laramie mountains geology

[8], Cope named three species of dinosaurs without description: Cinodon arctatus (later changed to Cionodon arctatus), Polyonax mortuarius and Agathaumas milo (later renamed Hadrosaurus occidentalis). The range is also crossed by the valley of Sybille Creek and by several wind gaps. [3] It contains coal, clay and uranium deposits, as well as plant and animal fossils, including dinosaur remains. Archean and Proterozoic rocks form the bulk of the mountain range due to late Cretaceous–early Eocene (Laramide) basement-involved uplift. 130 miles long and 20 - 25 miles wide. Fission-track age about 27 Ma. Blackstone, D.L., Jr., 1996, Structural geology of the Laramie Mountains, southeastern Wyoming and northeastern Colorado: Wyoming State Geological Survey Report of Investigations 51, 28 p., 3 pls., scale 1:500,000. North of the range, the gap between the Laramie range and the Bighorn Mountains provided the route for historical trails, such as the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail, and the Pony Express. The Laramie Mountains are a range of moderately high peaks on the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S states of Wyoming and Colorado.The range is the northernmost extension of the line of the ranges along the eastern side of the Rockies, and in particular of the higher peaks of the Front Range directly to the south. Johnson, R.G. The entire anorthosite [not named] was mapped (geologic map) in the Laramie Mountains by K. F. Billings (1930, AJS, 5th series, v. 19, p.305-315, p.373-403). The mountains consist of a series of Precambrian Sherman granite monadnocks rising above a broad erosion surface that form extensive unwooded parks whose surfaces are generally at about 7,000 feet (2,100 m) above sea level. Geology; Customers Who Viewed This Product Also Viewed . Vertebrate fauna of the Laramie Formation (Maastrichtian), Weld County, Colorado. This unique geologic feature known as the “Gangplank,” provides a gradual ascent westward through the mountains. Van Horn, R. 1957. Image: After Houston, R.S., 1969, Aspects of the Geologic History of Wyoming Related to the Formation of Uranium Deposits: Contributions to Geology, Vol. Cary, M., 1917. some anorthosite occurs as outliers; 3.) [5] Clay mining began in the Golden, Colorado area in 1877 and continued until the mid-twentieth century. (2004). 5 Economic geology of the North Laramie Mountains, Converse and Albany counties, Wyo. Some of the material in the sandstones originated from silicic volcanoes far to the west. To the north, it’s been reported in the Wind River Basin and near Thermopolis in the Bighorn Basin. II., Rocky Mountain Geology 38: 1-27. It is sunny, dry, and smogless. Bedrock geology of the Golden Quadrangle, Colorado. She studied geology at Bryn Mawr and attended graduate school at the University of Wisconsin where she was the geology department’s first female student. [1], The Laramie Formation is exposed around the edges of the Denver Basin and ranges from 400–500 feet (120–150 m) on the western side of the basin, and 200–300 feet (60–90 m) thick on the eastern side. Close mobile search navigation. Eldridge, G.H., 1888, On some stratigraphical and structural features of the country about Denver, Colorado: Colorado. 19 from “Geologic Excursions to the Rocky Mountains and Beyond,” field trip guidebook of the 1996 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America. I. supplingensis, and Tricolpites interangulus. The mountains in turn give their name to the Laramide orogeny, the uplift of the North American Plate approximately 70 million years ago that created the present Rocky Mountains. These specimens are currently in the American Museum of Natural History. Upper Miocene Rocks (Upper Miocene) at surface, covers 57 % of this area. The Laramie Mountains are crossed by the deep can yons of Laramie and North Laramie rivers, north of which they rise into the prominent range culminating in Laramie Peak. Article navigation. This was when the Laramie Mountains were born, part of a long and widespread episode of mountain-building that created most of the Rockies. Thirty million years later the land began to rise, forcing the sea to retreat. Rock River, Albany, Laramie, and Platte counties: The integrated surficial and bedrock geologic map is a compilation project. Page 216. This page was last edited on 25 June 2020, at 18:23. They are named after the Laramie River, which cuts through the range from southwest to northeast and joins the North Platte River east of the range in eastern Wyoming. Die Laramie Mountains (dt. In K.R. The Laramie Mountains are part of the central Rocky Mountains in southeastern Wyoming. GEOLOGIC EVOLUTION OF THE LARAMIE MOUNTAINS The Laramie Mountains, which lie between Cheyenne and Laramie, expose sedimentary rocks along their flanks and are cored by crys-talline Precambrian basement rocks that range in age from 1.43 to 1.78 billion years old. Continued. Blackstone, D. L. 1971. Laramie formation uppermost Upper Cretaceous formation in Bighorn Mountains thought to underlie the plains between the foothills of the Bighorns to the Black Hills in the Powder River basin and Williston basin. In K.R. Historical Geology. 1960. Laramie Mountains stop descriptions (Snyder Graff, and Hausel) Precambrian Rocks and Mineralization, Southern Wyoming Province Hartville Uplift to Copper Mountain Area, … (See Uranium mining in Colorado), Fossil vertebrates from the Laramie Formation were among the first dinosaurs to be discovered in the American West (Carpenter and Young 2003). The high peaks of the range, which are much lower than those commonly associated with the Rocky Mountains, rise abruptly above the surrounding peneplain to altitudes between 8,000 feet (2,400 m) and 9,500 feet (2,900 m) above sea level, with the exceptions of Laramie Peak in Wyoming which tops out at 10,274 feet (3,132 m) and South Bald Mountain in Colorado rising to 11,007 feet (3,355 m). Johnson, R.G. With Charles Starrett, Jock Mahoney, Fred F. Sears, Marshall Reed. 308. The Laramie Formation is a geologic formation of Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) age, named by Clarence King in 1876 for exposures in northeastern Colorado, in the United States. Nichols, D.J., and Fleming, R. F. 2002. Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds. The southern part is generally drier and much more open, with little or no forest except for the southern end at Pole Mountain and surrounding area, where the interesting granite outcrops at Vedauwoo provide climbing practice and grand picnic scenery. Although specific sequences south of the belt have not yet been correlated between the Sierra Madre, Medicine Bow Mountains, and Laramie Range, similarities in age, lithology, and major element chemistry suggest that they are part of a single geologic terrane. Where the seams are relatively flat lying or gently dipping most of the mines were underground room and pillar operations, and where the seams are steeply inclined to vertical, stope mining was used. [14] Magnetostratigraphy also shows that the Laramie Formation becomes progressively younger eastward as deposition followed the regression of the Western Interior Seaway. The highest point in the range lies in the Colorado part of the mountains and is called South Bald Mountain at 11,003 feet. Fossil pollen (palynomorphs) include bryophyte and pteridophyte spores, gymnosperm pollen, and abundant angiosperm pollen, including Aquilapollenites striatus, Ilexpollenites compactus, Interpollis cf. Hardesty, Richard L. and Groothuis, Dennis R. Marshall, K. & Colbert, E. H. 1965. Macroscopic structure and microscopic kinematic indicators within the Cheyenne belt suggest that accretion of the Proterozoic … (2004). King, C. 1876. "3.4 Colorado, United States; 4. Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel. The Laramie Mountains are bisected by the Laramie River, which cuts a canyon through the mountains roughly due west of Wheatland, and then continues its generally eastward course to join the North Platte River near the town of Fort Laramie. Hogbacks made of Paleozoic to Mesozoic age rocks flank much of the . I., Rocky Mountain Geology 37: 173-187. Many rocks display the laboradorensence of the mineral, and specimens are really nice when slabbed and polished. North of these outcrops the mountains cross the shear zone and the rocks become older. The regions semiarid climate supports a short-grass prairie with cottonwoods and shrubs along stream banks. The formation can be divided into an unnamed lower member containing bedded sandstone, clay and coal; and an unnamed upper member composed predominately of 90 to 190 m of drab-colored mudstone, some sandstone, and thin coal beds. 30 pages. (See PL II, A.) Reynolds (eds), Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Laramide Strata in the Denver Basin, Pt. Field trip no. On the western slopes the total relief is much less, as the floors of the three intermontane basins that border the Laramies on this side (Shirley, Hanna and Laramie basins) rarely drop below 7,000 feet (2,100 m). U.S.Geographical and Geological Survey. *Hicks, J.F., Johnson, K.R., Obradovich, J. D., Miggins, D.P., and Tauxe, L. 2003. Wyoming State Geological Survey Memoir 5:2-56. Raynolds and M.L. South of the LPSZ lies the Palmer Canyon block, where apatite U–Pb ages are c. 1745 Ma and the rocks have undergone Proterozoic kyanite‐grade Barrovian metamorphism. ): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. 1, p. 86 118. Reynolds (eds), Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Laramide Strata in the Denver Basin, Pt. The Leyden Coal Mine produced uranium for a few years as a byproduct of the coal mining. An extensive high plain and semi-desert extends from the Laramie Mountains south west as far as the Shirley Mountains. Uranium deposits also occur in sandstones of the Laramie Formation in Weld County, Colorado, and near the town of Grover, Colorado. The g… Traveler's guide to the geology of Wyoming. Miocene lakes in the Granite Mountains and the Teton Range. The Laramie Mountains begin in northern Colorado and extend discontinuously into southeastern Wyoming between Cheyenne and Laramie and northward to Casper. 55:1-90. Read about a recent update the WSGS made to is interactive Geology of Wyoming map. Geology; by state; Wyoming geologic units; Geologic units in Laramie county, Wyoming. These specimens are very scrappy and the names no longer considered valid. When the Laramie Mountains were uplifted and formed, most of the overlying sedimentary rock of the Great Plains was eroded away - except for a narrow remnant extending into the mountains between Cheyenne and Laramie. U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey. It rests conformably on the Fox Hills Sandstone and unconformably underlies the Arapahoe Conglomerate. Bulletin USDA Biological Survey. Carson and Drake discover a cave of gold that belongs to the Indians who are unaware of it, so they try to foment a war that will wipe out the Native Americans and claim the yellow metal. [2] It was deposited on a coastal plain and in coastal swamps that flanked the Western Interior Seaway. It was deposited on a coastal plain and in coastal swamps that flanked the Western Interior Seaway. Dunbar, C. O. Johnson, R.G. The mountains formed during the Laramide orog- eny, a mountain-building event that began about 70 million years ago. SP-44 has the complete set.) 861 pp. The highest peaks (above 8,000 feet) are much smaller than the high peaks of the mountains to the west and south. Southwest Wyoming: South end of Wind River Range--Siliceous, arkosic, and locally radioactive sandstone, claystone, and conglomerate. For the next 10-15 million years the Laramie Mountains rose, while at the same time erosion wore them down. This means geologists will compile existing geologic mapping and generate new mapping where needed within the quadrangle. Benannt wurden sie nach dem Fluss Laramie River, der die Bergkette von Südwest nach Nordost durchschneidet und zweiteilt. Contributions to Geology, University of Wyoming 17: 37-49. The Laramie Basin separates the Laramie Mountains from the Medicine Bow Mountains to the south and west, and its floor is above 7,000 feet (2,100 m) except for a few depressions and blowouts (such as Cooper Lake). In K.R. Snoke, AW 1993. North of the Cheyenne belt, Archean granite and gneiss of the … Petrographic provenance analysis of Kiowa Core sandstone samples, Denver Basin, Colorado. Conifers are rare. Geology of Wyoming. Johnson, R.G. Outcrop of anorthosite east of Bosler, Wyoming, Laramie Range. Fossil leaves are abundant, especially in the shales and sandstones associated with coal. J. Wiley & Sons, NY. The mountains … Page 581. In K.R. Raynolds and M.L. The rock is composed of Precambrian granite that rose up some 50 - 70 million years ago. Bulletin of the Geological Survey of Wyoming. The Laramie Mountains are shown highlighted in pink on a map of the western U.S. U.S. Route 14 Business (Woodstock, Illinois), Mariana Engracia Álvarez de Toledo Portugal y Alfonso-Pimentel. [13] The palynomorphs indicate an early Maastrichtian age (68-69 mya), which is supported by magnetostratigraphy. The interactive Geology of Yellowstone Map ... Jade has been found in Wyoming as far west as the Wind River Range and as far east as Guernsey and the Laramie Mountains. Shroba, R.R., and Carrara, P.E., 1996, Surficial geologic map of the Rocky Flats environmental technology site and vicinity, Jefferson and Boulder Counties, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map, I 2526. Part I. Bulletin of the University of Wyoming Agricultural Experimental Station. Non-dinosaur vertebrates also occur (Carpenter 1979). [1] Some early sources indicated that the Hudsonian Zone occurs on Laramie Peak but there is nothing distinctive about either the flora or fauna on the top of this peak, for it consists of nothing but a large granite outcrop. The railroad camp there was named Laramie as well. Although the Laramie Basin presents considerable variety of con Its elevation of 2,200 m (7,200 feet) assures an invigorating climate. Overview of theLate Cretaceous, early Paleocene, and early Eocene megafloras of the Denver Basin, Colorado. Laramie lies in a broad flat-bottomed basin with steep dips on the west slope of the Bighorn uplift. Johnson, R.G. Raynolds and M.L. The high peaks of the range, which are much lower than those commonly associated with the Rocky Mountains, rise abruptly above the surrounding peneplain to altitudes between 8,000 feet (2,400 m) and 9,500 feet (2,900 m) above sea level, with the exceptions of Laramie Peakin Wy… J. Wiley & Sons, NY. 8, No. A flora of Wyoming. Stratigraphy and Life History. In 1865, while scouting for routes through the Rocky Mountains … Raynolds and M.L. Laramie is a pleasant western community of approximately 27,000 situated on the Laramie Plains between the Laramie Mountains and the Medicine Bow Range. [3], The Laramie Formation also hosts uranium deposits. 2nd Ed., fig. [15] Dicot angiosperms dominate, with lesser amounts of ferns, palms, and herbaceous lycopods. The Laramie Mountains are part of the central Rocky Mountains in southeastern Wyoming. Fieldwork eventually took her to the Laramie Mountains. Detailed analysis of COCORP seismic reflection data from the Laramie Mountains, Wyoming, shows that processing artifacts produce confusing patterns in a profile that crosses the mountain front. Archean and Proterozoic rocks form the bulk of the mountain range due to late Cretaceous–early Eocene (Laramide) basement-involved uplift. I., Rocky Mountain Geology 37: 135-163. [4][5] Nodular ironstone concretions occur in the mudstones that contain plant remains. CONTENTS. The Laramie Range is, in general, an un symmetric anticlinal moun tain range trending southward from central Wyoming across the eastern part of the state and joining the Colorado Front Range. Digital PDF download. Find Similar Products by Category. anorthosite of Precambrian age estimated to cover a 400 sq miles area about 36 miles long and 12 miles wide; 2.)