Colorado River Basin Stratigraphy

Brian Head Formation
Usage of Geologic Unit Name: Brian Head Formation Age: Tertiary* Eocene, late(?) to Oligocene, middle *
Geologic Province: Great Basin province* Paradox basin*
Geologic Extent: Utah (sw)*
Type Locality: Brian Head, on west rim of Markagunt Plateau, Iron Co., UT. Named from Brian Head (Gregory, 1945).

Unit Name History: First used (Gregory, 1944). Named (Gregory, 1945). Revised, overlies newly named Cedar Breaks Formation (Schneider, 1967). Not used (Bowers, 1972). Abandoned in favor of local and regional names of the high plateaus (Anderson and Rowley, 1975). Reinstated; Age modified to Oligocene (Anderson, 1993). Age modified to Eocene and Oligocene; Revised upper contact (Sable and Maldonado, 1997). Age modified to no older than early to middle Eocene (Feist and others, 1997). First used in area of Markagunt Plateau, southwestern UT (Great Basin province) by Gregory (1945). Name is derived from prominent projection of Markagunt Plateau near Cedar Breaks National Monument. Described as white strata of pure calcareous silts, siliceous limestone, calcareous sandstones, and volcanic ash in lower part and coarse igneous conglomerate in upper part. Overlies Wasatch formation. Petrographic description. At measured sections is up to 968 ft thick. Tentatively considered Miocene age. Source: GNU records (USGS DDS-6; Denver GNULEX). For more informational history, see the Brian Head record in the National Geologic Map Geolex database http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Geolex/
References: Anderson, J.J., and Rowley, P.D., 1975, Cenozoic stratigraphy of southwestern high plateaus of Utah, IN Cenozoic geology of southwestern high plateaus of Utah: Geological Society of America Special Paper, 160, p. 1-51. Anderson, J.J., 1993, The Markagunt megabreccia; large Miocene gravity slides mantling the northern Markagunt Plateau, southwestern Utah: Utah Geological Survey Miscellaneous Publication, no. 93-2. Bowers, W.E., 1972, The Canaan Peak, Pine Hollow, and Wasatch Formations in the Table Cliff region, Garfield County, Utah, IN Contributions to general geology: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin, 1331-B, p. B1-B39. Feist, Monique, Eaton, J.G., Brouwers, E.M., and Maldonado, Florian, 1997, Significance of charophytes from the lower Tertiary variegated and volcaniclastic units, Brian Head Formation, Casto Canyon area, southern Sevier Plateau, southwestern Utah, IN Maldonado, Florian, and Nealey, L.D., editors, Geologic studies in the Basin and Range-Colorado Plateau transition in southeastern Nevada, southwestern Utah, and northwestern Arizona, 1995: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin, 2153, p. 27-39. Gregory, H.E., 1944, Geologic observations in the upper Sevier River Valley, Utah: American Journal of Science, v. 242, no. 11, p. 577-606. Gregory, H.E., 1945, Post-Wasatch Tertiary formations in southwestern Utah: Journal of Geology, v. 53, no. 2, p. 105-115. Hatfield, S.C., Rowley, P.D., Sable, E.G., Maxwell, D.J., Cox, B.V., McKell, M.D., and Kiel, D.E., 2003, Geology of Cedar Breaks National Monument: In Geology of Utah's Parks and Monuments, Sprinkel, D.A., Chidsey, T.C., and Anderson, P.B., editors, Utah Geological Association Publication 28.,p. 107-138. And, Hintze, L.F., 1988, Geologic History of Utah; A Field Guide to Utah's Rocks: Brigham Young University Geology Studies Special Publication 7, p. 139-154; chart, p. 143. Sable, E.G., and Maldonado, Florian, 1997, The Brian Head Formation (revised) and selected Tertiary sedimentary rock units, Markagunt Plateau and adjacent areas, southwestern Utah, IN Maldonado, Florian, and Nealey, D.L., editors, Geologic studies in the Basin and Range-Colorado Plateau transition in southeastern Nevada, southwestern Utah, and northwestern Arizona, 1995: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin, 2153, p. 5-26.

* show accepted USGS usage.

Brian Head Formation