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Show ' " I ON ONCE 1LATER E BENEATH THE W WATERS A ERS OF FTHE FTHE1 THE - SEA SEALATER - --1 1 = - -LATER LATER - LATER LAND MASSES AND TROPICAL LIFESuch LIFE LIFESuch SuchIS Such ' is the Kecord Record of Prehistoric Prelustonc Times as is Givei Given In inthe the Rocks theRocks 'Ro Ro Lf TA ? . n - . " " Fossil Remains . touniyand Countyand - - ? ? ? uiii Etc i it Found luunu in Grand orana County ; and the Moab AreaWritten Area AreaWritten Written EColton ECelten Exclusively for fer The Times Independent by Ray E Celten Colton Sc ScD D Petroleum Petreleum Geologist Geeleglst and andjicience SCience _ Writer J . . T . . . the1.dvent theadvent Millions Mllho.ns Mllhons . of ef years before befere the theidvent todayhe tedaythe todaythe 1.dvent 1dvent advent . of ef Man in what is teday today the ofGrand efGrand ; geographical geegraphlcal confines cenflnes ef of Grand county ceunty and the area ra radiatmg radlatlng radrating dlatlng drating MoabOld MeabOld from frem the town tewn of o.f . Meab Moab towrite Old Mother Mether Nature began to . wnte write the record reeerd of ef her prehlS prehis , to.rIC torIC tome prehistone prehlSto.rIC prehistome . creative and destruchve destructive destructivegenius destruchvegemus gemus genius gemusNet geniusNot destructivegeniusNot Not Net on en graven tablet or er en on enwrItten onwritten onwritten wrItten theOld or er printed page did the Old Dame leave this Indehble indelible Indehblerecerd indeliblerecord indeliblerecord recerd record here ill Ih this area of ef seuth south seutheastern southeastern southeastern eastern Utah for fer Man of teday today to todayto tedayto < L . read but _ instead _ she shehas _ has left uus mls record recerd in me the form ferm of o.f . recks rocks reckssedimentary rockssedimentary rockssedimentary I Imls sedimentary deposits depesits and in fes fos fessll fossil fossil sll sil remains remams of ef long leng vanished vamshed ma marme marrne marme rme rrne and land animal ammal rephhan reptilian reptilianand rephhanand and plant lifeIn life hfe lifeIn In the fossils fesslls of ef long leng vamshed vanished vamshedmarme vanishedmarine vanishedmarine marme marine animal ammal life hfe which are arefound arefeund feund found in the PennsYlvanIan Pennsylvanian fer for fermahens formatrons formations mahens matrons of ef Grand county ceunty we see the seethe evidence which reveals the theene theone theone ene one time hme existence here of ef the theOrodivician theOredivician Oredivician Orodivician period peried of ef the maJer major majorPaleozoic maJerPaleezelc Paleezelc Paleozoic geologic geeleglC era when a avast avast avast vast sea inundated this part ef of efpresent ofpresent ofpresent present day southeastern seutheastern UtahAnd Utah UtahAnd And m in the Tnassic TrIassIc JurassIc Jurassicformations JurassIcfermatIens fermatIens formations containing centammg remams remains remamsef remainsof remainsof ] ef of Brachiopods Brachiepeds Bryozoans Bryezeans Cn Cri CnnOlds Crinoids Cnnoids nOlds noids etc ete we see the eVIdence eVIdencewhich evidencewhich evidencewhich which tells . of o.f another anether Inunda Inundahen inundation inundation , hen tion which occurred eccurred here durmg during duringthe durmgthe the first and second secend periods ef of efthe ofthe ofthe the Mesozoic Mesezeic era which fellewed followed fellewedthe followedthe followedthe the Paleozoic Paleezeic in geologic geeleglc se sequence sequence sequence sequenceIn quence quenceIn In these and in many ether other etherways otherways otherways ways has Old Mother Mether Nature Natureleft Natureleft Natureleft left the record recerd of ef her work werk here herefer herefor herefor fer for man of ef today teday to . readAnd read readAnd l And man in the role rele of ef the thegeelegist thegeologist thegeologist geelegist geologist and paleontologist paleenteleglst has haslearned haslearned haslearned learned to . interpret this recerd record recerdwIth recordwith recordwith wIth unerring unerrmg accuracyRocks accuracy accuracyRocks Rocks of af Many Periods In InThis inThis inThis This Area Are1 . of af the Umta Uinta BasinThe Basin BasinThe I IThe The Umta Uinta Basin Basm of ef which whichGrand whichGrand whichGrand Grand and adjoining adJemmg Emery and andUInta andUinta andUmta UInta counties ceunhes are a geographicdl geographical geegraphlc geographic ,1 1 al , part is largely a major maJer struc structural structural strucural tural basin . or o.r geosyncime geesynclme geosyncline lymg lying lymgbetween lyingbetween lyingbetween between major maJer uplifts uphfts and abut abuttmg abuttong abutting tmg tong against the faulted Wasatch WasatchmeuntaIns Wasatchmountains Wasatchmountains directlyland meuntaIns mountains on cn the west directly directlyand directlyand land and the San Rafael wash beIng beIngan beinganother beinganother an another ether line of ef demarcation demarcatIen dl di dlrectly directly dlrectly rectly west of ef Moab Meab MeabIt MoabIt MoabIt dlI I It is believed beheved on en the basis of o offield ofield offield field geologic geeleglc study cenducted conducted conductedin cenductedIn In the Moab Meab area that appro.xI approxI appro.xImately approximately approximately . mately 20 000 feet of ef strata stratarangIng strataranging strataranging rangIng in geologic geeleglc age frem from fremthe fromthe fromthe the Cambrian to . the MIOcene MIOceneare Mioceneare Mioceneare are present in the deepest part partef partof partof ef of the basInWells basinWells basin basinWells Wells drilled would weuld start In Inthe inthe inthe the Cretaceous Cretaceeus ( Mesozoic Mesezelc ) and andweuld andwould andwould weuld would probable prebabl probably reach . oil 0.11 011 herIz horn herIzcns hornons honzons cns ons in the Pennsylvanian Pennsylvaman atOa atOdepth at af atO a adepth adepth depth of ef about abeut 7100 feet The TheUpper TheUpper TheUpper Upper Cretaceous Cretaceeus of ef this thl : , area ef of efseutheastern ofsoutheastern ofsoutheastern seutheastern southeastern Utah is marIne marIneshale marineshale marineshale shale and the Pennsylvanian Pennsylvaman IS ISsandstene issandstone issandstone sandstene sandstone massive in cempesl compose cempesltIen composetron composition tIen tron and thlckness thickness : . . . It appears on en me the oasis baSIs 01 0.1 . CD CDservatIen 01servation servatIen servatron and study made here hereby hereby hereby by the writer and other ether geele geolo geelegl geologists geologrts gists gl ts including Includmg Walter Kram Krampert Krampert Krampert pert of ef Casper Wyo Wye who . has hasmade hasmade hasmade made a special study of af all areas areasef areasof areasof ef of the Umta Uinta basin that the Pal Paleezelc Paleozoie Paleozoic eezelc eozoie geologic gealeglc section secho.n sechon . is large largel largell l 13 composed cempesed of ef thick con cen mental mentalsandstene mentalsandstone mentalsandstone [ sandstene sandstone and shale at the tep top tepand topand topand and bottom bettem and that the TertI TertIary Tertiary Tertiary sand sandstone sandstone ary section is continental centInental stene stone and shaleThe shaleThe shale shaleThe 1 The unconformity uncenfermIty unconformrty ebsel obseived observed ved at atseveral atseveral atseveral several points pamts between Meab Moab Meaband Moaband Moaband and Valley City 24 miles due duenr > Eth Moab Meab is pf ef of pa particular tIcular interest mterest to . petroleum petreleum seekers in inthis ' thIs area of af southeastern seutheastern Utah Utahm Utahin Utahin m in that between the pre CambrI CambrIan Cambnan an and the overlapping o.verlappmg overlappmg . strata stratabeds stratabeds stratabeds beds ordinarily erdmarIly Tnassic TriassIc or ar Ju Jurasslc Jurassic Jurassic rasslc rassic form ferm wedges . of o.f intervening Interven Intervenmg inter vening [ mg ing beds in m short shert distances awayfrem awayfrom away awayLocally overlap overlapLocally lap lapLecally frem from pemts points of expesed exposed aver Locally Lecally however hewever the older elder beds bedsof bedso bedsof of o strata rest upon upen the pre Cambrian Cambrian Cam Cambnan bnan brian just _ o.u ou . outside ld o.Lt oLt . of " the : south ! * . limits of af the umia Uinta . oasni aSlll iUUUJ iUUUJef > au--of au of - . . - ef of Moab Meab and east . of o.f Mesa UtahAnd UtahAnd Utah UtahAnd And in this area the Tertiarygeologic TertIary TertIarygeeleglc Tertiarygeologic geeleglc geologic formations farmatIOns having havmg an anestImated a aestimated anestimated n . estImated antiquity of ef abDut about about150 50 000 years have erosional ero.sIOnal . un uncenfDrmltIes unconformities unconformities cenfDrmltIes conformities at their baseIn baseIn base baseIn Umta Uinta basin basin ba basin In this area . of o.f the sin small amounts amDunts of cf petroleuand petraleum petroleu petraleumand petroleumi m I , . . . yiT . * fur in m theCretaceeus th thCretaceous the theEmw e > , , and j petreleum petroleum , * , i-niYy i niYy - _ . > shale g o.ccur occur n < " Emw cretaceous Cretaceeus - > - - - ( Mesozoic MeSDZo.lc MeSDZolc . ) beds bNar Natural Na Namrt . bNartural Mesozoic , Hac l-if l if - tural ' gas SQepage seep < " -mrt mrt - g gnoted has been beennDted pi piwhich nDted noted m in the Eecene Eocene strata beds bedswhich bedswhich which are also . of ef Tertiary o.rIgm origin . or o.r origm igm igin igmOf iginOf Of especial interest mterest to . explo.rers explorers explor explo.r explorers . for fer petroleum petreleum is the appear appearanffl ers anffl in Grand . - - - - county ceunt ) and the th . - - - - d ' ' ' ' JU - . - . Moab MDab area . of o.f deposits depesits of ef ellshale onSllOAC all oil saturated . sands san and andnumerDUS andnumerous numerous numerDUS shale SllOAC UA * exposed expesed Mf- Mf Mfnumerous - - - veinsdof veins of o.f . hy by hydercarbens bydorcarbons hydorcarbonsYes dercarbens dorcarbons dorcarbonsYes dercarbensYes Yes ' Old Mother Mo.ther . Nature hasleft hasleft has . * haT-o haT o - in thp the theMo.ab theMoab thpICll Interest - .n n . here m in much o.f of . left ICll mucu UJL A the writerow writer new newengaged nowfingaged and Moab Mo.ab . area engaged in studying studymg potential petentIal p poil potentialn ow owengaged ' -n n - bearme bearing bearmestructures bearingstructures 'fctQOnyiCT fctQOnyiCT 'fctQOnyiCTtell ' natural gas 0.11 011 oil . and Meab Moab area wIll wIlltell willtell the structures m in tell in this series senes o.f of . articles eflthis much regarding regardmg the future efl of ofthis ofthis this area of af southeastern so.utheastern . Utah Utahas Utahas Utahas as a potential petentIal producer of af ell oil oilgas oilgas ' gas C01 co ' ' and magnesiumNOTE magnesium magnesiumNOTE I INOTE ( NOTE Did the life of the theast thecast thelast cast , ast seas which wh1ch covered this thisarea thisarea thisarea area durm during past periods ofthe of ofthe ofthe the geologic record leave pe petroleum troleum source beds9 beds ? This Thiswill Thiswill Thiswill will be discussed in the next nextartIcle nextarticle nextarticle artIcle of this series appearrng appear appearmg appearing mg rng as an exclusive e"cluslve ecluslve " feature lU in lUThe inThe inThe The Times - Independent Independent- - Ray IndependentRay E Colton ) |