Plutonic and hypabyssal rocks of the Hailey 1 degree x 2 degrees quadrangle, Idaho
No abstract available.
Idaho↗
Geology topics
Earl H. Bennett
Publications and source records attributed to Earl H. Bennett.
The geology and mineral deposits of part of the western half of the Hailey 1 degree x 2 degrees quadrangle, Idaho
Rocks in the western half of the Hailey 1°x2° quadrangle of south-central Idaho include various units of the Atlanta lobe of the Idaho batholith (biotite granodiorite to two-mica granite) of Cretaceous age and plutons and dikes of Tertiary (Eocene to Miocene) age that intrude the batholith. Eocene plutonic rocks consist of a bimodal suite of anorogenic granite and tonalite-granodiorite and hypabyssal rhyolite and rhyodacite dikes. Rocks of the Eocene Challis Volcanics are scarce in the map area but are widespread to the east. Rhyolite ash flows of the Miocene Idavada Volcanics and basalt of the Snake River Plain crop out in the southern part of the area. Lacustrine rocks of probable Eocene to Holocene age are present in the vicinity of Anderson Ranch Reservoir. Quaternary basalts and gravels are widespread on the South Fork of the Boise River, and alluvial deposits are common along active drainages. Metasedimentary rocks of unknown age crop out on House Mountain, Chimney Peak, and on the ridges east of Anderson Ranch Reservoir. Older structures in the Idaho batholith include a major fault beneath House Mountain that may be a decollement for one of the large thrust sheets in eastern Idaho or part of an extensional core complex. The southern part of the Atlanta lobe of the Idaho batholith is cut by northeast-striking faults (parallel with the Trans-Challis fault system) that are related to Eocene extension and by northwest-oriented faults that formed during basin and range extension in the Miocene. The basin and range faults have prominent scarps typical of basin and range topography. The combination of northeast and northwest faults has broken the batholith into a series of rhomboid blocks. Some of these northeast and northwest faults are older structures that were reactivated in the Eocene or Miocene, as indicated by Ar 40 /Ar 39 dates on mineralized rock contained in some of the structures. The Idaho batholith and associated rocks in the map area host several hundred mines and prospects in 18 mining districts. The deposits range in age from Cretaceous to Eocene, and many were developed for precious metals. Most of the deposits are in quartz veins in shear zones in granitic rocks of the batholith. Several districts were actively being explored for low-grade, bulk-minable, precious-metal deposits in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Idaho↗
Spatial digital database for the geologic map of the east part of the Pullman 1° x 2° quadrangle, Idaho
The paper geologic map of the east part of the Pullman 1° x 2° degree quadrangle, Idaho (Rember and Bennett, 1979) was scanned and initially attributed by Optronics Specialty Co., Inc. (Northridge, CA) and remitted to the U.S. Geological Survey for further attribution and publication of the geospatial digital files. The resulting digital geologic map GIS can be queried in many ways to produce a variety of geologic maps. This digital geospatial database is one of many being created by the U.S. Geological Survey as an ongoing effort to provide geologic information in a geographic information system (GIS) for use in spatial analysis. Digital base map data files (topography, roads, towns, rivers and lakes, and others.) are not included: they may be obtained from a variety of commercial and government sources. This database is not meant to be used or displayed at any scale larger than 1:250,000 (for example, 1:100,000 or 1:24,000). The digital geologic map graphics and plot files (pull250k.gra/.hp /.eps) that are provided in the digital package are representations of the digital database.
Idaho↗
High-temperature, large-volume, lavalike ash-flow tuffs without calderas in southwestern Idaho
Rhyolitic rocks were erupted from vents in and adjacent to the Owyhee Mountains and Owyhee Plateau of southwestern Idaho from 16 m.y. ago to about 10 m.y. ago. They were deposited on a highly irregular surface developed on a variety of basement rocks that include granitic rocks of Cretaceous age, quartz latite and rhyodacite tuffs and lava flows of Eocene age, andesitic and basaltic lava flows of Oligocene age, and latitic and basaltic lava flows of early Miocene age. The rhyolitic rocks are principally welded tuffs that, regardless of their source, have one feature in common-namely internal characteristics indicating en-masse, viscous lavalike flowage. The flowage features commonly include considerable thicknesses of flow breccia at the bases of various cooling units. On the basis of the tabular nature of the rhyolitic deposits, their broad areal extents, and the local preservation of pyroclastic textures at the bases, tops, and distal ends of some of the deposits, we have concluded that the rocks were emplaced as ash flows at extremely high temperatures and that they coalesced to liquids before final emplacement and cooling. Temperatures of l090?C and higher are indicated by iron-titanium oxide compositions. Rhyolites that are about 16 m.y. old are preserved mostly in the downdropped eastern and western flanks of the Silver City Range and they are inferred to have been erupted from the Silver City Range. They rarely contain more than about 2 percent phenocrysts that consist of quartz and subequal amounts of plagioclase and alkali feldspar; commonly, they contain biotite, and they are the only rhyolitic rocks in the area to do so. The several rhyolitic units that are 14 m.y. to about 10 m.y. old contain only pyroxene-principally ferriferous and intermediate pigeonites-as mafic constituents. The rhyolites of the Silver City Range comprise many cooling units, none of which can be traced for great distances. Rocks erupted from the Owyhee Plateau include two sequences that were traced over areas having diameters of about 100 km. These two sheets are the herein-named Swisher Mountain Tuff, which is about 13.8 m.y. old, and the Little Jacks Tuff, which is about 10 m.y. old. The Swisher Mountain Tuff was erupted from the Juniper Mountain volcanic center, a gentle dome that is not bounded by arcuate faults indicative of cauldron subsidence. The tuff is 200 m thick over a considerable area in and adjacent to its source. It apparently thins gradually toward its distal edges, and it is inferred to be uniformly distributed around its source at Juniper Mountain. The unit contains vitrophyres at various intervals from base to top, and, although the vitrophyres are, in general, flow layered and commonly flow brecciated, they occasionally contain well-defined pumice clasts. The vitrophyres indicate compound cooling, and, near the distal edges of the sheet, some of them probably represent complete cooling breaks. The Little Jacks Tuff onlaps the Swisher Mountain Tuff in expo sures east of Juniper Mountain, and it is inferred to have been erupted from a source on the part of the Owyhee Plateau that lies just east of the area studied. This inferred source area, like that at Juniper Mountain, is also expressed today as a gentle dome without structural features indicative of cauldron subsidence. The Little Jacks Tuff, in most exposures in the deep canyons of the Plateau, consists of at least four cooling units, and, in places in the eastern part of the studied area near the source area, it possibly comprises as many as six. Although there is no obvious evidence of erosion between the various cooling units, magnetic polarity measurements indicate that there were at least two magnetic reversals during the eruption interval of the Little Jacks Tuff. Like the Swisher Mountain Tuff, the Little Jacks has flattened pumice clasts in a few outcrops-principally at the bases of the various cooling units. The two tuff sequences are calc-a
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