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<br />. <br /> <br />GEOLOGY OF GREEN AND YAMPA RIVER CANYONS <br /> <br />in the upper part of the'formatiou is considerably shattered, There is some lime- <br />stone breccia in the lower part, This formation is quite porous, in part the result of <br />partial dissolution of small fossils; such as minute cup corals, especially in some <br />of the lower layers, The lack of arenaceous material suggests deep-water origin <br />and uniform conditions of deposition during Madison time in this area, The <br />Pennsylvanian sediments (Morgan formation), however, indicate more variable <br />conditions. <br />Between the Morgan and Madison formatious occur 90 feet of carbonaceous <br />shale containing in the upper part a 4-fOOt quartz-sandstone layer bearing plant <br />remains, Beneath these beds is a series of 60 feet of clear quartz-sandstones, <br />white, yellowish, and red (hematitic) in color, Some of the sandstone is fine- <br />grained and contains thin layers of carbonaceous material. Beneath these clastics <br />occurs a 6-foot layer of limestone below which are 30 feet of reddish calcareous <br />and angular conglomeratic sandstone, The writers have found lepidodendron and <br />calamite plant remains at several localities in the sandstone beds, and it is hoped <br />that some of these spec.imens may be identifiable and sufficiently diagnostic to <br />determine whether these sediments belong to the Lower Pennsylvanian or to the <br />Upper Mississippian period, <br />One of the best Pennsylvanian sections in the Monument area occurs in <br />Whirlpool Canyon (Green River), According to foraminiferal determinations by <br />Lloyd G, Henbest,' of the United States Geological Survey, the Morgan forma- <br />tiou of this region includes members of Des Moines, Atoka, and Morrow age, The <br />lower limestones rest without apparent disconformity on the carbonaceous shale <br />and sandstone beds described, although there does seem to be some suggestion of <br />erosion locally among the clastics, The lower third of the Morgan formation con- <br />sists predominantly of cherty limestone layers: The middle part includes fossilif- <br />erous marls tone and limestone beds some of which contain varicolored cherts, <br />The upper third of the formation consists of alternating limestone and fine- <br />grained predominantly quartz-sandstone layers, the latter changing in color from <br />red and terra' cotta to gray or buff near the top and greatly resembling the over- <br />lying Weber sandstone as the contact is approached, Although the Madison is <br />less fossiliferous than the Morgan, it seems possible that both formations might <br />be a source of petroliferous deposits, <br />The Weber sandstone is a fairly uniform fine- to medium-grained gray to buff <br />friable sandstone, somewhat calcareous, thus susceptible itself to rapid erosion, <br />It is moderately to strongly cross,bedded, in places suggesting wind deposition, <br />Locally, the Weber formation becomes quartzitic, In many places the upper part <br />contains petroliferous outcrops, <br />Fossils are abundant in many of the formations. One of the most interesting <br />of these groups is the Morrison dinosaurs of Upper Jurassic age, To them must <br />be credited the establishing of Dinosaur National Monument, as it is this colorful <br />series of Morrison flood-plain deposits in which occur the fossils that made the <br /> <br />I Personal communication. <br /> <br />.. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />. <br /> <br /> <br />69I <br />