Western Snake River Plain Research Articles

Irrigation produces elevated arsenic in the underlying groundwater of a semi-arid basin in Southwestern Idaho

Abstract The shallow aquifer beneath the Western Snake River Plain (Idaho, USA) exhibits widespread elevated arsenic concentrations (up to 120 μg L−1). While semi-arid, crop irrigation has increased annual recharge to the aquifer from approximately 1 cm prior to a current rate of >50 cm year−1. The highest aqueous arsenic concentrations are found in proximity to the water table (all values >50 μg L−1 within 50 m) and concentrations decline with depth. Despite strong vertical redox stratification within the aquifer, spatial distribution of aqueous species indicates that redox processes are not primary drivers of arsenic mobilization. Arsenic release and transport occur under oxidizing conditions; groundwater wells containing dissolved arsenic at >50 μg L−1 exhibit elevated concentrations of O2 (average 4 mg L−1) and NO3 (average 8 mg L−1) and low concentrations of dissolved Fe (

Origin and stratigraphy of phreatomagmatic deposits at the Pleistocene Sinker Butte Volcano, Western Snake River Plain, Idaho

Sinker Butte is the erosional remnant of a very large basaltic tuff cone of middle Pleistocene age located at the southern edge of the western Snake River Plain. Phreatomagmatic tephras are exposed in complete sections up to 100 m thick in the walls of the Snake River Canyon, creating an unusual opportunity to study the deposits produced by this volcano through its entire sequence of explosive eruptions. The main objectives of the study were to determine the overall evolution of the Sinker Butte volcano while focusing particularly on the tephras produced by its phreatomagmatic eruptions. Toward this end, twenty-three detailed stratigraphic sections ranging from 20 to 100 m thick were examined and measured in canyon walls exposing tephras deposited around 180° of the circumference of the volcano. Three main rock units are recognized in canyon walls at Sinker Butte: a lower sequence composed of numerous thin basaltic lava flows, an intermediate sequence of phreatomagmatic tephras, and a capping sequence of welded basaltic spatter and more lava flows. We subdivide the phreatomagmatic deposits into two main parts, a series of reworked, mostly subaqueously deposited tephras and a more voluminous sequence of overlying subaerial surge and fall deposits. Most of the reworked deposits are gray in color and exhibit features such as channel scour and fill, planar-stratification, high and low angle cross-stratification, trough cross-stratification, and Bouma-turbidite sequences consistent with their being deposited in shallow standing water or in braided streams. The overlying subaerial deposits are commonly brown or orange in color due to palagonitization. They display a wide variety of bedding types and sedimentary structures consistent with deposition by base surges, wet to dry pyroclastic fall events, and water saturated debris flows. Proximal sections through the subaerial tephras exhibit large regressive cross-strata, planar bedding, and bomb sags suggesting deposition by wet base surges and tephra fallout. Medial and distal deposits consist of a thick sequence of well-bedded tephras; however, the cross-stratified base-surge deposits are thinner and interbedded within the fallout deposits. The average wavelength and amplitude of the cross strata continue to decrease with distance from the vent. These bedded surge and fall deposits grade upward into dominantly fall deposits containing 75–95% juvenile vesiculated clasts and localized layers of welded spatter, indicating a greatly reduced water-melt ratio. Overlying these “dryer” deposits are massive tuff breccias that were probably deposited as water saturated debris flows (lahars). The first appearance of rounded river gravels in these massive tuff breccias indicates downward coring of the diatreme and entrainment of country rock from lower in the stratigraphic section. The “wetter” nature of these deposits suggests a renewed source of external water. The massive deposits grade upward into wet fallout tephras and the phreatomagmatic sequence ends with a dry scoria fall deposit overlain by welded spatter and lava flows. Field observations and two new 40Ar– 39Ar incremental heating dates suggest the succession of lavas and tephra deposits exposed in this part of the Snake River canyon may all have been erupted from a closely related complex of vents at Sinker Butte. We propose that initial eruptions of lava flows built a small shield edifice that dammed or disrupted the flow of the ancestral Snake River. The shift from effusive to explosive eruptions occurred when the surface water or rising ground water gained access to the vent. As the river cut a new channel around the lava dam, water levels dropped and the volcano returned to an effusive style of eruption.

The Graveyard Point Intrusion: an Example of Extreme Differentiation of Snake River Plain Basalt in a Shallow Crustal Pluton

The Graveyard Point intrusion is the only known example of a wellexposed differentiated mafic pluton associated with the late Miocene^Pleistocene magmatism of the western Snake River Plain (SRP). It is exposed in a 6 km by 4 km area adjacent to the Oregon^ Idaho border, and exposures range in thickness from 20 to 160 m.The thicker parts of the intrusion are strongly differentiated and contain a 25^60 m thick section of well-laminated cumulus-textured gabbros that grade upward into pegmatoidal ferrogabbro. Evolved liquids formed sheets of Fe-rich siliceous granophyre. At least two injections of magma are indicated by abrupt discontinuities in the rock and mineral compositions, and by the lack of mass balance between the bulk intrusion and its chilled borders. The laminated gabbros are interpreted to have formed from a tongue of augite and plagioclase crystals that were carried in with the second pulse of magma. Following the final emplacement of the intrusion, in situ differentiation proceeded through a two-stage process: the ferrogabbros are explained as interstitial liquids forced out of the crystal mush by compaction, and the siliceous granophyres are interpreted to be residual liquids that migrated out of the partly crystallized ferrogabbros in response to the exsolution of volatiles. Because the geochemical trend inferred for the mafic to intermediate composition liquids in the Graveyard Point intrusion is similar to the trend for many western Snake River Plain lavas, the pluton may be a good model for shallow sub-volcanic magma chambers elsewhere in the SRP. However, some western SRP lavas contain anomalously high concentrations of P2O5, which are best explained by mixing within the active crustal mush column or with partial melts of previously formed differentiated mafic intrusions.

Miocene to Holocene landscape evolution of the western Snake River Plain region, Idaho: Using the SHRIMP detrital zircon provenance record to track eastward migration of the Yellowstone hotspot

We report new U-Pb detrital zircon sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) age data (702 grains) from 13 samples collected from Miocene to Holocene sedimentary deposits in the western Snake River Plain region. These samples effectively show that modern stream sediments of the Snake River system reliably and repeatedly record the detrital zircon age populations that are present as sources in their drainage basins across the Cordilleran thrust belt and Basin and Range Province. We use this framework and the provenance of Neogene sedimentary rocks in the region to test the effect of the migrating Yellowstone hotspot on regional drainage patterns in southern Idaho since the middle Miocene. Our results indicate that Neogene paleodrainages were fi rst directed radially away from the tumescent Yellowstone highland, then subsequently reversed their fl ow toward the subsiding Snake River Plain basin. This occurred in east-progressing time-constrained intervals starting at 16 Ma. In northern Nevada, the drainage divide is represented by a northeast-trending, southeast-migrating crest of high topography. Specifi cally, middle to late Miocene (16‐ 10 Ma) sedimentary deposits of the western Snake River Plain and Oregon-Idaho graben contain early to middle Eocene (52‐42 Ma) detrital zircon populations sourced in Challis magmatic rocks north of the Snake River Plain. Middle Jurassic (160 Ma) and middle to late Eocene (42‐35 Ma) detrital zircons, sourced from rocks in northern Nevada, are not present. Late Eocene detrital zircons from Nevada are present in two younger than 7 Ma sedimentary units of the Idaho Group along the Oregon-Idaho border. This indicates that by the late Miocene, southeastward headward erosion of the paleo‐Owyhee River into the Owyhee Plateau had captured drainage from north-central Nevada and directed it northwestward toward the subsiding western Snake River Plain. The modern Owyhee Plateau is still a topographic high, in contrast to the modern Snake River Plain, suggesting that lowering of the regional Snake River Plain base level, rather than crustal subsidence, drove stream capture. By the late Pliocene (3 Ma), Middle Jurassic detrital zircons are recorded in the Glenns Ferry Formation and Tuana Gravel of the central Snake River Plain, suggesting that surface subsidence reversed the fl ow direction of paleo‐Salmon Falls Creek from southward into Nevada to northward toward Idaho. Miocene strata of the western Snake River Plain lack recycled Proterozoic detrital zircons that are ubiquitous in sedimentary rocks of the central and southeast Idaho thrust belts. Such detrital zircons appear on the central and western Snake River Plain in early Pliocene to Holocene (4‐0 Ma) deposits. This records capture of drainage from the eastern Snake River Plain. The Yellowstone hotspot controlled the east-migrating continental divide, in the wake of which formed the western-draining, and progressively eastward-collecting, Snake River system.

Stratigraphic and structural evolution of the middle Miocene synvolcanic Oregon-Idaho graben

Research Article| May 01, 2000 Stratigraphic and structural evolution of the middle Miocene synvolcanic Oregon-Idaho graben Michael L. Cummings; Michael L. Cummings 1Department of Geology, Portland State University, P.O. Box 751, Portland, Oregon 97207, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar James G. Evans; James G. Evans 2U.S. Geological Survey, West 904 Riverside, Room 202, Spokane, Washington 99210, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Mark L. Ferns; Mark L. Ferns 3Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, 1831 First Street, Baker City, Oregon 97814, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Kate R. Lees Kate R. Lees 4Department of Earth Sciences, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar GSA Bulletin (2000) 112 (5): 668–682. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(2000)112<668:SASEOT>2.0.CO;2 Article history received: 23 Jun 1997 rev-recd: 04 May 1999 accepted: 11 May 1999 first online: 01 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share MailTo Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Michael L. Cummings, James G. Evans, Mark L. Ferns, Kate R. Lees; Stratigraphic and structural evolution of the middle Miocene synvolcanic Oregon-Idaho graben. GSA Bulletin 2000;; 112 (5): 668–682. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(2000)112<668:SASEOT>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract The Oregon-Idaho graben is a newly identified north-south–trending synvolcanic graben in southeastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho within the middle Miocene backarc rift system that extends 1100 km from southern Nevada to southeastern Washington. The graben formed along the western margin of the North American craton shortly after the largest volumes of tholeiitic flood basalt erupted (Columbia River Basalt Group, Steens-Pueblo Basalt, basalt of Malheur Gorge, basalt and latite unit of Ekren et al., 1981). Rhyolite flows and ash-flow tuffs (16.1–14.0 Ma) erupted from northeastern Oregon (Dooley Volcanics) to northern Nevada (McDermitt volcanic field) shortly after the flood basalt was emplaced. Subsidence of the Oregon-Idaho graben (15.5–15.3 Ma) coincides with eruption of rhyolite flows and caldera-related ash-flow tuffs from vents along the margins and within the graben. Mafic and silicic intragraben volcanism accompanied sedimentation from about 15.3 to 10.5 Ma. Sedimentary and volcanic rocks from extrabasinal sources, especially southwestern Idaho, were introduced periodically.After initial subsidence, the evolution of the Oregon-Idaho graben is divided into three stages. Stage 1 (15.3–14.3 Ma) followed intragraben caldera collapse and was marked by deposition of fluvial and lacustrine sediment across the graben. Stage 2 (14.3–12.6 Ma) movement on intragraben fault zones divided the graben into distinct subbasins and marked the onset of calc-alkalic volcanism. Fine-grained tuffaceous sediment derived from glassy rhyolite and pyroclastic deposits and basalt tuff cones interbedded with rhyolite ash and lapilli-fall deposits and locally erupted basalt hydrovolcanic deposits predominated during synvolcanic subsidence. Synsedimentary hot-spring alteration and precious-metals mineralization of graben fill were controlled by the same intragraben fault zones that served as magmatic conduits. During stage 3 (12.6–10.5 Ma) the subbasins were filled, and graben-wide fluviatile and lacustrine sedimentation resumed. At about the same time, renewed rhyolitic volcanism occurred on both flanks, and tholeiitic volcanism resumed within the Oregon-Idaho graben. Subsidence in the Oregon-Idaho graben ceased as west-northwest–striking faults related to the formation of the western Snake River plain became active. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

Stratigraphic and structural evolution of the middle Miocene synvolcanic Oregon-Idaho graben

The Oregon-Idaho graben is a newly identified north-south–trending synvolcanic graben in southeastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho within the middle Miocene backarc rift system that extends 1100 km from southern Nevada to southeastern Washington. The graben formed along the western margin of the North American craton shortly after the largest volumes of tholeiitic flood basalt erupted (Columbia River Basalt Group, Steens-Pueblo Basalt, basalt of Malheur Gorge, basalt and latite unit of [Ekren et al., 1981][1]). Rhyolite flows and ash-flow tuffs (16.1–14.0 Ma) erupted from northeastern Oregon (Dooley Volcanics) to northern Nevada (McDermitt volcanic field) shortly after the flood basalt was emplaced. Subsidence of the Oregon-Idaho graben (15.5–15.3 Ma) coincides with eruption of rhyolite flows and caldera-related ash-flow tuffs from vents along the margins and within the graben. Mafic and silicic intragraben volcanism accompanied sedimentation from about 15.3 to 10.5 Ma. Sedimentary and volcanic rocks from extrabasinal sources, especially southwestern Idaho, were introduced periodically. After initial subsidence, the evolution of the Oregon-Idaho graben is divided into three stages. Stage 1 (15.3–14.3 Ma) followed intragraben caldera collapse and was marked by deposition of fluvial and lacustrine sediment across the graben. Stage 2 (14.3–12.6 Ma) movement on intragraben fault zones divided the graben into distinct subbasins and marked the onset of calc-alkalic volcanism. Fine-grained tuffaceous sediment derived from glassy rhyolite and pyroclastic deposits and basalt tuff cones interbedded with rhyolite ash and lapilli-fall deposits and locally erupted basalt hydrovolcanic deposits predominated during synvolcanic subsidence. Synsedimentary hot-spring alteration and precious-metals mineralization of graben fill were controlled by the same intragraben fault zones that served as magmatic conduits. During stage 3 (12.6–10.5 Ma) the subbasins were filled, and graben-wide fluviatile and lacustrine sedimentation resumed. At about the same time, renewed rhyolitic volcanism occurred on both flanks, and tholeiitic volcanism resumed within the Oregon-Idaho graben. Subsidence in the Oregon-Idaho graben ceased as west-northwest–striking faults related to the formation of the western Snake River plain became active. [1]: #ref-28

Complex zoning between super-calcic pigeonite and augite from the Graveyard Point sill, Oregon: a record of the interplay between bulk and interstitial liquid fractionation

The 150 m thick late Miocene Graveyard Point sill (GPS) is situated at the Idaho-Oregon border near the southwestern edge of the western Snake River Plain. It records from bottom to top continuous fractional crystallization of a tholeiitic parent magma (lower chilled border, FeO/(FeO+MgO) = 0.59, Ni = 90 ppm) towards granophyres (late pods and dikes, FeO/(FeO+MgO) = 0.98, 78 wt% SiO2 3.5 wt% K2O, <4 ppm Ni) showing a typical trend of Fe and P enrichment. Fractionating minerals are olivine (Fo79-Fo2), augite (XFe = 0.18−0.95), feldspars (An80Or1-An1Or62), Fe-Ti oxides (Ti-rich magnetite and ilmenite), apatite and in two samples super-calcic pigeonite (Wo18–28 Fs41–54). The granophyres may bear some quartz. Compositionally zoned minerals record a large interval of the fractionation process in every single sample, but this interval changes with stratigraphic height. In super-calcic pigeonite-bearing samples, olivine is scarce or lacking and because super-calcic pigeonite occurs as characteristic overgrowths on augite, its formation is interpreted to be related to the schematic reaction: augite + olivine (component in melt) + SiO2 (in melt) = pigeonite, that defines the cotectic between augite and pigeonite in olivine-saturated basaltic systems. Line measurements with the electron microprobe reveal that the transition from augite to super-calcic pigeonite is continuous. However, some crystals show an abrupt “reversal” towards augite after super-calcic pigeonite growth. Two processes compete with each other in the GPS: fractional crystallization of the bulk liquid (the bulk melt separates from solids and interstitial liquids in the solidification front) and fractional crystallization of interstitial melt in the solidification front itself. Interplay between those two processes is proposed to account for the observed variations in mineral chemistry and mineral textures.

Abstract: History of Neogene Lake Idaho from Geologic Mapping of the NE Margin and Subsurface Data of the Western Snake River Plain.

Abstract: History of Neogene Lake Idaho from Geologic Mapping of the NE Margin and Subsurface Data of the Western Snake River Plain.

Pliocene and early Pleistocene environments and climates of the western Snake River Plain, Idaho

Sedimentological, palynological, and magnetic susceptibility data provide paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic information from a 989 ft (301 m) core of sediments from the upper Glenns Ferry and Bruneau Formations from near the town of Bruneau in Owyhee County, Idaho. Chronology is based on stratigraphic position, paleomagnetism, and biostratigraphic data, which collectively suggest a late Gauss Normal-Polarity Chron age for the Glenns Ferry sediments and a middle Matuyama Reversed-Polarity Chron age for the Bruneau sediments. A deep lake was present on the western Snake River Plain during the portions of the time represented by the Glenns Ferry Formation, and the mudstones of the lower half of the core were apparently deposited in this lake. The terminal regression of the Glenns Ferry lake may be represented in the Bruneau core by sandy mudstones and sands that overlie the deep-water mudstones. A cobble layer present in the core between the Glenns Ferry lake beds and those of the overlying Bruneau Formation may indicate through-flow by the ancestral Snake River. Palynological data from the Glenns Ferry sediments in the Bruneau core reveal a pollen flora similar to the modern regional pollen flora, with very rare occurrences of now-extirpated taxa common earlier in the Tertiary. Palynological data from the Pliocene portion of this core indicate conditions more moist than today, with cooler summers and perhaps warmer winters. Quasi-periodic fluctuations in coniferous pollen (primarily Pinus) versus arid steppe taxa (primarily Chenopodiaceae/ Amar-anthus) indicate significant variations in moisture through the lower two-thirds of the Glenns Ferry portion of the core. Shorter wave-length fluctuations in magnetic susceptibility and (inversely) Artemisia may reflect variations in temperature or other unidentified climatic variables. The pollen spectra from the Bruneau Formation sediments in the Bruneau core are dominated by Artemisia and resemble those of the Wisconsinan glacial period on the Snake River Plain, and hence indicate cold and dry conditions during some portion of the early Pleistocene. The deep-water Glenns Ferry lacustrine episode appears to date between approximately 3.5 to 3.3 and 2.5 Ma, and thus occurred during the middle Pliocene period of warmer-than-modern global temperatures. Similar sustained wetter-than-present conditions occurred in the same age range at sites across the western U.S.A. from southern California and Arizona to northern California and Idaho. This moist period was apparently followed by an interval of regional arid conditions that persisted for several hundred thousand years.

Seismic Expression and Geological Significance of a Lacustrine Delta in Neogene Deposits of the Western Snake River Plain, Idaho

High-resolution seismic reflection profiles and well data from the western Snake River plain basin are used to identify a buried lacustrine delta system within Neogene Idaho Group sediments near Caldwell, The delta system is detected, 305 m (1000 ft) deep, near the center of the basin by progradational clinoform reflections having dips of 2-5°, a slope typical of prodelta surfaces of modern lacustrine delta systems. The prodelta slope relief, corrected for compaction, indicates the delta system prograded northwestward into a lake basin 255 m (837 ft) deep. Resistivity logs in the prodelta mud and clay facies are characterized by gradual upward increase in resistivity and grain size over a thickness of about 100 m (300 ft). Lithology of the prodelta is mostly c lcareous claystone, with several layers of fine sand, some of which fine upward, indicating a density-flow mechanism of transport and deposition. Delta-plain and front sediments are mostly very fine-grained, well-sorted sand separated by thin mud layers. These sediments produce several to five cycles of horizontal, high-amplitude reflections with a toplap relationship to prodelta clinoforms. The sands have an abrupt lower contact with prodelta muds and have high resistivity on logs. In this study, permeable lacustrine sands within a predominantly mud and clay section are located by using high-resolution seismic reflection data. Identification of a delta system in the Idaho Group provides insight into the history of Pliocene Lake Idaho. The present depth of the delta/prodelta facies contact of 305 m (1000 ft) is 445 to 575 m (1460-1900 ft) below the lake deposits on the margins. Estimated subsidence from compaction is 220 m (656 ft), and the remaining 225 to 325 m (740-1066 ft) is attributed to tectonic downwarping and faulting. The original lake area had been reduced to one third of the original 13,000 km2 (5000 mi2) by the time the delta front prograded to the Caldwell area. The original lake area may have been sufficient to evaporate most of the inflow, and the lake may have only occasionally spilled into other basins. Diminished area for evaporation later in the history of the lake, combined with reduced evaporation accompanying onset of the ice ages, may have caused the lake to rise and overtop a basin sill about 2 Ma, and subsequently deepen Hells Canyon.

Late Cenozoic structure and correlations to seismicity along the Olympic-Wallowa Lineament, northwest United States

Research Article| July 01, 1993 Late Cenozoic structure and correlations to seismicity along the Olympic-Wallowa Lineament, northwest United States GARY M. MANN; GARY M. MANN 1U S. Geological Survey, M. S. 999, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, California 94025 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar CHARLES E. MEYER CHARLES E. MEYER 1U S. Geological Survey, M. S. 999, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, California 94025 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information GARY M. MANN 1U S. Geological Survey, M. S. 999, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, California 94025 CHARLES E. MEYER 1U S. Geological Survey, M. S. 999, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, California 94025 Publisher: Geological Society of America First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (1993) 105 (7): 853–871. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1993)105<0853:LCSACT>2.3.CO;2 Article history First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation GARY M. MANN, CHARLES E. MEYER; Late Cenozoic structure and correlations to seismicity along the Olympic-Wallowa Lineament, northwest United States. GSA Bulletin 1993;; 105 (7): 853–871. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1993)105<0853:LCSACT>2.3.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Late Cenozoic fault geometry, structure, paleoseismicity, and patterns of recent seismicity at two seismic zones along the Olympic-Wallowa lineament (OWL) of western Idaho, northeast Oregon, and southeast Washington indicate limited right-oblique slip displacement along multiple northwest-striking faults that constitute the lineament. The southern end of the OWL originates in the Long Valley fault system and western Snake River Plain in western Idaho, where it accommodates basin-and-range extension. Several kilometers west of the Long Valley fault system, post-middle Miocene displacement along the OWL has resulted in adjacent areas of uplift and subsidence.The OWL in northeast Oregon consists of a wide zone of northwest-striking faults and is associated with several large, inferred, pull-apart basins. The OWL then emerges from the Blue Mountain uplift as a much narrower zone of faults in the Columbia Plateau known as the Wallula fault zone (WFZ). Structural relationships in the WFZ strongly suggest that it is a right-slip extensional duplex. An ash horizon that correlates with the Mount St. Helens "J" composition (10.7 Ka) is displaced vertically 5 m by a normal fault along a segment of the WFZ. The intensity center for a damaging M = 6.1 earthquake in 1936 is located in the WFZ only a few kilometers northeast of this Holocene fault. Other youthful-appearing, strike-slip and thrust faults are located farther northwest along the OWL and may pose a seismic hazard to adjacent population centers and critical facilities. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

Types of phreatomagmatic volcanoes in the western Snake River Plain, Idaho, USA

The western Snake River Plain graben in southwestern Idaho includes a large hydrovolcanic field which was produced in late Miocene to Pleistocene time by the interaction of rising basaltic magmas with the waters and water-saturated deposits of an enormous freshwater lake, Lake Idaho. The phreatomagmatic volcanoes in this field may be grouped into three types: emergent, subaqueous and subaerial. Emergent volcanoes, which began erupting under water and built up above the lake level, are relatively large and symmetrical, are dominated by bedded tuffs and late magmatic deposits, and are excellent indicators of water depth at the time of the eruption. Subaqueous volcanoes, which never built up above the lake level, are relatively small and asymmetrical, are dominated by basal massive deposits, and are potentially useful in discriminating between deep- and very-deep-water settings. Subaerial volcanoes, which were formed when magmas intercepted buried aquifers and interacted explosively with water, are small tuff rings and maars with variable shapes, are composed of subequal (although variable) proportions of basal massive deposits, bedded tuffs and late magmatic deposits, and are useful in determining the stratigraphic successions underlying them.

Mineralogy and geothermometry of high-temperature rhyolites from the central and western Snake River Plain

Voluminous mid-Miocene rhyolitic ash-flow tuffs and lava flows are exposed along the northern and southern margins of the central and western Snake River Plain. These rhyolites are essentially anhydrous with the general mineral assemblage of plagioclase ±sanidine ± quartz + augite + pigeonite ± hypersthene ± fayalitic olivine + Fe-Ti oxides + apatite + zircon which provides an opportunity to compare feldspar, pyroxene, and Fe-Ti oxide equilibration temperatures for the same rocks. Estimated pyroxene equilibration temperatures (based on the geothermometers of Lindsley and coworkers) range from 850 to 1000°C, and these are well correlated with whole-rock compositions. With the exception of one sample, agreement between the two-pyroxene thermometers tested is well within 50°C. Fe-Ti oxide geothermometers applied to fresh magnetite and ilmenite generally yield temperatures about 50 to 100°C lower than the pyroxene temperatures, and erratic results are obtained if these minerals exhibit effects of subsolidus oxidation and exsolution. Results of feldspar thermometry are more complicated, and reflect uncertainties in the thermometer calibrations as well as in the degree of attainment of equilibrium between plagioclase and sanidine. In general, temperatures obtained using the Ghiorso (1984) and Green and Usdansky (1986) feldspar thermometers agree with the pyroxene temperatures within the respective uncertainties. However, uncertainties in the feldspar temperatures are the larger of the two (and exceed ±60°C for many samples). The feldspar thermometer of Fuhrman and Lindsley (1988) produces systematically lower temperatures for many of the samples studied. The estimated pyroxene temperatures are considered most representative of actual magmatic temperatures for these rhyolites. This range of temperatures is significantly higher than those for rhyolites from many other suites, and is consistent with the hypothesis that the Snake River Plain rhyolitic magmas formed by partial fusion of relatively dry (e.g. granulitic) crustal lithologies.

Precious-Metal Deposits in Relation to Volcanic and Sedimentary Stratigraphy: Examples from the Oregon Plateau, U.S.A.: ABSTRACT

Miocene to Recent volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Oregon Plateau host precious-metal deposits. The deposits, formed within an extensional tectonic setting, illustrate the relation among volcanic and sedimentary stratigraphy, regional structural development, and hydrothermal systems. Gold deposits hosted in felsic volcaniclastic sediments in the Owyhee region formed during or shortly after sedimentation. Uniformly silicified tuffaceous mudstone and siltstone interbedded with siliceous and sulfide-rich sediments and bedded hydrathermal breccia, hydrothermal explosion craters infilled by breccia fragments, and stacked buried sinter deposits attest to mineralization near the time of sedimentation. The regional structures that controlled the distribution of volcanic activity and location of sedimentary basins changed through time. In the middle Miocene, basin-and range faults controlled the location of basalt and rhyolitic volcanism and fluvial and lacustrine basins. In the late Miocene and Pliocene, faults parallel to those of the Western Snake River Plain are more prominent and interfingering volcanic and volcaniclastic sedimentary deposits characterize the stratigraphic section. Fault-controlled mercury mineralization in quartz within opalized high-silica rhyolite flow-domes produces an obscure precious-metal prospect at Glass Buttes in the High Lava Plains. Glassy high-silica rhyolite flow-domes were erupted between 5.8 and 5.0 ma but alteration and mineralization occur along faults of themore » Brothers fault zone that cut the high-silica rhyolite sequence. Younger porphyritic rhyolite to dacite domes, spines, and intrusions controlled by faults of the Brothers fault zone are believed to be the heat source for the hydrothermal system. Precious-metal mineralization may occur in the subsurface where hydrothermal solutions boiled beneath the paleowater table.« less

Archaeological Assemblage Variability in Fishing Locales of the Western Snake River Plain

This article describes assemblage variability at fishing localities on the Western Snake River Plain. Four assemblage types are recognized on the basis of artifact categories and non-artifactual remains which assist in definition of site function and seasonality.

Mesodictyon, a New Fossil Genus of the Centric Diatom Family Thalassiosiraceae from the Miocene Chalk Hills Formation, Western Snake River Plain, Idaho

Three new centric diatom species assigned to a new genus are described from Miocene lacustrine deposits of Idaho. Species of the new genus, Mesodictyon, have the areola cribrum in the middle of the loculus, strutted processes and radiating, non-fasciculated striae. The strutted processes of M. magnum (diameter 60-150 Arm) have long (2-3 Am) tubular extensions. The strutted processes of M. fovis (diameter 14-80 ,m) are in distinct pits near the junction of the face and mantle. The valve face of M. undulatum (diameter 10-44 rum) is weakly tangentially undulate. Preliminary evidence indicates that Mesodictyon has a wide geographic distribution and may be a useful biostratigraphic marker.

A review of crust and upper mantle structure studies of the Snake River Plain-Yellowstone volcanic system: A major lithospheric anomaly in the western U.S.A.

The Snake River Plain-Yellowstone volcanic system is one of the largest, basaltic, volcanic field in the world. Here, there is clear evidence for northeasterly progression of rhyolitic volcanism with its present position in Yellowstone. Many theories have been advanced for the origin of the Snake River Plain-Yellowstone system. Yellowstone and Eastern Snake River Plain have been studied intensively using various geophysical techniques. Some sparse geophysical data are available for the Western Snake River Plain as well. Teleseismic data show the presence of a large anomalous body with low P- and S-wave velocities in the crust and upper mantle under the Yellowstone caldera. A similar body in which compressional wave velocity is lower than in the surrounding rock is present under the Eastern Snake River Plain. No data on upper mantle anomalies are available for the Western Snake River Plain. Detailed seismic refraction data for the Eastern Snake River Plain show strong lateral heterogeneities and suggest thinning of the granitic crust from below by mafic intrusion. Available data for the Western Snake River Plain also show similar thinning of the upper crust and its replacement by mafic material. The seismic refraction results in Yellowstone show no evidence of the low-velocity anomalies in the lower crust suggested by teleseismic P-delay data and interpreted as due to extensive partial melting. However, the seismic refraction models indicate lower-than-normal velocities and strong lateral inhomogeneities in the upper crust. Particularly obvious in the refraction data are two regions of very low seismic velocities near the Mallard Eake and Sour Creek resurgent domes in the Yellowstone caldera. The low-velocity body near the Sour Creek resurgent dome is intepreted as partially molten rock. Together with other geophysical and thermal data, the seismic results indicate that a sub-lithospheric thermal anomaly is responsible for the time-progressive volcanism along the Eastern Snake River Plain. However, the exact mechanism responsible for the volcanism and details of magma storage and migration are not yet fully understood.

Neogene Paleogeography of Western Snake River Plain, Idaho and Oregon: ABSTRACT

Analysis of Miocene through Pleistocene siliciclastic and volcaniclastic sequences in the western Snake River Plain of Idaho and Oregon allows detailed paleogeographic reconstruction of sedimentation associated with the development of a rapidly subsiding continental basin. Extensional tectonism was accompanied by voluminous outpourings of basaltic and silicic volcanic material. These in turn were reworked basinward by marginal alluvial fan-braided stream networks into basin-center fluviolacustrine systems. Episodic influxes of both felsic and basaltic tephra are recorded in fossiliferous lacustrine silt and claystones of the Poison Creek and Chalk Hills Formations, radiometrically bracketed between 12.5 to 5 m.y.B.P. Basinward-fining facies indicate deposition in a large acustrine complex fed by at least 2 major fluvial systems. Complex interfingering of coarse-grained strandline deposits with offshore fine-grained sediments suggests repeated expansion and contraction of the lake system and record the dynamic interplay between basin tectonism and sedimentation. A major unconformity and presence of extensive interbasinal basaltic volcanism (Banbury Basalt) reflects draining of this lacustrine system and renewed extensional tectonism in the basin approximately 4 m.y.B.P. Reestablishment of a major fluviolacustrine complex is represented by deposits of the Pliocene-Pleistocene Glenns Ferry Formation (4-1.8 m.y.B.P.). The fossiliferous mudstone, sandstone, and conglomerate represent alluvial fan, meandering stream, flood-basin, and lake margin systems. Inter edded with these are a series of basaltic tuffs and flows reflecting continuing volcanism along the basin margin and basin center. Continued structural adjustments along high-angle normal faults that bound the basin are indicated by stratigraphic relationships as well as the style of fluvial sedimentation. Periods of rapid basin subsidence are recorded by thin, discontinuous channel sandstone encased by thick overbank siltstone and claystone. More stable periods allowed development of sheet-like channel sandstone with subordinate amounts of overbank fines. Basin-wide structural adjustments have continued to the present, as indicated by the incisement of these Neogene deposits by the modern Snake River. End_of_Article - Last_Page 518------------

Boise Geothermal System, Western Snake River Plain, Idaho: ABSTRACT

The Boise geothermal system lies in an area of high heat flow along the northern margin of the western Snake River plain. Exploratory drilling for petroleum and geothermal water, seismic reflection profiling, and regional gravity data permit construction of a detailed structure section across the western plain. A faulted acoustic basement of volcanic rocks lies at depths of 2,400 to 6,000 ft (730-1,830 m) beneath late Cenozoic lacustrine and fluvial deposits in the center of the plain. Volcanic rocks of the acoustic basement are typically basalt out in the plain, but the acoustic basement along the north margin in the vicinity of Boise is largely silicic volcanic rock. Geologic mapping and geothermal well data have provided information on the late Cenozoic geologic units nd structures important to the understanding of the Boise geothermal system. The main geothermal aquifer is a sequence of rhyolite layers and minor arkosic and tuffaceous sediment of the Miocene Idavada Volcanics. The aquifer is confined by a sequence of impermeable basaltic tuffs. The aquifer has sufficient fracture permeability to yield 150°-170°F (65°-76.6°C) hot water for space heating at a rate of 600 to 1,200 gpm from wells drilled in the metropolitan area, north of the Boise River. In this area the rhyolite lies at a depth of 900-2,000 ft (274-610 m). Artesian pressure typically lifts water to an elevation of about 2,760 ft (840 m). A conceptual model of recharge assumes percolation driven by the topographic head to a depth of more than 7,000 ft (2,135 m) benea h the granitic highlands northeast of the city. Heated water convects upward through northwest-trending range-front faults. End_of_Article - Last_Page 955------------

The Yellowstone‐Snake River Plain Seismic Profiling Experiment: Crustal structure of the Eastern Snake River Plain

Seismic refraction profiles recorded along the eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) in southeastern Idaho during the 1978 Yellowstone‐Snake River Plain cooperative seismic profiling experiment are interpreted to infer the crustal velocity and attenuation (Q‐1) structure of the ESRP. Travel‐time and synthetic seismogram modeling of a 250 km reversed refraction profile as well as a 100 km detailed profile indicate that the crust of the ESRP is highly anomalous. Approximately 3 to 6 km of volcanic rocks (with some interbedded sediments) overlie an upper‐crustal layer (compressional velocity ≅6.1 km/s) which thins southwestward along the ESRP from a thickness of 10 km near Island Park Caldera to 2 to 3 km beneath the central and southwestern portions of the ESRP. An intermediate‐velocity (≅6.5 km/s) layer extends from ≅10 to ≅20 km depth. A thick (≅22 km) lower crust of compressional velocity 6.8 km/s, a total crustal thickness of ≅42 km, and a Pn velocity of ≅7.9 km/s is observed in the ESRP, similar to the western Snake River Plain and the Rocky Mountains Provinces. High attenuation is evident on the amplitude corrected seismic data due to low‐Q values in the volcanic rocks (Qp = 20 to 200) and throughout the crust (Qp = 160 to 300). Based on these characteristics of the crustal structure and volcanic‐age progression data, it is suggested that the ESRP has resulted from an intensive period of intrusion of mantle‐derived basaltic magma into the upper crust generating explosive silicic volcanism and associated regional uplift and caldera collapse. This activity began about 15 m.y. ago in southwestern Idaho and has migrated northeast to its present position at Yellowstone. Subsequent cooling of the intruded upper crust results in the 6.5 km/s velocity intermediate layer. Crustal subsidence and periodic basaltic volcanism as represented by the ESRP complete the sequence of crustal evolution.