Geologic map of the Homestake Reservoir 7.5′ quadrangle, Lake, Pitkin, and Eagle Counties, Colorado

Scientific Investigations Map 3451
By: , and 

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Abstract

The Homestake Reservoir 7.5' quadrangle lies at the northwestern end of the Upper Arkansas Valley, and headwaters of the Arkansas River, and the Roaring Fork, Fryingpan, and Eagle Rivers of the Colorado River system.  The quadrangle lies within tectonic provinces of the 1.4 giga-annum (Ga) Picuris orogeny and includes the late Paleozoic Ancestral Rockies, Late Cretaceous-Paleocene Laramide orogeny, Oligocene-to-Miocene and Pliocene? volcanism, and Miocene to the present Rio Grande rift extensional tectonics. In the eastern half of the quadrangle, high-angle, east-dipping, Neogene normal faults displace Proterozoic rocks, and locally Miocene-to-Pliocene? volcanic rocks.  Many quartz veins and hydrothermally altered zones are exposed along the eastern flank of the quadrangle, indicative of the multiple tectonic episodes the region has experienced.  The main intent of the map is to unravel the structural complexity by partitioning the structures and volcanism within the appropriate geologic interval.  This ultimately permits accurate identification of geomorphic features suitable for chronologies related to landscape evolution studies, seismic and other natural hazard identification, ground and surface water modeling, and paleoclimatic studies.  Within the western half of the quadrangle, Mesoproterozoic and Paleoproterozoic igneous and metamorphic rocks of 1.4 Ga St. Kevin Granite and 1.8–1.7 Ga Biotite gneiss and schist, respectively, are uplifted along the generally east-dipping, high-angle Sawatch fault system. In the northwest portion of the quadrangle, strands of the Homestake shear zone have been mapped, dated and assigned to the 1.4 Ga Picuris orogeny of northern New Mexico. 10Be and 26Al cosmogenic nuclide ages of the youngest glacial deposits indicate a last glacial maximum age of about 22–21 kilo-annum (ka) and complete deglaciation by about 14 kilo-annum, supported by chronologic studies in adjacent drainages. The Turquoise Lake impounding lateral and terminal moraine complex was deposited during late Pleistocene glacial maximum ~22–21 ka. No late Pleistocene tectonic activity is apparent within the quadrangle.

Suggested Citation

Ruleman, C.A., Frothingham, M.G., Brandt, T.R., Shaw, C.A., Caffee, M.W., Brugger, K.A., and Goehring, B.M., 2020, Geologic map of the Homestake Reservoir 7.5' quadrangle, Lake, Pitkin, and Eagle Counties, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3451, scale 1:24,000, https://doi.org/10.3133/sim3451.

ISSN: 2329-132X (online)

Study Area

Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Geologic map of the Homestake Reservoir 7.5′ quadrangle, Lake, Pitkin, and Eagle Counties, Colorado
Series title Scientific Investigations Map
Series number 3451
DOI 10.3133/sim3451
Year Published 2020
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston VA
Contributing office(s) Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
Description 3 Sheets: 54.00 x 48.50 inches; Read Me; Data Release
Country United States
State Colorado
County Eagle County, Lake County, Pitkin County
Other Geospatial Homestake Reservoir
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details