Yavapai Supergroup | |
---|---|
Stratigraphic range: | |
Type | Supergroup |
Sub-units | Big Bug Group Ash Creek Group |
Thickness | 7,000 ft (2,100 m) |
Lithology | |
Primary | Schist |
Other | Metavolcanic rock, metasedimentary rock |
Location | |
Coordinates | 34°31′N112°33′W / 34.51°N 112.55°W |
Region | Arizona |
Country | Arizona |
Type section | |
Named for | Yavapai County, Arizona |
Named by | T.A. Jaggar, Jr., and Charles Palache |
Year defined | 1905 |
The Yavapai Supergroup is a Paleoproterozoic supergroup of metavolcanic and metasedimentary rock strata, partially exposed in Arizona, US. The corresponding chronostratigraphic unit is the Yavapai Series, which locally defines an interval of geologic time. [1] The Yavapai Supergroup gives its name to the Yavapai orogeny, a major mountain-building event that took place in the U.S. Southwest in the Paleoproterozoic. [2]
The Yavapai Supergroup is extensively exposed in Yavapai County, Arizona, from which it takes its name. Exposures are found from the Jerome — Prescott area southwest to Mingus Mountain and in other parts of the Arizona transition zone. The supergroup contains a variety of lithologies (rock types). [3] The beds of the supergroup were laid down between 1820 and 1770 million years ago. [2]
The beds belonging to the unit were first named as the "Arizonian" by W.P. Blake in 1899. They were subsequently formally named as the Yavapai Schist by Thomas Jaggar and Charles Palache in 1905. Jaggar and Palache recognized that the unit showed a great diversity of rock types and degree of metamorphism but was mostly metasedimentary rock. They estimated its maximum thickness at about 7,000 feet (2,100 m). [4] E.D. Wilson investigated theunit again in 1939, raising it to group rank, dividing it into the Yaeger greenstone, Red Rock Rhyolite, and Alder sedimentary series. Wilson also recognized that the beds had been seriously deformed during the early Proterozoic and named this episode the Mazatzal orogeny. [5]
C.A Anderson and various coinvestigators studied the unit between 1955 and 1971, ultimately defining it as a chronostratigraphic unit (the Yavapai Series) representing the interval of time in which the Ash Creek Group and Big Bug Group were deposited. [1] Other researchers have defined the Yavapai Supergroup as a lithostratigraphic unit. [3]
Granite Mountain is a 7,628-foot (2,325 m) mountain located in Yavapai County, Arizona that covers roughly 12 square miles (31 km2). It was once known as Mount Gurley, for the first governor of the Arizona Territory, John A. Gurley. Its southwest face has a sheer granite cliff approximately 500 feet high that is one of the best locations for rock climbing in the state of Arizona. It is located in the Granite Mountain Wilderness, which is managed as a part of the Prescott National Forest. The mountain stands at the northern end of the Sierra Prietas, and borders Skull Valley on the west, on the northwest by the Santa Maria Mountains, and east by the Williamson Valley.
The Wyoming Craton is a craton in the west-central United States and western Canada – more specifically, in Montana, Wyoming, southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, and parts of northern Utah. Also called the Wyoming Province, it is the initial core of the continental crust of North America.
Laurentia or the North American Craton is a large continental craton that forms the ancient geological core of North America. Many times in its past, Laurentia has been a separate continent, as it is now in the form of North America, although originally it also included the cratonic areas of Greenland and also the northwestern part of Scotland, known as the Hebridean Terrane. During other times in its past, Laurentia has been part of larger continents and supercontinents and itself consists of many smaller terranes assembled on a network of Early Proterozoic orogenic belts. Small microcontinents and oceanic islands collided with and sutured onto the ever-growing Laurentia, and together formed the stable Precambrian craton seen today.
The Animikie Group is a geologic group composed of sedimentary and metasedimentary rock, having been originally deposited between 2,500 and 1,800 million years ago during the Paleoproterozoic era, within the Animikie Basin. This group of formations is geographically divided into the Gunflint Range, the Mesabi and Vermilion ranges, and the Cuyuna Range. On the map, the Animikie Group is the dark gray northeast-trending belt which ranges from south-central Minnesota, U.S., up to Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. The Gunflint Iron Range is the linear black formation labeled G, the Mesabi Iron Range is the jagged black linear formation labeled F, and Cuyuna Iron Range is the two black spots labeled E. The gabbro of the Duluth Complex, intruded during the formation of the Midcontinent Rift, separates the Mesabi and Gunflint iron ranges; it is shown by the speckled area wrapping around the western end of Lake Superior.
The Manzano Group is a group of geologic formations in central New Mexico. These have radiometric ages of 1601 to 1662 million years (Ma), corresponding to the late Statherian period of the Paleoproterozoic.
The Wernecke Mountains are located in the East-central Yukon Territory of Canada. They have provided important wildlife habitat for animals such as grizzly bears and caribou as well as trapping and hunting land for the indigenous people of the Yukon for many centuries. They are the northernmost expression of the North American Cordillera, a chain of mountains stretching from Alaska to southern Mexico. This area has a northern climate characterized by short summers and long winters, with average temperatures from −26 °C (−15 °F) in the winter to 22 °C (72 °F) in the summer While essentially unpopulated, this area is well known for its rich mineral deposits, including gold, silver and copper.
Overprinting is a geological process that superimposes a set of characteristics on rock that partially obscure earlier characteristics. Examples include metamorphic overprinting, in which new structure, texture, or mineral composition is imposed on existing rock. For example, the Tauern window of Alps contains beds that were originally metamorphosed to eclogite but have since been overprinted to the blueschist and then the greenschist facies. Likewise, deformation associated with the Mazatzal orogeny in Arizona and New Mexico, US, was subsequently overprinted by deformation associated with the Picuris orogeny.
The Mazatzal orogeny was an orogenic event in what is now the Southwestern United States from 1650 to 1600 Mya in the Statherian Period of the Paleoproterozoic. Preserved in the rocks of New Mexico and Arizona, it is interpreted as the collision of the 1700-1600 Mya age Mazatzal island arc terrane with the proto-North American continent. This was the second in a series of orogenies within a long-lived convergent boundary along southern Laurentia that ended with the ca. 1200–1000 Mya Grenville orogeny during the final assembly of the supercontinent Rodinia, which ended an 800-million-year episode of convergent boundary tectonism.
The Yavapai orogeny was an orogenic (mountain-building) event in what is now the Southwestern United States that occurred between 1710 and 1680 million years ago (Mya), in the Statherian Period of the Paleoproterozoic. Recorded in the rocks of New Mexico and Arizona, it is interpreted as the collision of the 1800-1700 Mya age Yavapai island arc terrane with the proto-North American continent. This was the first in a series of orogenies within a long-lived convergent boundary along southern Laurentia that ended with the ca. 1200–1000 Mya Grenville orogeny during the final assembly of the supercontinent Rodinia, which ended an 800-million-year episode of convergent boundary tectonism.
The Picuris orogeny was an orogenic event in what is now the Southwestern United States from 1.43 to 1.3 billion years ago in the Calymmian Period of the Mesoproterozoic. The event is named for the Picuris Mountains in northern New Mexico and interpreted either as the suturing of the Granite-Rhyolite crustal province to the southern margin of the proto-North American continent Laurentia or as the final suturing of the Mazatzal crustal province onto Laurentia. According to the former hypothesis, this was the second in a series of orogenies within a long-lived convergent boundary along southern Laurentia that ended with the ca. 1200–1000 Mya Grenville orogeny during the final assembly of the supercontinent Rodinia, which ended an 800-million-year episode of convergent boundary tectonism.
The Vadito Group is a group of geologic formations that crops out in most of the Precambrian-cored uplifts of northern New Mexico. Detrital zircon geochronology and radiometric dating give a consistent age of 1700 Mya for the group, corresponding to the Statherian period.
The Big Rock Formation is a formation that crops out in the Tusas Mountains of northern New Mexico. Detrital zircon geochronology gives a maximum age for the formation of 1665 Mya, corresponding to the Statherian period.
The Glenwoody Formation is a geological formation that is exposed in the cliffs southeast of the Rio Grande Gorge near the town of Pilar and in a few other locations in the Picuris Mountains. Its minimum age from detrital zircon geochronology is 1.693 Mya, corresponding to the Statherian period.
The Hondo Group is a group of geologic formations that crops out in most of the Precambrian-cored uplifts of northern New Mexico. Detrital zircon geochronology gives a maximum age for the lower Hondo Group of 1765 to 1704 million years (Mya), corresponding to the Statherian period.
The Ortega Formation is a geologic formation that crops out in most of the mountain ranges of northern New Mexico. Detrital zircon geochronology establishes a maximum age for the formation of 1690-1670 million years (Mya), in the Statherian period of the Precambrian.
The Marquenas Formation is a geological formation that crops out in the Picuris Mountains of northern New Mexico. Detrital zircon geochronology gives it a maximum age of 1435 million years, corresponding to the Calymmian period.
The Mazatzal Group is a group of geologic formations that crops out in portions of central Arizona, US. Detrital zircon geochronology establishes a maximum age for the formation of 1660 to 1630 million years (Mya), in the Statherian period of the Precambrian. The group gives its name to the Mazatzal orogeny, a mountain-building event that took place between 1695 and 1630 Mya.
The Irving Formation is a Precambrian geologic formation found in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado, US. It is thought to be Statherian in age
The Alder Group is a group of geologic formations exposed in the Mazatzal Mountains of central Arizona, US. It dates to the Statherian Period of the Paleoproterozoic and records mountain-building events associated with the assembly of North America.
The Payson ophiolite is an ophiolite of Statherian age located near Payson, Arizona, US.