alluvial deposits with interbedded lapilli tuff (Olt). ash-flow tuff. and pumice fall deposits; Pleistocene ASh-flow tuff of Teepee Draw; Pleistocene IQbs I Basalt and basaltic andesite of small shields; Pleistocene [E] Fluvial and lacustrine sediments; Pleistocene and Pliocene(?) Basalt, basaltic andesite, and andesite flows, ash-flow tuffs, and pumice fall deposits of the Cascade Range; Pleistocene Basalt flows and interbedded cinders and scoria deposits; late Miocene Rhyolite to andesite flows, domes, and pyroclastic rocks of the Pine Mountain area; early Miocene I * Cinder cones and fissure vents Contact Fault Field trip route Qb 10" isopach of young pumice fall • Location of test hole, Newberry I L--'--'---L-_-=~---.J.-----I.'--_____L-_L- ___________---'L.-_----143·30' 10 MILE F=====~==~~~~~IF= 10 15 KILOMETER Figure 3. Geologic sketch map 0/ Newberry Volcano. Geology 0/ caldera is shown in Figure 4. Modified/rom MacLeod and others (1981). rhyolitic ash-flow tuffs are widespread on the flanks and that Among the older rocks on the flanks of the volcano are the volcano has a long and complex history of volcanism that ash-flow tuffs and associated pumice-fall tuffs, mudflows, and ranged from basaltic to rhyolitic (MacLeod, 1978). These en­ other pyroclastic deposits (Figure 3).