FOX HILLS FORMATION

Discoscaphites collected from Fox Hills Formation, South Dakota.

 

There are a number of quite interesting highways traversing east-west across northern South Dakota; however, my favorite is the somewhat lonely SD 20 heading east from Reva Gap to Mobridge on the Missouri River.  Actually the road starts at the Wyoming-South Dakota state line at Camp Crook.  This route crosses over a variety of rocks that are somewhat unfamiliar to readers in Colorado Springs.   Above the ubiquitous Pierre Shale are the, in ascending order, Fox Hills Formation, Hell Creek Formation, Ludlow Formation, Cannonball Formation, and Tongue River Formation.

The Fox Hills, a unit that is also present around Colorado Springs, grades upward from the marine shales of the Pierre into marine and then into marine and brackish water sandstones.  The unit represents the end of the great Western Interior Seaway and rocks are essentially shoreline deposits of the receding waters.  Although the Fox Hills near Colorado Springs contains a few fossils, mostly small clams, there are parts of the formation in north-central South Dakota that are extremely fossiliferous.  Some concretion layers have produced literally thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of beautiful ammonites (and a plethora of other invertebrates and vertebrates), especially of the genera Discoscaphites , Sphenodiscus, and Hoploscaphites.  They represent some of the youngest ammonites in the U. S. (remember the ammonites became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous). 

Somewhere around the town of Timber Lake, a “long time ago”, I was able to collect some of these concretions with most specimens going to a museum.  However, I was able to hold on to a single specimen. Perhaps individuals may still collect on private lands.

mike

COLORADO SILVER, THE SHERMAN BROTHERS, AND MORGANITE

MINE DUMPS WEST OF CARBONATE HILL, LEADVILLE, CO.  LEADVILLE WAS ONE OF THE LARGEST SILVER CAMPS IN THE WORLD UNTIL THE 1893 CRASH.  PHOTO FROM USGS LIBRARY.

 Most persons with at least a passing interest in U.S. history would recognize the name of William Tecumseh Sherman, and if you lived in the southeastern part of the country the mention of his name in public might bring on trouble.  Likewise, Sherman is not popular among Native Americans.  During the U.S. Civil War General Sherman led his men on the infamous, scorched earth, “total war”, march to the sea through Georgia.  After the conflict he became Commanding General of the United States Army and as such was responsible for troops engaged in hostile actions with Native Americans in the western U. S.

General Sherman had a brother (actually he had three) by the name of John Sherman who was a successful U.S. Congressman, Senator, Secretary of the Treasury, and Secretary of State.  Today people hear his name associated with a law passed in 1890, The Sherman Antitrust Act.  This piece of legislation is intended to protect the American public from cartels and monopolies.

In the history of Colorado (and some other western states) Sen. John Sherman, Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, is known as the author of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act enacted in 1890.  This legislation stipulated that the U. S. government purchase about 4.5 million ounces of raw silver every month (in addition to silver already being purchased as mandated by the Bland-Allison Act).  The Sherman Act was a great boon to Colorado mining companies that had a vast supply of silver at their disposal, both in storage and in the ground, and raised the price of silver to over $1 ounce.  But since Sherman was a senator from an agrarian state (Ohio) the act was supposed to help farmers who had accumulated large debts (mostly to due to bad luck and droughts).  Supporters thought the law would stimulate the economy, combat deflation, create inflation, and then drop the dollar in value (so the debts could be paid in cheaper dollars---and I thought “voodoo economics” was invented in 1980).  Well, the entire scheme backfired and people begin to buy gold with their redeemable notes, rather than holding silver, and the country’s gold reserves became depleted.  In 1893 President Grover Cleveland repealed the Act and silver was on its way out and most mines in Colorado suffered.  Large scale unemployment was rampant in Colorado and mines all over the state closed down.  The “lucky” ones were able to produce gold or copper or lead-zinc.

Today, J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. seems always to be in the news---mostly as the “bad guy”.   In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s J. P. Morgan, the financier, always seemed to be in the news---often as the “bad guy”.  However, in 1893 the U.S. Treasury had been nearly depleted of gold as banks thought gold a better investment than silver, something the Sherman Act did not anticipate.  At any rate, J. P. Morgan, the financier, sold/loaned the U.S. about 3.5 million ounces of gold.  Always the shrew banker, he received a long term bond in exchange for the gold and certainly made money.  But, his immediate action did perhaps save the nation?  Could any individual, today, come up with those sorts of resources?

It is interesting to note that although the Act was repealed in 1893, the debate on the national scene went on for many years.  History books in “my era” (a long time ago) spent several pages talking about the “Goldbugs” of the Republicans and Wm. McKinley (a gold standard) vs. the “Silverites” of the Populists and Democrats and Wm. Jennings Brian (free silver) in the presidential election of 1896.  The free silver issue really was not settled until the Federal Reserve System was established in 1913.  But, hold on.  Many of us can remember how two brothers from Texas tried to corner the silver market in the 1970’s and early 1980’s.  In the early 1970’s the price of silver on the commodities market was less than $2 per oz.  By about 1980 the brothers owned 50% of the disposable silver and prices artificially soared to over $50 an oz.  Silver mines all over the west were retooling and share prices of silver mining companies were high (at least out of my reach as a small time investor)!  But then, the bubble burst as the Federal Reserve “came to the rescue” and the price of silver collapsed (as did the stock market; remember the prime rate of 22% in 1980?).

Perhaps the political intrigue of that time in history was just as dark and dirty as today?  I once read a bibliography of J. P. Morgan and it was simply fascinating.  He was an astute businessman involved in a wide range of activities and “older” (read my generation) history books will tell you that he organized over 40 corporations and owned numerous railroads, a true venture capitalist.  He was disliked by many but loved by a few.

Morgan collected gemstones, many/most of which later landed in collections of the American Museum of Natural History. George Kunz, the chief jeweler for Tiffany & Co, suggested in 1910/1911 that the pink variety of beryl [Be₃Al₂(SiO₃)₆] be named morganite after J. P.  Of course, Kunz was the person who curated Morgan’s gemstones.  Kunz may be best known for  his namesake, the pink variety of spodumene, kunzite [LiAl(SiO₃)₂].  The pink color in both morganite and kunzite is likely due to manganese ions.

mike

BLM RAC: LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD MEN AND WOMEN

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is the guardian of a very large parcel of public land in the state of Colorado- perhaps in excess of 8.4 million surface acres and controlling 29 million acres of subsurface mineral rights.  The BLM has a state office in Denver and Helen Hankins is the State Director (www.blm.gov/co/st/en.html).  The state is then divided into three districts:  Front Range District with headquarters in Canon City, the Northwest District headquartered in Grand Junction, and the Southwest District with offices in Montrose.  In addition, each of the District Managers is responsible for several field offices (that also have Managers).  For example, the Front Range District Office (FRDO) manages most BLM lands in Colorado east of the Continental Divide and has field offices located in Canon City (Royal Gorge), Saguache (San Luis Valley) and Salida (Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area).  Each of the three state Districts have a citizen’s advisory committee (~12 members) that meets quarterly (as do most districts located in the western states).  I serve on the Front Range Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) and would encourage other interested rock hounds to consider service on these important councils.  We recently have studied such diverse items as feral horse populations, the Over the River Project©, geothermal leases, shooting ranges, and gold mining.  Since I represent the “dispersed recreation community” (things like rock hounding and recreational gold panning), I am always interested in any legislation or rule changes concerning collecting of rocks, minerals and fossils, and proposed changes to land access.

The Front Range Resource Advisory Committee is seeking nominations (self nominations are fine) for five new members (including dispersed recreation activities).  The deadline for receipt of nominations has been extended to June 4.  For information see:  http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/BLM_Information/newsroom/2012/blm_extends_nomination0.html

UTAH AMETHYST AND GEORGE CLOONEY

BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN, MARYSVALE, UTAH.  PHOTO COURTESY OF RAY BOREN AND NASA'S EARTH SCIENCE DIVISION

One of my favorite movies is a loopy flick entitled Brother Where Art Thou directed by those talented brothers, Joel and Ethan Coen, in 2000—a great film for an interesting year, Y2K.  The movie had many memorable scenes and some fantastic music including the song Big Rock Candy Mountain:

Oh the buzzin’ of bees in the cigarette trees

and the soda water fountain,

at the lemonade springs where the bluebird sings

on the Big Rock Candy Mountain.  

 

Check out the music clip at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSGuBNopzBw&feature=player_embedded

Hearing the song always reminds me of a student field trip in Utah to a pile of volcanic rocks near the town of Marysvale. The most “famous landmark” of these volcanics is, get ready, Big Rock Candy Mountain.  So, in the "which came first game", I was able to learn that the song is some sort of a depression-era folk tune attributed to Harry McClintock (~1928) and recorded by several other artists including Burl Ives and Tex Ritter.  Our instructor told us that members of the local population placed a hand-made sign near the mountain proclaiming it as Big Rock Candy Mountain and the name stuck.  Today it is a tourist attraction—and an area of interesting geology. 

The area around Marysvale (Piute County, south-central Utah) is dominated by Oligocene to early Miocene volcanic rocks (27 Ma to 19 Ma) associated with a large stratovolcano complex complete with calderas (Hintze, 2005) ---similar in many ways to the current Cascade volcanoes of Washington and Oregon.  The volcanic pile is composed of drab-gray debris flows, lava flows, ash fall tuffs, and pyroclastic flows (ignimbrites).  The brightly colored volcanic rocks at Big Rock Candy Mountain are the result of percolating hot magmatic waters bleaching the normally dark volcanic rocks and leaving behind red, orange and yellow iron oxide stains (Hintze, 2005).

Topaz-bearing volcanic rhyolites (extrusive igneous rocks, rich in silica) in Utah are perhaps best known from the Thomas Range in the western part of the state.  These rhyolites have produced the famous topaz crystals of Topaz Cove, and some other interesting minerals (see blog post on 1 March 12)

Similar rhyolite flows are present in the Marysvale area and have produced some of the same semi-rare minerals such as bixbyite and pseudobrookite, but not the nice topaz crystals.  To make up for the absence of large topaz crystals the rhyolite at Marysvale gives up beautiful, terminated, water-clear, purple-tinged, quartz crystals.  The crystals are lithophysal in nature and collectors must bang on the rhyolite with crack hammers to locate the cavities.  The collecting area is on BLM land (I think but make certain you check with the local office) about 3 miles north of town on US 89 and then west on a gravel road.

mike

PURPLE TINGED QUARTZ CRYSTALS (AMETHYST) IN A RHYOLITE CAVITY; AT MARYSVALE, UTAH.  FIELD OF VIEW ~3 CM. WIDE.

REFERENCES CITED

Hintze, L. F., 2005, Utah's Spectacular geology; How It Came To Be: Department of Geology, Brigham Young University, Provo.

FROM THE FILM

(Nothing to do with amethyst but my favorite quote; warped mind?)
MOVIE SCENE

Delmer, Pete and Everett sitting around a campfire "enjoying" dinner.

  

DELMAR: Care for some gopher? 
EVERETT (George Clooney): No thank you, Delmar. One third of a gopher would only arouse my appetite without bedding it down.
DELMER; Oh, you can have the whole thing. Me and Pete already had one apiece. We ran across a whole... gopher village. 

POST SCRIPT

So the question in my mind, and probably only in mine, is just exactly what were Delmer and Pete really eating down there in rural Mississippi in 1937?  Gopher--that much we know.  But "gopher" is sort of a generic term like "Coke" referring to just about any soft drink.  In the Midwest "gopher snakes" refer to Bull Snakes (Pituophis catenifer).  Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) are "land turtle" found in the southeastern U.S.  But, most people think of a "gopher" as some little furry creature that burrows into the ground.  And, in fact, there is a family of rodents known as the Geomyidae that are the Pocket Gophers.  In the movie, it was obvious the little animal roasting over the fire on the skewer was a small mammal, about the size of a Pocket Gopher, so count out the tortoises and snakes.  And, unfortunately, the Pocket Gophers since their range does not include Mississippi!  The roasting dinner was too small for a Woodchuck (Marmota monax) and too big for any of the "mouse" species found in the state.  The Eastern Woodrats (Neotoma floridans) might fit the size bill; however, I have never heard these animals called "gophers".  That leaves the Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus), a furry little burrowing rodent, as the best suspect; but, it seems somewhat small compared to the roasting animal!  And, have you ever tried to catch a chipmunk?  Oh well, life goes on.

A MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHER---THE "REAL THING", AND FANS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BASKETBALL TEAM.  PHOTO COURTESY OF U OF M.

FROM THE FILM

THE U.S. CIVIL WAR AND UTAH LANDSCAPE

The years 2011-2015 are being remembered in the U.S. as the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War.  I have always been interested in this epic part of American history, but even more so during this remembrance period.  There are literally hundreds of books and articles being published each year during this celebration. It seems impossible to read all of them, or even browse the bookshelves.  A couple of months ago, in early March, Civil War buffs remembered the Battle of Hampton Roads, one of the most important naval battles in the nation’s history.

In 1861 President Lincoln decided on a policy of blockading ports of the Confederate states---part of General Winfield Scott’s Anaconda Plan to “strangle” the south!  Scott was known as “Old Fuss and Feathers”, and was Commanding General of the United States Army for the last 20 years of his 47 year career!  So, from Virginia down the Atlantic Coast and over into the Gulf Coast and up the Mississippi River, Union ships patrolled the waters trying to intercept Confederate ships (or sympathetic privateers, mostly British blockade runners) transporting supplies into ports, or out with cotton (for sale in Europe).  Although the blockade runners were fairly successful in getting in and out of ports, the small size of their cargo holds did not allow much commerce, and the Union captured somewhere in the neighborhood of 1500 ships over the course of the conflict.  In summary, the blockade was successful.

SCOTT'S PLAN TO STRANGLE THE C.S.A. WITH THE USE OF A NAVAL BLOCKADE.  PHOTO FROM LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

One of the most important ports, to both the Union and the Confederacy, was the area known as Hampton Roads, the estuarine mouth of the James River as it flows into Chesapeake Bay.  Although the Confederacy controlled the south part of the estuary at Norfolk and Portsmouth, the Union had strongholds at Fort Monroe on the north (on the Virginia Peninsula) and Fort Wool on a small man-made island (Rip Raps) on the south side of the main channel.  Therefore, the Union was able to block the entrance to the channel and the Confederacy lost sea access to inland Richmond (their capital on the James River) as well as access to naval facilities at Norfolk.  In addition to the patrolling Union ships, the U.S. Navy anchored several other warships to strengthen the blockade (USS Cumberland, Congress, Minnesota, Roanoke and St Lawrence).    

However, the Confederate Navy had a little surprise for the Union blockade at Hampton Roads!  On March 8, 1862, the CSS Virginia (and the gunboat consorts CSS Raleigh and Beaufort, plus the Patrick Henry, Jamestown, Teaser) steamed down a tributary of the James (the Elizabeth River, above the blockade) and headed downstream to confront the Union gunboats.  The Virginia, commanded by Franklin Buchanan, headed straight toward the USS Cumberland, a sailing warship carrying perhaps 22 smoothbore Dahlgren shell guns and a larger aft Parrott rifle.  After pummeling the Cumberland with numerous shells the Virginia rammed the sloop-of-war below the waterline and she (all ships are referred to as feminine I guess) sank.  The Virginia then took aim the USS Congress, a 52 gun sailing frigate that had run aground.  After badly pounding the ship, hot cannon balls were sent flying into her powder magazine and the Congress sank.  The Virginia then went for the USS Minnesota, a steam-powered frigate and a former flagship of the Hampton Roads Fleet.  Unfortunately, the Minnesota had also ran aground and after a brief encounter with the Confederate ships, she was probably saved from destruction by the coming nightfall.

SKETCH OF THE CSS VIRGINIA.  NOTE THE BATTERING RAM ON THE BOW OF THE VESSEL.  PHOTO COURTESY OF THE U.S. NAVAL HISTORICAL AND HERITAGE CENTER.

There was a reason the CSS Virginia was so successful on that day in March 1862—she was covered with iron plates and the shots from the Union ships mostly bounced off the hulls!  Ironclad ships suddenly became a new player in U.S. naval history.

The Virginia actually begin her career as a 40 gun wooden frigate of the U.S. Navy.  As Union forces burned their fleet (mostly) during the 1861 retreat from Norfolk/Portsmouth, they left behind many remnants.  Since the USS Merrimac (or Merrimack) only burned to the waterline, the Confederate Navy hauled her up, retrofitted it with iron plates (an ironclad), and renamed it the CSS Virginia.  The Merrimack was a screw prop so the engines were mounted below the water line--a seemly good fit for the new ironclad.  But, as a retrofitted wooden ship, the Virginia was a very bulky vessel with a turning radius of perhaps one mile, an engine in need of a rebuild, and had 14 gun ports (four each broadside, three bow and stern, carrying a variety of weapons including 9 inch Dahlgren smoothbores, two 6.4 inch rifles and two pivot guns fore and aft (7 inch Brooke rifles capable of firing 104-pounds shells) (Olmstead and others, 1997).  Two of the Dahlgren,s were built to fire "hot shots, heated up in a special furnace.

After the carnage (~ 250 men killed, Cumberland and Congress sank, two transports and a tug sank, two frigates and a tug damaged, and a transport captured) the Virginia retired for the evening but returned the next day to finish off the Minnesota and to destroy, or at least disrupt, the blockade.  But, the Union had its own surprise---during the night the USS Monitor, commanded by John A. Worden, steamed into the estuary with an assignment to protect the Minnesota.  The Monitor was the Union’s first attempt at an ironclad and was built from the ground up and was not a retrofitted ship.  Therefore, it was much smaller and more nimble than the Virginia.  In addition, the Monitor carried only two, 11- inch Dahlgren shell guns but they were mounted in a revolving steam-powered turret.

USS MONITOR  SKETCH FROM COURTESY OF THE U.S. NAVAL HISTORICAL AND HERITAGE CENTER.

AN 11 INCH DALHGREN SHELL GUN.  PHOTO FROM COURTESY OF THE U.S. NAVAL HISTORICAL AND HERITAGE CENTER.

 

The Monitor and the Merrimack (most popular term for the Virginia) battled for over three hours on March 9 with most shells bouncing off the ironclad structures.  At times, they were almost touching each other and a Brooke rifle on the Virginia was able to hit the Monitor's pilot house dead on, injuring the Captain.  However, the faster Monitor was always able to maneuver quickly and stay between the Virginia and the Minnesota.  Finally, the battle seemed a draw and both vessels steamed off for repair and recuperation.  However, the course of naval history changed on that day, not only for the U.S. and C.S.A. but for the world.  Steam-powered ironclad ships were now the warships of the future. 

Interestingly, both the C.S.A. and the Union claimed victory in the battle but most historiams would call it a draw!  But, the blockade had been preserved for the Union but unfortunately (for the Union) the battle made Major General George McClellen alter his plans to march on Richmond so the Confederate capitol was saved for another day.



 on the

THE MONITOR VS. THE MERRIMAC AT THE BATTLE OF HAMPTON ROADS.  PRINT FROM LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

So, now the burning question---how in the world does this Civil War naval battle relate to the geology of Utah?  The answer lies along UT 313 heading southwest off US 160 north of Moab toward Dead Horse Point State Park.  At about MP 4, two square-topped buttes appear to the northwest—Monitor and Merrimac Buttes!  The massive cliffs (seen in the photo below) are part of the Entrada Formation (Slick Rock Member) while the crinkly and folded redbeds below belong to the Dewey Bridge Member of the Entrada. Below the Dewey Bridge is the cross-bedded and wind-blown Navajo Sandstone while the juniper-covered Kayenta Formation occupies the foreground.  Capping the buttes are the Moab Member of the Entrada (white sandstone) and minor beds of the Summerville and Morrison formations.  The entire section is Jurassic in age.

MONITOR (RIGHT) AND MERRIMAC BUTTES.

Of course the Merrimac (CSS Virginia) is the more massive butte while the smaller is the USS Monitor.  Together they are locked in battle forever (or at least until erosion wears then down).  So, that is the story of how the U.S. Civil war arrived in Utah! 

REFERENCES CITED

Olmstead, Edwin; Stark, Wayne E.; Tucker, Spencer C., 1997, The Big Guns: Civil War Siege, Seacoast, and Naval Cannon. Alexandria Bay, New York: Museum Restoration Service.   

POST SCRIPT

• The C.S.A. Navy abandoned the ports around Norfolk and scuttled the CSS Virginia on May 11, 1862, rather than allow capture by Union forces.  The Virginia simply was too heavy to steam up the James to Richmond.
• The smaller USS Monitor was lost in heavy seas off Cape hatteras on December 31, 1862.  However, the U.S. Navy liked the design and constructed dozens of "monitor-like" ironclads for use in both river warfare and on the high seas.   
• The massive 11 inch Dalhgren shell guns weighed in at nearly 16,000 pounds. 
• The Captain of the Monitor stopped at the Flagship Roanoke, anchored in Hampton Roads, and offered to let any seaman off who did not want to continue with the battle.
• Bad weather delayed the arrival of the Monitor by one day.  perhaps the Congress and Cumberland could have been saved if the weather had cooperated.
• After writing this little article I discovered the April 2012 edition of "Naval History" (a journal) dedicated to the Battle of Hampton Roads.  Most interesting was a first-hand report written (actually dictated) by a Monitor seaman detailing the battle.
• An impact structure, Upheaval Dome, is located a few miles from Monitor and Merrimac Buttes.  The age is post-Jurassic.  
• An impact structure was created ~ 35 Ma. at the site of the current southern Chesapeake Bay.                     

  

  LOCATION OF IMPACT STRUCTURE IN CHESAPEAKE BAY AREA.  THE JAMES RIVER IS THE SOUTHERNMOST STREAM.  MAP FROM NASA.

  
  

  
  

  

  AERIAL PHOTO (FROM USDA) OF UPHEAVAL DOME NEAR MAOB, UTAH