Basalt and andesite intrusions (Pliocene, Miocene, and Oligocene?) (Oligocene(?) to Pliocene)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
Basalt and basaltic andesite (Holocene and Pleistocene) (Pleistocene to Holocene)Thin flows of aphyric and porphyritic basalt and basaltic andesite, and open-textured (dikytaxitic), generally nonporphyritic, subophitic olivine basalt that commonly is highly feldspathic. Also includes some dissected intracanyon flows of porphyritic basalt and related vent complexes. Pressure ridges and tumuli on upper surfaces well preserved. Occurs principally along crest of Cascade Range; also in areas near and east of Newberry volcano, along southeast margin of Harney Basin, and in Rome Basin. Older than Mazama ash deposits (Qma, Qmp; approximately 6,800 yr old; 14C)
Basalt and basaltic andesite (Pleistocene and Pliocene) (Pliocene to Pleistocene)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
Basaltic and andesitic rocks (upper and middle Miocene) (Middle to Late Miocene)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)
Basaltic andesite and basalt (Holocene? and Pleistocene) (Quaternary)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
Basalt (upper and middle Miocene) (Middle to Late Miocene)Basalt flows, flow breccia, and basaltic peperite; minor andesite flows; some interbeds of tuff and tuffaceous sedimentary rocks. Basalt is aphyric to moderately porphyritic with phenocrysts of plagioclase and olivine and exhibits both subophitic and diktytaxitic textures. Includes Picture Rock Basalt of Hampton (1964), radiometrically dated by potassium-argon methods as middle(?) and late Miocene in age (see Fiebelkorn and others, 1983), flows of Deer Butte Formation of Kittleman and others (1967), and extensive unnamed flow sequences in the Basin-Range and Owyhee Upland Provinces of southern Lake, Harney, and Malheur Counties that are younger than Steens Basalt, dated at about 15 Ma (Baksi and others, 1967) and the Owyhee Basalt, dated at about 14 Ma (Bottomley and York, 1976; see also Fiebelkorn and others, 1983), and older than 7 or 8 Ma. Partly coeval with the Saddle Mountains Basalt of the Columbia River Basalt Group (Swanson and others, 1979)
Clastic rocks and andesite flows (lower Oligocene?, Eocene, and Paleocene?) (Paleocene to Early Oligocene)Mostly andesitic lava flows, domes, breccia, and small intrusive masses and lesser basaltic to rhyolitic rocks; interlayered saprolite, bedded volcaniclastic and epiclastic mudstone, claystone, siltstone, sandstone, conglomerate, and mudflow (lahar) deposits. Mostly consists of Clarno Formation of central Oregon and unnamed rocks of Basin and Range Province in south-central Oregon. Fossil plants and vertebrates in these rocks are Eocene in age. Andesite and basalt lava flows are typically slightly altered; most glass is devitrified and altered to clay minerals, zeolites, and secondary feldspar. Reliable K-Ar ages of rocks from unit range from about 54 Ma to about 37 Ma (Evernden and James, 1964; Fiebelkorn and others, 1983). A number of K-Ar ages on rocks shown on source maps as part of the Clarno Formation are in the range of about 36 to 19 Ma (Fiebelkorn and others, 1983). Although these rocks are lithologically similar to, but generally less altered than, rocks of the Clarno Formation, they are coeval with the John Day Formation. Most of these enigmatic rocks of Oligocene and early Miocene age are included in unit Tas. At base of unit in Blue Mountains Province, locally includes quartzose and feldspathic sandstone, siltstone, and shale largely of granitic or metamorphic provenance; fossil plants in these sedimentary rocks indicate an early Eocene or Paleocene age
Columbia River Basalt Group and related flows (Miocene) (Miocene)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
Flows and clastic rocks, undifferentiated (Miocene) (Miocene)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
Grande Ronde Basalt (middle and lower Miocene) (Early to Middle Miocene)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)
Intrusive basalt and andesite (Pleistocene, Pliocene, and Miocene) (Miocene to Pleistocene)Sills, plugs and dikes of basaltic andesite, basalt, and andesite. In the Cascade Range most of these represent feeders, exposed by erosion, for flows and flow breccias of units Tba and Trb and a few are feeders for units QTba and QTa; in foothills of western Cascades includes several sins and dikes that may represent feeders for flows in unit Tu. May include some invasive flows. Includes a few dikes of hornblende and plagioclase porphyritic andesite, commonly altered, that probably were feeders for parts of unit Tu
Late basalt (Holocene or upper Pleistocene) (Late Pleistocene to Holocene)Thin flows of scoriaceous, mostly olivine-bearing basalt in southeast Oregon; upper surfaces of flows characterized by blocky, spiny, or pahoehoe structures and by pressure ridges and tumuli, all essentially unmodified by erosion. Occurs at Diamond and Jordan Craters, the Devils Garden (Peterson, 1965), Lava Mountain, east flank of Green Mountain, and Pumice Desert
Mafic and intermediate intrusive rocks (Pliocene and Miocene) (Miocene to Pliocene)Dikes, plugs, and sills of basalt, diabase, gabbro, and lesser andesite that fed many of the Miocene basalt and andesite flows in units Tc and Tba. Some intrusions are rootless and are invasive into sedimentary sequences; includes related breccia and peperite. Includes the Monument dike swarm of northwestern Grant County (OR061), the Chief Joseph dike swarm principally in Baker and Wallowa Counties (OR093), the Steens Mountain dike swarm in Harney County (OR005; OR094; OR095) and numerous isolated intrusive bodies in southern Lake County and several intrusive masses in and near-vent flows in southern Malheur County (OR023;OR024). May also include some lower Pleistocene(?) rocks
Mafic vent complexes (Miocene) (Miocene)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
Mafic vent complexes (Pleistocene, Pliocene, and Miocene?) (Late Miocene to Pleistocene)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
Mafic vent deposits (Pleistocene, Pliocene, and Miocene?) (Miocene to Pleistocene)Mostly in small stratovolcanoes or shield volcanoes and lava cones of basalt and andesite. Includes agglomerate, breccia, scoria, cinders, ash, restricted flows, and small basaltic intrusive bodies. Transitional into pyroclastic rocks of cinder cones (QTp). May also include rocks of late Miocene(?) age
Olivine basalt (Pliocene and Miocene) (Miocene to Pliocene)Thin, commonly open-textured (diktytaxitic), subophitic to intergranular olivine basalt flows, intercalated with and grades laterally through palagonite breccia and tuff into tuffaceous sedimentary rocks (unit Ts). In places includes flows of platy olivine andesite or basaltic andesite. Several potassium-argon ages ranging from about 4 to 7 Ma indicate unit is mostly of early Pliocene and late Miocene age. Includes Shumuray Ranch Basalt and Antelope Flat Basalt of Kittleman and others (1965), Grassy Mountain Basalt of Corcoran and others (1962), Drinkwater Basalt of Bowen and others (1963), basalt formerly assigned to Danforth Formation by Piper and others (1939) (see Walker, 1979), Hayes Butte Basalt of Hampton (1964), Pliocene and upper Miocene basalt flows capping and interstratified with the Madras (or Deschutes) Formation, and basalt flows interstratified in the Dalles Formation of Newcomb (1966; 1969)
Olivine basalt (Pliocene and Miocene) (Miocene to Pliocene)Thin, commonly open-textured (diktytaxitic), subophitic to intergranular olivine basalt flows, intercalated with and grades laterally through palagonite breccia and tuff into tuffaceous sedimentary rocks (unit Ts). In places includes flows of platy olivine andesite or basaltic andesite. Several potassium-argon ages ranging from about 4 to 7 Ma indicate unit is mostly of early Pliocene and late Miocene age. Includes Shumuray Ranch Basalt and Antelope Flat Basalt of Kittleman and others (1965), Grassy Mountain Basalt of Corcoran and others (1962), Drinkwater Basalt of Bowen and others (1963), basalt formerly assigned to Danforth Formation by Piper and others (1939) (see Walker, 1979), Hayes Butte Basalt of Hampton (1964), Pliocene and upper Miocene basalt flows capping and interstratified with the Madras (or Deschutes) Formation, and basalt flows interstratified in the Dalles Formation of Newcomb (1966; 1969)
Porphyritic basalt (upper Eocene) (Late Eocene)Subaerial lava flows and breccia of porphyritic basalt, minor basaltic andesite, and rare dacite. Includes basalt of Cascade Head (Wells and others, 1983), Yachats Basalt (Snavely and others, 1976c) and Goble Volcanic Series (Warren and others, 1945). Also includes camptonitic extrusive rocks (tuff breccia, lapilli tuff, and minor pillow flows) interbedded in Nestucca Formation
Rhyolitic tuff, tuffaceous sedimentary rocks, and lava flows (lower Miocene, Oligocene, and uppermost Eocene?) (Late Eocene to Early Miocene)Rhyolitic to dacitic varicolored bedded tuff, lapilli tuff, and fine- to medium-grained tuffaceous sedimentary rocks with interstratified welded and nonwelded ash-flow tuff and interbedded basalt and andesite flows. Also includes minor rhyolite and dacite flows and domes. Glass in tuff and tuffaceous sedimentary rocks is commonly altered to zeolites, clay minerals, and small amounts of opal, chalcedony, orthoclase, and calcite. Fossil plants and vertebrates indicate an Oligocene and Miocene age. Locally a late Hemingfordian age indicated by mammalian fauna (Woodburn and Robinson, 1977). May include some rocks of middle Miocene age in the area west and northwest of Lakeview. Potassium-argon ages on rocks from unit range from about 36 Ma (Swanson and Robinson, 1968) to about 20 Ma. Includes Pike Creek Formation of Walker and Repenning (1965), originally identified as Pike Creek Volcanic Series by Fuller (1931), and unnamed volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of southern Lake County, some of which have been correlated with the Miocene and Oligocene Cedarville Formation of northeastern California
Sedimentary rocks (Jurassic) (Late Jurassic )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)
Strawberry Volcanics (Pliocene? and Miocene) (Miocene to Pliocene)Flows and flow breccia of basalt, basaltic andesite, and andesite; includes restricted domal complexes and related flows and breccia of rhyolite and dacite (Thayer, 1957; Brown and Thayer, 1966). Potassium-argon ages are mostly in the range of 12 to 20 Ma (Robyn, 1977; Fiebelkorn and others, 1983)
Subaqueous pyroclastic ejecta of basaltic and andesitic cinder cones (Holocene, Pleistocene, Pliocene, and Miocene?) (Miocene to Holocene)Partly consolidated, palagonitized, fine to coarse, scoriaceous altered cinders, bombs, breccia, and minor agglutinate, mostly deposited in subaqueous environment. Commonly with some interlayers and intermixed lacustrine sedimentary rocks. Forms palagonitic tuff and breccia cones and rings (maars) and, in places, palagonitic tuff ridges
Tillamook Volcanics (upper and middle Eocene) (Middle Eocene to Late Eocene)Subaerial basaltic flows and breccia and submarine basaltic breccia, pillow lavas, lapilli and augite-rich tuff with interbeds of basaltic sandstone, siltstone, and conglomerate. Includes some basaltic andesite and, near the top of the sequence, some dacite. Potassium-argon ages on middle and lower parts of sequence range from about 43 to 46 Ma (Magill and others, 1981): one potassium-argon age from dacite near top of sequence is about 40 Ma (see Wells and others, 1983)
Ultramafic and related rocks of ophiolite sequences; Basaltic volcanic and sedimentary rocks (Jurassic) (Jurassic)Basalt flows, flow breccia, agglomerate, pillow basalt and pillow breccia, and lesser shale, chert, siltstone, and mudstone of ophiolitic complexes
Undifferentiated tuffaceous sedimentary rocks, tuffs, and basalt (Miocene and Oligocene) (Oligocene to Miocene)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 +/- 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
Volcanic and metavolcanic rocks (Upper Triassic) (Late Triassic)Green to gray spilite and keratophyre flows and flow breccia; and subordinate amounts of coarse volcaniclastic sandstone, tuff, sandstone, siltstone, chert, conglomerate, and limestone. Marine fauna from interlayered sedimentary rocks indicates unit is mostly of Karnian (Late Triassic) age. Includes Late Triassic "andesitic and basaltic rocks" of Nolf and Taubeneck (1963), and the basaltic to rhyolitic metavolcanic rocks and interbedded sedimentary rocks of the Huntington Formation of Brooks (1979). Equivalent, in part, to unit TrPv
Volcanic rocks (Jurassic) (Late Jurassic)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
Volcanic rocks (Triassic and Permian) (Triassic and (or) Jurassic)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
Yamhill Formation and related rocks (upper and middle Eocene) (Middle Eocene to Late Eocene)Massive to thin-bedded concretionary marine siltstone and thin interbeds of arkosic, glauconitic, and basaltic sandstone; locally contains interlayered basalt lava flows and lapilli tuff. Foraminiferal assemblages in siltstone referred to the Ulatisian and lower Narizian Stages (Snavely and others, 1969; McKeel, 1980) Includes the Elkton Formation of Baldwin (1974; also see Beaulieu and Hughes, 1975), which consists of thin-bedded siltstone and minor sandstone interbeds
