CAS UNIV. I. OF ECON. )LOGY JLICATION JLL.) 93 Bulle ti n of the Univeristy of Texas Nu mber 93 April 15, 1907 AS ket chofthe Geology of the Chisos BewsterCountry,County, Texas. By J.A.Udden, Ph. D., F. G. S. A., College; for uiogist, University of s Mineral St-ivey. littered at the Postoffice in Austin, Texas, as second class mail matter under Act of Congress, passed July 16. AUSTIN, TEXAS PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS BOARD OF EDITORS William James Battle, Editor-in-Chief. Herbert Eugeni: Eolton, Secretary and Manager. KiJLLK Campbell, The University Record. William Spencer Carter, Galveston, Medical Series. :-Vl Liirp'LEY M.Keasbey, Humanistic Series.-; s H. Montgomery, Jr., Scientific Seri.es. fT" PhtnEas L. Windsor, General Series. "ii / I The publications of the University of Texas are issued* twice a month. Fo. postal purposes they are numbered consecutively as Bulletins wthout regard to the arrangement inseries. With the exception of the SpeciaMfumbers any Bulletin will be sent to citizens of Texas free on request. C<«nunications from other institutions in reference to exchange of publicat|^fc should be addressed to the University of Texas Library. R 162-607-lm-899 Bulletin of the University of Texas Number 93 Scientific Series No. 11 April 15, 1907 A Sketch of the Geology of the Chisos Country, Brewster County, Texas. By J. A. Udden, Ph. D., F. G. S. A., Professor ofGeology, Augustana College; formerly Assistant Geologist, University of Texas Mineral Survey. Entered at the Postojftce in Austin, Texas, as second class mail matter under Act of Congress, passed July 16, rBgj AUSTIN. TEXAS 00025671 Cultivated mind is the guardian genius of de- mocracy. Itis the only dictator that free- men acknowledge and the only security that freemen desire. President Mirabeau B. Lamar. EDITOR'S NOTE. This Bulletin, prepared for the University of Texas Mineral Survey, under the direction of Dr. WilliamB. Phillips, was ready for publication in the spring of 1905, but, owing to the discontinuance of the Survey, could not be published at that time. Its high practical and scientific value leads to its issue now as sv Bulletin of the University of Texas. Unfortu- nately, both the drawings and cuts originally prepared to illustrate it have been lost, and ithas not been practicable to reproduce them. Contents PAGE. Introductory statement 9 A. General topography 9 1. Differential erosion 10 2. The graded plains .' 10 (1) The making of the graded plains 10 (2) Controlling factors 11 (3) Maintenance of the eroded plain 13 3. The high reliefs 14 B. History of the drainage 15 C. Stratigraphy 16 1. The general section 17 (1) The Palaeozoic 18 (2) The Ordovician 18 (3) The Upper Carboniferous 20 (4) Eoeks of the Cretaceous age 21 The Lower Cretaceous limestones 21 At Persimmon gap 22 On the Altuda mountain 22 On the Cienegu mountain 23 In Mesa de Anguila 23 On Christmas mountain 24 On Mariscal mountain 24 In the Carmen range 25 Characteristic horizons 26 Chemical composition 27 Characteristic weathering 28 Tlie Upper Cretaceous series 29 The Boquillas flags 29 Chemical composition 29 ' Clastic texture 30 Field appearances 30 Resistance to erosion 31 Minor characteristics 32 Fossils 32 Correlation 33 The Terlingua beds 33 Distribution 34 Cottonwood creek section 34 Section south of Cuesta Blanca 35 Other sections 36 Topographic relations 38 6 Contents. PAGE. Organic remains 38 Chemical composition 39 Correlations 40 The Rattlesnake beds 41 The zone of change 41 Thickness 42 Sandstones 42 Finer sediments 45 Original calcareous deposits 45 Special sections 45 Section near Chisos pen 40 Section north of Chisos pen 4" Section south of Chisos pen 47 Fossil wood 48 Vertebrate remains 49 Tuffs 49 Topographic features 51 Fossils 51 Correlation 54 The Tornillo clays 54 Characteristic coloring 54 Mechanical composition 55 Chemical composition 56 Concretions 57 Weathering and creeping 57 Geographical distribution 58 Physiographic character 59 Thickness . 59 Fossils 60 The Chisos beds 60 The typical rock 61 Sandstones 62 Clays 63 Conglomerates 63 Descriptions of exposures 64 Limits and thickness 65 Topography 65 Life and age 66 The Crown conglomerate 66 The Burro gravels and tuffs 67 The Dugout clays and gravels 68 Recent alluvium and land drift 69 ( 5) The igneous rocks 70 The Altuda granite 70 Contents. 7 PAGE. Laccoliths 70 Sills 72 Dikes 73 Plugs 74 Surface flows 74 D. Geological structure 75 E. The Caballos ridges 76 F. Overlap of the Cretaceous 78 Q. The Rocky Mountain uplift 79 H. The great Terlingna fault 80 I. The sunken block 80 1. Faults 81 2. Folds S3 3. Christmas mountain fold 85 4. Marisca] mountain fold 85 5. Chisos mountain fold 86 -J. Summary of geologic history 87 K. Mineral resources 8!) 1. Quicksilver 89 2. Coal 94 3. Silver 90 4. Phosphate 100 5. Brick materials 100 A Sketch of the Geology of the Chisos Country. In studying the geology of the Chisos country, one must con- stantly bear inmind that the terranes which we now find exposed at the surface have been laid bare from under a covering of over- lying rocks measuring from two to ten thousand feet in depth. This great thickness of vanished strata has been removed during a long lapse of time, which commenced with the closing stage of the Cretaceous age. We should also remember that during the time this work of disintegration and removal was going on, and even before it began, the whole ground has been subjected to forces which have thrown the strata into folds and flexures and broken them by great faults into blocks that are extensively tilted. As a circumstance which has contributed to the effectiveness of erosion in this region, we must regard the fact that it lies on the border of the great Cordilleran plateau, where the drainage has had more or less direct outlets to the region of the Plains on the east. The descent of the streams has been relatively rapid and transportation correspondingly easy. For the Santiago and Car- men ranges, which make the east boundary of the Chisos country, must be regarded as the southernmost extension of the Eocky Mountains in the United States. To the west of these ranges we find that the geological structure is more like that of the Great Basin and to the east, though the superficial aspect is somewhat mountain-like, the structure is that of the bordering high plains. A. General Topography. The Chisos mountains constitute the highest relief in a belt of somewhat interrupted and broken plains, which extend north- westward to and beyond Marfa. This belt has suffered a greater reduction from the erosive forces than the mountains around it, owing to the weak resistance of the clays and marls, which mostly constitute the bedrock within its limits. It may be regarded as a narrow extension of the Howard bolson* described by Prof. R. T. 'Physical Geogra phy of the Texas Region, Topographic Atlas of the United States, United" States Geological Survey, 1900, p. 9. 10 Bulletin of The University of Texas. Hill. To the east and to the west of this plain more indurated rocks are now exposed and rise in ridges and table-lands. Toward the Eio Grande the plains gradually descend to an elevation of only about 2000 feet above the sea level. From the middle of this de- scending plain the Chisos mountains rise in a low, wide, and dis- sected dome, with long spurs to the south. 1. Differential Erosion. The materials subjected to the work of the destructive forces during a long time in the past in this region consist for the most part of soft sediments, such as clay, deep-sea ooze, and sand. With these are extensive beds of limestone and frequent and variously shaped masses of igneous rock injected into the sediments and in places poured out over them. Almost all of the pronounced relief we meet with here, such as hills,ridges, mountains, and table-lands, are due to the greater resistance of the harder materials. These have been laid bare by the removal of the more readily yielding clays and marls, by which they were originally covered or sur- rounded. Allthe more enduring rocks now rise above the general surface of the land. In places where the indurated rocks are ab- sent, the ground has been cut down to almost perfect plains. The relief of these plains is confined to a very gentle general slope towards the drainage channels, low scarps caused by transient ad- justments to new erosion planes, and long, narrow and shallow gullies of the surface drainage. 2. The Graded Plains. The controlling topographic feature of the country around the Ohisos mountains consists of the plains just referred to. It is estimated that they make up from two-thirds to three-fourths of the entire area of the country. Their general slope averages a hundred feet to the mile, and varies from seventy-five feet, where it is the most gentle, to two hundred feet, where itis most steep. Only infew places, on some low divides, it is nearly horizontal. (1) Making of the Graded Plains. The origin of the high plains in the southwest, the so-called bolson plains, has been ascribed to different causes by different The Geology of the Chisos Country. 11 writers. E. T. Hillregards them as constructional detritus plain.? caused by filling of structural valleys.* Keyes considers that the bolsons are a part of an upraised pene- plain, practically untouched by stream action.** It does not ap- pear that either of these explanations apply well to the plains of the Chisos country.