Stratigraphy of the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Roadifer, Jack Ellsworth, 1928- 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 27/09/2021 14:44:47 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/565136 STRATIGRAPHY OF THE PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK, ARIZONA by iV Jack E i' Roadifer A Dissertation 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 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 19 6 6 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE I hereby recommend that this dissertation prepared under my direction by _________ Jack E. Roadifer__________________________ entitled STRATIGRAPHY OF THE PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK, ARIZONA______________________________________ be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement of the degree of ______ Doctor of Philosophy____________________________ / c r / ; b ^ After inspection of the dissertation, the following members of the Final Examination Committee concur in its approval and recommend its acceptance:* *This approval and acceptance is contingent on the candidate's adequate performance and defense of this dissertation at the final oral examination. The inclusion of this sheet bound into the library copy of the dissertation is evidence of satisfactory performance at the final examination. STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allow­ able 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 his 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: 6, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Special appreciation is expressed to Dr. Joseph F. Schreiber, Jr., of the University of Arizona Geology Department who suggested the problem and offered many valuable suggestions throughout the course of the study. Dr. Richard Wilson and Dr. Donald Bryant of the University of Arizona staff read the manuscript and visited the writer in tfre field. The field work would not have been possible without the cooperation of the personnel at the Petrified Forest National Park. Special thanks are given to Charles McCurdy and Harry Wells for their time and assistance. Much appreciated financial assistance to defray the expenses of the field work was given by the Petrified Forest Association and by the Museum of Northern Arizona at Flagstaff, Arizona. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.............. ill LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS................................. vii ABSTRACT ........................................... x INTRODUCTION .............. ............ 1 Purpose of S t u d y .......................... .. 1 Area and S c o p e ...................... 2 GENERAL GEOLOGY ..... .......................... 6 Moenkopi Formation . Chinle Formation .......... Shinarump Member . Lower Red Member . Mesa Redondo Member . Petrified Forest Member . The Owl Rock Member . 00-0-0 CO VO OV VO STRATIGRAPHY OF THE PETRIFIED FOREST MEMBER ..... 11 Sandstone Units ................................. 11 Newspaper Rock Sandstone .................. 11 Sonsela Sandstone Bed . ..................... 14 Rainbow Forest Sandstone .............. 20 The Camp Wash Z o n e .................... 20 Flattops Number One Sandstone .............. 24 Flattops Number Two Sandstone .............. 25 Flattops Number Three Sandstone ........ 27 DIRECTIONAL FEATURES IN THE PETRIFIED FOREST MEMBER . 29 Cross-stratification ........................... 29 Trough cross-strata.......... 31 Planar cross-strata ..... .............. 36 Deformational structures .......... 37 Methods of mapping cross-strata............ 39 Stream Channels ................ ........ 41 Imbricate Structure ........ 42 Parting Lineation ............................... 43 iv V TABLE OF CONTENTS— Continued Page Correlation of Long Axes of Petrified Logs with Cross-strata Dip Directions............ .. 44- Results of Directional S t u d i e s ........ .......... 45 PETROGRAPHY....................................... .. 52 Methods ............................. 52 Composition and Texture ............ 53 Conglomerates................ 53 Sandstones .................... 58 Fine-grained elastics .......... Chemical sediments .......... Detrital Grains .......... ........ 66 • Main rock-forming detrital grains 66 Heavy minerals ................ 71 PALEOGEOGRAPHY 77 Distribution of Permian Rocks .................... 77 Distribution of Triassic Rocks ................. .. 8 l Zuni-Defiance Uplift Area ......................... 85 Mogollon Highlands .......................... .. 87 PALEOENVIRONMENT 89 Source of Sediments.......................... .. 89 Paleocurrents ...................... 89 Heavy m i n e r a l s ........................ 89 Rock f r a g m e n t s ............................... 91 Feldspars.............................. 92 Quartz types ................................. 92 Clay mineralogy............................... 94 Mode of Deposition of the Sediments.............. 95 Review of some theories of origin of red beds . 95 Deposition of sediments in the Petrified Forest A r e a ............................ 97 Fossil Evidence .................................... 100 CONCLUSIONS........................................... 104 APPENDICES ............ .............................. 106 Appendix A - Conversion Chart - Millimeters to Phi ( 0 ) .......................................106 Appendix B - Histograms of some Representative Sediments from the Petrified Forest Member . 107 Vi TABLE OF CONTENTS— Continued Page Appendix C - Cumulative Curves of some Representative Clastic Sediments from the Petrified Forest Member .......... ........ 108 Appendix D - Modal Analyses of some Sandstones in the Petrified Forest Member . > .......... 109 Appendix E - Non-opaque Detrital Heavy Mineral , Assemblages of some elastics from the Petrified Forest Member . .... 110 Appendix F - d Spacings in Angstroms of some Representative Samples from the Petrified Forest Member . ............. ill Appendix G - Descriptions of Measured Sections . 112 PFNP-1 ............... 112 P F N P - 2 .............. .. , ................... 115 P F N P - 3 .......... ............ - . .... .117 P F N P - 4 ............ .. ...... 118 P F N P - 3 .................... 119 PFNP-6 . ....................... 121 P F N P - 7 ................ .. ... ...... 123 p f n p -8 . ........ ;. ....... 126 PFNP-9 . ........................ 130 PFNP-1 0 .......... '. '. ". '. 132 PFNP-11 . ................ 134 PFNP-12 . ............... V ...... 137 PFNP-13 ................... .. ........ 139 PFNP-14 . ....... .... 141 PFNP-13 . * ............. ...... .... 143 PFNP- 1 6 ............ ". 143 REFERENCES CITED 147 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. Index map shotting location of Petrified Forest National P a r k .......................... " 3 2. Index map of Petrified Forest National Park showing location of measured sections ..... 5 3 . Composite stratigraphic section of the Petrified Forest Member in the Petrified Forest National Park . ............. 12 4. Photographs of exposures of Sonsela sandstone bed, and Unlo bed from Camp Wash z o n e ........ 17 5 . Stratigraphic relationships of Sonsela sand­ stone bed. Camp Wash zone, "Rainbow Forest sandstone", and other units in south part of Park . .... .. * . * • 19 6. Generalized section showing correlation between Flattops areas and Painted Desert . 26 7. Diagrammatic sketches illustrating types of cross-stratification and terminology . V . 3.0 8 . Photographs of trough cross-strata in the Flattops number two sandstone and micro-cross- laminations, in the Newspaper Rock sandstone . 32 9. Photographs of Newspaper Rock sandstone • showing (a) medium- to large-scale trough cross-strata grading upward into micro-cross­ laminations and (b) current ripple marks . 35 10. Photographs showing overturned cross-strata and parting lineation in Sonsela sandstone bed .... ... 38 11. Rose diagrams showing relationship between cross-bedding and log orientation in the Petrified Forest National Park . /. .. ,. 46 vii vili LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS— Continued Figure Page 12. Directional.readings in the Newspaper Rock sandstone bed . ............................... 47 13. Directional readings in the Sonsela sandstone b e d ...................................... 48 14. Directional readings in the Camp Wash sandstone units . ............ 49 15. Directional readings in the sandstone units above the Camp Wash z o n e .............. j>0 16. Triangular diagrams showing mechanical composition of some clastic sediments from the Petrified Forest Me m b e r ........... 55 17. Hand specimen and photomicrograph of chert- . pebble conglomerate from Sonsela sandstone b e d .......... 56 18.