Geology and mineral resources of the Mud Springs Ranch Quadrangle, Sweetwater County, Wyoming
Professional Paper
1065-C
By: Henry W. Roehler
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Abstract
The Mud Springs Ranch quadrangle occupies an area of 56 mF (square miles) on the southeast flank of the Rock Springs uplift in southwestern Wyoming. The climate is arid and windy. The landscape is mostly poorly vegetated and consists of north-trending ridges and valleys that are dissected by dry drainages. Sedimentary rocks exposed in the quadrangle are 5,400 ft (feet) thick and are mostly gray sandstone, siltstone, and shale, gray and brown carbonaceous shale, and thin beds of coal. They compose the Blair, Rock Springs, Ericson, Almond, and Lewis Formations of Cretaceous age and the Fort Union Formation of Paleocene age. The structure is mostly homoclinal, having southeast dips of 5?-12? in the northern part of the quadrangle, but minor plunging folds and one small fault are present in the southern part of the quadrangle. Three coal beds in the Fort Union Formation and 15 coal beds in the Almond Formation exceed 2.5 ft in thickness, are under less than 3,000 ft of overburden, and are potentially minable. Geographic stratigraphic, and resource data are present for each bed of minable coal. The total minable coal resources are estimated to be about 283 million short tons. Nine coal and rock samples from outcrops were analyzed to determine their quality and chemical composition. Four dry oil and gas test wells have been drilled within the quadrangle area, but structurally controlled stratigraphic-trap prospects remain untested.
Suggested Citation
Roehler, H.W., 1979, Geology and mineral resources of the Mud Springs Ranch Quadrangle, Sweetwater County, Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1065, 35 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1065C.
ISSN: 2330-7102 (online)
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Title | Geology and mineral resources of the Mud Springs Ranch Quadrangle, Sweetwater County, Wyoming |
| Series title | Professional Paper |
| Series number | 1065 |
| Chapter | C |
| DOI | 10.3133/pp1065C |
| Year Published | 1979 |
| Language | ENGLISH |
| Publisher | U.S. Govt. Print. Off., |
| Description | 35 p. |