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

Scientific Investigations Map 3382
By: , , , , , , , , and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/sim3382

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Abstract

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 10beryllium 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.

Suggested Citation

Kellogg, K.S., Shroba, R.R., Ruleman, C.A., Bohannon, R.G., McIntosh, W. C., Premo, W.R., Cosca, M.A., Moscati, R.J., and Brandt, T.R., 2017, Geologic map of the upper Arkansas River valley region, north-central Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3382, pamphlet 70 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:50,000, https://doi.org/10.3133/sim3382.

ISSN: 2329-132X (online)

Study Area

Table of Contents

  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Geologic History
  • Neotectonics and Seismic Hazards
  • Hydrologic and Mass-Movement Hazards
  • Mineral Deposits
  • Description of Map Units
  • Acknowledgments
  • References Cited
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Geologic map of the upper Arkansas River valley region, north-central Colorado
Series title Scientific Investigations Map
Series number 3382
DOI 10.3133/sim3382
Year Published 2017
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
Description Report: vi, 70 p.; 4 Sheets; Data Release; Read Me
Country United States
State Colorado
Other Geospatial Upper Arkansas River Valley
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details