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Show Geoligist Gives Facts On Local Formations The following article is the first of a series to he puh-lished puh-lished in The Herald during the next eight weeks: Exclusive to The Springville Herald By Ray E. Colton, Sc. D., Petroleum Geologist Millions of years before the advent of Man in what is today the Springville, Mapleton, and Spanish, Fork areas of the Utah Valley of Utah County, Old Mother Nature began to write the record ofher prehistoric creative and destructive destruc-tive genius. Not on graven tablet, or on written or printed page did the Old Dame leave this indelible record rec-ord here for Man of today to read, b'lt instead she has left this record in the form of diastrophic and alluvial al-luvial valleys, fossil remains of long vanished marine and land animal and plant life, and in rocks which defy the imagination of the most vivid as to their estimated geologic antiquity. In the rocks which are exhibited n the vast Wasatch Plateau province prov-ince of this area of central Utah, we see the evidences which tell us of today of the vast upheavals and land mass adjustments which were attendant to this phenomena. Ajid in fossil ammonites and oth-er oth-er shell species found in formations of the Springville and adjacent areas, we see the evidence which ells us of today, of the onetime Presence of vast inland seas, such as long-vanished Lake Bonneville, which supported myriads of forms of marine animal and marine plant life. , In these and in many other ways 'las Old Mother Nature left the record of Her work here in the "Pnngvuie area of Utah County, tor Man of today to read. d Man in the role of the geologist geol-ogist and the paleontologist, has earned to interpret his record, with unerring accuracy, of th coxmty especially that area we county which has within it's I geographical confines the Spring-ville-Mapleton-Spanish Fork districts, dis-tricts, lies slightly within the extreme ex-treme western boundaries of the Colorado Salt Basin, and it is also within the western margin of the vast Uinta and Colorado Salt Bas-(Continued Bas-(Continued on Page Three) in geologic sequence, include the Moenkopi sand-lime of Triassic geologic ge-ologic origin, the ShLnarump (new oil-bearing formation at Rangeley oil field, Colorado area of the Uinta Basin), the Chinle formation, and following these are the rocks of the Jurassic or middle period of the major Mesozoic era. and these include in-clude the Wingate sandstone, the Kayenta formation and the Navajo Nava-jo sandstone. Following the Jurassic rocks come those of the Cretaceous, representing rep-resenting the last sub period of the major Mesozoic geologic era, and these are the Carmel formation, forma-tion, the Entrada sandstone, the Summerville and the Morrison formations. Geologist Gives Facts On Local Formations (Continued from Page One) ins, being vast geosynclines, now holding the interests of the major and independent petroleum industry. indus-try. These basins are featured geologically by rapid changes in the character and thickness of as much 7,000 feet of Paleozoic and Mesozoic strata, by relatively complex com-plex structure locally, by many salt intrusions, and by several lofty lof-ty laccolithic groups. Known Pennsylvania strata are salt, gypsum, gyp-sum, anhydrite, shale, sandstone and thick amrine limestone; Permian Per-mian and Triassic strata are large-?y large-?y non-marine reddish sandstone and shale, with some thin, marine limestone; Jurassic beds appear to be mostly massive, gray to buff, non-marine sandstones; and Upper Up-per Cretaceous strata beds are conglomerate con-glomerate sandstone, overlain by marine shale. An unconformity of equal importance to oil seekers separates Permian and Triassic strata, and other of lesser import are present higher in the section locally. Triassic and older formations thin northeastward from Spring-ville. Spring-ville. Various periods of the earth's prehistoric geologic past are represented, rep-resented, such as the Paleozoic, the Mesozoic and the Cenozoic, the latter being represented in the alluvium al-luvium and valley fill of this area of central Utah and the Utah Valley. Val-ley. Of the Paleozoic strata here in evidence, we have the Coconino sandstone, the Hermosa lime and the sand-limestone. Rocks of the Mesozoic category, this period following the Paleozoic |