Gabrielle Cohen

GLG 451
May 1st, 2015
GLG 451: ARNETT CREEK FIELD REPORT
I.

Introduction:
The study area for this field report was Arnett Creek, which is located outside of

Superior, Arizona and Kearny, Arizona. The duration of time for the trip was from March
3rd, 2015 to March 13th, 2015.
In the field, we mapped the area based on location of rock units and recorded
down any observations on the structures of the outcrop and their appearance. Along with
that, specimens were taken from each rock type. In order to have a second look at the
geological structure, some photographs were taken, as well as sketches. In our time of
studying, we would interpret our notes, create a cross-section of the area view, draw an
evolutionary diagram, and record a daily summary of what was done that day. The tools
used on this trip include a rock hammer and a compass, because the rock hammer
allowed us to collect a fresh sample from an outcrop and the compass allowed us to
record strikes and dips of the outcrop structure to understand their trends.
The final report of this trip is going to be made on all of the observations and
interpretations that were determined at Arnett Creek.

II.

Regional Geologic Setting:

The geologic setting of Arnett Creek ranges from being flat to being very steep;

the lowest altitude in the area is at 3260 feet, and the highest altitude is at 4205 feet. The
area includes a river, drainages, a couple of mines, a terrace, hills, and cliffs. The major
structures include the faulting in between Plucked Turkey and the little hills, as well as
the layering of the Escabrosa, Martin, and Troy unit on Way Too High. The surface
deposit occurs of the terrace in between Way Too High and the Buttress. The striking of
the outcrops are imbricated to be from 0-30, while the dipping varied.

The rocks units start with the Madera diorite in the Proterozoic era, in which it is
followed by the Apache Group, including the Pioneer meta-shale, Dripping Sands
Quartzite, Barnstable conglomerate, Mescal limestone, and Apache Basalt. It is then
followed by Troy quartzite and the diabase. In the next era, the Paleozoic era, is followed
with Devonian Martin dolostone and the Mississippian Escabrosa limestone. After that,
during the Quaternary period, are the Colluvium and Alluvium.

III.

Descriptions of Rock Units:

Madera Diorite (Warm Grey), Proterozoic (1.66a): The diorite occurs in the northwestern
part of the map, with the outcrop located in the highly vegetated drainages of Welcome
Hill and the wash on the southern side of Plucked Turkey Hill, with the outcrop pluton

(intrusive) form being brittle (superman) and mostly loose sediment. The rock is coarse
grained (> 1 mm), containing rectangular crystals of biotite (5%), hornblende (10%) and
plagioclase feldspar (75%) crystals, and has high permeability matrix due to deformation.
The color of the rock is mustard-gray with white grains, and is well sorted. The outcrop
has contact metamorphism with the pioneer meta-shale

Pioneer Meta-Shale (Warm Brown), Proterozoic: The meta-shale (metamorphosed

mudrock) is located on the western part of the map, and is contacted with the dripping
sands from Plucked Turkey Hill and it continues down south. The outcrop of the metashale is highly imbricated, and starting originally as shale is metamorphosed through
contact metamorphism. The bedding is layered, with the one layer being a white/orange
layer, and another being a plum/brown layer. The orange layering shows evidence of iron
oxidation. The bedding fractures with a clast matrix and low permeability, as well as
banding on the crystalline quartz (10%) and mica (10%). The thickness of the unit
remains constant for most of the outcrops, but becomes thicker as the slope become
steeper. There are signs of leeching on the rock, which is the formation of the shale.
There is micro-fracturing present and micro quartz grains from recrystallization, due to
contact metamorphism with the diorite.

Dripping Sands Quartzite and Barnes Conglomerate (Orange), Proterozoic: The

dripping sands unit is located from Plucked Turkey Hill to 3690 to the Owls Mine to

North Doom. The bedding for dripping sands is fractured and blocky. Where there is
diabase and faulting present, the dripping sands is metamorphosed with a dark coating.
The grains are fine-grained (0.5 mm), and lack porosity/low permeability and are poorly
sorted. It contains micro grains of quartz crystalline and micro-fracturing. The dripping
sands have contact with the mescal limestone and the meta-shale. Barnes conglomerate
occurs on the contact with the meta-shale. The conglomerate contains mixed grains and
rocks from the dripping sands quartzite and the meta-shale, and its outcrop is massive and
blocky.

Mescal Limestone (Non-Photo Blue), Proterozoic: The limestone is located in the

southern part of the mapping area; it remains concentrated in the hill 3690 area, but
continue thinly near Thumbs Up to the north. When the limestone is in contact with the
basalt, it contains both quartz (25%) and carbonate (25%) crystalline. The color of the
limestone varies: it is blue and orange if in contact with the basalt, and is pinkish to
reddish when in contact with the diabase. The rock has low permeability and some
fracturing along its banded bedding. The rock is fine grained, and contains crystals (>
1mm) when metamorphosed.

Apache Basalt (Crimson Red), Proterozoic: The basalt slightly outcrops, since it occurs
as a sill. This rock unit is located on the eastern part of the Arnett Creek mapping area in
little easter eggs. The rock unit is fine-grained with epidote (50%) crystals, and with

the rocks being rounded and coarse grained (1 mm to 3 mm). The matrix is sediment
supported, has low permeability, and does not fracture. The color of the rock is a dark
gray to black, and has some epidote vesiscles.

Troy Quartzite (Peacock Green), Proterozoic: This quartzite is located in the south above
about 3700 feet in elevation. The outcrops structure is bedded and is hacky, but is
imbricated. The fine-grained rock is low in permeability and highly contains iron
oxidation. The structure does fracture and the color of the rock is orange-yellow and
bluish.

Diabase (Pink), Proterozoic (1.16a): The diabase is a sub-volcanic sill, with an outcrop
that is bedded with some fracturing and splintering; though the bedding can also be
blocky. The thickness varies in the unit depending on location. The grain coloring is
mustard-gray, with a well-sorted coarse-grained matrix and some permeability. The
composition of the rock includes hornblende (25%), quartz (20%), and feldspar (15%)
crystalline. The unit is also seen to be the color red from contact of iron oxides.

Martin Dolostone (Violet), Devonian: The dolostone is located in the Way Too High area,
and is in contact with the Troy quartzite and Escabrosa limestone. Due to its location, a

hand sample had to be found in the colluvium below. The coloring of the rock ranges
from being a yellowish brown to a greenish-gray.

Escabrosa Limestone (Peacock Blue), Mississippian: The limestone is located in the Way
Too High area, and is in contact with the Martin Dolostone. The escabrosa unit is greyish
blue in color, and contains some fossils and carbonate crystalline. Like the Martin
dolostone, samples had to be found in the colluvium below. The texture of the rock ia
sandy, and was fine-grained with some inclusions.

Colluvium (Goldenrod), Quaternary: The colluvium contains rocks (pebbles, sediment,

gravel, etc.) from the other rock unit, depending on which rock units it is near. The
colluvium is located in washes and drainages between and on slopes of the hill.

Alluvium (Lemon Yellow), Quaternary: The alluvium is located along the terraces in the
area. What it differs from the colluvium is that it is located on the terraces and is
consisted of more of loose sediment and pebbles, than of large enough rocks.

IV.

Structural Geology:

The attitude of the rock unit outcrops is that the are imbricated to strike north,
with varying dipping, usually between 60 to 90. What causes this strikes to be
imbricated is faulting, which occurs areas were pink rock is prevalent, which include
Arnett Creek, the drainages, and the Valley of Doom. Another fault is between the troy
quartzite unit and mescal limestone unit. In terms of the diabase intrusion, it caused the
splitting inbetween rocks units and their contacts. For example, the dripping sands
quartzite is uplifted but is split in two due to the diabase, which also caused the
movement in the area.

V.Discussion:

My interpretation of the geologic history starts with the Proterozoic era. With that,
the Madera diorite starts as the original base layer. Silt and sediment deposit on top of the
diorite layer with water, in which causes the formation of a mudrock, or shale. Soon,
quartz grains are deposited on top of the shale, which caused the formation of the
dripping sands quartzite. Around the time the quartzite was being deposited, some of the
area around the contact between the dripping sands and the shale formed conglomerate.
Calcium-based matter and shell sediment are deposited, to form the Mescal limestone. In
some of the areas where there is Mescal limestone, mafic magma extrusively forms a sill
on top, causing the metamorphosing and recrystallizing the Mescal limestone, causing it
to have quartz and carbonate crystalline. The magma cools, and the new rock is basalt.
Loose grains from quartz are deposited on the layers to form Troy quartzite. It becomes
slightly iron oxidized due to the loose sediment from the basalt. The diabase intrusively
7

forms in a dike. This caused the shale, dripping sands quartzite, barnes conglomerate,
mescal limestone, and the troy quartzite to metamorphose, and to iron oxidize to the
mafic magma. Faulting occurs from the diabase, causing the uplifting of the meta-shale,
diorite (in pluton form), and the dripping sands quartzite, along with the conglomerate.
The Paleozoic era now starts with loose sediment (silt and limestone) and water that is
rich with iron and magnesium to form dolomite, which then contributes to the formation
of the escobrosia layer. Then the Quaternary era; loose sediment from the surrounding
rock units inhabit the slopes, terraces, and drainages to form the colluvium and the
alluvium.
What is ambiguous is where the calcium-based matter came from to form the
dolomite and limestone. What I also find ambiguous is that I have not idea about the
fluctuations of water level during the formation of the sedimentary rocks.
An interesting thing I found in the field was a structure of an outcrop for the
dripping sands found in the Valley of Doom. The trend of each of the layers did not
match in direction of strike and dip; the layering was all over the place.