Fountain Formation
{{Short description|American geological formation}}
{{Infobox rockunit
| name = Fountain Formation
| image = Fountain fm garden of the gods 2003.jpg
| caption = Outcrop of the Fountain Formation at Garden of the Gods. Scale bar on notebook is {{convert|10|cm}}
| type = sedimentary
| age = Late Pennsylvanian
| period = Pennsylvanian
| prilithology = sandstone, conglomerate
| otherlithology = limestone, shale
| namedfor = Fountain Creek
| namedby = C. W. Cross, 1894
| region = Denver Basin
| country =
| coordinates =
| unitof =
| subunits =
| underlies = Lyons Formation
| overlies = Gleneyrie Formation
| thickness = {{convert|0-4500|ft|||}}Frederickson, E.A., De Lay, M., and Saylor, W.W., 1956, Ralston formation of Canon City embayment, Colorado: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 40, no. 9, p. 2120-2148.
| extent = Colorado, Wyoming
| area =
| map =
| map_caption =
}}
The Fountain Formation is a Pennsylvanian bedrock unit consisting primarily of conglomerate, sandstone, or arkose, in the states of Colorado and Wyoming in the United States, along the east side of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, and along the west edge of the Denver Basin.
Origin of name
The Fountain Formation was named by geologist C. W. Cross in 1894 for exposures along Fountain Creek in El Paso County, Colorado.Cross, C.W., 1894, Description of the Pikes Peak sheet [Colorado]: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Atlas of the United States, Pikes Peak folio, no. 7, 5 p.
Stratigraphy
File:Fountain fm unconf redrocks.jpg
The Fountain Formation is found along the Front Range of Colorado. To the north, the Formation unconformably overlies Precambrian granite and gneiss. To the south, it overlies Mississippian, Ordovician and Devonian Limestones, as well as Cambrian sandstones. Outcrops of the formation typically dip steeply to the east.
= Depositional environment =
The formation was formed by the erosion of the Ancestral Rocky Mountains, and deposition by fluvial processes as alluvial fans. The characteristic predominant red color and the composition of the Fountain reflect that of the granites and gneisses from which it was eroded.
= Notable outcrops =
- Flagstaff Mtn Park, near Boulder, Colorado
- Flatirons, near Boulder, Colorado
- Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater, Morrison, Colorado
- Roxborough State Park, south of Denver, Colorado
- Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Red Rock Canyon Open Space in Colorado Springs, Colorado
- [https://royalgorgeregion.com/red-canyon-park/ Red Canyon Park] near Cañon City, Colorado
= Fossils =
Marine invertebrates have been discovered in a limestone and shale member of the Fountain Formation, cropping out on a low hogback in Perry Park. Invertebrates include bryozoans, brachiopods, crinoids, echinoids, and gastropods.Ellis, C.H., 1966, Paleontologic age of the Fountain Formation south of Denver, Colorado: The Mountain Geologist, v. 3, no. 4, p. 155-160.
Plant fossils have been discovered in Garden Park north of Cañon City, including Lepidophloios laricinus, Sigillaria, Syringodendron sp., Lepidophyloides sp., Lepidostrobus sp., Lepidostrobophyllum sp., Calamites, Neuropterus sp., Cyclopteris sp., and Stigmaria ficoides.Jennings, J.R., 1980, Fossil plants from the Fountain Formation (Pennsylvanian) of Colorado: Journal of Paleontology, v. 54, no. 1, p. 149-158.
Age
Rocks of the Fountain Formation are considered to be of Late Pennsylvanian age, and are between 290 and 340 million years old.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category inline}}
- [http://www.gravmag.com/fountain.html Gravmag.com: Geology of the Fountain Formation]
{{Chronostratigraphy of Colorado|Paleozoic state=expanded}}
Category:Pennsylvanian North America
Category:Geologic formations of Colorado
Category:Carboniferous Colorado
Category:Sandstone formations of the United States
Category:Conglomerate formations of the United States
Category:Carboniferous southern paleotropical deposits