Cenozoic alluvial deposits of the Upper Gila River area, New Mexico and Arizona Item Type Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic); text Authors Heindl, L. A.(Leopold Alexander),1916- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 07/10/2021 17:53:58 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/190936 CENOZOIC ALLUVIAL DEPOSITS OF THE UPPER GILA RIVER AREA, NEW MEXICO AND ARIZONA by Leopold A Heindi A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1958 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of require- ments for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is de posited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in their judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship,In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: 4- 1 APPROVAL BY ThESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: ( L ?<' 'v- /-i-- JOHN F. LANC Date1 Professor of Paleontology CENOZOIC ALLUVIAL DEPOSITS OF THE UPPERGILA RIVER AREA, NEW MEXICO AND ARIZONA by Leopold A. Heindi ABSTRACT Cenozoic deposits in intermontane basins in the upper Gila River basin have been collectively included in the Gila conglomerate of Gilbert and Ransome. Re-examination of type-section areas shows that the term is unsatisfactory because it includes a substantial proportion of de posits other than conglomerates; it suggests that deposits in separate basins are identical; its use masks sequences of alluvial deposits within individual basins and relationships of deposits between basins; and it oversimplifies a complex Cenozoic history.It is suggested that the term Gila conglomerate be abandoned. The deposits, in the many basins, which heretofore may have been included in the Gila conglomerate, can be separated into two major divisions which may in turn be subdivided into mappable rock units In each structural trough the upper units are characterized by: (1) Truncation by the highest pediment surfaces; (2) depositional or ii normal-fault contact with adjacent mountain areas whosecomposition the deposits reflect; (3) size-gradation relationships that suggestdeposition within the boundaries of the present structural troughs; and (4)lack of mineralization.Limited fossil evidence suggests that deposition occurred during Pliocene to Pleistocene (Kansan) time0 The lower units crop out in areas of deep dissection or structural uplift.They may be in fault contact with the upper units, underlie them unconformably, or grade into them. The lower units are characterized by:(1) Texture and composition that suggest deposition in basins other than those reflected by the present topography; (2) thrusting or normal faulting more complex than that associated with the upper units; (3) local mineralization; and (4) shallow intrusion.Limited fossil evidence sug gests a Miocene age for some of the older of the lower units, The alluvial deposits in individual basins in this area are amenable to stratigraphic analysis by standard procedures for describing rock units0Correlations within or between basins should be on the basis of proper fossil or stratigraphic evidence and should be limited to the particular units involved and not expanded to include all the alluvial de- posits in the areas concerned. 111 TABLEOF CONTENTS Page ]NTRODUCTION 1 Description of Area 5 Acknowledgments 6 Methods of Study 7 THE ORIGINAL GILACONGLOMERATE 9 Gilita Creek-Black Mountain Area, New Mexico 10 Gilita Creek Area 12 Gilita Beds 13 Negrito Beds 16 Black Mountain Area 17 Montoya Tuffaceous Beds 17 Hunting Lodge Beds 20 Dry Diamond Beds 23 Relationships of Alluvial Deposits in the Gilita and Black Mountain Areas 26 Relationships to Deposits along Sapillo Creek and Upper Mimbres River 28 Age 30 Upper San Francisco River Area, New Mexico 30 Cactus Flat Beds 32 Correlation and Age 44 Eagle Creek-Duncan Area, Arizona 44 Bat Beds 46 Gold Gulch Beds 49 Wampoo Beds 50 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page Greenlee Beds 54 Correlation and Age 57 Bonita Creek.Safford Area, Arizona 59 BonitaBeds 60 Solomonsville Beds 64 Frye Mesa Beds 67 Correlation and Age 70 Summary - Alluvial Deposits in the Areas of Gilbertts Original Gila Conglomerate 73 THE GILA CONGLOMERATE EXTENDED 76 Deposits in the Vicinity of Globe, Arizona 77 Deposits of Sulphur Spring Valley and Upper Aravaipa Creek, Arizona 80 Deposits of the Upper Santa Cruz River Basin, Arizona 83 Deposits in Southwesternmost New Mexico 84 Deposits in the San PedroMineral Creek Area, Arizona 85 Whitetail Conglomerate 97 Deposits in Other Areas 103 Summary - The Gila Conglomerate in Areas of Extended Use 106 GEOLOGIC RELATIONSHIPS 110 Geologic Relationships of the "Upper Set" of Alluvial Deposits 114 Geologic Relationships Affecting Deposition 114 Pre-Depositional Surface 114 Base Level 116 Structure and Alluviation 118 Normal Faulting 119 Thrust Faulting 127 V TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page Symmetry 130 Shape of Basins 132 Intra.-Montane Alluvial Deposits 134 Mule Creek Area 135 Climate 137 Volcanic Activity 140 Some Sedimentary Characteristics 141 Lenticularity 141 Unconformities 143 Lateral Changes of Unconformities 143 Transitional Zones 146 Thicknesses of Deposits 147 Post-Depositional Geologic Relationships 154 Late Slope Deposits 155 Terrace and FloodPlain Deposits 159 Discussion 159 Age 162 Geologic Relationships of Units of the "Lower Set" of Alluvial Deposits 164 Category I Deposits 166 GoldGulchType 166 Hackberry Wash Type 167 CategoryII ............................. 1 69 1Thitetail 'Fij-pe . ................ ......... 169 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page Category ifi 170 Pantano Type 170 Hypothetical Composite Cross Section 172 THE PROBLEM OF NOMENCLATURE 175 The Term Gila Conglomerate 176 As a Regional Unit 176 As a Specific Unit 179 In Group Status 180 As the Gila Formation 181 Conclusions and Suggestions for Designating Alluvial Units 182 Regional Terms 183 Specific Unit Terms 184 Deposits of the "Lower Set" 186 Deposits of the "Upper Set" 188 THE PROBLEM OF CORRELATION 190 Correlations of the "Lower Set" 195 Pantano Type Deposits 195 Whitetail Type Deposits 196 Hackberry Wash Type Deposits 197 Gold Gulch Type Deposits 198 Correlations of the "Upper Set" 198 Correlations Between Separate Basins 198 Correlations With Other Regions 199 SUMMARY 202 vii TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page APPENDIX - DESCRIPTIONS OF MEASURED SECTIONS 207 REFERENCES CITED 243 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Index map showing location of area 3 Charts showing nomenclature of Cenozoic alluvial de- posits in the upper Gila River basin, Arizona and New Mexico 11 Diagrammatic cross section between the Dripping Springs Mountains southeast of Ray and the Tortilla Mountains 90 Chart showing nomenclature and time assignments suggested in reports discussing the Cenozoic al- luvial deposits in the vicinity of Mammoth, Pinal County, Arizona 92 Block diagram showing hypothetical relationships of alluvial deposits 96 Probable stratigraphic relationships of the Whitetail and Gila conglomerates in the vicinity of Ray, Arizona 104. Diagrammatic cross section showing the composite relationships of "upper set" and "lower set" de- posits in a hypothetical basin 112 8, Diagrammatic cross section showing postulated relationships between uplift along marginal normal faults and alluvial deposits 120 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Figure Page Diagrammatic cross sections showing postulated relationships between uplift along marginal normal faults and alluvial deposits (concluded) 125 Diagrammatic cross section showing postulated relationships between deformation along thrust faults and alluvial deposits 129 Diagrammatic section showing changes in the nature of an unconformity in alluvial deposits 145 12A. Diagrammatic cross section of an undisturbed sequence of alluvial deposits comparing possible total thickness of measurements 149 12B, Diagrammatic cross section of faulted alluvial de- posits showing an erroneous thickness 149 LIST OF PLATES Plate Page 1. Map showing generalized outlines of Cenozoic al- luvial deposits in the upper Gila River drainage basin and adjacent areas and locations of sections examined in pocket 2 Close-up view of the tuffaceous Gilita beds 14 3 Alluvial deposits east of Black Mountain, New Mexico . 18 4. Hunting Lodge beds, Black Mountain area, .New Mexico 21 5. Views of the Hunting Lodge beds in the Black Moun. tam area and the Mimbres formation in Sapillo Creek, New Mexico 22 6 Characteristic exposure of the lower portion of the DryDiamondbeds ..................... 25 ix TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Plate Page View north of Maple Peak immediately west of the Arizona-New Mexico boundary 35 Near views of the Cactus Flat beds along Mineral Creek, San