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Karl S. Kellogg

Publications and source records attributed to Karl S. Kellogg.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2018

Geologic map of the Fort Collins 30'×60' quadrangle, Larimer and Jackson Counties, Colorado, and Albany and Laramie Counties, Wyoming

The rocks and landforms of the Fort Collins 30 ′ × 60 ′ 1:100,000-scale U.S. Geological Survey quadrangle reveals a particularly complete record of geologic history in the northern Front Range of Colorado. The Proterozoic basement rocks exposed in the core of the range preserve evidence of Paleoproterozoic marine sedimentation, volcanism, and regional soft-sediment deformation, followed by regional folding and gradational metamorphism. Mesoproterozoic time was marked by intrusion of the Berthoud Plutonic Suite into crust that was structurally neutral or moderately extending in an east-northeast direction. Evidence of the late Paleozoic Anasazi uplift (Ancestral Rocky Mountains uplift) within the quadrangle is recorded by removal of Permian and older sediments and deposition of proximal Pennsylvanian and Permian strata unconformably onto the exhumed Proterozoic basement rocks. The Phanerozoic sediments indicate a steady progression of fluvial, eolian, and lacustrine environments throughout most of the Mesozoic Era which was a time of relatively slow sediment accumulation. Early Cretaceous time was marked by incursion of the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, a shallow-water marine embayment that persisted throughout the latter part of the Mesozoic Era. Sedimentation rates increased significantly in the latter part of this period during down-warping related to distant crustal loading by thrusting along the western continental margin. With onset of the Laramide orogeny in latest Cretaceous time, mountain building resumed in this region. This deformation placed Proterozoic rock over Cretaceous and Paleocene strata along the western margin of the Front Range and Medicine Bow Mountains. Post-Laramide time was marked by a prolonged period of weathering, erosion, and planation of the basement-rock surface, extending perhaps into late Oligocene or early Miocene time. Erosion on the eastern slope of the Front Range in late Paleogene to early Neogene time produced a broad, rolling surface surrounding residual highlands and east-trending fluvial channels filled with coarse, boulder gravel. Significant global cooling during the Pliocene led to glaciation during the Quaternary. In the Rocky Mountain region, renewed uplift allowed erosion to accentuate the topographic relief across the high mountains of the map area and established the elevations necessary to trigger accumulation of persistent snow and ice. Mountain glaciers advanced and retreated during at least three glacial-interglacial cycles during the middle and late Pleistocene in this area. Erosion continues to this day on the High Plains east of the mountain front, and progressive incision of the drainage is recorded by at least five major gravel-clad terrace and pediment surfaces along the major fluvial channels that connect to the South Platte River system.

Colorado, Wyoming↗
USGS2017

Geologic map of the upper Arkansas River valley region, north-central Colorado

This 1:50,000-scale U.S. Geological Survey geologic map represents a compilation of the most recent geologic studies of the upper Arkansas River valley between Leadville and Salida, Colorado. The valley is structurally controlled by an extensional fault system that forms part of the prominent northern Rio Grande rift, an intra-continental region of crustal extension. This report also incorporates new detailed geologic mapping of previously poorly understood areas within the map area and reinterprets previously studied areas. The mapped region extends into the Proterozoic metamorphic and intrusive rocks in the Sawatch Range west of the valley and the Mosquito Range to the east. Paleozoic rocks are preserved along the crest of the Mosquito Range, but most of them have been eroded from the Sawatch Range. Numerous new isotopic ages better constrain the timing of both Proterozoic intrusive events, Late Cretaceous to early Tertiary intrusive events, and Eocene and Miocene volcanic episodes, including widespread ignimbrite eruptions. The uranium-lead ages document extensive about 1,440-million years (Ma) granitic plutonism mostly north of Buena Vista that produced batholiths that intruded an older suite of about 1,760-Ma metamorphic rocks and about 1,700-Ma plutonic rocks. As a result of extension during the Neogene and possibly latest Paleogene, the graben underlying the valley is filled with thick basin-fill deposits (Dry Union Formation and older sediments), which occupy two sub-basins separated by a bedrock high near the town of Granite. The Dry Union Formation has undergone deep erosion since the late Miocene or early Pliocene. During the Pleistocene, ongoing stream incision by the Arkansas River and its major tributaries has been interrupted by periodic aggradation. From Leadville south to Salida as many as seven mapped alluvial depositional units, that range in age from early to late Pleistocene, record periodic aggradational events along these streams that are commonly associated with deposition of glacial outwash or bouldery glacial-flood deposits. Many previously unrecognized Neogene and Quaternary faults, some of the latter with possible Holocene displacement, have been identified on lidar (light detection and ranging) imagery which covers 59 percent of the map area. This imagery has also permitted more accurate remapping of glacial, fluvial, and mass-movement deposits and aided in the determination of their relative ages. Recently published 10 beryllium cosmogenic surface-exposure ages, coupled with our new geologic mapping, have revealed the timing and rates of late Pleistocene deglaciation. Glacial dams that impounded the Arkansas River at Clear Creek and possibly at Pine Creek failed at least three times during the middle and late Pleistocene, resulting in catastrophic floods and deposition of enormous boulders and bouldery alluvium downstream; at least two failures occurred during the late Pleistocene during the Pinedale glaciation.

Colorado↗
USGS2016

Mountains, glaciers, and mines—The geological story of the Blue River valley, Colorado, and its surrounding mountains

This report describes, in a nontechnical style, the geologic history and mining activity in the Blue River region of Colorado, which includes all of Summit County. The geologic story begins with the formation of ancient basement rocks, as old as about 1700 million years, and continues with the deposition of sedimentary rocks on a vast erosional surface beginning in the Cambrian Period (about 530 million years ago). This deposition was interrupted by uplift of the Ancestral Rocky Mountains during the late Paleozoic Era (about 300 million years ago). The present Rocky Mountains began to rise at the close of the Mesozoic Era (about 65 million years ago). A few tens of millions years ago, rifting began to form the Blue River valley; a major fault along the east side of the Gore Range dropped the east side down, forming the present valley. The valley once was filled by sediments and volcanic rocks that are now largely eroded. During the last few hundred-thousand years, at least two periods of glaciation sculpted the mountains bordering the valley and glaciers extended down the Blue River valley as far south as present Dillon Reservoir. Discovery of deposits of gold, silver, copper, and zinc in the late 1800s, particularly in the Breckenridge region, brought an influx of early settlers. The world-class molybdenum deposit at Climax, mined since the First World War, reopened in 2012 after a period of closure. The report includes a glossary to explain geologic terms used in the text, and numerous photos, maps, and diagrams illustrate the geologic principles discussed. References for further reading are also included.

Colorado↗
USGS2014

Geologic map of the Granite 7.5' quadrangle, Lake and Chaffee Counties, Colorado

The geologic map of the Granite 7.5' quadrangle, Lake and Chaffee Counties, Colorado, portrays the geology in the upper Arkansas valley and along the lower flanks of the Sawatch Range and Mosquito Range near the town of Granite. The oldest rocks, exposed in the southern and eastern parts of the quadrangle, include gneiss and plutonic rocks of Paleoproterozoic age. These rocks are intruded by younger plutonic rocks of Mesoproterozoic age. Felsic hypabyssal dikes, plugs, and plutons, ranging in age from Late Cretaceous or Paleocene to late Oligocene, locally intruded Proterozoic rocks. A small andesite lava flow of upper Oligocene age overlies Paleoproterozoic rock, just south of the Twin Lakes Reservoir. Gravelly fluvial and fan deposits of the Miocene and lower Pliocene(?) Dry Union Formation are preserved in the post-30 Ma upper Arkansas valley graben, a northern extension of the Rio Grande rift. Mostly north-northwest-trending faults displace deposits of the Dry Union Formation and older rock units. Light detection and ranging (lidar) imagery suggests that two short faults, near the Arkansas River, may displace surficial deposits as young as middle Pleistocene. Surficial deposits of middle Pleistocene to Holocene age are widespread in the Granite quadrangle, particularly in the major valleys and on slopes underlain by the Dry Union Formation. The main deposits are glacial outwash and post-glacial alluvium; mass-movement deposits transported by creep, debris flow, landsliding, and rockfall; till deposited during the Pinedale, Bull Lake, and pre-Bull Lake glaciations; rock-glacier deposits; and placer-tailings deposits formed by hydraulic mining and other mining methods used to concentrate native gold. Hydrologic and geologic processes locally affect use of the land and locally may be of concern regarding the stability of buildings and infrastructure, chiefly in low-lying areas along and near stream channels and locally in areas of moderate to steep slopes. Low-lying areas along major and minor streams are subject to periodic stream flooding. Mass-movement deposits and deposits of the Dry Union Formation that underlie moderate to steep slopes are locally subject to creep, debris-flow deposition, and landsliding. Proterozoic rocks that underlie steep slopes are locally subject to rockfall. Sand and gravel resources for construction and other uses in and near the Granite quadrangle are present in outwash-terrace deposits of middle and late Pleistocene age along the Arkansas River and along tributary streams in glaciated valleys.

Colorado↗
USGS2013

Geologic map of the Harvard Lakes 7.5' quadrangle, Park and Chaffee Counties, Colorado

The Harvard Lakes 1:24,000-scale quadrangle spans the Arkansas River Valley in central Colorado, and includes the foothills of the Sawatch Range on the west and Mosquito Range on the east. The Arkansas River valley lies in the northern end of the Rio Grande rift and is structurally controlled by Oligocene and younger normal faults mostly along the west side of the valley. Five separate pediment surfaces were mapped, and distinctions were made between terraces formed by the Arkansas River and surfaces that formed from erosion and alluviation that emanated from the Sawatch Range. Three flood deposits containing boulders as long as 15 m were deposited from glacial breakouts just north of the quadrangle. Miocene and Pliocene basin-fill deposits of the Dry Union Formation are exposed beneath terrace or pediment deposits in several places. The southwestern part of the late Eocene Buffalo Peaks volcanic center, mostly andesitic breccias and flows and ash-flow tuffs, occupy the northeastern corner of the map. Dated Tertiary intrusive rocks include Late Cretaceous or early Paleocene hornblende gabbro and hornblende monzonite. Numerous rhyolite and dacite dikes of inferred early Tertiary or Late Cretaceous age also intrude the basement rocks. Basement rocks are predominantly Mesoproterozoic granites, and subordinately Paleoproterozoic biotite gneiss and granitic gneiss.

Colorado↗
USGS2012

Paleomagnetic results from the Lassiter Coast, Antarctica, and a test for oroclinal bending of the Antarctic Peninsula

Paleomagnetic results from 17 magnetically stable units of Upper Cretaceous (‘Andean’) plutons and dikes of the Lassiter Coast, on the southern Antarctic Peninsula, define a mean paleomagnetic pole at 87°S, 131°W (α 95 = 11.5°). This indicates that little latitudinal movement of the southern Antarctic Peninsula has occurred during the past 100 m.y. All magnetically stable intrusives are normally polarized and are believed to have been emplaced during the Late Cretaceous epoch of predominantly normal polarity. There is no evidence of postemplacement remagnetization. The uncertainty in declination at the 95% confidence level is computed for both the Lassiter Coast data and those data available from other Andean sites in the Antarctic Peninsula. Within the limits of uncertainty, data from four localities north of 68°S support the contention of Dalziel et al. (1973) that there has not been any apparent post‐Late‐Cretaceous oroclinal bending in the northern half of the peninsula. For sites to the south in the Lassiter Coast, the uncertainty in declination, due to steep inclinations, is too large to support reliably or deny any large‐scale structural bending.

Antarctic Peninsula, Lassiter Coast↗
USGS2011

Geologic map of the eastern half of the Vail 30' x 60' quadrangle, Eagle, Summit, and Grand Counties, Colorado

Recent mapping and geochronologic studies for the eastern half of the Vail 1:100,000-scale quadrangle have significantly improved our understanding of (1) Paleoproterozoic history of the basement rocks of the Gore Range and Williams Fork Mountains (western margin of the Front Range), (2) the Late Paleozoic history of the Gore fault system, (3) Laramide contractional tectonism, including deformation along the Gore fault and Williams Range thrust, (4) Oligocene and younger extensional history of the Blue River half graben (The northern extent of the Rio Grande rift), and (5) late Neogene and Quaternary surficial history. The recently active Gilman mining district, a major producer of zinc and lead, is in the southwestern corner of the map area. Marine sediments and mafic to felsic volcanic rocks deposited between about 1,740 and 1,780 m.y. were generally metamorphosed to amphibolite grade and intruded and deformed by mostly calc-alkalic granitic rocks during an orogenic episode that lasted about 110 m.y. The distribution of well-studied Upper Cambrian to thick Upper Cretaceous platform sediments is now greatly improved, which allows a better definition of the late Paleozoic uplift, erosion, and flanking sedimentation of the ancestral Front Range. Detailed mapping has also better defined the geometry of Late Cretaceous to early Tertiary Laramide deformation along both the Gore fault system and Williams Range thrust, as well as increased understanding of the details of mostly Neogene extension along the Blue River normal fault system (the western margin of the Blue River half graben). Scarps along the latter fault system indicate movement may be as young as Holocene. Detailed mapping of surficial deposits has defined and described (1) six ages of terrace alluvium, (2) three general ages of landslides, (3) glacial and periglacial deposits, and (4) fan, pediment, talus, and debris-flow deposits. The map is intended as a database for a variety of land-use and scientific purposes, including (1) assessment of geologically stable building sites, (2) planning for road and highway construction, (3) assessment of groundwater resources, (4) assessment of mineral resources, (5) determining geologic-hazard potential (flooding, landslide, rockfall, and seismic risk), (6) evaluating the structure of the northern Rio Grande rift in the Blue River valley, (7) improvement in understanding of the sedimentary section, which spans the period from the Cambrian to the Holocene, and (8) new insights into the geologic history of the Proterozoic basement rocks, including a number of new radiometric dates.

Scientific Investigations Map↗
USGS2010

Geologic map of the Fraser 7.5-minute quadrangle, Grand County, Colorado

The geologic map of the Fraser quadrangle, Grand County, Colo., portrays the geology along the western boundary of the Front Range and the eastern part of the Fraser basin near the towns of Fraser and Winter Park. The oldest rocks in the quadrangle include gneiss, schist, and plutonic rocks of Paleoproterozoic age that are intruded by younger plutonic rocks of Mesoproterozoic age. These basement rocks are exposed along the southern, eastern, and northern margins of the quadrangle. Fluvial claystone, mudstone, and sandstone of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation, and fluvial sandstone and conglomeratic sandstone of the Lower Cretaceous Dakota Group, overlie Proterozoic rocks in a small area near the southwest corner of the quadrangle. Oligocene rhyolite tuff is preserved in deep paleovalleys cut into Proterozoic rocks near the southeast corner of the quadrangle. Generally, weakly consolidated siltstone and minor unconsolidated sediments of the upper Oligocene to upper Miocene Troublesome Formation are preserved in the post-Laramide Fraser basin. Massive bedding and abundant silt suggest that loess or loess-rich alluvium is a major component of the siltstone in the Troublesome Formation. A small unnamed fault about one kilometer northeast of the town of Winter Park has the youngest known displacement in the quadrangle, displacing beds of the Troublesome Formation. Surficial deposits of Pleistocene and Holocene age are widespread in the Fraser quadrangle, particularly in major valleys and on slopes underlain by the Troublesome Formation. Deposits include glacial outwash and alluvium of non-glacial origin; mass-movement deposits transported by creep, debris flow, landsliding, and rockfall; pediment deposits; tills deposited during the Pinedale and Bull Lake glaciations; and sparse diamictons that may be pre-Bull Lake till or debris-flow deposits. Some of the oldest surficial deposits may be as old as Pliocene.

Scientific Investigations Map↗
USGS2009

Structural development of high-temperature mylonites in the Archean Wyoming province, northwestern Madison Range, Montana

The Crooked Creek mylonite, in the northwestern Madison Range, southwestern Montana, is defined by several curved lenses of high non-coaxial strain exposed over a 7-km-wide, northeast-trending strip. The country rocks, part of the Archean Wyoming province, are dominantly trondhjemitic to granitic orthogneiss with subordinate amphibolite, quartzite, aluminous gneiss, and sills of metabasite (mafic granulite). Data presented here support an interpretation that the mylonite formed during a period of rapid, heterogeneous strain at near-peak metamorphic conditions during an early deformational event (D 1 ) caused by northwest–southeast-directed transpression. The mylonite has a well-developed L-S tectonite fabric and a fine-grained, recrystallized (granoblastic) texture. The strong linear fabric, interpreted as the stretching direction, is defined by elongate compositional “fish,” fold axes, aligned elongate minerals, and mullion axes. The margins of the mylonitic zones are concordant with and grade into regions of unmylonitized gneiss. A second deformational event (D 2 ) has folded the mylonite surface to produce meter- to kilometer-scale, tight-to-isoclinal, gently plunging folds in both the mylonite and country rock, and represents a northwest–southeast shortening event. Planar or linear fabrics associated with D 2 are remarkably absent. A third regional deformational event (D 3 ) produced open, kilometer-scale folds generally with gently north-plunging fold axes. Thermobarometric measurements presented here indicate that metamorphic conditions during D 1 were the same in both the mylonite and the country gneiss, reaching upper amphibolite- to lower granulite-facies conditions: 700 ± 50° C and 8.5 ± 0.5 kb. Previous geochronological studies of mylonitic and cross-cutting rocks in the Jerome Rock Lake area, east of the Crooked Creek mylonite, bracket the timing of this high-grade metamorphism and mylonitization between 2.78 and 2.56 Ga, nearly a billion years before the 1.78-Ga Big Sky orogeny, which overprinted the basement rocks exposed in adjacent ranges of the Wyoming province.

Montana↗
USGS2009

Geologic Map of the Santa Barbara Coastal Plain Area, Santa Barbara County, California

This report presents a newly revised and expanded digital geologic map of the Santa Barbara coastal plain area at a compilation scale of 1:24,000 (one inch on the map to 2,000 feet on the ground)1 and with a horizontal positional accuracy of at least 20 m. The map depicts the distribution of bedrock units and surficial deposits and associated deformation underlying and adjacent to the coastal plain within the contiguous Dos Pueblos Canyon, Goleta, Santa Barbara, and Carpinteria 7.5' quadrangles. The new map supersedes an earlier preliminary geologic map of the central part of the coastal plain (Minor and others, 2002; revised 2006) that provided coastal coverage only within the Goleta and Santa Barbara quadrangles. In addition to new mapping to the west and east, geologic mapping in parts of the central map area has been significantly revised from the preliminary map compilation - especially north of downtown Santa Barbara in the Mission Ridge area - based on new structural interpretations supplemented by new biostratigraphic data. All surficial and bedrock map units, including several new units recognized in the areas of expanded mapping, are described in detail in the accompanying pamphlet. Abundant new biostratigraphic and biochronologic data based on microfossil identifications are presented in expanded unit descriptions of the marine Neogene Monterey and Sisquoc Formations. Site-specific fault kinematic observations embedded in the digital map database are more complete owing to the addition of slip-sense determinations. Finally, the pamphlet accompanying the present report includes an expanded and refined summary of stratigraphic and structural observations and interpretations that are based on the composite geologic data contained in the new map compilation. The Santa Barbara coastal plain is located in the western Transverse Ranges physiographic province along an east-west-trending segment of the southern California coastline about 100 km (62 mi) northwest of Los Angeles. The coastal plain surface includes several mesas and hills that are geomorphic expressions of potentially active folds and partly buried oblique and reverse faults of the Santa Barbara fold and fault belt (SBFFB) that transects the coastal plain. Strong earthquakes have occurred offshore within 10 km of the Santa Barbara coastal plain in 1925 (6.3 magnitude), 1941 (5.5 magnitude), and 1978 (5.1 magnitude). These and numerous smaller seismic events located beneath and offshore of the coastal plain, likely occurred on reverse-oblique-slip faults that are similar to, or continuous with, Quaternary reverse faults crossing the coastal plain. Thus, faults of the SBFFB pose a significant earthquake hazard to the approximately 200,000 people living within the major coastal population centers of Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Carpinteria. In addition, numerous Quaternary landslide deposits along the steep southern flank of the Santa Ynez Mountains indicate the potential for continued slope failures and mass movements in developed areas. Folded, faulted, and fractured sedimentary rocks in the subsurface of the coastal plain and adjacent Santa Barbara Channel are sources and form reservoirs for economic deposits of oil and gas, some of which are currently being extracted offshore. Shallow, localized sedimentary aquifers underlying the coastal plain provide limited amounts of water for the urban areas, but the quality of some of this groundwater is compromised by coastal salt-water contamination. The present map compilation provides a set of uniform geologic digital coverages that can be used for analysis and interpretation of these and other geologic hazards and resources in the coastal plain region.

Scientific Investigations Map↗
USGS2008

A landslide in Tertiary marine shale with superheated fumaroles, Coast Ranges, California

In August 2004, a National Forest fire crew extinguished a 1.2 ha fire in a wilderness area ~40 km northeast of Santa Barbara, California. Examination revealed that the fire originated on a landslide dotted with superheated fumaroles. A 4 m borehole punched near the hottest (262 °C) fumarole had a maximum temperature of 307 °C. Temperatures in this borehole have been decreasing by ~0.1 °C/d, although the cooling rate is higher when the slide is dry. Gas from the fumaroles and boreholes is mostly air with 3–8 vol% carbon dioxide and trace amounts of carbon monoxide, methane, ethane, and propane. The carbon dioxide is 14 C-dead. The ratios of methane to ethane plus propane [C 1 /(C 2 + C 3 )] range from 3.6 to 14. Carbon isotope values for the CO 2 range from −14‰ to −23‰ δ 13 C. 3 He/ 4 He values range from 0.96 to 0.97 times that of air. The anomalous heat is interpreted to be due to rapid oxidation of iron sulfide augmented by combustion of carbonaceous matter within the formation.

Geology↗
USGS2008

The search for Braddock’s Caldera— Guidebook for Colorado Scientific Society Fall 2008 field trip, Never Summer Mountains, Colorado

The report contains the illustrated guidebook that was used for the fall field trip of the Colorado Scientific Society on September 6-7, 2008. It summarizes new information about the Tertiary geologic history of the northern Front Range and the Never Summer Mountains, particularly the late Oligocene volcanic and intrusive rocks designated the Braddock Peak complex. Minor modifications were made in response to technical reviews by D.J. Lidke and C.A. Ruleman (U.S. Geological Survey) regarding clarity and consistency, and text editing by M.A. Kidd. However, the text remains essentially similar to the guidebook that was circulated to the participants on the Colorado Scientific Society 2008 field trip. Several notes were added following the trip (as indicated) to address developments since the guidebook was written.

Colorado↗
USGS2008

Geologic map of the Denver West 30' x 60' quadrangle, north-central Colorado

The Denver West quadrangle extends east-west across the entire axis of the Front Range, one of numerous uplifts in the Rocky Mountain region in which Precambrian rocks are exposed. The history of the basement rocks in the Denver West quadrangle is as old as 1,790 Ma. Along the east side of the range, a sequence of sedimentary rocks as old as Pennsylvanian, but dominated by Cretaceous-age rocks, overlies these ancient basement rocks and was upturned and locally faulted during Laramide (Late Cretaceous to early Tertiary) uplift of the range. The increasingly coarser grained sediments up section in rocks of latest Cretaceous to early Tertiary age record in remarkable detail this Laramide period of mountain building. On the west side of the range, a major Laramide fault (Williams Range thrust) places Precambrian rocks over Cretaceous sedimentary rocks. The geologic history of the quadrangle, therefore, can be divided into four major periods: (1) Proterozoic history, (2) Pennsylvanian to pre-Laramide, Late Cretaceous history, (3) Late Cretaceous to early Tertiary Laramide mountain building, and (4) post-Laramide history. In particular, the Quaternary history of the Denver West quadrangle is described in detail, based largely on extensive new mapping.

Scientific Investigations Map↗
USGS2008

Geologic Map of the Eastern Three-Quarters of the Cuyama 30' x 60' Quadrangle, California

The map area encompasses a large part of the western Transverse Ranges and southern Coast Ranges of southern California. The San Andreas fault (SAF) cuts the northern part of the map. The area south of the SAF, about 80 percent of the map area, encompasses several distinct tectonic blocks bounded by major thrust or reverse faults, including the Santa Ynez fault, Big Pine fault (and structurally continuous Pine Mountain fault), Tule Creek fault, Nacimiento fault, Ozena fault, Munson Creek fault, Morales fault, and Frazier Mountain Thrust System. Movement on these faults is as old as Miocene and some faults may still be active. In addition, the Paleocene Sawmill Mountain Thrust south of the SAF and the Pastoria Thrust north of the SAF place Cretaceous and older crystalline rocks above Pelona Schist (south of the SAF) and Rand Schist (north of the SAF). South of the SAF, each tectonic block contains a unique stratigraphy, reflecting either large-scale movement on bounding faults or different depositional environments within each block. On Mount Pinos and Frazier Mountain, intrusive and metamorphic rocks as old as Mesoproterozoic, but including voluminous Cretaceous granitoid rocks, underlie or are thrust above non-marine sedimentary rocks as old as Miocene. Elsewhere, marine and non-marine sedimentary rocks are as old as Cretaceous, dominated by thick sequences of both Eocene and Cretaceous marine shales and sandstones. Middle Miocene to early Oligocene volcanic rocks crop out in the Caliente Hills (part of Caliente Formation) and south of Mount Pinos (part of the Plush Ranch Formation). Fault-bounded windows of Jurassic Franciscan Complex ophiolitic rocks are evident in the southwest corner of the area. North of the SAF, marine and non-marine sedimentary rocks as old as Eocene and Miocene volcanic rocks overlie a crystalline basement complex. Basement rocks include Cretaceous intrusive rocks that range from monzogranite to diorite, and Jurassic to late Paleozoic intrusive and metamorphic rocks. The Jurassic to late Paleozoic intrusive rocks include diorite, gabbro, and ultramafic rocks, and the metasedimentary rocks include marble, quartzite, schist, and gneiss.

Scientific Investigations Map↗
USGS2008

Geologic map of the Clark Peak quadrangle, Jackson and Larimer Counties, Colorado

The Clark Peak quadrangle encompasses the southern end of the Medicine Bow Mountains and the northernmost end of the Mummy Range. The Continental Divide traverses the map area and Highway 14 cross the Divide at Cameron Pass, in the southeastern corner of the map. Approximately the eastern half of the map, and a few areas to the west, are underlain by Early Proterozoic plutonic and metamorphic rocks. Most of these basement rocks are part of the ~1,715 Ma Rawah batholith, composed mostly of pinkish, massive to moderately foliated monzogranite and granodiorite intruded by numerous, large pegmatite- aplite bodies. The metamorphic rocks, many of which form large inclusions in the granitic rocks of the Rawah batholith, include biotite-hornblende gneiss, hornblende gneiss, amphibolite, and biotite schist. The crystalline basement rocks are thrust westward along the Medicine Bow thrust over a sequence of sedimentary rocks as old as the Upper Permian Satanka Shale. The Satanka Shale, Middle and Lower Triassic Chugwater group, and a thin sandstone tentatively correlated with the Lower Jurassic and Upper Triassic Jelm Formation are combined as one map unit. This undivided unit is overlain sequentially upward by the Upper Jurassic Sundance Formation, Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation, Lower Cretaceous Dakota Group, Upper and Lower Cretaceous Benton Group, Upper Cretaceous Niobrara Formation, and the Eocene and Paleocene Coalmont Formation. The Late Cretaceous to early Eocene Medicine Bow thrust is folded in places, and several back thrusts produced a complicated thrust pattern in the south part of the map. Early Oligocene magmatism produced rhyolite tuff, dacite and basalt flows, and intermediate dikes and small stocks. A 40Ar/39Ar date on sanidine from one rhyolite tuff is ~28.5 Ma; a similar whole-rock date on a trachybasalt is ~29.6 Ma. A very coarse, unsorted probably pre-Quaternary ridge-top diamicton crops out in the southern part of the quadrangle. Numerous glacial deposits (mostly of Pinedale age), rock glaciers, block-slope deposits, landslide deposits, talus deposits, fan deposits, colluvium, and alluvium comprise the surficial deposits of the map area.

Colorado↗
USGS2007

Geologic Map of the Goleta Quadrangle, Santa Barbara County, California

This map depicts the distribution of bedrock units and surficial deposits and associated deformation underlying those parts of the Santa Barbara coastal plain and adjacent southern flank of the Santa Ynez Mountains within the Goleta 7 ?? quadrangle at a compilation scale of 1:24,000 (one inch on the map = 2,000 feet on the ground) and with a horizontal positional accuracy of at least 20 m. The Goleta map overlaps an earlier preliminary geologic map of the central part of the coastal plain (Minor and others, 2002) that provided coverage within the coastal, central parts of the Goleta and contiguous Santa Barbara quadrangles. In addition to new mapping in the northern part of the Goleta quadrangle, geologic mapping in other parts of the map area has been revised from the preliminary map compilation based on new structural interpretations supplemented by new biostratigraphic data. All surficial and bedrock map units are described in detail in the accompanying map pamphlet. Abundant biostratigraphic and biochronologic data based on microfossil identifications are presented in expanded unit descriptions of the marine Neogene Monterey and Sisquoc Formations. Site-specific fault-kinematic observations (including slip-sense determinations) are embedded in the digital map database. The Goleta quadrangle is located in the western Transverse Ranges physiographic province along an east-west-trending segment of the southern California coastline about 100 km (62 mi) northwest of Los Angeles. The Santa Barbara coastal plain surface, which spans the central part of the quadrangle, includes several mesas and hills that are geomorphic expressions of underlying, potentially active folds and partly buried oblique and reverse faults of the Santa Barbara fold and fault belt (SBFFB). Strong earthquakes have occurred offshore within 10 km of the Santa Barbara coastal plain in 1925 (6.3 magnitude), 1941 (5.5 magnitude) and 1978 (5.1 magnitude). These and numerous smaller seismic events located beneath and offshore of the coastal plain, likely occurred on reverse-oblique-slip faults that are similar to, or continuous with, Quaternary reverse faults crossing the coastal plain. Thus, faults of the SBFFB pose a significant earthquake hazard to the approximately 200,000 people living within the major coastal population centers of Santa Barbara and Goleta. In addition, numerous Quaternary landslide deposits along the steep southern flank of the Santa Ynez Mountains indicate the potential for continued slope failures and mass movements in developed areas. Folded, faulted, and fractured sedimentary rocks in the subsurface of the coastal plain and adjacent Santa Barbara Channel are sources and form reservoirs for economic deposits of oil and gas, some of which are currently being extracted offshore. Shallow, localized sedimentary aquifers underlying the coastal plain provide limited amounts of water for the urban areas, but the quality of some of this groundwater is compromised by coastal salt-water contamination. The present map compilation provides a set of uniform geologic digital coverages that can be used for analysis and interpretation of these and other geologic hazards and resources in the Goleta region.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2004

The Colorado front range: anatomy of a Laramide uplift

Along a transect across the Front Range from Denver to the Blue River valley near Dillon, the trip explores the geologic framework and Laramide (Late Cretaceous to early Eocene) uplift history of this basement-cored mountain range. Specific items for discussion at various stops are (1) the sedimentary and structural record along the upturned eastern margin of the range, which contains several discontinuous, east-directed reverse faults; (2) the western structural margin of the range, which contains a minimum of 9 km of thrust overhang and is significantly different in structural style from the eastern margin; (3) mid- to late-Tertiary modifications to the western margin of the range from extensional faulting along the northern Rio Grande rift trend; (4) the thermal and uplift history of the range as revealed by apatite fission track analysis; (5) the Proterozoic basement of the range, including the significance of northeast-trending shear zones; and (6) the geologic setting of the Colorado mineral belt, formed during Laramide and mid-Tertiary igneous activity.

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