Mid-Cretaceous unconformity in the Methow basin, north-central Washington

Conference · Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1993 · Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:5023379

Haugerud, R A; Hurlow, H A ^[1]; Tabor, R W ^[2]; Snee, L W ^[3]

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1. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
2. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA (United States)
3. Geological Survey, Denver, CO (United States)

New mapping in the Methow basin demonstrates a significant unconformity beneath mid-Cretaceous strata of the Pasayten Group and may explain stratigraphic contrasts puzzling to earlier workers. The Pasayten Group, defined along regional strike to the north in Manning Park, includes Virginia Ridge Fm. (shallow-marine argillite and chert-clast-rich sandstone and conglomerate), Winthrop Sandstone (fluvial arkose), and Midnight Peak Fm. (redbeds and andesitic volcanic rocks) in ascending stratigraphic order. Local unconformities and lateral gradations amongst Pasayten Group units result in no one unit lying above the unconformity. Hornblende from Midnight Peak andesite on Isabella Ridge yields an [sup 40]Ar-[sup 39]Ar age of 87.0 [+-] 0.4 (1[sigma]) Ma, though Pasayten Group strata elsewhere are intruded by 88--90 Ma plutons and thus much of the unit is older. From west to east the Pasayten Group lies on progressively older strata. In upper Three Fools Creek, west of the Cascade crest, it lies on unnamed marine strata, more than 1 km thick, which conformably overlie 3 km of sand-rich turbidites of the Albian Harts Pass Fm. In the Osceola Peak-Harts Pass area it lies on upper Harts Pass turbidites. Southwest of Monument 85 and west of Hidden Lakes it lies on probable Early Cretaceous (pre-Harts Pass-age) lithic marine sandstone and siltstone. On Isabella Ridge it lies on [approximately]150 Ma tonalite and older volcanic rocks. This unconformity predates most of the conspicuous thrusts and related folds that characterize the Methow basin. Adjacent to the Pasayten fault, pre- and intra-Pasayten Group unconformities have reduced the stratigraphic section to scraps of Winthrop Sandstone and probable lower Cretaceous conglomerate locally preserved between Midnight Peak andesite and older volcanic rocks, suggesting continued early and mid-Cretaceous movement along the Pasayten fault.

• OSTI ID: 5023379
• Report Number(s): CONF-9305259-; CODEN: GAAPBC
• Journal Information: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 25:5; Conference: 89. annual meeting of the Cordilleran Section and the 46th annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Section of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Reno, NV (United States), 19-21 May 1993; ISSN 0016-7592
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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58 GEOSCIENCES
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ARGON 39
ARGON 40
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GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC STRATA
MAPPING
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
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580000* - Geosciences