|
Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 1475-G
Water-Supply Possibilities at Capitol Reef National Monument, Utah
|
GEOLOGY
Geologic formations in the headquarters area of
capitol reef national Monument range in age from Permian to Recent but
cretaceous and tertiary formations are absent. The generalized section
of the geologic formations in the headquarters area of the monument is
shown on table 1. Plate 15 is a geologic map of the same area. The
structure in the headquarters area is that of a simple monocline dipping
10° to 13° NE. Plate 16 is a geologic section through Fruita
parallel to the general dip of the formations.
TABLE 1.Generalized section of the geologic
formations and their water-bearing properties in the headquarters area,
Capitol Reef National Monument, Utah
[Adapted from Luedke (1953, 1954) and Smith and others (1957a, b)]1
System | Series | Formation |
Approximate thickness (feet) | Physical character |
Water-bearing properties |
Quaternary | Recent and Pleistocene | Undifferentiated deposits | <50 |
Alluvium, terrace gravel, pediment gravel. |
Alluvium along parts of the Fremont River might supp]y limited amounts of water
to shallow wells. Other Quaternary deposits are commonly not saturated. |
Unconformity |
Jurassic |
| Glen Canyon group | Navajo sandstone |
750 |
White to yellow fine-grained sandstone. |
Supplies large quantities of water to wells in some parts of the Colorado Plateau. |
Jurassic (?) |
| Kayenta formation | 245 |
Irregularly bedded white to reddish-brown siltstone, conglomerate, and very fine to medium-grained sandstone. |
The fine-grained character of this formation makes it unlikely that large water supplies could be developed from it. |
Triassic | Upper Triassic | Wingate sandstone | 320 |
Fine-grained reddish-brown cliff-forming sandstone, massive and crossbedded. |
Jointing makes this formation permeable and enables wells to derive moderate to large quantities of water from it. |
Unconformity |
Chinle formation | 510 |
Variegated claystone, pale-red and greenish-gray limestone, very fine to medium grained sandstone, and lenses of conglomerate near base. |
Some water might be produced from the conglomerate at the base, but it would likely have a high content of chemical constituents. |
Unconformity |
Lower and Middle (?) Triassic | Moenkopi formation | 950 |
Reddish-brown and some yellow thin-bedded siltstone, claystone, and fine-grained sandstone and gypsum;
yellowish-gray limestone and dolomite; chert-pebble conglomerate locally at base. |
The fine-grained character of most of this formation makes it unlikely that large water supplies could
be developed from it. Water from this formation would likely have a high sulfate content. |
Unconformity |
Permian |
| Kaibab limestone |
185 |
White calcareous siltstone and silty limestone containing chert layers and nodules; thin crossbedded
white fine grained sandstone and some dolomite. |
Small water supplies might be developed from fractures and solution cavities in this formation. |
Coconino sandstone | 2800+ |
Yellowish very fine to fine grained sandstone. |
Development of about 50 gpm, principally from fractures in this formation, should be possible. |
1Luedke, R. G., 1953, Stratigraphy and structure of the Miners Mountain area,
Wayne county, Utah: U.S. Geol. survey open-file report, 94 p.
____ 1954, Geology of the Capitol Reef area, Wayne and Garfield counties, Utah, in Geology of portions
of the High Plateau and adjacent canyon lands central and south-central Utah: Intermountain Assoc. Petroleum
Geologists, Fifth Ann. Field Conf., p. 59-62.
Smith, J. F., Jr., Huff, L. C., Hinrichs, E. N., and Luedke, R. G. 1957a, Preliminary geologic map of
the Notom 1 SW quadrangle, Utah; U.S. Geol. Survey Mineral Inv. Field Studies Map MF 103.
______ 1957b, Preliminary geologic map of the Notom 2 SE quadrangle, Utah; U.S. Geol.
Survey Mineral Inv. Field Studies Map MF 107.
2Base concealed; actual thickness 1,231 ft in oil-test well, 8 miles west-southwest of headquarters.
wsp/1475-G/sec1.htm
Last Updated: 28-Jul-2007
|