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Mineral Resources > Online Spatial Data > Geology > by state > Oregon Geology

Geologic units in Hood River county, Oregon

Grande Ronde Basalt (middle and lower Miocene) (Early to Middle Miocene) at surface, covers 11 % of this area

Flows of dark-gray to black, aphyric tholeiitic basalt, including both high- and low-Mg chemical types (Swanson and others, 1979). Potassium-argon ages mostly in the range of 15 to 17 Ma (Lux, 1982; Watkins and Baksi, 1974; Fiebelkorn and others, 1983)

Lithology: basalt

Lacustrine and fluvial sedimentary rocks (Pleistocene) (Pleistocene) at surface, covers 10 % of this area

Unconsolidated to semiconsolidated lacustrine clay, silt, sand, and gravel; in places includes mudflow and fluvial deposits and discontinuous layers of peat. Includes older alluvium and related deposits of Piper (1942), Willamette Silt (Allison, 1953; Wells and Peck, 1961), alluvial silt, sand, and gravel that form terrace deposits of Wells and others (1983), and Gresham and Estacada Formations of Trimble (1963). Includes deltaic gravel and sand and gravel bars, in pluvial lake basins in southeastern part of map area. In Rome Basin, includes discontinuous layers of poorly consolidated conglomerate characterized by well-rounded, commonly polished pebbles of chert and pebbles and cobbles of quartzite. In places contains mollusks or vertebrate fossils indicating Pleistocene age; mostly deposits of late Pleistocene age, but locally includes some deposits of early Holocene age. Includes Touchet Beds of Flint (1938), deposits of valley terraces of Newcomb (1965), and, in southeast Oregon, basin-filling deposits that incorporate Mazama ash deposits (Qma, Qmp) in the youngest layers

Lithology: clay or mud; silt; sand; gravel

Andesite (Pleistocene and Pliocene) (Pliocene to Pleistocene) at surface, covers 4 % of this area

Flows and flow breccia in the High Cascade Province composed dominantly of aphyric to porphyritic basaltic andesite and andesite. Mostly represents remnants of moderately to deeply eroded stratovolcanoes. Phenocrysts are mostly plagioclase, olivine, clinopyroxene, and lesser hypersthene and hornblende

Lithology: andesite

Alluvial deposits (Holocene) (Holocene) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Sand, gravel, and silt forming flood plains and filling channels of present streams. In places includes talus and slope wash. Locally includes soils containing abundant organic material, and thin peat beds

Lithology: sand; gravel; silt; peat

Ridge-capping basalt and basaltic andesite (Pliocene and upper Miocene) (Late Miocene to Pliocene) at surface, covers 7 % of this area

Flows and flow breccia of basaltic andesite and lesser diktytaxitic to intergranular olivine basalt. Includes some dense, aphyric flows, commonly with either cryptocrystalline or pilotaxitic to trachytic texture, and porphyritic flows with phenocrysts and glomerocrysts of olivine, hypersthene, and labradorite. A few flows contain both hypersthene and calcic augite phenocrysts. Olivine mostly fresh or slightly altered to iddingsite in flows high in section; flows low in section show some alteration to clays (nontronite and saponite), secondary silica minerals, and calcite; pinkish-brown glass in some flows unaltered. Locally includes some andesite and dacite. Some flows of this unit are lithologically similar to flow rocks of the High Cascade volcanic sequence and some are more like flows that in the past have been mapped as part of the Sardine Formation (Peck and others, 1964) and Elk Lake Formation of McBirney and others (1974) and Sutter (1978). Potassium-argon ages of rocks from this unit range from about 4 to 8 or 9 Ma. Includes some rocks formerly mapped as Rhododendron Formation by Peck and others (1964)

Lithology: mafic volcanic rock

Alluvium (Holocene) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Mostly unconsolidated silt, sand, and gravel valley fill with some clay; includes low-level terrace, marsh, peat, artificial fill, and glacial deposits locally.

Lithology: alluvium; alluvial terrace; peat; glacial drift

Silicic vent complexes (Pliocene, Miocene, and upper Oligocene) (Miocene) at surface, covers 0.9 % of this area

Large, rhyolitic to dacitic vent areas in the Cascade Range that commonly include multiple intrusions and much associated silicic eruptive breccia and erosional debris and some flows

Lithology: rhyolite; dacite

Tuffaceous sedimentary rocks and tuff (Pliocene and Miocene) (Miocene to Pliocene) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

Semiconsolidated to well-consolidated mostly lacustrine tuffaceous sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, concretionary claystone, conglomerate, pumicite, diatomite, air-fall and water-deposited vitric ash, palagonitic tuff and tuff breccia, and fluvial sandstone and conglomerate. Palagonitic tuff and breccia grade laterally into altered and unaltered basalt flows of unit Tob. In places includes layers of fluvial conglomerate and, in parts of the Deschutes-Umatilla Plateau, extensive deposits of fanglomerate composed mostly of Miocene basalt debris and silt. Also includes thin, welded and nonwelded ash-flow tuffs. Vertebrate and plant fossils indicate rocks of unit are mostly of Clarendonian and Hemphillian (late Miocene and Pliocene) age. Potassium-argon ages on interbedded basalt flows and ash-flow tuffs range from about 4 to 10 Ma. Includes the Drewsey Formation of Shotwell and others (1963); sedimentary parts of the Rattlesnake Formation of Brown and Thayer (1966); an interstratified ash-flow tuff has been radiometrically dated by potassium-argon methods at about 6.6 Ma (see Fiebelkorn and others, 1983); Bully Creek Formation of Kittleman and others (1967); Dalles Formation of Newcomb (1966, 1969); Shutler Formation of Hodge (1932), McKay beds of Hogenson (1964) and Newcomb (1966) (see also Shotwell, 1956); Kern Basin Formation of Corcoran and others (1962); Rome beds of Baldwin (1976); parts of the (now obsolete) Danforth Formation of Piper and others (1939), Idaho Group of Malde and Powers (1962), Thousand Creek Beds of Merriam (1910); the Madras (or Deschutes) Formation, the "Simtustus formation" of Smith (1984), and the Yonna Formation (Newcomb, 1958). In areas west of Cascade crest, includes the Sandy River Mudstone and the Troutdale Formation of Trimble (1963) and the lower Pliocene Helvetia Formation of Schlicker and Deacon (1967)

Lithology: sandstone; siltstone; mudstone; conglomerate; pumice; diatomite; tuff; conglomerate

Columbia River Basalt Group and related flows (Miocene) (Miocene) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

Subaerial basalt and minor andesite lava flows and flow breccia; submarine palagonitic tuff and pillow complexes of the Columbia River Basalt Group (Swanson and others, 1979); locally includes invasive basalt flows. Flows locally grade laterally into subaqueous pillow-palagonite complexes and bedded palagonitic tuff and breccia. In places includes tuffaceous sedimentary interbeds. Joints commonly coated with nontronite and other clayey alteration products. Occurs principally in the Willamette Valley from Salem north to the Columbia River, and in the northern Coast Range. Unit includes correlative Cape Foulweather and Depoe Bay Basalts in the Coast Range (Snavely and others, 1973, 1976a, 1976b; Swanson and others, 1979; Wells and others, 1983). In Eastern Oregon, occurs principally in Deschutes-Umatilla Plateau and in the Blue Mountains. K-Ar ages range from about 6 to about 16.5 Ma (McKee and others, 1977; Swanson and others, 1979; Sutter, 1978; Lux, 1982). Locally separated into Tcs, Tcw, Tcg, Tcp, and Tci

Lithology: basalt; andesite

Mafic vent complexes (Miocene) (Miocene) at surface, covers 0.2 % of this area

Intrusive plugs and dike swarms and related near-vent flows, breccias, cinders, and agglutinate of basaltic andesite, basalt, and andesite; commonly in the form of eroded piles of red, iron-stained thin flows, cinders, and agglutinate cut by mafic intrusions

Lithology: basalt; andesite; volcanic breccia (agglomerate)

Open Water (Holocene) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

water

Lithology: water

Landslide and debris-flow deposits (Holocene and Pleistocene) (Pleistocene to Holocene) at surface, covers 0.4 % of this area

Unstratified mixtures of fragments of adjacent bedrock. Locally includes slope wash and colluvium. Largest slides and debris flows occur where thick sections of basalt and andesite flows overlie clayey tuffaceous rocks. May include some deposits of late Pliocene age

Lithology: landslide

Wanapum Basalt (middle Miocene) (Middle Miocene) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

Flows of gray to dark-gray, medium-grained, commonly plagioclase porphyritic basalt of Frenchman Springs petrochemical type (Wright and others, 1973). Generally exhibits blocky to platy jointing. Potassium-argon ages mostly about 15 Ma (Lux, 1982; Fiebelkorn and others, 1983)

Lithology: basalt

Basaltic andesite and basalt (Holocene? and Pleistocene) (Quaternary) at surface, covers 17 % of this area

Flows and flow breccia dominantly of basaltic andesite containing plagioclase, olivine, and pyroxene phenocrysts and olivine-bearing basalt representing part of the volcanic sequence of the High Cascade Range (Thayer, 1937). Unit mostly forms small shield volcanoes, gentle-sided lava cones, and, in places, intracanyon flows

Lithology: basalt; andesite

Mafic vent complexes (Pleistocene, Pliocene, and Miocene?) (Late Miocene to Pleistocene) at surface, covers 0.5 % of this area

Plugs, dikes, and related near-vent flows, breccia, cinders, and agglutinate of basalt, basaltic andesite, and andesite; commonly in the form of either little-modified lava cones or partly eroded piles of reddish, iron-stained thin flows and fragmental ejecta cut by mafic intrusions. May also include rocks of late Miocene(?) age

Lithology: basalt; andesite

Basalt and basaltic andesite (Pleistocene and Pliocene) (Pliocene to Pleistocene) at surface, covers 24 % of this area

Flows, flow breccia, and pyroclastic deposits. Flows are aphanitic to finely crystalline, commonly diktytaxitic, and aphyric to porphyritic. Textures are mostly intergranular grading to intersertal; some andesite flows are finely trachytic and a few basalt flows are subophitic. Phenocrysts, mostly unaltered, include bytownite and labradorite, olivine, calcic augite, and hypersthene. Flows and breccia form shields, lava cones, and valley fill; in places greatly dissected and modified by fluvial erosion. Includes Boring Lava of Trimble (1963) and Hampton (1972) and Battle Ax Basalts of Thayer (1936). Potassium-argon ages from this unit range from about 1.2 to 3.9 Ma; in places difficult to distinguish from youngest flows of unit Trb

Lithology: basalt; andesite

Basalt and andesite intrusions (Pliocene, Miocene, and Oligocene?) (Oligocene(?) to Pliocene) at surface, covers 0.5 % of this area

Sills, plugs and dikes of basaltic andesite, basalt, and andesite. Mostly represents feeders, exposed by erosion, for flows and flow breccias of units Tba and Trb. Includes a few dikes of hornblende and plagioclase porphyritic andesite, commonly altered, and aphyric basaltic andesite that probably were feeders for parts of unit Tub

Lithology: basalt; andesite

Flows and clastic rocks, undifferentiated (Miocene) (Miocene) at surface, covers 4 % of this area

Chiefly basaltic andesite and andesite lava flows and flow breccia containing plagioclase and pyroxene (hypersthene and augite) phenocrysts, mudflows (lahars), and volcanic conglomerates; locally includes some dacite flows. Includes lesser, coarse- to fine-grained epiclastic volcanic sedimentary rocks and ash-flow and air-fall tuffs. Partly equivalent in age to unit Tba and may be partly coeval with younger parts of unit Tstb. Locally altered adjacent to larger intrusions. The oldest radiometrically dated rocks assigned to this unit are about 17 Ma (Sutter, 1978); in part lapped by flows questionably assigned to unit Tba, radiometrically dated at about 10 Ma, and unconformably overlain by flows of unit Trb. Includes some of rocks formerly mapped as Sardine Formation and some mapped as Rhododendron Formation

Lithology: basalt; andesite; pyroclastic; clastic

Saddle Mountains Basalt (upper and middle Miocene) (Middle to Late Miocene) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Petrographically diverse flows of basalt erupted between about 13.5 and 6 Ma (McKee and others, 1977; Swanson and others, 1979)

Lithology: basalt

Andesite (Holocene and Pleistocene) (Quaternary) at surface, covers 8 % of this area

Forms major stratovolcanoes dominantly of aphyric to porphyritic basaltic andesite and andesite; phenocrysts are principally pyroxene, olivine, plagioclase, and, rarely, hornblende. Locally includes dacite and minor basalt

Lithology: basalt; andesite; dacite

Youngest basalt and basaltic andesite (Holocene) (Holocene) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Little-modified flows and associated breccia of basaltic andesite and some basalt in both central part of Cascade Range and on slopes of Newberry Volcano. Relations to Mazama pumice deposits indicate most of these rocks are less than 6,800 yr old (14C); isotopic ages on flows range from about 1,000 to 6,000 yr B.P. (14C)

Lithology: basalt; andesite

Basaltic and andesitic rocks (upper and middle Miocene) (Middle to Late Miocene) at surface, covers 0.7 % of this area

Lava flows and flow breccia of hypersthene and olivine andesite, basaltic andesite containing plagioclase and pyroxene phenocrysts, and basalt; many flows contain phenocrysts of both hypersthene and augite. Includes interbedded volcaniclastic and epiclastic rocks mostly of andesitic composition, but partly of dacitic or rhyodacitic composition. Includes really restricted flows of silicic andesite or dacite. Upper part of unit mostly unaltered, although olivine crystals are locally altered to clay minerals. Lower parts commonly altered; secondary minerals include nontronite and saponite, chalcedony, calcite, and zeolites. Older parts of this unit locally are propylitically altered adjacent to larger intrusions. Erupted mostly from widespread, northwest- and north-trending dikes and dike swarms and related plugs and lava cones. Potassium-argon ages range from about 10 Ma to about 17 Ma. Much of this unit was previously assigned to the Sardine Formation (Peck and others, 1964), although the type locality of the Sardine Formation ("Sardine Series" as mapped by Thayer, 1939) may be older. Includes Elk Lake Formation (White, 1980a, 1980b), part of the Rhododendron Formation (Trimble, 1963; Wise, 1969), and andesite of Nohorn Creek of Hammond and others (1982)

Lithology: andesite; basalt; dacite

Glacial deposits (Pleistocene) (Pleistocene) at surface, covers 3 % of this area

Unsorted bouldery gravel, sand, and rock flour in ground, terminal, and lateral moraines. Locally partly sorted

Lithology: gravel; moraine