Geologic units in Jackson county, Oregon

Additional scientific data in this geographic area

Basaltic lava flows (Oligocene to Miocene) at surface, covers 17 % of this area

Basaltic and basaltic andesite lava flows and breccia; grades laterally into rare bedded palagonitic tuff and breccia

Volcanic rocks (Triassic and (or) Jurassic) at surface, covers 14 % of this area

Massive flows of porphyritic meta-andesite, metabasalt, spilite, and keratophyre, volcanic breccia, and subordinate amounts of fine-grained volcaniclastic rocks. In southwest Oregon includes hornblende, pyroxene, and plagioclase porphyritic andesite flows, breccia, agglomerate, tuff, and locally, some basalt flows and dacitic tuffs of the Applegate Group

Ridge-capping basalt and basaltic andesite (Late Miocene to Pliocene) at surface, covers 12 % 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)

Granitic rocks (Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous) at surface, covers 8 % of this area

Mostly tonalite and quartz diorite but including lesser amounts of other granitoid rocks. Potassium-argon ages determined on hornblende indicates plutons range in age from 143 to 166 Ma (Hotz, 1971)

Undifferentiated tuffaceous sedimentary rocks, tuffs, and basalt (Oligocene to Miocene) at surface, covers 8 % of this area

Heterogeneous assemblage of continental, largely volcanogenic deposits of basalt and basaltic andesite, including flows and breccia, complexly interstratified with epiclastic and volcaniclastic deposits of basaltic to rhyodacitic composition. Includes extensive rhyodacitic to andesitic ash-flow and air-fall tuffs, abundant lapilli tuff and tuff breccia, andesitic to dacitic mudflow (lahar) deposits, poorly bedded to well-bedded, fine- to coarse-grained tuffaceous sedimentary rocks, and volcanic conglomerate. Originally included in Little Butte Volcanic Series (Peck and others, 1964); includes Mehama Volcanics and Breitenbush Tuffs or Series of Thayer (1933, 1936, 1939), Breitenbush Formation of Hammond and others (1982), Mehama Formation of Eubanks (1960), and Molalla Formation of Miller and Orr (1984a). In Columbia River Gorge, includes Miocene and older rocks previously assigned to the Skamania Volcanic Series (Trimble, 1963), or to the Eagle Creek Formation (Waters, 1973). Lower parts of unit exhibit low-grade metamorphism with primary constituents altered to clay minerals, calcite, zeolites (stilbite, laumontite, heulandite), and secondary silica minerals. In contact aureoles adjacent to stocks and larger dikes of granitic and dioritic composition or in areas of andesitic dike swarms, both wallrocks and intrusions are pervasively propylitized; locally rocks also have been subjected to potassic alteration. Epiclastic part of assemblage locally contains fossil plants assigned to the Angoonian Stage (Wolfe, 1981) or of Oligocene age. A regionally extensive biotite-quartz rhyodacite ash-flow tuff, the ash-flow tuff of Bond Creek of Smith and others (1982), is exposed in southern part of Western Cascade Range near and at base of unit. A K-Ar age of 34.9 Ma was determined on biotite from the tuff (Smith, 1980). Ash-flow tuffs, higher in the section and in the same area, have been radiometrically dated at 22 to 32 Ma by potassium-argon methods (J.G. Smith, unpublished data; Evernden and James, 1964; Fiebelkorn and others, 1983). In the central part of the Western Cascade Range, the unit has yielded a number of K-Ar ages in the range of about 32 to 19 Ma (Verplanck, 1985, p. 53-54). A fission-track age of 23.8 ñ 1.4 Ma was obtained on a red, crystal-rich ash-flow tuff (J.A. Vance, oral communication, 1983) collected at an elevation of about 3,000 ft on U.S. Highway 20 west-southwest of Echo Mountain. Most ages from basalt and basaltic andesite lava flows are in the range of about 35 to 18 Ma. Locally intruded by small stocks of granitoid rocks and by dikes, sills, plugs, and invasive flows of basaltic andesite and basalt; in many places, the intrusions are indistinguishable from poorly exposed interbedded lava flows; K-Ar ages on several of the mafic intrusions or invasive flows are about 27 to 31 Ma. In places subdivided into Tus, Tut, and Tub

May Creek Schist (Paleozoic(?) to Jurassic) at surface, covers 5 % of this area

Layered amphibolite, schist, gneiss, and quartzite. Protolith considered to be of Paleozoic age

Nonmarine sedimentary rocks (Eocene) at surface, covers 4 % of this area

Continentally derived conglomerate, pebble conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone, and mudstone containing abundant biotite and muscovite. Dominantly nonvolcanic; clastic material derived from underlying older rocks

Basalt and basaltic andesite (Pliocene to Pleistocene) at surface, covers 4 % 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

Mazama ash-flow deposits (Holocene) at surface, covers 3 % of this area

Rhyodacitic to andesitic ash-flow deposits related to climactic eruptions of Mount Mazama about 6,845 yr B.P. (14C) (Bacon, 1983)

Sedimentary and volcaniclastic rocks (Tertiary) at surface, covers 3 % of this area

Lapilli tuff, mudflow deposits (lahars), flow breccia, and volcanic conglomerate, mostly of basaltic to dacitic composition; rare iron-stained palagonitic tuff and breccia of basaltic and andesitic composition; and ash-flow, air-fall, and water-laid tuff of dacitic to rhyolitic composition. The palagonite tuff and breccia grade laterally into peperite and into lava flows of basalt and basaltic andesite

Alluvial deposits (Holocene) at surface, covers 3 % 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

Landslide and debris-flow deposits (Pleistocene to Holocene) at surface, covers 3 % 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

Basaltic andesite and basalt (Quaternary) at surface, covers 2 % 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

Melange of Dutchmans Peak (Paleozoic(?) to Jurassic(?)) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

Heterogeneous mixture of interlayered metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks metamorphosed to upper greenschist and (or) almandine-amphibolite facies, and serpentinite, gabbro, and metagabbro (Smith and others, 1982)

Sedimentary rocks, partly metamorphosed (Paleozoic to Jurassic(?)) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

Poorly bedded argillite, chert, phyllite, phyllitic quartzite, calc-phyllite, impure limestone, and marble. In places rocks are strongly foliated. In Klamath Mountains of southwest Oregon, includes shale, mudstone, volcaniclastic sandstone, graywacke, conglomerate, tuff, and minor radiolarian chert and marble of the Applegate Group

Clastic sedimentary rocks (Early to Late Cretaceous) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

Locally fossiliferous sandstone and conglomerate; marine fossils indicate Early Cretaceous (Albian) age (Jones, 1960). Includes the Hornbrook Formation of Peck and others (1956), the Grove Creek strata of Jones (1960) and Page and others (1977), Hunters Cove Formation, Cape Sebastian Sandstone, Humbug Mountain Conglomerate, and Rocky Point Formation (Dott, 1971; Blake and others, 1985) and clastic sedimentary rocks on the West Fork of the Illinois River near Waldo (Imlay and others, 1959), about 12 km south of Cave Junction

Fanglomerate (Pleistocene to Holocene) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

Poorly sorted and poorly stratified alluvial fan debris, slope wash, colluvium, and talus; composed mostly of silt and fragments of basalt, basaltic andesite, and andesite. In places includes small areas of pediment gravels and colluvium

Terrace, pediment, and lag gravels (Pleistocene to Holocene) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

Unconsolidated deposits of gravel, cobbles, and boulders intermixed and locally interlayered with clay, silt, and sand. Mostly on terraces and pediments above present flood plains. Includes older alluvium of Smith and others (1982) in the Klamath Mountains and both high- and low-level terraces along Oregon coast. Includes dissected alluvial fan deposits northeast of Lebanon, and Linn and Leffler Gravels of Allison and Felts (1956)

Glacial deposits (Pleistocene) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

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

Tuff (Tertiary) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

Welded to unwelded, mostly vitric crystal and vitric ash-flow tuff of several ages. Glass in tuff locally altered to clay, zeolites, and secondary silica minerals

Condrey Mountain Schist (Paleozoic(?) to Jurassic) at surface, covers 0.9 % of this area

Consists of a variety of schistose rocks characterized by different proportions of muscovite, quartz, graphite, chlorite, actinolite, and epidote, rare thin layers of metachert, and clinozoisite-actinolite-albite-garnet metagabbro. Potassium-argon age on muscovite from unit is about 141 Ma (Lanphere and others, 1968) and on a whole rock sample is about 155 Ma (Suppe and Armstrong, 1972), indicating a Late Jurassic metamorphic age. Protolith is probably Triassic and Paleozoic in age

Ultramafic and related rocks of ophiolite sequences; Basaltic volcanic and sedimentary rocks (Jurassic) at surface, covers 0.7 % of this area

Basalt flows, flow breccia, agglomerate, pillow basalt and pillow breccia, and lesser shale, chert, siltstone, and mudstone of ophiolitic complexes

Hypabyssal intrusive rocks (Miocene) at surface, covers 0.7 % of this area

Hypabyssal, medium-grained, hornblende diorite and quartz diorite in small stocks and large dikes; includes intrusions of medium- to fine-grained gabbro and plugs and small stocks of medium-grained, holocrystalline, olivine andesite. Also includes medium-grained, commonly porphyritic biotite quartz monzonite and leucocratic granodiorite. Many of these intrusive bodies are moderately to intensely propylitized, as are wallrocks they intrude; locally, along shears, the rocks also are sericitized. Potassium-argon ages on several of these shallow intrusions range from about 8 Ma to about 22 Ma (Wise, 1969; Bikerman, 1970; Sutter, 1978; Power and others, 1981a, b; Fiebelkorn and others, 1983)

Ultramafic and related rocks of ophiolite sequences (Paleozoic(?), Triassic(?), and Jurassic) at surface, covers 0.5 % of this area

Predominantly harzburgite and dunite with both cumulate and tectonite fabrics. Locally altered to serpentinite. Includes gabbroic rocks and sheeted diabasic dike complexes. Comprises Josephine ophiolite of Harper (1980), ophiolites of Onion Mountain, Sexton Mountain, Pearsoll Peak, Rogue River, and Riddle areas (Smith and others, 1982) and Coast Range ophiolite and serpentinite melange of M.C. Blake, Jr. and A.S. Jayko (unpublished data, 1985). In southwest Oregon, locally includes small bodies of early Mesozoic or late Paleozoic serpentinized and sheared ultramafic rocks, mostly in shear zones. Locally, volcanic and sedimentary rocks shown separately

Silicic vent complexes (Miocene) at surface, covers 0.4 % 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

Andesite (Quaternary) at surface, covers 0.3 % 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

Basalt and andesite intrusions (Oligocene(?) to Pliocene) at surface, covers 0.2 % 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

Mafic vent complexes (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

Sedimentary rocks (Late Jurassic) at surface, covers 0.2 % of this area

Black and gray mudstone, shale, siltstone, graywacke, andesitic to dacitic water-laid tuff, porcelaneous tuff, and minor interlayers and lenses of limestone and fine-grained sediments metamorphosed to phyllite or slate. Locally includes some felsite, andesite and basalt flows, breccia, and agglomerate. Marine invertebrate fauna indicates age range from Early Jurassic (Hettangian) to early Late Jurassic (Oxfordian). In Klamath Mountains of southwest Oregon, includes Galice Formation (Wells and Peck, 1961) and unnamed, hornblende- and (or) pyroxene-bearing clastic rocks of Jurassic age (Smith and others, 1982)

Pyroclastic ejecta of basaltic and andesitic cinder cones (Miocene to Holocene) at surface, covers 0.1 % of this area

Mostly unconsolidated, oxidized, fine to coarse, scoriaceous cinders, bombs, and agglutinate deposited in subaerial environment

Basaltic and andesitic rocks (Middle to Late Miocene) at surface, covers 0.1 % 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)

Mafic vent complexes (Late Miocene to Pleistocene) at surface, covers 0.1 % 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

Gabbro and ultramafic rocks associated with granitic plutons (Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Predominantly hornblende gabbro, gabbro, and olivine gabbro, but includes pyroxenite, hornblende pyroxene, and minor peridotite, dunite, and serpentinite (Smith and others, 1982)

Silicic ash-flow tuff (Late Miocene to Early Pliocene) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Ash-flow tuff and associated pumiceous air-fall tuff mostly of rhyolitic and rhyodacitic composition; includes minor tuffaceous sedimentary rocks. Grades laterally through less-densely welded tuff to nonwelded ash-flow tuff and interlayered tuffaceous sediments of unit Ts. Potassium-argon ages (Greene and others, 1972; Parker and Armstrong, 1972; Walker, 1979; McKee and others, 1976) on several different ash-flow tuffs included in unit range from about 4 to 10 Ma; although most ages are in the range of 6 to 9 Ma. Includes the Devine Canyon, Prater Creek, and Rattlesnake Ash-flow Tuffs (Walker, 1979), originally considered a part of the (now obsolete) Danforth Formation of Piper and others (1939), and the Rattlesnake Formation and the volcanic and fluvial deposits (undivided) and marginal facies of the Columbia River Group (undivided) of Brown and Thayer (1966). Also includes the welded soda--rhyolite tuff breccia of Dickinson and Vigrass (1965) in the Suplee-Izee area, the upper Miocene or lower Pliocene welded tuff of Prostka (1962; 1967) in the Baker area. "Welded ash-flow tuff" of Swanson (1969a) and the Pliocene Peyerl Tuff (Hampton, 1964) west of Fort Rock Valley, dated at about 4.5 Ma (McKee and others, 1976)

Paleozoic marine rocks, undivided, unit 9 (Western Klamath Mountains) (Devonian to Jurassic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Undivided Paleozoic metasedimentary rocks. Includes slate, sandstone, shale, chert, conglomerate, limestone, dolomite, marble, phyllite, schist, hornfels, and quartzite

Schist of various types and ages, unit 8 (Condrey Mountain) (Jurassic(?)) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Schists of various types; mostly Paleozoic or Mesozoic age; some Precambrian.

Columbia River Basalt Group and related flows (Miocene) at surface, covers < 0.1 % 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

Tertiary volcanic flow rocks, unit 17 (Cascade Range) (Tertiary (2-24 Ma)) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Tertiary volcanic flow rocks; minor pyroclastic deposits.

Volcanic rocks (Late Jurassic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Lava flows, flow breccia, and agglomerate dominantly of plagioclase, pyroxene, and hornblende porphyritic and aphyric andesite. Includes flow rocks that range in composition from basalt to rhyolite as well as some interlayered tuff and tuffaceous sedimentary rocks. Commonly metamorphosed to greenschist facies; locally foliated, schistose or gneissic. Includes the Rogue Formation and volcanic rocks commonly assigned to the Galice Formation (Wells and Walker, 1953; Wells and Peck, 1961). Considered to be accreted island-arc terrane

Quaternary volcanic flow rocks, unit 1, questionably identified (Cascade Volcanic Field) (Quaternary) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Quaternary volcanic flow rocks; minor pyroclastic deposits; in part Pliocene and Miocene.