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R. J. Hite

Publications and source records attributed to R. J. Hite.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1977

Subsurface geology of a potential waste emplacement site, Salt Valley Anticline, Grand County, Utah

The Salt Valley anticline, which is located about 32 km northeast of Moab, Utah, is perhaps one of the most favorable waste emplacement sites in the Paradox basin. The site, which includes about 7.8 km 2, is highly accessible and is adjacent to a railroad. The anticline is one of a series of northwest-trending salt anticlines lying along the northeast edge of the Paradox basin. These anticlines are cored by evaporites of the Paradox Member of the Hermosa Formation of Middle Pennsylvanian age. The central core of the Salt Valley anticline forms a ridgelike mass of evaporites that has an estimated amplitude of 3,600 m. The evaporite core consists of about 87 percent halite rock, which includes some potash deposits; the remainder is black shale, silty dolomite, and anhydrite. The latter three lithologies are referred to as 'marker beds.' Using geophysical logs from drill holes on the anticline, it is possible to demonstrate that the marker beds are complexly folded and faulted. Available data concerning the geothermal gradient and heatflow at the site indicate that heat from emplaced wastes should be rapidly dissipated. Potentially exploitable resources of potash and petroleum are present at Salt Valley. Development of these resources may conflict with use of the site for waste emplacement.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1968

Salt deposits of the paradox basin, southeast Utah and southwest Colorado

Thick salt deposits are present in the Middle Pennsylvanian Paradox Member of the Hermosa Formation in the Paradox Basin of southeast Utah and southwest Colorado . Data suggest that the original thickness of these deposits was from 5000-6000 feet. Locally, however, these deposits have been subjected to intense deformation and flow, resulting in thicknesses as great as 14,000 feet. Each salt bed is part of a series of partial and complete evaporite cycles which show a lateral and vertical change in facies. Varve counts in the salt beds give an indication of deposition rates of time-equivalent carbonate beds. Black sapropelic shales are interbedded with the salt beds. It appears that the euxinic environment in which the shales were deposited persisted during the deposition of salt . An understanding of the stratigraphy of the salt deposits has made possible a more complete depiction of early tectonic events involving the salt basin . These studies indicate that many of the salt anticlines in the basin were formed along trends of originally thick salt beds, and that upward growth of these anticlines possibly began during the late stages of salt deposition.

Utah, Colorado↗