Geology of pre-Tertiary rocks in the northern part of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Abstract

Yellowstone National Park, the oldest of the areas set aside as part of the national park system, lies amidst the Rocky Mountains in northwestern Wyoming and adjacent parts of Montana and Idaho. Embracing large, diverse, and complex geologic features, the park is in an area that is critical to the interpretation of many significant regional geologic problems. In order to provide basic data bearing on these problems, the U.S. Geological Survey in 1965 initiated a broad program of comprehensive geologic and geophysical investigations within the park. This program was carried out with the cooperation of the National Park Service, and was also aided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which supported the gathering of geologic information needed in testing and in interpreting results from various remote sensing devices. This professional paper chapter is one of a series of technical geologic reports resulting from these investigations.

Seismotectonics and stress field of the Yellowstone volcanic plateau from earthquake first‐motions and other indicators

“…North striking en echelon normal faults to the south of Yellowstone caldera, including the Teton Fault, and the north striking Gallatin Fault between Norris Junction and Mammoth Hot Springs indicate E-W extension [Christiansen, 2001]. Two alignments of postcaldera volcanic vents within the caldera (Figure 7) have been suggested as evidence of links between the extension structures north and south of the caldera [Ruppel, 1972;Christiansen, 2001]. East to SE striking faults to the west and NW of Yellowstone, including the Hebgen Lake and Red Canyon faults which ruptured in 1959, indicate extension is approximately N-S in that region [Doser, 1985].…”

“…[41] If the alignments of volcanic vents within the caldera are links between the extensional structures north and south of the caldera as has been suggested [Ruppel, 1972;Christiansen, 2001], then the orientation of those alignments indicate ENE extension within the caldera (Figure 7). The direction of maximum extension from GPS is consistent with extension inferred from the vent alignments in central caldera, but inconsistent in the southwestern caldera [Puskas et al, 2002].…”

Mineral resource potential map of the northern part of the Washakie Wilderness and nearby roadless areas, Park County, Wyoming

“…The northwest-trending Buffalo Plateau-Bear tooth Mountain block is bounded on the southwest by the Gardner fault, a high-angle reverse fault that cuts gently folded youngest Cretaceous sedimentary rocks (Ruppel, 1972). Major uplift of the Beartooth block began in Paleocene (Fort Union Formation) time and culminated in early Eocene time according to Foose and others (1961).…”

“…The sedimentary rocks are underlain by Precambrian crystalline rocks 2.6 b.y. old (Ruppel, 1972;Reed and Zartman, 1973). Paleozoic rocks are exposed at only a few localities.…”

“…These include the Buffalo Plateau to the northwest, which is along the northern border of Yellowstone National Park (Ruppel, 1972), the Beartooth uplift to the north, the Rattlesnake Mountain anticline to the northeast, and the Washakie Range in the Teton Wilderness to the south. Presumably these rocks underlie the Absaroka volcanic field at depth.…”