November 2015 Outcrop by The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

Volume 64 • No. 11 • November 2015

The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

2015 Summit Sponsors E x clus ive Lu nc he o n Sp o nso r

G o ld Sp o nso rs

Student Sponsor

Silver Sponsors GEOMARK

Bronze Sponsors

OUTCROP | November 2015

Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

910 16th Street • Suite 1214 • Denver, CO 80202 • 303-573-8621 The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists (RMAG) is a nonprofit organization whose purposes are to promote interest in geology and allied sciences and their practical application, to foster scientific research and to encourage fellowship and cooperation among its members. The Outcrop is a monthly publication of the RMAG.

2015 OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESIDENT

SECRETARY

Marv Brittenham president@rmag.org

Stephanie B. Gaswirth sgaswirth@usgs.gov

PRESIDENT-ELECT

1st YEAR COUNSELOR

John Ladd john.ladd@discoverynr.com

Jane Estes-Jackson Jane.Estes-Jackson@mcelvain.com

TREASURER-ELECT

TREASURER

Tom Sperr tsperr@bayless-cos.com

Paul Lillis plillis@usgs.gov

2nd VICE PRESIDENT

2nd YEAR COUNSELOR

Chris Eisinger chris.eisinger@state.co.us

Terri Olson tmolson8550@gmail.com

1st VICE PRESIDENT

Mel Klinger melklinger@eurekageologicalconsulting.com

RMAG STAFF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Carrie Veatch, MA cveatch@rmag.org MEMBERSHIP & EVENTS MANAGER

Hannah Rogers hrogers@rmag.org PROJECTS SPECIALIST

Emily Tompkins Lewis etompkins@rmag.org ACCOUNTANT

Carol Dalton cdalton@rmag.org MANAGING EDITOR

Will Duggins will.duggins@i-og.net

ADVERTISING INFORMATION

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Rates and sizes can be found on page 54. Advertising rates apply to either black and white or color ads. Submit color ads in RGB color to be compatible with web format. Borders are recommended for advertisements that comprise less than one half page. Digital files must be PC compatible submitted in png, jpg, tif, pdf or eps formats at a minimum of 300 dpi. If you have any questions, please call the RMAG office at 303-573-8621.

Holly Sell holly.sell@yahoo.com Greg Guyer Greg.Guyer@halliburton.com

Ad copy, signed contract and payment must be received before advertising insertion. Contact the RMAG office for details.

Cheryl Fountain cwhitney@alumni.nmt.edu

DEADLINES: Ad submissions are the 1st of every month for the following month’s publication.

Andre Scheinwald aschein33001@gmail.com

WEDNESDAY NOON LUNCHEON RESERVATIONS

RMAG Office: 303-573-8621 | Fax: 303-476-2241 | staff@rmag.org or www.rmag.org

DESIGN/PRODUCTION

Nate Silva nate@nate-silva.com

The Outcrop is a monthly publication of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

3 3

Outcrop | November 2015 OUTCROP

RMAG SEPT. 2015 BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING By Stephanie Gaswirth, Secretary sgaswirth@usgs.gov

and more information will be coming to members. Usernames and passwords will stay the same. If you have any questions about the new website, please do not hesitate to ask! Our wonderful office staff can help with any issues and inquiries. The RMAG election for the 2016 Board of Directors is rapidly approaching. The election will run from November 2-18. Candidates will be announced at the November lunch and at the Rockbusters Ball. Speaking of the latter, registration for Rockbusters is open! The annual event will take place on November 14 at the Warwick Hotel. Cost is $55 per person, and there is a hotel room discount available at the Warwick. Other upcoming events as 2015 rapidly comes to a close include the remaining November and December luncheons at Maggianoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and the NAPE happy hour on December 9 from 4-6 p.m. at the Denver Convention Center. We hope to see you at an upcoming RMAG event!

The September meeting of the RMAG Board of Directors was held on September 16, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. Treasurer Paul Lillis reported another good month for RMAG financially. The board reviewed the 2016 proposed budget at the meeting, and will vote on the budget at the October BOD meeting. The new website launch will be on November 2,

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OUTCROP | November 2015

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Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

CONTENTS FEATURES

ASSOCIATION NEWS

10 Colorado’s Stratigraphy: Eight chapters in time and space

2 RMAG 2015 Summit Sponsors

DEPARTMENTS 4 RMAG Sept. 2015 Board of Directors Meeting 6 From the Executive Director 8 Welcome New RMAG Members 9 In The Pipeline 30 RMAG Luncheon programs: Speaker – Ranie M. Lynds 32 RMAG Luncheon programs: Speaker – Dr. Lesli J. Wood 38 Mineral of the Month: Molybdenite

36 Welcome To Professor Lesli Wood 36 RMAG Foundation 37 RMAG holds 3rd Annual Sporting Clay Tournament 42 2015 Summit Sponsor Interview 45 NAPE on the Rocks 47 Thank You Fall Symposium Sponsors 49 RMAG Rockbusters Ball 51 3D Seismic Symposium 53 RMAG/DAPL Geoland Ski Day

COVER PHOTO In Ouray’s Box Canyon, the great gaps in Colorado’s stratigraphic record are evident, as they are in Colorado’s new stratigraphic chart (see Lead Story by Raynolds and Hagadorn). Devonian Elbert Formation, unconformably atop the Paleoproterozoic Uncompahgre Formation. Image: Paul Weimer.

54 Calendar 54 Outcrop Advertising Rates 55 Advertiser Index

Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | November 2015

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR By Carrie Veatch cveatch@rmag.orgv

publications, formed a Corporate Advisory Board, built a five year strategic plan, and are in the process of migrating to a new website by the time you read this article. I am thankful to have an amazing staff and membership base full of volunteers that make RMAG such a fantastic community of people. I do not think I have ever met a group of more committed and enthusiastic volunteers than at RMAG and for that I am extremely grateful. We would not be able to continue to keep the vision of RMAG moving forward if it were not for all of our volunteers and sponsors. Thank you for your commitment and dedication to keeping our geoscience community vibrant and growing. If you have never been involved in RMAG, I encourage you to join a committee or attend an event. As a non-geoscientist, leading this organization, I am humbled and thankful for a wonderful community that is continually teaching me, encouraging me, and helping me love what I get to do each and every day. It is an honor to lead this organization!

RMAG is such a fantastic place to work! Just like everyone else, I often get asked by my friends and family to explain my job. “What is it like to run an association? What is it that an Executive Director does at RMAG?” As the person in charge of the day to day operations of RMAG, an Executive Director has many unique responsibilities. I am charged with: • Enforcing the vision of RMAG • Recruiting and managing the staff • Maintaining a productive relationship with The Board of Directors • Implementing a sustainable fundraising plan and managing The Association’s finances • Ensuring The Association continues to stay relevant to our constituents • Growing and serving the membership • Managing all of RMAG committees of volunteers

RMAG has come a long way in the three years that I have been here. We have moved to all digital

VOLUNTER! OUTCROP | November 2015

As a diverse community of individuals working towards a worthy cause, we believe that your unique talents can bring us all forward. Volunteers are always needed and welcome! If you would like to volunteer for any of our committees or events, please contact the RMAG office at (303) 573-8621 or staff@rmag.org

Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | November 2015

WELCOME NEW RMAG MEMBERS!

is a SVP Geosciences at Bill Barrett Corporation in Denver, CO.

Scott Hornafius

is the President at Elk Petroleum, Inc. in Casper, WY.

is a student in Fort Collins, CO.

Miriam Moller

Jessica Jarvis

Jennifer Curnow

works at Cougar Land Services in Denver, CO.

Frances Harris

is a Sr Geologist in Denver, CO.

works at Whiting Petroleum in Denver, CO.

is a Staff Geologist/Geophysicist at Olson Engineering in Westminster, CO.

James Kamis

lives in Denver, CO.

Elizabeth Rose

is a Technical Advisor at Drillinginfo, Inc. in Littleton, CO.

Christopher Lang

Bretani Heron

Vandy Spikes

is a Geophysicist at WPX Energy in Tulsa, OK.

is a Geologist at Anadarko Petroleum in Denver, CO.

Caroline Martin

Terry Barrett

is the President at Earth Science Agency in Erie, CO.

Kevin Liner

works at Stephens Production Company in Denver, CO.

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OUTCROP | November 2015

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neil3@q.com 80433-9610

45 Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

IN THE PIPELINE DECEMBER 1-3, 2015

NOVEMBER 1-4, 2015 GSA Annual Meeting. Baltimore, MD.

PTTC Short Course. “Well-Log Sequence Stratigraphy: Applications to Sandstones and Shales.” CSM, Golden, CO.

NOVEMBER 4, 2015 DECEMBER 2, 2015

RMAG Luncheon. Speaker Ranie Lynds. “The Case for another Look at the Paleocene Fort Union Formation in the Eastern Greater Green River Basin, WY.” Location: Maggiano’s Little Italy, Downtown Denver.

RMAG Luncheon. Speaker: Dr. Lesli J. Wood. “Re-visiting controls on shelf sand distribution and re-newing exploration success in these highly complex depositional settings: Application of worldwide studies to improved exploration success in the basins of the Western Interior”

NOVEMBER 13, 2015

DWLS Annual Holiday Party. TBA

DIPS Lucheon. Speaker Debra Gomez. “Geology of Southern Madagascar.” NOVEMBER 14, 2015 RMAG Rockbusters Ball. NOVEMBER 16-17, 2015

June 21st On-the-

LOCATION we’ll lease it, permit it, gather it and sell it

Continued from page 43 PTTC Short Course. Rocks Field Trip “Petroleum Engineering for Non-Engineers.” CSM, Golden, CO. created a sensational buzz in the scientific community NOVEMBER 17, is 2015 and elsewhere testimonial to excellent research conducted by Dr. Siddoway, her students and her DWLS Luncheon. collaborators. The members of the OTR field trip, on the Speaker Margaret Lessenger Newfield. longest day of the year, were able to catch a bit of that “Subsurface Fluid Characterization Using magic. As a final act of closure, the skies opened up as Downhole and Core NMR T1T2 Maps and Pore we drove back to collect our cars at the Visitor’s Center. Scale.” Dime-sized hail pelted the group and made continued discussion, and even goodbyes, impossible. What started as a nice day with great potential turned into a highly memorable learning experience with impact. Daub & Associates, Inc.

References :

SPECIALIZING IN PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL, Myrow, P.M., Taylor, J.F., Miller, GEOLOGICAL, J.F., Ethington, R.L., Ripperdan, HYDROLOGICAL, GEOTECHNICAL AND PERMITTING SERVICES R.L., and Allen, J., 2003, Fallen Arches: Dispelling Myths Concerning Cambrian and Ordovician Paleogeography of the P.G., C.P.G. Rocky Mountain Region: Geological Society of America Bulletin, President  v. 115, no. 6, p. 695–713  Siddoway, C., Myrow, P., and Fitz-Díaz, E., 2013, Strata, Structures,  and Enduring Enigmas: A 125th Anniversary Appraisal of Colorado Springs Geology, in Abbott, L.D., and Hancock, G.S.,  gjdaub@daubandassociates.com  eds., Classic Concepts and New Directions: Exploring 125 Years www.daubandassociates.com  of GSA Discoveries in the Rocky Mountain Region: Geological Society of America Field Guide 33, p. 331–356. Siddoway, C, Shatford, S. and Contreras, A. A. 2013, ARMO of CambrianVol. 64, No. 11 Reactivation | www.rmag.org Ordovician or Older Structures: Detrital Zircon Evidence from “Structureless” Sandstones of the Souther Front Range

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OUTCROP | November 2015

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LEAD STORY

COLORADOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S STRATIGRAPHY Eight chapters in time and space

Devonian Elbert Formation, unconformably atop the Paleoproterozoic Uncompahgre Formation. Image: Paul Weimer.

OUTCROP | November 2015

Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

By Robert G. Raynolds and James W. Hagadorn, Denver Museum of Nature & Science

We propose that Colorado’s stratigraphic record can be subdivided into eight distinct depositional chapters that span the tectonic and climatic history of our region. This hypothesis is grounded in a community-based revision of the state’s stratigraphic chart, which we present here. Whereas this chart illustrates patterns that are often obscured by basement uplifts, hidden beneath volcanic edifices, or orphaned in isolated basins, it also highlights stratigraphic packages that are ripe for further study and better temporal-spatial constraint.

STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

Geologists have studied Colorado’s sedimentary record for over a century. Yet broad patterns remain challenging to discern despite technical and conceptual advances that have deepened our understanding of specific basins and stratigraphic packages. With support and feedback from the community, we have revised and recast the stratigraphic chart of Colorado with much of this new information.

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | November 2015

Lead Story

FIGURE 1: Richard “Rick” Pearl teaching Colorado College students at Garden of the Gods. Image: Colorado College Archives.

The new stratigraphic chart builds on the shoulders of many. Our effort started with the work of Richard Pearl, a mineralogist at Colorado College who studied Colorado’s geology deeply and who enjoyed sharing his knowledge with students and the public (Figure 1). His outreach included publication of over 20 books and many other popular articles. With his eloquent prose, he inspired many to explore Colorado’s mineral heritage and landscapes. He also developed the one-page Colorado Stratigraphic Chart – which in various forms has been used by many of us for the last 40 years (Pearl, 1974, 1977). Dovetailing Pearl’s work with that of Harry Wheeler (1958, 1964), Larry Sloss (1963) and Peter Vail and colleagues (Vail et al., 1977), the new chart employs a linear time scale and a facies-related color scheme to assist visualization of erosional OUTCROP | November 2015

and depositional patterns. The basin map and chart (Figures 2 and 3) are free to download at coloradostratigraphy.org. The chart is linked to paleogeographic maps (Blakey and Ranney, 2008), paintings of ancient landscapes (Johnson and Raynolds, 2006), regional subsurface cross sections (Irwin, 1977), structure sections (Nesse, 2006), animations of ancient landscapes, and more.

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

EIGHT CHAPTERS

Colorado’s geologic history can be thought of as a book of eight chapters (Figure 4) each made up of one or more deposodes (sensu Galloway et al., 2011). This chapter-style framework for Colorado mirrors one developed for Utah by Lehi Hintze in his 1988 Geologic History of Utah (see also Hintze and Kowallis, 2009). Over the last two decades, it has also been

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | November 2015

Lead Story Front Range Outcrops

108˚

104˚

Gre e

n River

Sand Wash Basin

Uintas

Cache La Poudre

Steamboat Springs

40˚

Uinta Basin

ive Colorado R

Eagle Basin Piceance r Basin Rive

le Eag

Greeley

Pla t

t e R i ver

40˚

Denver-Julesburg Basin Denver

South Pla tte

R iv

Co lor ad o

Glenwood Springs

r s Rive nsa ka Ar

n R iver

Uncompahgre

Colorado Springs

Gunnison

Montrose

Pueblo 38˚

Anim as

r ve Ri

San Juan Basin

R iver

Lamar

38˚

Raton Basin

Alamosa

R i ve

Durango

Gr an de

San Luis and Arkansas River Valleys

Rio

Arka nsa sR iv

Pu rg at o

San Juan Volcanics

Paradox Basin

Cortez

Sout

South Park Basin

is o

Sterling

Fort Collins

Riv er

Grand Junction n

R iv er

North and Middle Park Basins

Yam pa Ri

ire

Southeast Colorado

Trinidad

San J 108˚

C.G.S.

104˚

FIGURE 2: Generalized Colorado basin map indicating geographic subdivisions used on the Colorado Stratigraphic Chart.

useful as a teaching tool for introductory geology students at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Colorado’s first chapter is anchored on 1.7 to 1.8 Ga crystalline rocks and their associated younger (1.0 to 1.7 Ga) batholithic intrusions. This chapter includes the Neoproterozoic clastic dikes of the Front Range (Tava Sandstone; Siddoway and Gehrels, 2014), and the thick fluvial sandstone of the Uinta Mountain Group in the Uinta aulacogen. These rocks provide the foundation upon which Colorado’s Phanerozoic sediments accumulated. The second chapter consists of early and middle Paleozoic passive margin marine and coastal strata deposited on the stable westwards-facing flank of the Laurentian craton. These have been subdivided into regional sequences by Sloss (1963), characterized by OUTCROP | November 2015

basal transgressive siliciclastics overlain by carbonate highstand successions; these are often punctuated by unconformities reflecting regional regressions. These strata include the Sauk sequence expressed as the Sawatch Quartzite, Dotsero Formation, and Manitou Formation, the Tippecanoe sequence recorded as the Harding Sandstone and Fremont Limestone, and the Kaskaskia sequence, represented by the Chaffee Group and Leadville Limestone. Although internally complex (Myrow et al., 2003), these regionally extensive sandstones and platform carbonates can be correlated across Colorado and into surrounding states. This entire succession is spectacularly exposed along the walls of Glenwood Canyon. The third chapter is composed of strata that accumulated during the Pennsylvanian-Permian

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

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Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | November 2015

Lead Story

Grand Mesa volcs

Goodenough

Telluride Conglomerate

Eocene

Molina Ss

Sego Corcoran Pt Lookout

Cretaceous

460 480

Entrada Ss

Greenhorn Graneros

Mowry

Dakota Grp

Lytle Pebbles

Van Bibber Ss Kassler Ss Skull Creek Sh Plainview Ss

Codell

Rocky Ford Ss

Ft Hays Ls

Mowry

Dakota Grp

Smoky Hill

Greenhorn Ls Graneros Sh

D Ss

Lytle

Niobrara

Smoky Hill Ft Hays Ls

Codell

Carlile Sh Greenhorn Ls Graneros Sh Dakota Grp

Dakota Grp

Horsetooth Mbr Ft Collins Mbr Skull Ck Sh Plainview Ss Lytle

Huntsman Sh -- D Ss J Ss Kiowa Sh Fall River Ss Chyenne Ss Purgatoire Glen Cairn Sh

Sub Dakota unconformity

Ft Hays Ls

Codell Carlile Sh

Carlile Sh Greenhorn Ls Graneros Sh

Sub Dakota unconformity

Entrada Ss

Entrada/Sundance

Entrada Ss

Glen Canyon Ss Glen Canyon Ss

J0 unconformity

Chinle

Gartra Mbr

Tr3 unconformity

Tr1 unconformity

White Rim Ss

Kaibab Ls.

Morrowan

Phosphoria / Park City

Phosphoria

Weber

S Cyn Ck Mbr Weber

Organ Rock/Cutler Grp

Maroon

Hermosa Rico Honaker Trail Paradox Salt Ismay Desert Ck Group Akah Barker Ck Pinkerton Trail

Eagle V Evap Belden

Minturn

Morgan Round Valley

Eagle V Evap Belden

Schoolhouse Tongue

Early

Leadville Ls

Pre Devonian Unconformity

Coffee Pot Mbr

Dyer Dolomite

Broken Rib Mbr

Parting Ss

Pre Devonian Unconformity

Dyer Dolomite Parting Fm

Pre Devonian unconformity

Manitou Dol

Tintic, Ignacio Quartzite

“great” unconformity

Sub Harding unconformity

Manitou Dol

Dotsero

Dotsero Fm

Sawatch Lodore Tintic

Lodore Sandstone

“great” unconformity

Yeso

Sumner Grp. Chase Grp Council Grove Grp

Wolfcamp Wabaunsee Shawnee

Wabaunsee

Lansing

Fountain Fountain

Glen Eyrie

Belden

Blaine Gypsum

Cedar Hills Ss Stone Corral

Glorieta Ss

Wellington Fm

Sharpsdale Kerber

Whitehorse Grp

Blaine Gypsum

Cedar Hills Ss Stone Corral

Satanka/Owl Cyn

Sangre de Cristo

Day Creek Dol

Shawnee Lansing Kansas City Marmaton Cherokee Sh Atoka Morrow

Sangre de Cristo

Kansas City Marmaton Cherokee Sh Atoka Morrow

Madera

Keyes Ss

Molas

Pre Pennsylvanian unconformity

Leadville Ls

Dyer Dolomite Parting Ss

Leadville/ Hardscrabble

Pre Pennsylvanian unconformity

Beulah Ls

St. Louis Ls Salem Warsaw Osage Ls

Hardscrabble Ls / Leadville

Williams Canyon Kinderhook Ls Misener Ss Ls

Williams Canyon Ls

Ste. Genevieve Ls St. Louis Ls Spergen Ls Warsaw Osage Ls Kinderhook Ls

Parting Ss

Pre Devonian unconformity

Silurian and Ordovician fossils in kimberlite pipes west of Virginia Dale

Fremont Ls Harding Ss

Harding Ss

Sub Harding unconformity

Crestone Cgl

Pre Devonian unconformity

Fremont Ls Harding Ss

Forelle Ls Glendo Minnekahta Ls Opeche Sh

Saline beds Lyons

Maroon

Gilman Ss

Gore Fault

Silurian

Uncompahgre Uplift

Pre Devonian unconformity

Uncompahgre Uplift

Aneth

Middle Early

Pre Pennsylvanian Unconformity

Gilman Ss Chaffee Grp

McCracken Mbr.

Late

Pre Pennsylvanian Unconformity

Leadville Ls

Middle

Early

Molas

Pre Pennsylvanian Unconformity

Taloga Forelle Ls

Gore Fault

Pre Pennsylvanian Unconformity

Lykins

Chaffee Grp

Osagean

Molas

Frontrangia Uplift

Late

Meramecian

Molas

Dockum Grp

Forelle Ls.

Ingleside

Belden

Chinle Grp

Lykins

(Chugwater in Wyo)

Minturn

Minturn Eagle V Evap

Molas

Chesterian

Strain Mbr

Jelm Chugwater

Jacque Mt Ls

Gothic

Maroon Minturn

Virgilian

Tr1 unconformity

State Bridge

Weber

Missourian Desmoinesian Atokan

Moenkopi

Leonardian Wolfcampian

Tr3 unconformity

Frontrangia Uplift

Guadalupian

Tr3 unconformity

J2 unconformity

Laramide Uplift

Navajo/Nugget Ss

Chinle

Entrada Ss

Sundance

Garo Ss

J2 unconformity

Wingate Ss

Chinle (Dolores)

Morrison (Ralston Ck)

Morrison

J5 unconformity

Curtis

Carmel

Kayenta

Morrison (Ralston Ck Fm)

Morrison

Sub Dakota unconformity

Curtis

J0 unconformity

Dallas Creek/Ridgeway Fault

Devonian

Morrison

J5 Unconformity

Navajo Ss

Kayenta Wingate Ss

Brushy Basin Salt Wash

Morrison

J2 unconformity

Elbert

PALEOZOIC

Pierre Sh

Niobrara

Smoky Hill

Frontrangia Uplift

Wanakah

Ouray Ls.

Cambrian

520

Dakota Grp

Mowry

Frontrangia Uplift

Carmel

Dotsero

500

Dakota Grp

Sub Dakota unconformity

Shinarump Mbr Gartra Mbr

Late

Ordovician

440

Mowry Lytle Pebbles

Late

360

420

Niobrara

Carlile

Benton

Frontrangia Uplift

Entrada Ss

San Rafael Grp

Salt Wash Junction Creek Ss Tidwell J5 Unconformity

Carmel Navajo Ss

Early

Brushy Basin

Morrison

Kinderhookian

400

Mowry

Sub Dakota unconformity

Chaffee Grp

Triassic Permian Pennsylvanian

Carboniferous

Mississippian

300

380

Dakota Grp

Uncompahgre and Laramide Uplifts

Westwater Salt Wash TidwellSalt Wash

San Rafael Grp

Brushy Basin

Wanakah Pony Express Mbr

Glen Cyn Grp

Jurassic

Middle

Early

340

Niobrara

Frontier

Cretaceous shales

Mowry

Dakota Grp

Raton Cgl

Pierre Sh

Sharon Springs Niobrara

Niobrara

Pierre Sh

Codell

Frontier Ss

Sub Dakota unconformity

Recapture Ck

J5 Unconformity

Ochoan

260

320

Hygiene Ss

Pierre Sh

Vermejo Fm. Trinidad Ss.

Lake T’oodochi

Morrison

Late

Middle

280

Poison Cyn Raton Laramie Richards Ss Sussex Ss Shannon Ss

Fox Hills

Pierre Sh

Kremmling Ss Niobrara

Niobrara

Dawson Arkose

Green Mt Cgl D1 Sequence Denver Arapahoe Cgl. Sub Arapahoe unconformity Laramie

Fox Hills

Hygiene Mbr

Mancos Sh

Mancos Sh Niobrara

Mowry

J0 unconformity

240

Fox Hills

Trout Ck

Moropas Ss

Mancos Sh

Devil’s Hole

Paleosol

Reinecker Ridge Cgl. Laramie

Pando Porphyry

Laramie

Sego

Sub Dakota unconformity

200 220

Rollins Castlegate

Spanish Peaks

Brule Chadron

Larkspur Conglomerate

South Park

Windy Gap Mbr

Cozzette

White River Grp.

Castle Rock Rhyolite

Buckhorn Cgl

Early

MESOZOIC

180

Florissant

D2 Sequence

Middle Park

Sub Windy Gap unconformity Fox Hills

Dakota Grp Burro Canyon / Cedar Mt

Burro Canyon

Thirty nine mile Volc

Montezuma

Ogallala

Farisita Huerfano-Cuchara

Animas

Lance

Frontier Ss

Dakota Grp

White River

Castle Rock Conglomerate

Breckenridge Lacolith

Ohio Ck Cgl Sub Ohio Creek unconformity

Sub Ohio Creek unconformity

Pictured Cliffs

Antero

Coalmont

Williams Fork

Cliff House

Mt Cumulus Mt Richthofen

Blanco Basin

Ft Union

Young basalt flows

Martins Canyon

Arikaree

Fluorite

Rabbit Ears vols.

Wasatch

Ohio Ck Cgl

Menefee

Wagon Tongue

Tallahassee Ck Cgl

Wasatch

Ft Union

Lewis Sh MV

Trump

North Park

SE Colorado Area

Raton Basin

Ogallala

Gravels at Divide

Troublesome

WM Tuff

Washakie/Bridger

Nacimiento / Animas Ojo Alamo Ss.

Gravel Mt Independence Mt

Grouse Mt Basalt

San Juan V Conejos

Bishop Conglomerate

Green River San Jose

Alamosa Dry Union Santa Fe Los Pinos

erosion surfa

Uinta

Mancos Sh

160

Gilbert Peak

Mt Sopris

Fruitland

140

Browns Park

Creede

West Elk Volcanics

Kirtland

120

Browns Park

1,4-5 my basalt

Denver Julesburg Basin

Front Range Outcrops

South Park Basin

San Juan Volcanics

Oligocene

Sub Ojo Alamo unconformity

100

Flat Tops volcanics

Treasure Mt

North / Middle Park Basin

Colorado Grp

Mineralization

Plio/Pleis Miocene

Late

San Luis Basin Upper Arkansas

Eagle Basin Dotsero Volcano

Paleocene

Sand Wash Basin

Colorado Grp

Piceance Basin and SJ volcanics

Glen Cyn Ss

NW San Juan Paradox basins

Chaffee Grp

Neogene

Period Epoch

Paleogene

Era

CENOZOIC

Sub Harding unconformity

Manitou Dol

Dotsero Fm

Fremont Ls

Viola Ls

Simpson Fm

Harding Ss

Arbuckle Group

Manitou Dol

Arbuckle-Manitou

Arbuckle Grp

Sawatch

Reagan Ss

Sub Manitou unconformity

Sawatch Ss

Sawatch Quartzite

“great” unconformity

Sawatch

Reagan Ss.

“great” unconformity

540 Tava Sandstone dikes Uinta Mt Group

Owiyukuts Complex 2.7 Ga

Mazatzal/Yavapai Basement (1.7-1.8 Ga)

FIGURE 3: Revised Colorado Stratigraphic Chart plotted using a linear timescale. See coloradostratigraphy.org to download a full-

size PDF.

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Lead Story

CENOZOIC

STRATIGRAPHY NW SJ Paradox Basins

PB and SJ Sand Wash Volcanics Basin

Eagle Basin

SL Basin Upper Arkansas

N/MP Basin

SP Basin

FR Outcrops

DJ Basin

CHAPTERS RB

San Juan Volcanics

MESOZOIC

100

Sego

PB and SJ Sand Wash Volcanics Basin

Eagle Basin

SL Basin Upper Arkansas

N/MP Basin

SP Basin

FR Outcrops

DJ Basin

SE CO Area

6 Sego

Salt Wash Tidwell

400

300

200

Sub Dakota unconformity

542

500

PALEOZOIC

SE CO Area

NW SJ Paradox Basins

FIGURE 4: The eight chapters of Colorado’s stratigraphic evolution indicated at right. Some of these chapters include multiple

deposodes, such as the three Sloss sequences in Chapter 2.

Ancestral Rockies Orogeny. Sheets and wedges of arkosic debris washed from basement-cored uplands and are manifest as the Fountain, Minturn, Maroon, Cutler, Gothic, Crestone, and Hermosa formations. Many of our scenic red rocks parks feature these units such as Boulder’s Flatirons, Denver’s Red Rocks Amphitheater, Roxborough Park, Colorado Springs’ Garden of the Gods and some of the most photographed peaks in North America, Aspen’s Maroon Bells. Fault-bounded basins were filled with thick synorogenic successions that include black shale, evaporites, sandstones (often red), and limestones. These units are often subdivided into distinct formations or members within the thicker arkosic sandstone and conglomerate successions. As an example, the Jacques Mountain Limestone is used in the Mosquito Range to Vail Pass area to separate the Minturn from the overlying Maroon Formation. Absent the marker Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

limestone, these units are indistinguishable. Hydrocarbons may have been generated from some of these deeply buried organic-rich marine sediments and may have migrated long distances to such fields as the Rangely oil field in northwestern Colorado, to be trapped in dune sands of the Weber Formation. Evaporite facies in this succession are widespread and include deposits like those in the Paradox Basin in Utah or the Eagle basin of Colorado. Near the town of Gypsum, these beds are mined to make sheet rock and are evident in the contorted strata exposed north of Interstate 70 between Eagle and Dotsero. The fourth chapter is one where stability, basin infilling and regional planation followed the Ancestral Rockies period of mountain building. Here defined as a “healing phase”, this interval began with a period of regional stability, during which sand blew across Colorado, forming continent-scale ergs. Together with regional drainage systems, they beveled the landscape.

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Deposits include the Wingate, Kayenta, Navajo, Entrada, Curtis, Garo, and Sundance sandstones and their equivalents. In most of Colorado, this healing phase ended with the accumulation of the Jurassic Morrison Formation, on low-relief coastal plains mantled by continental sediments mostly sourced from the Mogollon Rim of Arizona (Blakey and Ranney, 2008). Colorado’s topography was beveled to low relief and herds of dinosaurs wandered freely across the tops of the buried mountains and deep basins of the now-inconspicuous Ancestral Rockies. Their bones are preserved in Jurassic strata quarried at Fruita, Dinosaur National Monument, Dinosaur Ridge, and Cañon City in Colorado as well as in numerous quarries of the same age in surrounding states. The fifth chapter is represented by the onset of the Sevier Orogeny in the Cordillera and the development of the Cretaceous Interior Seaway. The seaway strata including among others the Mowry, Benton, Niobrara and Pierre formations, are bounded at their base by the westward younging transgressive sandstones of the Dakota Group. This group includes the basal chert gravel lags of the Lytle Formation. The top of the marine succession is marked by the regressive sandstones of the Fox Hills Formation, overlain by coal-bearing coastal plain strata of the Laramie Formation and its equivalents. This package of

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 19

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Lead Story

marine carbonates, shales, nearshore sandstones and coastal plain strata harbors one of the world’s great hydrocarbon systems (Gries et al., 1992), with resources of oil, gas, and coal spread across the western United States and Canada. The regional accumulation of strata resulted from the interplay of narrow mountain-front foredeep subsidence and a more extensive northeast migrating locus of subsidence tied to the subducted Farallon slab (Liu et al., 2014). One of the world’s most elegant examples of biological evolution comes from these strata, where long-term collaboration between the USGS’s Bill Cobban and John Obradovitch (Cobban et al., 2006; see also Larson and Landman, 2015) documented 40 million years of ammonite evolution in well-dated marine sediments (Obradovitch, 1993). The sixth chapter reflects the Laramide Orogeny and comprises the synorogenic strata that filled and flanked the abruptly uplifted basement-cored structures that shattered landscapes from New Mexico to Montana. The onset of synorogenic sedimentation is generally marked by an abrupt facies transition from coastal plain strata (or eroded older rocks) to conglomerate. This stratigraphic signal spans the state, including the Ohio Creek, Ojo Alamo, Raton and Arapahoe conglomerates, as well as the Reinecker Ridge member of the

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»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 South Park Formation and the Windy Gap member of the Middle Park Formation. Most of the Laramide depositional basins in Colorado have their own terminology for these synorogenic, dominantly siliciclastic strata, including the coeval, genetically similar units of the Dawson Arkose and Nacimiento, Ft. Union, Blanco Basin, Coalmont, Middle Park, South Park, Denver and Poison Canyon formations and their equivalents. Within this stratigraphic context, local lakes and sub-basins developed. These host petroliferous marls (oil shales) and notable fossil deposits such as the Green River Formation. Along the Front Range, these synorogenic strata contain the bedrock aquifers that provide important, though finite, sources of potable water for residents of Douglas County. The seventh chapter represents a time of regional aggradation and healing during which the Laramide basins were filled and the crystalline summits peneplained. The regional Rocky Mountain Surface developed during this time (Epis and Chapin, 1968, Cather et al., 2012). In the Late Eocene to Oligocene, this low relief surface was studded with volcanic edifices, calderas, and laccolithic upwarps, causing drainage disruption and episodic ponding. These deposits collectively record an interval known as the Mid-Tertiary Ignimbrite Flare-up. This interval was punctuated by very large

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

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»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20 volcanic eruptions, illustrated by the La Garita caldera of the San Juan volcanics, as well as by the emplacement of many of the region’s economically useful metals in the Colorado Mineral Belt. Breaches of lakes on this surface are here hypothesized to have spawned catastrophically deposited coarse clastics such as the Bishop, Telluride, Tallahassee Creek, and Castle Rock units. Fine-grained materials became locally ponded and now host well-preserved fossil deposits such as in the Creede and Florissant formations. In the last chapter of Colorado’s evolution, regional epeirogenic uplift during the Miocene to Present occurred over a region spanning from Texas to Montana. This increased relief of Colorado and surrounding regions by over 1000 m and spawned the dispersal of aprons of alluvial debris (Cather et al. 2012), including the Ogallala Formation and its equivalent units which form important aquifers. Together with the topographic welts of the Rio Grande Rift and the Yellowstone Plume, this uplift also set the stage for the regional incision and exhumation of earlier geomorphic features that characterizes the region (e.g. Eaton, 1987, 2008). Headward erosion of river systems across the western U.S. has revealed old landscape surfaces and cut new landforms, etching out the topography that we are familiar with today.

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

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OUTCROP | November 2015

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»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 22 POINTS TO PONDER Our recasting of Colorado’s stratigraphy reveals patterns beyond the chapters discussed above. The interplay of accommodation and sediment supply produced features such as the over 38,000 km3 of Morrison Formation deposits that once mantled the state. In contrast, erosive forces scoured away of the bulk of Early Cretaceous strata (if any existed), during the transgression of the Interior Seaway. Events like this leave us with a record in which over 50% of Phanerozoic time is not represented by rock in Colorado. The chart allows us to recognize the rough contemporaneity and possible common genesis of regional conglomerates like the Arapaho/Raton/Ojo Alamo/ Ohio Creek units and the Castle Rock/Tallahassee Creek/Telluride/Bishop units, and facilitates the recognition of state-wide processes that may otherwise be thought of in isolation. Revision of Colorado’s stratigraphic chart forces us to draw temporal boundaries for units, and in doing so leads us to question the basis for defining the age of many of them. For example, the units deposited between the time the Ancestral Rockies orogeny waned and the commencement of Colorado’s first healing phase, are perplexing. Laterally extensive and/or thick units like the Lykins, Jelm, and the State Bridge formations

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

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PTTC Presents: Workshops to Improve Your Skills Petroleum Geology for Non-Geologists

Monday, November 16, 2015, 8:30 am – 5 pm, Colorado School of Mines, Ben Parker Student Center Ballroom DE Fee: $250, includes food at breaks, class notes, and PDH certificate Instructors: Laura Wray and Kelly Foley

In this one-day course, lectures, discussions, and exercises will focus on the manner in which geologic concepts are woven together both factually and creatively in the search for accumulations of petroleum. More specifically, the class is designed to provide an overarching summary of basic petroleum topics and how they are used in the search for oil and gas. Emphasis will be placed upon the reservoir descriptions that are important for petroleum engineering analyses.

Petroleum Engineering for Non-Engineers

Tuesday, November 17, 2015, 8:30 am – 5 pm, Colorado School of Mines, Ben Parker Student Center Ballroom DE Fee: $250, includes food at breaks, class notes, and PDH certificate Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Miskimins

This one-day short course provides a broad, basic understanding of various petroleum engineering topics for non-engineers. The focus of the course is placed on the design, construction, stimulation, and production of wells. Specific topics discussed include the drilling of wells, rig types, wellbore integrity and design, completion types, casing and tubing definitions, downhole tools such as packers, formation damage, and stimulation including hydraulic fracturing. As the title implies, the course is designed for those who work in the oil and gas industry but do not have a technical background in subsurface topics. Previous attendees that have found the course useful include landmen, technicians, accountants, financiers, and field personnel.

Well-Log Sequence Stratigraphy: Applications to Sandstones and Shales Tuesday – Thursday, December 1-3, 2015, 8:30 am – 5 pm, Colorado School of Mines, Ben Parker Student Center, Ballroom DE Fee: $750, includes food at breaks, class notes, and PDH certificate Instructor: Dr. Jeff May

On completion of the course, participants will be familiar with the methodologies and skills to subdivide, correlate, and map stratigraphic units (reservoirs, seals, and source rocks) through the application of sequence-stratigraphy concepts in the interpretation of well logs from a variety of nonmarine, shallow-marine, and deep-marine environments in siliciclastic settings Participants completing this workshop will be able to: • Analyze the major geologic controls and their interaction on the filling of basins. • Comprehend and critically analyze the often-confusing terminology utilized in sequence stratigraphy. • Apply appropriate sequence stratigraphy models to various basin settings. • Analyze and subdivide stratigraphic successions from well logs into packages of increasing or decreasing accommodation and identify chronostratigraphically significant surfaces. • Examine the pitfalls of lithostratigraphic vs. chronostratigraphic well-log correlations. • Correlate well logs using sequence stratigraphy concepts. • Apply reservoir-seal-source rock concepts to sequence stratigraphic cross sections. • Generate maps of genetically related sequence stratigraphic units. • Demonstrate and predict new stratigraphic prospects or previously untapped reservoir compartments. • Determine the influence of chronostratigraphic surfaces on reservoir quality and flow units.

Air Emission Analysis for State and Federal Air Compliance

Wednesday, December 16, 2015, 8:30 am – 5 pm, Colorado School of Mines, Ben Parker Student Center Ballroom E Fee: $250, includes food at breaks, class notes, and PDH certificate Instructor: Peter Galusky, Ph.D. P.E. Principal Environmental Eng. Texerra LLC. Class Descriptions and Register Online: www.pttcrockies.org

For more information, contact Mary 25 Carr, 303.273.3107, mcarr@mines.edu OUTCROP | November 2015

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Lead Story Diachronous episodes of Cenozoic erosion in southwestern North America and their relationship to surface uplift, paleoclimate, paleodrainage, and paleoaltimetry: Geosphere, v. 8, p. 1177-1206. Cobban, W. A., Walaszczyk, I., Obradovich, J. D., and McKinney, K. C., 2006, A USGS Zonal table for the Upper Cretaceous middle Cenomanian-Maastrichtian of the Western Interior of the United States based on ammonites, inoceramids, and radiometric ages: USGS Open-File Report 2006-1250, 46 p. Eaton, G. P., 1987, Topography and origin of the southern Rocky Mountains and Alvarado Ridge: in Coward, M. P., Dewey, J. F., and Hancock, P. L., eds., Continental extensional tectonics, Geological Society Special Publication Number 28, p. 355-369. Eaton, G. P., 2008, Epeirogeny in the southern Rocky Mountains region: Evidence and origin: Geosphere, v. 4, p. 764-784. Epis, R. C., and Chapin, C. E., 1968, Geologic history of the Thirtynine Mile volcanic field, central Colorado: in Epis, R. C., ed., Cenozoic volcanism in the southern Southern Rocky Mountains: Colorado School of Mines Quarterly, v. 63, p. 51–85. Galloway, W. E., Whiteaker, T. L., and Ganey-Curry, P., 2011, History of Cenozoic North American drainage basin evolution, sediment yield, and accumulation in the Gulf of Mexico basin: Geosphere, v. 7, p. 938-973. Gries, R., Dolson, J. C., and Raynolds, R. G. H., 1992, Structural and stratigraphic evolution and hydrocarbon distribution, Rocky Mountain foreland: Foreland basins and fold belts: in Macqueen, R. W., and Leckie, D. A., eds., Foreland Basins and Fold Belts: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 55, p. 395-425. Hintze, L. F., 1988, Geologic History of Utah, A field guide to Utah’s rocks, Brigham Young University Geology Studies, Special Publication 7, 202 pp. Hintze, L.F., and Kowallis, B J., 2009, Geologic History of Utah, Brigham Young University Geology Studies, Special Publication 9, 225 pp. Irwin, D., ed.,1977, Subsurface cross sections of Colorado: Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists,

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24 and their equivalents potentially span 45 million years during the Middle Permian to Late Triassic yet they lack robust numerical or relative geochronologic constraints. Their relationship to units like the Chinle and Moenkopi are also unclear, so they linger among better constrained units on the Colorado stratigraphy chart. Another example is provided by the Garo Sandstone exposed in the South Park Basin. We suggest it may be correlative with the Jurassic Sundance Formation, but this interpretation awaits further evidence. Likewise the Molas Formation (Figure 5) is temporally poorly constrained and its genetic context is poorly understood. These and similar issues are resolvable and offer thesis-sized opportunities for investigation. In the same way that geochronologic approaches have undergone quantum leaps in precision and scope, so has the evolution of our understanding of the stratigraphic record. Given the diversity of geochronologic analytical tools in the region’s laboratories, there is great opportunity to constrain dates and revise substantive parts of our stratigraphy.

WE WANT YOUR HELP

Take a look at Coloradostratigraphy.org and let us know what you think. This website and the chart are works in progress. These tools, like most of our efforts to comprehend earth’s history, are essentially graphical hypotheses.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are grateful to our colleagues for discussions, feedback and field trips that have shaped our view of Colorado’s stratigraphy and fostered revision of the chart. We thank Lon Abbott, Peter Barkmann, Marieke Dechesne, Emmett Evanoff, Rob Fillmore, Vince Matthews, Matt Morgan, Paul Myrow, Barney Poole, Charlie Sandberg, and Paul Weimer for constructive reviews of this manuscript.

REFERENCES

Blakey, R. C., and Ranney, W., 2008, Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau: Grand Canyon Association, 156 p. Cather, S. M., Chapin, C. E., and Kelley, S. A., 2012,

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Lead Story

FIGURE 5: The Beulah Limestone, a

Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

Molas Formation equivalent, is one of Colorado’s enigmatic units. Sometimes called the “Beulah Rose Onyx”, it adorns our State Capitol. Image: OUTCROP | November 2015Vince Matthews

Lead Story E. G., eds., Evolution of the Western Interior Basin, Geological Association of Canada Special Paper 39, p. 379-396. Pearl, R. H., 1974, Colorado stratigraphic nomenclature chart: Colorado Geological Survey, Denver, 1 p.s Pearl, R. H., 1977, Colorado stratigraphic nomenclature chart: Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, Special Publication Number 2, Figure 2. Siddoway, C., and Gehrels, G., 2014, Basement-hosted sandstone injectites of Colorado: A vestige of the Neoproterozoic revealed through detrital zircon provenance analysis: Lithosphere, doi: 10.1130/ L390.1 Sloss, L. L., 1963, Sequences in the cratonic interior of North America: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 74, p. 93-114. Vail, P. R. , Todd, R. G., and Sangree, J. B., 1977, Seismic stratigraphy and global changes of sea level: in C.E. Clayton, ed., Seismic stratigraphy - applications to hydrocarbon exploration: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 26, p. 49-212. Wheeler, H. E. 1958, Time Stratigraphy: AAPG Bulletin, v. 42, O I L & G A S COOI LM & PAGNAYS C O M PA N Y p 1047-1063. 303-398-0302 303-398-0302 Wheeler, H. E. 1964, Baselevinfo@gwogco.com el, lithosphere surface, and info@gwogco.com www.gwogco.com time-stratigraphy: Geological www.gwogco.com Society of America Bulletin, v. 75, p. 599-610.

Special Publication Number 2. Johnson, K. R., and Raynolds, R. G., 2006, Ancient Denvers – Scenes from the past 300 million years of the Colorado Front Range: Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Fulcrum Press, Denver, 34 p. Larson, N. L., and Landman, N. H., 2015, The geological and paleontological contributions of William “Bill” A. Cobban: The Journal of Paleontological Sciences, JPS.H.07.001. Liu, S., Nummedal, D., and Gurnis, M., 2014, Dynamic versus flexural controls of Late Cretaceous Western Interior

Basin, USA: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 389, p. 221-229. Myrow, P., Taylor, J., Miller, J., Ethington, R., Ripperdan, R., and Allen, J., 2003, Fallen arches: Dispelling myths concerning Cambrian and Ordovician paleogeography of the Rocky Mountain region: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 115, p. 695-713. Nesse, W. D., 2006, Geometry and tectonics of the Laramide Front Range, Colorado: The Mountain Geologist, v. 43, p. 25-44. Obradovitch, J. D., 1993, A Cretaceous timescale: in Caldwell, W. G. E., and Kauffman,

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26

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RMAG LUNCHEON PROGRAMS Speaker: Ranie M. Lynds â&#x20AC;&#x201D; November 4, 2015

The case for another look at the Paleocene Fort Union Formation in the eastern Greater Green River Basin, Wyo. By Ranie M. Lynds and Christopher J. Carroll Divide Basin, where no Fort Union production is occurring and no drill stem tests are publicly available. Mud logs from wells drilled into the deeper Cretaceous formations show methane gas spikes associated with the China Butte Member, but this coal-rich interval is at maximum depths of approximately 914 to 1,829 m (3,000 to 6,000 ft) TVD. Extrapolation of vitrinite reflectance results suggests 1,676 to 2,103 m (5,500 to 6,900 ft) of Neogene erosion in the Great Divide Basin, placing the China Butte Member at maximum burial depths just shy of those required for in-situ condensate generation in the Washakie Basin. Furthermore, vitrinite reflectance measured from a handful of Fort Union Formation samples in the Great Divide Basin record values approximately 0.4 to 0.7% Ro, significantly less than the >1.2% values from the Washakie Basin. Preliminary data suggest that although Fort Union Formation coals may not have reached maximum burial depths sufficient for condensate generation in the Great Divide Basin, this coal-rich interval may be methane saturated, at least in places, and could be worth a second look.

The Paleocene Fort Union Formation in the eastern Greater Green River Basin is a thick succession of shale, sandstone, coal, and siltstone, deposited as syn-orogenic Laramide basin fill. Recent production from the Washakie Basin has demonstrated the viability of the Fort Union Formation as a productive gas reservoir, especially with improved horizontal drilling technology. This begs the question: are there other potentially analogous Fort Union reservoirs that have been overlooked elsewhere in the eastern Greater Green River Basin? In the case of the Washakie Basin, wet gas is produced from the China Butte Member of the Fort Union Formation. This basal member has numerous coal seams interbedded with lenticular sandstones. Gas is believed to be derived in situ, as well as from the deeper Cretaceous-age formations. Production is from approximately 3,048 m (10,000 ft) TVD. Burial history curve analyses and vitrinite reflectance extrapolation suggests 975 m (3,200 ft) of Neogene erosion, reflecting condensate generation at less than 4,023 m (13,200 ft) burial depth (geothermal gradients in this region are not elevated). Regional correlations of the China Butte Member show the succession of coals thickens into the Great

Ranie Lynds earned her Ph.D. in fluvial sedimentology from the University of Wyoming. She also has a B.S. in geology and M.S. in geophysics from Stanford University. She has mudlogged in the San Juan Basin, dabbled in the uranium industry, and spent several years

OUTCROP | November 2015

researching carbon sequestration as a postdoc at the University of Wyoming. For the past four years, Ranie has been working as an oil and gas geologist for the Wyoming State Geological Survey, where her continued interest in fluvial processes led her to this Fort Union Formation

study. She is also an adjunct professor with the University of Wyoming and the University of Idaho, vice-chair of the Rocky Mountain Section of GSA, member of several professional organizations, and a ski patroller involved with avalanche education in the Rocky Mountain region.

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RMAG LUNCHEON PROGRAMS Speaker: Dr. Lesli J. Wood — December 2, 2015

Re-visiting controls on shelf sand distribution and re-newing exploration success in these highly complex depositional settings Application of worldwide studies to improved exploration success in the basins of the Western Interior By Dr. Lesli J. Wood, Robert J. Weimer Endowed Chair of Sedimentary and Petroleum Geology, Colorado School of Mines, Department of Geology and Geological Engineering

Shelf-deposited, sandstone bodies form many of the major hydrocarbon reservoirs in the world and occur worldwide on both modern and ancient continental shelves. Examples include the Viking Formation in Canada; the Shannon, Eagle, and Hygiene Sandstones of Wyoming and Colorado; as well as reservoirs in the Caribbean, Indonesia, the Adriatic, Australia and other basins around the world. Several interpretations have been put forward to explain the origin and nature of these sand bodies, and answering these questions regarding shelf sands has important implications, given their significant economic influence as major hydrocarbon repositories. The knowledge can be used to improve

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RMAG LUNCHEON PROGRAMS

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 32 paleoclimatic and paleo-oceanographic models, just as increased accuracy of infill drilling can be used to improve exploration and development processes (nearly 40% increase reported in some fields). Recent work in large 3D seismic and well datasets from the northeastern shelf of South America show the importance of ocean currents in directing sediments, even during highstand, to locations basinward of the shelf. Data show shore-parallel erosional furrows, in effect shelf channels, cut and enhanced where the Guiana current interacts with seafloor topography. These shore parallel transport features are alternative to the more typically describes shore perpendicular channel incisions developed during lowstands of shoreline. Entire fields of deepocean current deposited sand and shale ridges can be found in the Cretaceous to Tertiary strata all along the western Africa margin and are used to time the opening of the circulation in the Atlantic, as well as examine the effect of shelf margin geometry on current directions. One would expect that similar currents occupied the Western Interior Seaway, and possibly had a strong influence on erosion and sediment redistribution in the shelf settings of the seaway. One area where the CSM SAND research group is focusing their research on ocean current

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RMAG LUNCHEON PROGRAMS

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sediment distribution is examining shelf sand distribution in the San Juan Basin of northwest New Mexico. The Tocito Sandstone (TS) has been long proven to be a highly prolific reservoir system in the largest domestic onshore conventional gas basin in the U.S., the San Juan Basin (SJB). Similar shelf sand types associated with the pre-Tocito Gallup Sands and the more transgressive post-Tocito El Vado Sandstones have proven equally productive in recent wells resulting in a mini-boom of sorts in the SJB. Studies of the nature of all these shelf sand systems from outcrop, core, logs and seismic reveal thick (1-2 m) cycles of heterolithic wave-rippled, moderately to intensely bioturbated marine sands stacked in 8-12 m thick shelf sequences that are spatially extensive throughout the eastern as well as western SJB. Tocito sands in the western SJB outcrop are much more proximal in nature with tidal channel and bar facies associations predominate. Tocito intervals in the southeastern SJB outcrop show at least six sanding and thickening upward cycles composed of thinly-laminated, wave-rippled sands (Facies 3) interbedded with marine shales (Facies 1) progressing upward to moderately bioturbated, sand-rich parasequences (Facies 4). Shelf parasequences compensationally stack in near

Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

RMAG Luncheon programs

Dr. Lesli Wood is the new Robert Weimer Endowed Chair in Sedimentary and Petroleum Geology in the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. Dr. Wood joined the faculty at CSM in January after leaving the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology as a Senior Research Scientist where she evolved and ran the Quantitative Clastics Laboratory for 14 years. She is currently the Principal Investigator of the Sedimentary Analogs Database and Research Program (SAND), an industrial consortium engaged in study of clastic reservoir and seal systems around the world. With B.S., M. S. and a PhD in geology from Arkansas Tech University, University of Arkansas, and Colorado State University respectively, Dr. Wood returns to her professional roots in Denver after having worked for Amoco Production Company in Houston, prior to moving to the University of Texas in 1997. In what little spare time she has,

Dr. Wood is a guitarist and vocalist and played with The Spiceboys in Austin. She is now enjoying the various sports and travel opportunities available in Colorado. In January 2015, Dr. Wood joined the faculty at Colorado School of Mines as a Professor and the Robert Weimer Endowed Chair in Sedimentology and Petroleum Geology, where she is director of the Sedimentary Analogs Database and Research Program (SAnD). Prior to joining CSM, Dr. Wood held positions at the University of Texas at Austin, Amoco Production Company and Arco. She received her doctorate in 1992 from Colorado State University following her MS work at the University of Arkansas. Dr. Wood specializes in quantitative seismic geomorphology of clastic basins, structural and sedimentary system interactions, submarine mass failures, petroleum geology, mobile shales and geomorphology of Mars. She has served as SEPM Society for Sedimentary

of SJB shelf reservoir sands is the first to quantify the regional nature of sand distribution, link super-greenhouse processes to potential shelfal submarine erosion and redistribution of sediments, and to examine prograding versus transgressive shelf reservoir systems.

paleo-shoreline regions around Cabazon Peak northward to subsurface localities at least 140 km north of the paleoshoreline. Near-shore cycles near Cabazon Peak transition just 8 kilometers northward to contain extensive mega-hummocks (Facies

2). Analysis of hummocks in the Tocito sands suggest mega-swell waves up to 9 m high may have impacted the paleo-shelf distributing sands widely across the region, and possibly contributed to the submarine erosion of up to 60 meters of material from the paleo-shelf. This regional study

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Geology national Secretary-Treasurer, the GCSSEPM President and is active in the Geological Society of America, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Geological Society of Trinidad and Tobago. She also served as the Technical Program Committee Chairman for the 2012 GCAGS Annual Convention, as a member of the UltraDeepwater Advisory Committee for the U.S. Secretary of the Department of Energy and serves as an Associate Editor at Geosphere. Dr. Wood has published widely on the nature of modern and ancient deep- to shallow-water systems around the world and has won numerous best paper and poster awards, including AAPG’s Sproule Award, and most recently the 2014 EAGE Norman Falcon Award as co-author of the Best Paper in Petroleum Geosciences. She, her partner and her pig are very pleased to be relocating back to the Rocky Mountains after 23 years in Texas.

Thank you to

Dolan Integration Group (DIG) for being RMAG’s Exclusive Luncheon Sponsor for 2015!

Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | November 2015

Welcome To Professor Lesli Wood The Denver area geologic community and the Colorado School of Mines is extremely fortunate to welcome Dr. Lesli Wood, the new Robert

Denver and Houston with Amoco Production Company using her stratigraphic and sedimentological skills for coherency development and exploration efforts in Trinidad, Brazil and the Gulf of Mexico. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard to believe that she had time to perform regularly in Austin with her band, The Spiceboys that featured her as a lead guitarist and vocalist. You may have heard her band at the Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Reception at the AAPG Convention in Denver this year. Dr. Wood will be giving the December 2nd RMAG lunch talk at Maggianos. Her topic, shelf processes and reservoirs, will likely focus on her work in the San Juan Basin, as well as shelf studies off northeastern South America, New Zealand and Indonesia. This will be an enthusiastic and informative talk NOT to be missed. It will be an honor to have her speak to our RMAG community.

Weimer Endowed Chair in Sedimentary and Petroleum Geology in the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering at CSM. In addition to being a dynamic lecturer, Dr. Wood is the Principal Investigator of the Sedimentary Analogs Database and Research Program (SAND), an industrial consortium engaged in study of clastic reservoir and seal systems around the world. She has even done some sedimentological studies of Mars and is involved in worldwide consulting work. Dr. Wood arrived in Golden earlier this year, leaving the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology as a Senior Research Scientist where she evolved and ran the Quantitative Clastics Laboratory for 14 years. Prior to that, she was a petroleum geologist in

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CONTRIBUTIONS

mineral sets

Contibutions can be made at https://www.rmag.org/i4a/ams/publicLogin.cfm for RMAG members RMAG Foundation | 910 16th Street Mall, Suite 1214 | Denver, CO 80202

OUTCROP | November 2015

Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

RMAG holds 3rd Annual Sporting Clay Tournament

Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

On the afternoon of September 17, RMAG held The Third Annual Sporting Clay Tournament at Kiowa Creek Sporting Club, located about a one-hour drive east of Downtown Denver. RMAG Summit Sponsors made the event possible for the 105 participants and volunteers, who enjoyed lunch sponsored by EPI Group, a seismic consultancy firm, and drinks after the event provided by Columbine Logging, a geological well-site service company. RMAG thanks their sponsors, volunteers and participants for making this event a success. Twenty teams rotated through twelve stations with each participant shooting a total of 100 rounds. Everyone learned the type of thrown target they could consistently hit, and which type of thrown target they found nearly impossible to hit. Individual scores ranged from 12 to the highest score of 91, shot by Joe Woodske. Cash prizes were awarded to three flights of shooters based on the teamsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; average scores, this way the experienced shooters would not rake in all of the prize money. The A Flight was won by: Greg Anderson, Megan Holdershaw, Jim Kinser, Ted Enterline and Chad Grimes with a team score of 400 birds hit out of 500 thrown. The B Flight was won by: Jason Devinny, Liz Rose, Scott Hampton, Kyle

Bracken, and John Roesink with a total team score of 281. The C Flight was won by: Rachel Errthum, Dan Rabiolo, Dylan Cobb, Dan Charbonneau with a team score of 242. Many of the participants also won door prizes. Next yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s event will be held on Thursday, September 22. If you would like to join the committee that arranges this event, please contact Rachel Stocking with Spectraseis, or Carrie Veatch at the RMAG office.

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MINERAL OF THE MONTH By Ronald L. Parker Senior Geologist, Task Fronterra Geoscience, 700 17th Street, Suite 1700, Denver, CO 80202

MOLYBDENITE The Mineral Swiss Army Knife

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Fragments of molybdenite from the author’s desk. Photo by Ronald Parker

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Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

MINERAL OF THE MONTH: MOLYBDENITE

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This Mineral of the Month is a departure, being that it is the first installment not written by Cheryl Fountain in a long time. Many thanks to Cheryl Fountain for preparing an entertaining mix of common and zany minerals over the past many months. I hope to be able to meet the challenge of providing interesting commentary on small components of the crystalline world that surrounds us. Starting with a real softy: molybdenite. Molybdenite. The named derives from molybdos, the Greek word for lead, with which it was mistaken by early miners. I decided to pick this mineral for several reasons. For one, I like to mumble the polysyllabic nonsense that is its name. It is fun to say and to hear. This is particularly true when you ask the uninitiated to pronounce molybdenite. Experiments with my friends and family brought forth Bah-di-ba-dum-ight. Ma-dib-deebum-ite. Moe-leeb-be-num-bite. For two, I did research on the aqueous geochemistry of molybdate in graduate school. Molybdenum is a strongly redox reactive element that is essential for life, being a crucial component of the nitrogen fixing enzyme nitrogenase. Excess molybdenum is toxic, resulting in molybdenosis in wildlife and cattle. For three, I have a container of molybdenite crystals sitting on my desk that continually attract and perplex me. As soon as I open the container, silvery blue specks are on my fingers, desk, clothing, computer. This mineral demands

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Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

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MINERAL OF THE MONTH: AS OUR TOUCH MOLYBDENITE

GETS

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notice, and gets it. Last, I recently drove over Fremont Pass north of Leadville, Colorado and was, again, awed by the scale and magnificence of the Climax Molybdenum workings. Molybdenite is a mineral entity that has a profound, THE omnipresent and largeOPPORTUNITIES ly unrecognized influence on our daily lives. It has a chemical versatility that few minerals enjoy and it is a foundational contributor to advances in our scientific knowledge of earth processes and events. That is why I call it the Swiss Army Knife of Minerals!

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CHEMICAL COMPOSITION:

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Two polytypes are known: molybdenite-2H (comEnergizing the World, Betterin mon) is hexagonal; molybdenite-3R (rare) is rhombohedral. The polytypes display the same a-axes dimensions (3.16Å) but differ in the c-axis www.nob unit lengths (12.3Å for 2H; 18.4Å for 3R). A third, rare, amorphous polymorph is called jordisite (Chang, 2002).

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HABIT: Molybdenite occurs as finely disseminated

microcrystalline masses, as foliated, platy forms and as massive accumulations without observable crystal faces.

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Vol. 63, No. 12

GROW

STRUCTURE: Molybdenite is comprised of layered

sheets, consisting of Mo atoms ionically bonded to

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Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

December 2014

Denver Region Exploration Geologists’ Society Monthly Meetings

Social hour: 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Presentation: 7:00 p.m. Location - Colorado School of Mines, Golden Colorado Berthoud Hall Room 241

The Denver Region Exploration Geologists Society (DREGS) is one of the most active, albeit low-keyed, professional societies in North America. Its principal objective is the exchange of current scientific thought and technology as it applies to exploration and ore deposits. Although once restricted to practicing “hard-rock” mineral exploration geologists, membership is now open to all persons with a geological background interested in mining or mineral exploration or supporting technologies. The founding meeting of the DREGS organization was held on Monday, September 14, 1970 in the Alpine Room of the Denver Athletic Club. There were about 15 or 20 local geologists in attendance, several of whom are still in the area and are still DREGS members. By 1973, there were over 100 members listed. Membership reached a peak of around 500 in the early 1980’s prior to the mid 1980’s resources recession which saw major downsizing and restructuring in the global mineral industry. We now have about 200 persons on our membership roles. UPCOMING TALKS November 2: – Ron Bell of International Geophysical Services, LLC – “GEO*DRONE*OLOGY: The Application of Airborne Robots to Geological Mapping ” December 7: – Chuck Thorman of CTGS International, Inc. – DREGS 2016/2016 Distinguished Lecturer – topic: “Depth / Burial Problems Associated with Metamorphic Core Complexes; Field Versus Laboratory Data” January 11:

– Bill Rehrig, Senior Consulting Geologist

– “A Comparison of Structure-Tectonic Controls for Bulk Tonnage Copper-Gold Mineralization Between Southwest U.S. and Peru: An Exploration Model” Social Hour: Display/discussion of samples representative of the evening’s presentation. Refreshments provided include beverages and snacks. For more info – www.dregs.org • dregs@dregs.org

Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

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Mineral of the Month: MOLYBDENITE (Magyar, 2004). Less common occurrences include pegmatite and aplite dikes and contact metamorphic aureoles invading limestone terrane. According to the USGS, molybdenite bearing deposits are of 2 broad categories (with many variants). The first, (the Climax-type) “is a high-grade, fluorine-rich porphyry deposit and is extremely rare” (Kropshot, 2010, p. 1). The second type is typified by low fluorine content and is related to porphyry copper. Climax-type deposits are large and all 13 of the ones identified in earth are found in the western U.S.; the low-fluorine deposits are smaller and 100s of them are found in western Canada and the northwestern U.S. with limited distribution elsewhere in the world (Kropshot, 2010; Ludington et. al., 2009; Ludington and Plumlee, 2009). World mine production of molybdenum from molybdenite was 258,000 metric tons in 2013 and 266,000 metric tons in 2014. The United States produced 60,700 and 65,500 metric tons in 2013 and 2014, respectively. The reserve estimates for the globe are 11,000,000 metric tons; for the U.S.,

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2 layers of S atoms above and below. The bonds between adjacent layers of S atoms are weak van der Waals bonds. When sheared, the weaker van der Waals bonds break preferentially.

ASSOCIATED MINERALS: Molybdenite is of-

ten found in association with pyrite, wolframite, scheelite, fluorite and chalcopyrite.

Molybdenite bears a striking resemblance to the mineral graphite (elemental C), with which it shares many characteristics, including hexagonal crystals, a platy habit and a greasy feel. It is differentiated from graphite by a much higher specific gravity and a generally “blue” tint that accentuates the metallic luster. Most molybdenite originates in igneous systems, predominantly in high temperature hydrothermal veins or large, silica-rich (granite/rhyolite) and alkalic porphyritic intrusions, especially porphyries associated with copper mineralization (Mineral Data Publishing, 2005). More than 95% of mined molybdenum is derived from these porphyry systems

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2015 2015Summit SummitSponsors Sponsors

Gold Sponsor

Encana

Rich Newhart

Why does Encana sponsor RMAG? EnCana is energetic in its sponsorship of RMAG because of our close tie to the Denver talent pool for the geologic sciences. Our goal is to attract and retain top tier professionals and living/working in the Denver area but not supporting the local geologic community is at odds with that goal. Continued support of the local expertise level is critical to our success and using our sponsorship dollars to initiate short courses or regional technical exchanges is one way to directly inﬂuence that in a positive manner.

What RMAG events have been the most beneﬁcial to you and your team at Encana this year? RMAG events, both social and technical venues, insure our connection to the local talent pool and provides the opportunity for 2 way communication of our corporate goals and staﬃng needs.

e 910 16th Street #1214, Denver, CO, 80202

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follow: @rmagdenver

Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

CONNECT. RECONNECT. WHERE DEALS HAPPEN.

December 9–10, 2015 • Denver Convention Center Success in any field depends on a combination of what you know and who you know. In the upstream oil and gas business, NAPE is your international gateway for getting connected with the decision makers who can 64, No. 11If |you’re www.rmag.org 43 open a thousand doors, OUTCROP | November 2015 make Vol. things happen. looking for the connections that will come to NAPE – where deals happen. Register and learn more at napeexpo.com. Follow #wheredealshappen online.

Mineral of the Month: MOLYBDENITE

The Climax Molybdenum Company Mine, Fremont Pass, Colorado, is the largest molybdenum mine in the world. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey, Dean Gesch

2,700,000 metric tons (USGS, 2015). As the USGS Mineral Commodity Summary puts it…”There is little substitution for molybdenum in its major application.... In fact, because of the availability and versatility of molybdenum, industry has sought to develop new materials….”(USGS, 2015, p.2). This supports a statement indicating that global molybdenum resources are sufficient to supply foreseeable demand into the future. The Climax Molybdenum Company Mine, Fremont Pass, Colorado, is the largest molybdenum mine in the world. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey How is molybdenite useful? As the only significant ore mineral for molybdenum, molybdenite is OUTCROP | November 2015

crucial for much of the structure and form of our modern transportation, communication and electronics industries (Climax Molybdenum, 2015; Magyar, 2004). Up to 80% of the molybdenum derived from molybdenite is used as an alloying agent that strengthens, hardens and increases the corrosion-resistance of steel and cast iron. As such, it is used in steel applications across the globe, including tool, blade and high speed drill steels and steel used in every automobile. Molybdenum high-tensile strength steels are the basis of many high-tech super alloys used in aerospace and aviation applications. Molybdenum from molybdenite is also used in creating inorganic pigments for paints, plastics and inks, as a

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Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

Welcome Reception for NAPE Rockies Brought to you by the RMAG

NAPE on the Rocks Join us Wednesday, December 9th, 2015 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm

At the Colorado Convention Center Room 301-302

Sponsorship Opportunities Available; please contact the RMAG oﬃce for more details.

Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

RMAG Email: staﬀ@rmag.org RMAG Phone: (303) 573-8621 RMAG Fax: (303) 476-2241 45

OUTCROP | November 2015

Mineral of the Month: MOLYBDENITE

Blue-tinted molybdenite coating pyrite crystals with albite, from Magnet Cove, Arkansas. Photo by Ronald Parker.

refinery catalyst for desulfurizing crude oil, as a corrosion inhibitor in aqueous systems and as a feedstock chemical additive for numerous other manufacturing processes. In all a very useful substance. Molybdenite, as a mineral, is also highly significant as a solid lubricant for extreme high temperature and high pressure applications. I first stumbled upon this particular industrial application of molybdenite in 1985, when I was replacing a worn out constant-velocity (CV) joint on my front wheel drive car. The packet of grease that I used to fill the CV boot loudly proclaimed the abundant presence of MoS2. What? I knew, even at that young age, that my grease contained molybdenite, and I wondered why. The answer is that molybdenite is the superior solid structural lubricant due to much lower coefficients of OUTCROP | November 2015

friction and much greater pressure and temperature tolerances than other solid lubricants (like graphite). Every car on the road today depends on the friction reduction and fuel economy afforded by grease laden with up to 60 weight % MoS2 (Chang, 2004). In 2011, Swiss researchers utilized the semiconducting properties of thin sheets of molybdenite one molecule thick to create tiny transistors. The direct band gap semiconducting characteristics of molybdenite should prove to be more efficient than silicon for potential use in electronic circuitry (Radisavljevic, 2011). As if metallurgical and chemical versatility wasn’t enough, molybdenite is even more interesting as a robust geochronological archive of events in earth history. This facility is based upon radioactive

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Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

2015 Fall Symposium: Hot Plays of the Rocky Mountain Region 2015 RMAG Symposium October 8th

Hot Plays

Thank You! Fall Symposium Sponsors Diamond

Platinum

Gold Cirque Resources LP GeoMark Research, Ldt. Melange International, LLC True Oil Silver

Vol. 64, No. 11 |

Axia Energy Black Hills Exploration and Production Chemostrat Inc. Horizon Well Logging The Leeds Group Schlumberger www.rmag.org 47 OUTCROP Yates Petroleum Corp.

| November 2015

Mineral of the Month: MOLYBDENITE

ABOVE:

Comparison of the appearance of graphite (left) versus molybdenite (right). Molybdenite has a bluish cast to the metallic luster. Photo by Ronald Parker. LEFT:

Comparison of the streak color of graphite (left) with molybdenite (right). The molybdenite has a bluish tinge to the streak. The unglazed porcelain used for the streak test is the bottom of a coffee mug. Photo by Ronald Parker. OUTCROP | November 2015

Vol. 64, No. 11 | www.rmag.org

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Mineral of the Month: MOLYBDENITE decay in the Rhenium/Osmium (Re/Os) system. 187 Re undergoes beta decay to form 187Os with a decay constant (λ) of 1.666 x 10-11 y-1 and an uncertainty that approaches 0.31%. This translates into a halflife that is ~10x the age of the solar system (Stein et. al., 1998). Rhenium is among the least common metallic elements in the Earth’s crust with an average concentration estimated at 1 part-per-billion (ppb). Magyar (2005) states it thus…”Although traces of rhenium occur in some minerals, molybdenite is the only significant host mineral.” (p.1). Rhenium is incorporated into the molybdenite crystal lattice in abundances that range from ppm to 10%. Osmium is comparatively excluded from molybdenite during crystallization. Therefore, 187Os present in molybdenite is derived from decay of 187Re, permitting direct calculation of crystallization age (Stein et. al.,1998). Molybdenite is common in a many tectonic settings, being found in shear zones, skarns, granitoids and hydrothermal volcanic vents and has been reported from more than 5577 localities (http://www. mindat.org/show.php?id=2746&ld=1#themap). By all accounts, the Re/Os geochronometer in molybdenite is robust across extreme and protracted variations in crustal temperature and pressure. Stein et. al. (1998) demonstrated precise and accurate Re/Os dating of molydenites from Fennoscandia that preserved the geochronometric signal through several episodes of metamorphic and metasomatic alteration. It is now accepted that the Re/Os chronometer preserves a faithful signal even through mylonitic shear and granulite facies metamorphism. Molybdenite is more than just a hot date, however, as its great temporal, thermal and pressure stability permit it to archive geochemical evolution across time. Variations in the abundance of rhenium in molybdenite across the past 3 billion years (Ga) have been used by Golden et. al., (2013), to discern two major trends in global geochemical and tectonic evolution. Progressive increases in the amount of Re incorporated into molybdenite reflects the increased mobility of Re as atmospheric oxidation progressed from the Archaen until now. Additionally, Golden et. al. (2013) link the increases in molybdenite generating processes to pulses of early tectonic convergence OUTCROP | November 2015

and supercontinent cycling and molybdenite permits accurate and precise dating of these events. Molybdenite crystallization diminished during periods of supercontinent stability and rifting. So there you have it. Molybdenite is an exceptionally versatile and necessary mineral indeed – a real “mineral Swiss Army knife.”

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WEBLINKS

http://www.mindat.org/min-2746.html http://www.webmineral.com/data/Molybdenite. shtml#.VhrTlPlViko http://rruff.info/doclib/hom/molybdenite.pdf http://www.climaxmolybdenum.com/operations/ Connect_Climax.htm Company film clip describing Mo mining techniques and processes and the multiple uses of Mo.

REFERENCES Beitscher, B. A., Stein, H. J., Hannah, J. L., and Zimmerman, A., 2008, Trace Elements in Molybdenite as Indicators of Tectono-Metallogenic Settings: Mineralium Deposita, 43:1-21. Chang, Luke L. Y., 2002, Industrial Mineralogy: Materials, Processes and Uses: Upper Saddle River, N.J., Prentice-Hall, Inc., 472 pp. Climax Molybdenum company movie http://www. climaxmolybdenum.com/operations/Connect_ Climax.htm Accessed October 11, 2015. Golden, Joshua, McMillan, Mellisa, Downs, Robert T., Hystad, Grethe, Goldstein, Ian, Stein, Holly J., Zimmerman, Aaron, Sverjensky, Dmitri A., Armstrong, John T. and Haxen, Robert M., 2013, Rhenium Variations in Molybdenite (MoS2): Evidence for Progressive Subsurface Oxidation: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 366:1-5. Klein, Cornelis, 2002, The 22nd Edition of the Manual of Mineral Science: New York, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 641 pp. Kropshot, S. J. 2010, Molybdenum – A Key Component of Metal Alloys: United States Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2009-3106, 2 pp. Ludington, Steve, Hammarstrom, Jane and Piatek, Nadine, 2009, Low-fluorine Stockwork

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 52

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Mineral of the Month: MOLYBDENITE

Molybdenite has a hardness of 1 and a greasy feel, much like graphite. Like graphite, it rubs off easily onto any surface. http://rruff.info/doclib/hom/molybdenite.pdf, accessed 10/11/2015. Radisavljevic, B., Radenovic, A., Brivio, J., Giacometti, V., and Kis, A., 2011, Single-Layer MoS2 Transistors: Nature Nanotechnology, 6:147-150. Stein, H. J., Sundblad, K., Markey, R.J. Morgan, J. W. and Motuza, G., 1998, Re-Os ages for Archean molybdenite and pyrite, Kuittila-Kivisuo, Finland and Proterozoic molybdenite, Kabeliai, Lithuania: testing the chronometer in a metamorphic and metasomatic setting: Mineralium Deposita, 33:329-345. Stein, H. J., Markey, R. J., Morgan, J. W., Hannah, J.L. and Schersten, A., 2001, The Remarkable Re-Os Chronometer in Molybdenite: How and Why it Works: Terra Nova, 13(6): 479-486. United States Geological Survey, 2015, Molybdenum: Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2015: 2 p. Webmineral, 2015, http://www.webmineral.com/ data/Molybdenite.shtml#.VhrTlPlViko: Accessed 10/11/2015.

ÂťÂťCONTINUED FROM PAGE 50

Molybdenite Deposits: United States Geological Survey Open File Report 2009-1211, 9 pp. Ludington, Steve, and Plumlee, Geoffrey S., 2009, Climax-Type Porphyry Molybdenum Deposits: United States Geological Survey Open File Report 2009-1215, 16 pp. Magyar, Michael J., 2004, Mineral Resource of the Month: Molybdenum: Geotimes, April 2004, from the website http://ww.geotimes.org/apr04/resources.html# Accessed October 11, 2015. Magyar, Michael J., 2005, Mineral Resource of the Month: Rhenium: Geotimes, June 2005. Markey, Richard, Holly J. Stein, Judith L. Hannah, Aaron Zimmerman, David Selby and Robert A. Creaser, 2007, Standardizing Re-Os Geochronology: A New Molybdenite Reference Material (Henderson, USA) and the Stoichiometry of Os Salts: Chemical Geology, 244(1-2):74-87. Mindat, 2015, http://www.mindat.org/min-2746. html: accessed 10/11/2015. Mineral Data Publishing, 2005, Molybdenite: OUTCROP | November 2015

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