Preliminary report on stratigraphy of the phosphatic shale member of the Phosphoria formation in Western Wyoming, southeastern Idaho, and northern Utah

McKelvey, V.E.

doi:10.3133/ofr472

Cited by 8 publications

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“…In general the lithology of the formation varies with the thickness. Where the formation is thick, Unit B has been designated the phosphatic shale member in the southwestern portion of the area of the report (Gardner, 1944) and is correlative with the 200 foot thick phosphatic shale member in southeastern Idaho (McKelvey, 1946). The unit probably is the correlative of unit B in southwestern Montana (Klepper and others, 1948;Cressman.…”

Section: Lithology Of the Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Physical stratigraphy of the Phosphoria formation in northwestern Wyoming

Sheldon¹

1955

Open-File Report

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The rocks of the Phosphoria formation in northwestern Wyoming fall into five stratigraphic units, which, from oldest to youngest, are provisionally called the A, B, C, D, and E units. Units A, C, and E are composed dominantly of chert, tarbonate rock, and sandstone, whereas units B and D are composed dominantly of mudstone, phosphorite, and dark carbonate rock. Units C and D are continuous over all of northwestern Wyoming, whereas unit A grades into unit B and unit E grades into unit D to the southwest. Both units A and B pinch out to the north. With the possible exception of unit A, these units can be recognized in southwestern Montana. Units 3, C, and D are equivalent to the phosphatic.shale, Rex, and upper shale members of the Phosphoria formation in southeastern Idaho. The formation as a whole exhibits a facies change from dominantly chert, mudstone, and phosphorite in the southwestern part of northwestern Wyoming to dominantly carbonate rock and sandstone to the northeastern part. The facies change by thinning and pinching out of units and the in.ergradation of units. The rocks of the formation in the area of the report are cyclically deposited. The rock record of a single ideal cycle consists of, from base to top, carbonate rock, chert, phosphorite, chert, and carbonate rock. Sandstone and glauconite in general are found in the carbonate phases of the cycle whereas mudstone, pyrite, and organic matter are found in the chert and phosphorite phases of the cycle. An eastward transition from phosphorite to chest and chert to carbonate rock is analagous to the upper half of the cycle, i. e., phosphorite, chert, and carbonate rock in ascending order. The phosphorite phase of the cycle is represented by units B and D, whereas the other phases are represented by units A, C, and E. Two complete cycles are found in southwestern Wyoming. These stratigraphic relations represent two transgressions and regressions of areally zoned environments, The phosphorite phase is the most transgressive whereas the carbonate rock phase is the most regressive. The physical chemical environments in which the sediments accumulated probably varied between an environment with a pH of above 7.8 and an Eh of greater than zero for the carbonate rock phase of the cycle and an environment with a pH of less than 7.8 and an Eh of less than about-0.25 for the phosphorite phase of the cycle. These environments probably were effected by cold water upwelling on a shelf to the east. The transgressive and regressive migrations of the shelf probably were tectonically controlled.

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Section: Lithology Of the Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The preservation of sediments that are formed from the hard parts of organisms would also be controlled by the physical-chemical environment; that is, if the water in which the biogenic mineral is deposited is not saturated with that mineral, it will be unstable and will tend to dissolve (McKelvey, 1946;Krumbein and Garrels, 1952).…”

Section: Elmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical stratigraphy of the Phosphoria formation in northwestern Wyoming

Sheldon¹

1955

Open-File Report

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“…CPM for the widespread Permian (Wordian) Rex Chert Member of the Phosphoria Formation (Idaho, Utah, Montana and Wyoming) accumulated in western Pangea under arid conditions when the NAC was situated between 0° and 30 N (Boucot et al, 2013, Map 15). The phosphate, chert, and other constituents in the Phosphoria Formation have been attributed to upwelling (c.f., McKelvey, 1946;Hein et al, 2004). Ketner (2009) suggested that upwelling could not have extended across the broad cratonic expanse of the Rex Chert occurrence.…”

Section: Permian Chertmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleoclimate and the Origin of Paleozoic Chert: Time to Re-Examine the Origins of Chert in the Rock Record

Cecil¹

2015

TSR

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“…The geographic setting of the Meade Peak Member, including its relation to upwelling, has been established by regional stratigraphic studies of the Phosphoria Formation (for example, McKelvey and others, 1959;Sheldon, 1964Sheldon, , 1981. The requisite slow deposition and circulating 'seawater are also necessary for phosphorite (McKelvey, 1946). The concentrations of vanadium in the zone are so high (locally, 150 times or more its crustal abundance of 150 g/t) (Rankama and Sahama, 1950) relative to its ordinary occurrence that they could have been attained only in the absence of the dilution that would have resulted from sedimentation at ordinary rates.…”

Section: Originmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A black shale containing 0.8 to 0.9 percent V205 over a large area was discovered by W.W. Rubey of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 1938 in the upper part of the Meade Peak Member of the Permian Phosphoria Formation in the Salt River Range of western Wyoming (Rubey, 1943(Rubey, ,1958. This vanadiferous zone, as it came to be called informally, was sampled by the USGS in 1942 at numerous localities in the adjoining region (McKelvey, 1946); it was sampled in more detail in late 1942 and 1943 by the Wyodak Coal and Manufacturing Co., agent for the Metals Reserve Co., in the Paris-Bloomington area of Idaho (McKelvey and Strobell, 1955) and in the Sublette Ridge area of Wyoming. The U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) also explored the zone in Sublette Ridge (Allsman and others, 1949a) as well as in the Salt River Range (Allsman and others, 1949b) and investigated means of recovering the vanadium (Ravitz and others, 1947).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The vanadiferous zone of the Phosphoria Formation in western Wyoming and southeastern Idaho

McKelvey¹,

Strobell²,

Slaughter³

1986

Professional Paper

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A black shale in the upper part of the Meade Peak Member of the Permian Phosphoria Formation contains an average of 0.8 to 0.9 percent V 20 5 or more over a large area in western Wyoming and southeastern Idaho. In 1942 and 1943, this vanadiferous zone was sampled at numerous localities in the region by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Wyodak Coal and Manufacturing Co., and the U.S. Bureau of Mines. At Sublette Ridge, 1 mi east of the Idaho State line in Lincoln County, Wyoming, the vanadiferous zone lies about 50 ft below the top of the Meade Peak Member in the nearly vertical eastern limb of a north-striking anticline. The full thickness of the vanadiferous zone in the explored part of Sublette Ridge contains about 1.9 million tons of indicated subeconomic resources above drainage level. The richer upper part contains about 1.35 million tons. In the Paris-Bloomington area of Bear Lake County, Idaho, in the eastern foothills of the Bear River Range about 1 mi west of the towns of Paris and Bloomington, the Phosphoria Formation and associated rocks lie in the Paris syncline, which plunges about 15° N. The western limb of the syncline is overturned; the beds near the trough are nearly vertical, but, high on the limb, they dip as little as 20° W. The vanadiferous zone is about 35 ft below the top of the Meade Peak Member and about 5 ft below the upper phosphate zone. The zone consists of three beds: a shale, a phosphorite, and a siltstone, in ascending order. Estimates of measured, indicated, and inferred subeconomic resources of vanadium in the Paris-Bloomington area have been prepared for the shale bed, the shale and phosphorite beds combined, and the full thickness of the vanadiferous zone. Measured resources for the full zone are estimated to be 600,000 tons averaging 10.8 ft in thickness and 0.93 percent V^Og; indicated resources are 4,000,000 tons averaging 10 ft in thickness and 0.9 percent V20 5; inferred resources, within the area sampled, are 50 to 75 million tons averaging 10 ft in thickness and 0.6 to 1.0 percent V^Og. The vanadiferous zone appears to be the product of primary deposition from upwelling water in a reducing marine environment below wave base in a water depth of 100 m or so. These deposits formed on the outer continental shelf on the western side of the North American craton at low latitude, where deep, cold, nutrientrich seawater came to the surface as a result of divergent upwelling in a tradewind belt. The vanadiferous zone in western Wyoming and southeastern Idaho contains about 41 million tons of indicated subeconomic resources averaging about 0.9 percent V^Og. Inferred resources are many times larger. Eventually, these inferred resources may prove to be an important source of vanadium and several other metals.

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Preliminary report on stratigraphy of the phosphatic shale member of the Phosphoria formation in Western Wyoming, southeastern Idaho, and northern Utah

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Physical stratigraphy of the Phosphoria formation in northwestern Wyoming

Physical stratigraphy of the Phosphoria formation in northwestern Wyoming

Paleoclimate and the Origin of Paleozoic Chert: Time to Re-Examine the Origins of Chert in the Rock Record

The vanadiferous zone of the Phosphoria Formation in western Wyoming and southeastern Idaho

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