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<br />OUGHt <br /> <br />B< Geology <br /> <br />The rocks underlying the study area are in three area groups: the <br /> <br />sedimentary deposits of the Little Snake River Drainage, the pre-Cambrian rocks <br /> <br />of the Sierra Madre Mountains, aed the sedimentary deposits of the Jack Creek <br /> <br />Drainage. <br /> <br />The south and west portion of the study area in the Little Snake River <br /> <br />Drainage is underlain by a sequence of sedimentary deposits consisting of marine <br /> <br />and continental sandstone, s~ales, mudstones, and marlstones. These sedimentary <br /> <br />deposits become as thick as 16,000 feet near Baggs. The sedimentary rocks vary <br /> <br />in age from Cambrian to Miocene. In addition to and within these sedimentary <br /> <br />deposits near the Wyoming-Colorado border, occur a series of basaltic dikes and <br /> <br />sills, which intruded into the area in the late Miocene age. <br /> <br />The most dominant bedrock in this portion of the study area is the <br /> <br />Browns Park Formation. The Browns P~rk Formation is an eolian deposit of sand, <br /> <br />silt, and volcanic ash, early to Middle Miocene in age, and is as thick as 1,800 <br /> <br />feet. Numerous domestic and stock wells are developed in the formation. <br /> <br />The Haystack Formation of the Mesa Verde Group and the underlying <br /> <br />Lewis Shale are two significant formations for this study in the Little Snake <br /> <br />River drainage area. The Haystack Formation, consisting of sandstones and <br /> <br />shales, and at times the overlying Browns Park Formation, will slide on the <br /> <br />contact of the Lewis Shale under adverse ccnditions. Several stream valleys, <br /> <br />such as Savery Creek, have large, massive landslides developed alon2 the walls <br /> <br />and floodplains. The potential effects of these slides were considered in <br /> <br />the evaluation of several dam sites. <br /> <br />The uplift which formed the Sierra Madre uplift ~long with the erosion <br /> <br />of sedimentary rocks has exposed pre-Cambri~n rocks. The pre-Cambrian rocks in <br /> <br />the study area are 3 variety of igneous. metamorphic, and metasedimentary rocks. <br /> <br />The igneous rocks in the study area include granites. volcanic rocks, gabbros, <br /> <br />1II-2 <br />