Geologic History of the Castle Rock Area John Beck GEOS-242 Evolution of Western North America 13th December,

2012

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Abstract The geology of the Quarry View Park area has been explored by numerous geologists. It serves as a characteristic example of the typical stratigraphy of the western Snake River Plain, and it served as an important source of geothermal energy. Evidence for this geothermal activity exists within the rock- particularly the basalt (Wood). Lying atop the Idaho granite batholith is a thick unit of felsic igneous rock which has been identified as extrusive rhyolite- the stone which Castle Rock itself is composed of. Above this unit is a much thinner section of basaltic lava flows, which have been exposed by faulting due to tectonic extensional forces. A unit of lacustrine and fluvial sedimentary sandstone sits above this basaltic rock unit. In the lower elevations near the Quarry View Park area sits a unit of alluvium, which has likely been eroded from the Boise foothills and deposited as streams and rivers entered into the Boise valley and leveled out (Othberg). Introduction The area we have been focused on is an outcrop known as Castle Rock, in Boise, ID, in the western portion of the Snake River Plain (See Figure 1 on next page). As a class, our objective was to make observations of the geologic features along the trails of Quarry View Park. These observations included notes on rock unit descriptions, nature of contacts, strike and dip measurements, major structural features, etc. Our intention has been to use our understanding of geology to construct an interpretation of the geologic history of the Castle Rock area.

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In the past, geologists have attempted to compile observations of this area with a similar objective. In 1994, Kurt L. Othberg and Virginia S. Gillerman, a pair of geology students from Idaho State University, compiled research relevant to the geology of Castle Rock. They formulated a general overview of the geology across the entire Boise Valley. Another geologist who conducted research on the Castle Rock area is a former Boise State student from the Geophysics/ Geosciences Department by the name of Spencer H. Wood. In 1987, he
Figure 1. A geologic map of NE Boise, outlining the Quarry View Park Area.

collaborated with Willis L. Burnham to write a paper which focused on the Geologic Framework of the Warm Springs Geothermal Area. There was also a paper published in 1898 on the Boise Warm Springs Area by Lindgren, who interpreted that the Castle Rock outcrop was an intrusive laccolith- a theory that has been replaced as geologists continued to study the area (Wood). Throughout this course, I have spent nearly thirty hours making observations in the Quarry View Park area- some of which was independently spent. I compiled notes in my field notebook, and transposed some of this information directly onto the field map which was provided by our instructor. Some of the time was spent in groups with classmates, so there is information on my map which is not completely from my own personal observations. As a group, we mapped a total distance of around 1 km2 on a topographic map with a scale of 1:2632.

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Regional Geology The Quarry View Park area which contains Castle Rock is within the Western Snake River Plain. The Western Snake River Plain is a northwest-trending feature of low elevation, confined by areas of higher elevation. It is part of a horst-and-graben system which formed due to tectonic plate motion. This tectonic motion is creating extensional forces which are causing rifting in the western portion of the North American Plate. The Quarry View Park area sits southeast of the State Capitol Building, near the base of the Boise Foothills. The stratigraphy of the area is representative of the western Snake River Plain. Several sources indicate that the area is composed primarily of late Cenozoic silicic and basaltic volcanic rock and lacustrine sediments (Wood).

Rock Units The lowest rock unit of the Castle Rock area which we have mapped is a unit of extrusive rhyolite or rhyodacite flow, which lies atop (and is faulted against) the Idaho Granite Batholith (ISU). The rhyolite belongs to a group of silicic volcanic rocks known as the upper Miocene Idavada Group. The outcrop that is Castle rock is a component of a tabular body of rock which was determined to be at least 90 meters thick according to recent drilling (Wood). I made strike-and-dip measurements of flow-banding in and around the Castle Rock outcrop which indicated a dome-like structure. Although Lindgren interpreted that this was evidence that the rhyolite is a miniature laccolith (an intrusive plug), more recent work suggests that this dome-like flow-banding could suggest that it is instead the source of the rhyolitic flow (Wood).

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The rhyolite exhibits two lithologic variations; one of these is a light shade of stony rhyolite, while the other is a dark gray flow-banded vitrophyre. These lithologies are of the same chronological emplacement, and the differences between the two lithologies were likely produced by devitrification (Wood). The mineralogical composition of the two variations of rhyolite is understood to be identical. The stony rhyolite exhibits a pitted surface. This is understood to exist due to washing away of the decomposing plagioclase phenocrysts, which have been eroded along joint surfaces. The rhyolite exhibits flow banding, as well as thin sheeting joints which lie parallel to the flow banding. An asymmetric anticline structure of nearly 80 meters in width within the largescale banding has been observed. Information derived from drilling indicates that this unit of stony rhyolite is part of a flow that covered a large area, which consists of densely welded ash-flow tuff (Wood).
Figure 2. A lithographic profile showing the Idaho batholith, Idavada Group and Lower Idaho Group.

The rock unit which lies atop the rhyolites is a tabular unit of porphyritic basalt, with plagioclase feldspar phenocrysts ranging 3-15mm. I observed a high concentration of vesicles in this plagioclase-porphyritic basalt (See Figure 2). I noticed that in certain areas, vesicle concentration would increase to a point, and then decrease significantly and abruptly. This indicated to me that this rock unit is composed of several flows of basaltic lava. This could also

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indicate that as the basalt was laid down, there may have been differences in pressure or in the amount of dissolved gases in the lava. Zeolite minerals, clay, calcites and chalcedony have been observed within the vesicles, as well as within jointing and fractures. Much of the basalt has been altered and discolored in a way that suggests the basalt was exposed to geothermal weathering (Wood). Lying upon this unit of basalt is a 6 meter thick section of fluvial and lacustrine rocks which belong to the lower Idaho Group (Othberg). In the sandstone stratum, I observed crossbedding in certain areas, which indicate a subaqueous depositional environment- perhaps a lake or riverbed. I observed that the lower portion of the sandstone outcrop contain clasts ranging 1-3 millimeters. There is a conglomerate layer about halfway up the sandstone bluff, with cobbles ranging 2-9cm in size, suspended in fine-grained clasts. This conglomerate layer indicates an increase in the energy of the depositional environment. Above this conglomerate layer, I observed that the clast size reverts to that of the lower sandstone. Lastly, there is a unit of alluvium which hugs the lower elevations near the Quarry View Park area. This alluvium is composed of gravel and sediments which were eroded from the surrounding foothills of the Boise Terrace. I observed clasts within this unit ranging from sandsized grains averaging about 2mm to rounded cobbles which exceed 10cm in width. However, I am not confident that all of the material I observed in the alluvium unit near Castle Rock has been laid naturally, or if it has perhaps been influenced by human activity.

Structure It is clear that faulting has occurred across the Quarry View Park area. Not only were faults physically evident, but several observations indicated the presence of faults. For instance,

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strike-and-dip measurements- after being recorded onto the map- served as indirect evidence of the existence of faults. The sandstone bedding-inclinations varied across the map, but there seemed to be groups of similar inclination. Additional evidence to support the presence of

faults was derived from the location of rock units on the map. Considering the strike-and-dip measurement variations, coupled with the placement of rock units, our group was able to determine the location and nature of these faults. From this placement of faults, our group interpreted that the hillside has been down-faulted, exposing the unit of basalt on the southern edge of the bluff (See Figure 3).

Figure 3. An image reflecting the displacement caused by the faulting of the Quarry View Park area.

Geologic History The first event which took place was the wide-spread extrusive deposition of the rhyolitic lava flow of the Idavada group upon the Idaho granite batholith, during the upper Miocene (Othberg). Perhaps a hot spot caused melting of the crust, which led to the initial high silica lava flows, which were followed by lava flows of a more mafic composition. This would lead to the extrusive deposition of the basaltic lava. Additional evidence to support this theory

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involves size of the phenocrysts within the basalt. Their crystallization indicates that perhaps some subsurface cooling occurred before the magma was brought to the surface. Next, fluvial and lacustrine sediments from the Lower Idaho Group were deposited. My interpretation is that the sediments were deposited during the time that Lake Idaho was in existence. The reason behind the conglomerate layer in the sandstone unit could have been caused by a change in the water level of Lake Idaho, which would alter the energy of the depositional environment in that particular area. The existence of Lake Idaho, coupled with the volcanic activity from which the previous rock units came, could account for the geothermal weathering which was evident in the basalt flows. The rhyolite did not exhibit this subaqueous geothermal weathering, and I believe that this is because the basalt acted to create a barrier- an aquitard- between the rhyolite and the aqueous depositional conditions of Lake Idaho. Next, the alluvium was eroded from the surrounding hills and deposited- long after Lake Idaho drained. At this point, the Snake River was the primary source of sedimentary deposition, and it hugged the lower elevations near the present day Quarry View Park area. During this time, the extensional forces which are acting upon the western portion of the North American Plate caused a system of faulting throughout the Castle Rock Area. This led to the down thrusting of the lower block of sandstone, which caused the route of the Snake River to be pushed to the South.

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References Cited Othberg, L. Kurt and Viginia S. Gillerman. Field Trip Guide to the Geology of the Boise Valley. Isu.edu. October, 1994. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. Wood, H. Spencer and Willis L. Burnham. Geological framework of the Boise Warm Springs geothermal area, Idaho. Geological Society of America Centennial Field Guide. Rocky Mountain Section, 1987. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.

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