Table Of ContentDevils Tower-Black Hills
Alkalic Igneous Rocks
and General Geology
Blacks Hills, South Dakota to
Bear Lodge Mountains, Wyoming
July 1-7, 1989
Field Trip Guidebook T 1 3 1
Leader:
Frank R. Karner, Editor
Associate Leaders:
Don Halvorson, Gordon A. jenner, and Stanley E White
American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1989 American Geophysical Union
2000 Florida Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009
ISBN: 0-87590-670-2
Printed in the United States of America
COVER The Bear Lodge (rnato tepee) or Devils Tower looking
eastward with the low profile of the Bear Lodge Mountains in
distance. Woodcut from H. A. Newton and W. P. Jenney, 1880,
Report on the geology and resources of the Black Hills of
Dakota: U.S. Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky
Mountain Reg ion.
Frank R. Karner, Editor
Department of Geology and Geological Engineering and
North Dakota Geological Survey
University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, N.D. 58202 U.S.A.
-
Introduction Devils T.o.w..e.r-.B.l.a.c.k. .H..i.l.l.s. A..lk..a.li.c. .I.g.n.e.o us Rocks
and General Geology Frank R. Karner
Geological .F.r.a.m.e.w..o.rk. .o.f. .t.h.e. .B..la.c.k. .H..i.l.l.s. -. .B..e.a.r .L.o.d.g.e. Mountains
Region. Frank R. Karner
Gen.e.r.a.l .G..e.o.lo.g.y. .o.f. .t.h.e. .B..la.c.k. .H ills and Bear Lodge Mountains........
Frank R. Karner and Richard L. Patelke
.................
Glo.s.sa.r.y. .o f Places and People of the Black Hills..
Frank R. Karner, Gloria A. Pederson and Marilyn R. Schultz
Field Guide Day 1: Geology of the Precambrian Rocks of the Keystone
...........................................
Region Frank R. Karner
Field Guide Day 2: Geology of the Precambrian Rocks of the Custer
R..e.g.io.n... .H..o.t ..S.p.r.in..g.s. M..a.m.m..ot h Site and Wind Cave..................
Frank R. Karner and Richard L. Patelke
Field Guide Day 3: Geology of the Badlands Region and the Mesozoic-
...............................
P..a.le.o..z.o.ic.. R..o.c.k.s .o.f. .B..o.u.l.d.e.r .C. anyon
Frank R. Karner and Stanley F. White
Activities Guide Day 4: United States Independence Day and. ........
G..e.o.l.o.g.i.c.a.l .a.n.d. .C..u.l.tu..r.a.l .F.e.a..tu.r.e.s. .o.f. .t.h.e. .D.e.a.d.w.o.o.d. .R egion
Frank R. Karner
Field Guide Day 5: Geology of Precambrian-Cenozoic Rocks .o.f. .t.h.e. ...
D..ea.d.w..oo.d.-.L.e.a.d. .R..eg..io.n... .T..e.rr.y. .P eak, and Spearfish Canyon
Frank R. Karner and Stanley F. White
Eocene Igneous Activity and Related Metasomatic and Hy.d.r.o.th.e.r.m..a.l ...
E.v..e.n.ts... .B..e.a.r .L.o.d.g.e. .M..o.u.n.t.a.in.s.,. .C..ro.o.k. .C..o.u.n.ty... .W..y.o.m ing
Gordon A. Jenner
Dev.i.ls. .T.o.w..er. .a.n.d. .t.h.e. .M..i.ss.o.u..ri. .B.u ttes...............................
Frank R. Karner and Don L. Halvorson
Field Guid.e. .D.a.y. .6..:. .G..e.o.lo.g.y. .o.f. .t he Devils Tower and Missouri Buttes
Region Frank R. Karner and Don L. Halvorson
I-Type and S-Type Carbonatites? Eviden.c.e. .f.r.o.m. .t.h.e. .B. ear Lodge
Mountains. Crook County. Wyoming.. Gordon A. Jenner
..........
Fiel.d. .G..u.id.e. .D ay 7: Geology of the Bear Lodge Mountains..
Frank R. Karner. Gordon A. Jenner. Stanley F. White and
Don L. Halvorson
IGC FIELD TRIP T131:
-
DEVILS TOWER BLA(X RILLS ALKALIC
IGNEOUS ROCKS AND GENERAL GE0UH;Y
Frank R. Karner. Editor
Department of Geology and Geological Engineering and
North Dakota Geological Survey
University of North Dakota, Grand Forks
PAHA SAPA:THE BLACK HILLS AND HATO TEPEI3:TRE Several are listed below and w i l l be available
GRIZZLY BHAR LODGE for study during the trip:
Looming up as a dark ridgeline on the
western plain, paha sapa, the Black Hills of Newton, H.A., and Jenney, W.P., 1880, Report
South Dakota and Wyoming are a jewel of on the geology and resources of the Black
America, treasured by the Native American, H i l l s of Dakota: U.S. Geographical and
the white explorer, the frontiersman, the Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain
cowboy, the gold prospector, the miner, the Region, p. 1-222.
camp follower, the settler, the businessman, O'Harra, C.C., 1902, The mineral wealth of
the tourist and also the geologist. History, the Black Hills: South Dakota School of Mines
folklore and legend are as conspicuous as and Technology Bulletin 6, 88 p.
outcrops for the geologist who travels the Darton, N.H., and O'Harra, C.C., 1905, Aladdin
Black Hills. The Black Hills is a microcosm Iquadranglel, Wyoming-South Dakota-Montana:
of geology. In this relatively small area is U. S. Geological Survey Geologic Atlas of
a geological section from the Archean to the the United States, Folio 128., 8 p.
,
Pleistocene. Precambrian igneous andmetamorphic Darton, N. H., and O'Harra, C. C 1907, Devils
rocks, including world famous pegmatites, are Tower [quadrangle], Wyoming: U.S.Geologica1
overlain by an extensive Paleozoic-Mesozoic Survey Geologic Atlas of the United States,
sedimentary sequence. These Precambrian- Folio 150, 10 p.
Mesozoic rocks have been uplifted and domed Darton, N.H., 1909, Geology and water resources
by Laramide deformational events and eroded of the northern portion of the Black Hills
to form scenic mountains, ridges and valleys, and adjoining regions in South Dakota and
cavern systems andbadlands topography. Cenozoic Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey Professional
igneous events have formed striking volcanic- Paper 65, 105 p.
plutonic centers some ofwhichcontain significant Darton, N.H., and Paige, Sidney, 1925, Central
mineral deposits. Black Hills, South Dakota: U. S. Geological
Extending northwestward, the Black Hills Survey Geologic Atlas of United States, Folio
uplift terminates in the Bear Lodge Mountains 219, 34 p.
uplift of Wyoming with Devils Tower, named Page, L.R., Adams, J.W., Erickson, M.P.,
mato tepee or the grizzly bear lodge by Hall, W.E., Hanley, J.B., Joralemon, Peter,
Native Americans, and the Missouri Buttes at Norton, J.J., Pray, L.C., Steven, T.A.,
its western edge. The scenic Bear Lodge Stoll, W.C., Stopper, R.F., and Trites,
Mountains prominently display a carbonatite- A.F., Jr., 1953, Pegmatite investigations,
pyroxenite alkalic rock intrusive and extrusive 1942-1945, Black Hills, South Dakota: U.S.
continental igneous association. The Bear Lodge Geological Survey Professional Paper 247,
igneous center also exhibits thorium and p. 293-300.
rare-earth mineralization, and remarkable Robinson, C.S., Mapel, W.J., and Bergendahl,
potassium fenitization. Devils Tower is the M.H., 1964, Stratigraphy and structure of the
most widely known landmark of the northern northern and western flanks of the Black
Great Plains. It has been a sacred place for Hills uplift, Wyoming, Montana, and South
Native Americans, a communal recreation site Dakota: U.S. Geological Survey Professional
for early white settlers, and a mecca for Paper 404, 134 p.
travelinggeologists sincethecusterexpedition Harksen, J.C., and Macdonald, J.R., 1969,
of 1875. Devils Tower is recognized as the Guidebook to the major Cenozoic deposits of
world's finest example of columnar jointing southwestern South Dakota: South Dakota
in a phonolite monolith. Geological Survey, Guidebook 2, 103 p.
Many general publications, maps and theses U.S. Geological Survey, 1975, U.S. Congress,
on the geology of the Black Hills and Bear Senate Committee on Interior and Insular
Lodge Mountains make fascinating reading. Affairs, Mineral and water resources of South
Dakota: 94th Congress, 1st session, 313 p.
Lisenbee, A.L.. 1978. Laramide structure of
the Black Hills uplift , South Dakota-Wyoming-
~h
Montana Matthews, V.. 111, ed.. Laramide
folding associatedwithbasement block faulting
in the Western United States: Geological
Society of American Memoir 151. p. 165-196.
Feldmann, R.M., and Heimlich. R.A., 1980, The
Black Hills, Kendall/Hunt Geology Field
Guide Series, 190 p.
Halvorson. D.L., 1980, Geology and petrology
of the Devils Tower, Missouri Buttes, and
Barlow Canyon area. Crook County. Wyoming:
Grand Forks, University of North Dakota,
Ph.D. dissertation, 218 p.
Staatz. M.H., 1983, Geology and description
of thorium and rare-earth deposits in the
southern Bear Lodge Mountains, northeastern
Wyoming: U. S. Geological Survey Professional
Paper 1049-D, 52 .p .
Jenner, G. A.. Jr , 1984, Tertiary alkalic
igneous activity. potassic fenitization,
carbonat it i c magmatism, and hydrothermal
activity in the central and southeastern
Bear Lodge Mountains, Crook County, Wyoming:
Grand Forks. University of North Dakota,
M.S. thesis, 232 p.
Lisenbee, A.L., 1985. Tectonic map of the
Black Hills uplift. Montana. Wyoming and
South Dakota: Geological Survey of Wyoming
Map Series 13, scale 1:250.000.
Rich, F.J., 1985, Geology of the Black Hills,
South Dakota and Wyoming. 2nd edition, 292
P
DeWitt, E., Redden. J.A., Wilson, A.B., Buscher,
D., and Dersch, J. S., 1986. Mineral resource
potential and geology of the Black Hill s
National Forest, South Dakota and Wyoming:
U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1580. 135 p.
This field guide contains a number of
papers on general subjects along with daily
field trip guides. I wish to thank the
authors and recognize their special knowledge
and efforts which so greatly contributed to
this volume. Special thanks go to Juergen
Reinhardt, Janet Evans and Penny Hanshaw of
the International Geological Congress working
group for support and direction. to Jack
Redden of the South Dakota School of Mines
and Technology for geological advice, to Ken
Dorsher of the North Dakota Geological Survey
for drafting, to Gloria Pederson of the
University of North Dakota, Department of
Geology and Geological Engineering for her
willing and thorough assistance in all parts
of the project, to Todd Brown of the Department
for geological assistance and to Alan Cvancara
and W i l l Gosnold of the Department for manuscript
review.
IGC FIELD TRIP '1'131:
GBOLOGICAL !'IWiaiOIII: 01' '1'81 liLAlZ RILLS -
BIWl LODGE IIJOR'l'AIBS BBGIOR
Frank R. Karner
Department of Geology and Geological Engineering and
North Dakota Geological Survey.
University of North Dakota. Grand Forks
Major Precambrian orogenic belts and age
provinces of North America are shown by
Figure 1 (Bickford. 1988) and Figure 2 (Hoffman.
1988). A current view of the North American
Precambrian record is that microcontinent& o~
Archean age (older than 2.5 Ga or 2.5 x 10
years) were joined during the Early Proterozoic
from about 1.81 Ga to 1.96 Ga by a network of
orogenic belts to form Laurasia by an essentially
plate tectonic mechanism comparable to that
forming the Phanerozoic continent of Eurasia
(Hoffman. 1988). The Archean provinces typically
consist of belt-like granitic pluton-greenstone
terranes and granitic pluton-metasedimentary
gneiss terranes while the Proterozoic orogens
contain highly deformed metasedimentary and
metavolcanic rocks.
Black Bill-Bear Lodge JloantaiDs Region
The Black Hills-Bear Lodge Mountains
region is located at the western border of the
Early Proterozoic Trans-Hudson orogen between
the Archean Superior and Wyoming provinces as
shown in Figure 1 (Hoffman. 1988) and Figure
3 (Reed. 1987). The Wyoming province is FIGURE 1 Precambrian provinces of North
conventionally extended to better-exposed America (Bickford. 1988).
Archean rocks to the north which were previously
placed in the problematic Churchill provinceand
now subdivided into the Hearne and Rae provinces The Black Hills and Bear Lodge Mountains
(Hoffman. 1988) • Many of the Early Proterozoic formed by the Laramide uplift of blocks of
orogens are transitional between collision the Trans-Hudson orogen containing Early
zones containing remnants of the deformed Proterozoic rocks intruded by pegmatitic
margins of Archean microcontinent& and zones granite with granitic remnants of the Archean
of accretionary tectonics containing remnants Wyoming Province. Asymmetry in the northern
of Early Proterozoic island arcs and associated part of the Trans-Hudson orogen suggests a
intra-oceanic rock units. Most of the orogenic Precambrian tectonic polarity with the Superior
zones are asymmetric. One side is an Archean province foreland to the east and south and
hinterland with an underlying subduction zone the Hearne province hinterland to the north
characterized by a magmatic arc. high grade and west. There is evidence that the Superior
metamorphic rock assemblages. and transcurrent province has moved up relative to the Trans
shear zones. The opposite Archean foreland Hudson orogen as is noted to be typical of the
is characterized by an overthrust sedimentary general buoyancy pattern for North American
prism that has undergone relatively low-grade Archean provinces and Proterozoic orogens
metamorphism. (Hoffman. 1988). The Black Hills are just
T131: 3
anorogenic
magmatism
• 1.40-1.34 Ga
• 1.50·1.43 Ga
....
• 1.79-1.74 Ga
~ ca1.1 Ga continental
rift
<:::::>
1.3-1.0 Ga imbricated
crust
G'Z;1)
1.8·1.6 Ga juvenile crust
~
1.9-1.8 Ga juvenile crust
~
2.0-1.8 Ga continental
magmatic arcs
(]!)
2.0-1.8 Ga thrust-fold belts
~
2.3-2.1 Ga juvenile(?) crust
CTIP ~rcheal'l
greens.tone
gran~te-gnelss provmces
PFH87 (variable ee deformation)
FIGURE 2 Precambrian tectonic elements of Laurentia (Hoffman. 1988). The Baltic shield is
shown in a pre-Iapetus reconstruction and Greenland is restored prior to rifting from North
America. Uppercase names are Archean provinces: lowercase names are Proterozoic and Phanerozoic
orogens. Abbreviations: BL. Belcher belt: BH. Black Hills inlier: CH. Cheyenne belt: cs.
Cape Smith belt: FR. Fox River belt: GL. Great Lakes tectonic zone: GS. Great Slave Lake
shear zone: KL. Killarney magmatic zone: KP. Kapuskasing uplift: KR. Keweenawan rift zone:
LW. Lapland-White Sea tectonic zone: MK. Makkovik orogen: MO. Mistassini-Otish basins: MRV.
Minnesota River Valley terrane: SG Sugluk terrane: TH. Thompson belt: TS. Transscandinavian
(Smaland-Varmland) magmatic zone: VT. Vetrenny tectonic zone: WR. Winisk River fault.
north of the apparent truncation of the Trans PHANKROZOIC GEOLOGY
Hudson orogen by the 1. 7-1.8 Ga Central
Plains orogen (Sims and Peterman. 1986) shown Overview
by Figures 1-3. The North American Central Western North America is dominated by the
Plains electrical conductivity anomaly extends Cordilleran mountain belt along the length of
north just east of the Black Hills and may the continental margin (Figures 1-2). This
mark the subsurface eastern boundary of the wide. complex belt is currently undergoing
Wyoming province (Hoffman. 1988). deformation. It consists of terranes added
T131: 4
,.·
,.·
----
{lfiAIJI
,_N02 ~ Pepolactr-attaoentko:n lreo cka Loiumtcitr oopf Precambrian 1p.l3u-t1o.n5 6I nG oal daenr otreorgreann•ec
;i. ~ ~ Deformed epk:ratonlc
;:i ~.. l~··~~c.:__:·a ••••• Rreowcoksrk eodf Gdurerinnvgi llteh eO rogen
a: -.._- ......... Mobile belts Paleozoic
~~ Archean rocks 1In.0 oG'dae ra nteorrroagneen lc pluton
FIGURE 3 Sketch map of Precambrian geology of the United States and southern Canada (Reed.
1987). AU. Adirondack Uplift; BH. Black Hills; BSG. Belt Supergroup; CB. Cheyenne Belt;
CF. Catoctin Formation; CSB. Carolina Slate Belt; DC. Duluth Complex; GC. Grand Canyon;
GlZ. Great Lakes tectonic zone; LA. Laramie Anorthosite Complex; LU. Llano uplift; MEA. New
England Avalon terrane; OSG. Ocoee Supergroup; PP. Pikes Peak batholith; sc. Stillwater
Complex; SGC. San Gabriel Complex; SF • St. Francois Mountains; SQ. Sioux Quartzite; UMG.
Unita Mountain Group; and WG. Windermere Group.
to North America (Figure 3. Reed. 1987) of the Columbia Plateau (Figure 4. Hamilton.
during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras as 1987).
variedplateinteractionsmodifiedthecontinent
during its westward and northwestward movement. Black Hills-Bear Lodge Mountains Region
Accreted island arc and oceanic crust materials
are present as fault-bounded blocks that occur Still further east the spectacular Rocky
with sedimentary. volcanic and plutonic rocks Mountains have formed as part of the Laramide
characteristic of extensive subduction zone foreland fold and thrust belt of middle
magmatic arc development. Major geological Cretaceous to early Cenozoic age (Figures
features are shown in Figure 4 (Hamilton. 4.5. Hamilton. 1987). Major structures are
1987) including the Coast Ranges dominated by in a zone extending from east of the Colorado
accretionary tectonics. the Cascade Range Plateau northward and northwestward into
volcanic arc. and the Sierra Nevada batholithic Wyoming and Montana (Figure 5). Hamil ton
complex of granodioritic plutons. (1987) suggests that a slowing of westward
To the east the Cordilleran mountain belt movement of North America starting in the
is bounded by a wide zone of Cenozoic extension southwest caused subsequent clockwise rotation
(Figure 3) which is dominated by the fault of the Colorado Plateau. In the early stages.
block mountains and basaltic volcanism of the Proterozoic and younger sedimentary units
Basin and Range Province and the flood basalts were imbricated eastward onto the craton
T131: 5
