Godiva Rim Member A New Stratigraphic 

Unit of the Green River Formation in 

Southwest Wyoming and Northwest Colorado

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GODIVA RIM MEMBER-A NEW STRATIGRAPHIC UNIT OF THE 

GREEN RIVER FORMATION IN SOUTHWEST WYOMING AND

NORTHWEST COLORADO
Outcrops of the LaClede Bed of the Laney Member (weathers tan) and Godiva Rim Member (weathers gray) of the Green River Formation and 

Cathedral Bluffs Tongue of the Wasatch Formation (weathers red, tan, and gray) on the west side of the Little Snake River in the Sand Wash 

basin. View is west toward The Nipple.
Godiva Rim Member A New Stratigraphic 

Unit of the Green River Formation in 

Southwest Wyoming and Northwest Colorado

By HENRY W. ROEHLER

GEOLOGY OF THE EOCENE WASATCH, GREEN RIVER, AND BRIDGER 

(WASHAKIE) FORMATIONS, GREATER GREEN RIVER BASIN, 

WYOMING, UTAH, AND COLORADO

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 1506-C

Description of lithofacies of lacustrine and mudflat origin along 

the eastern margins of Eocene Lake Gosiute in the Washakie 

and Sand Wash basins

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1991
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

MANUEL LUJAN, JR., Secretary

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Dallas L. Peck, Director

Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for

descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the

U.S. Government

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Roehler, Henry W.

Godiva Rim Member a new stratigraphic unit of the Green River Formation in southwest Wyoming and northwest 

Colorado / by Henry W. Roehler.

p. cm. (Geology of the Eocene Wasatch, Green River, and Bridger (Washakie) formations, greater Green River Basin, 

Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado) (U.S Geological Survey professional paper ; 1506-C)

"Description of lithofacies of lacustrine and mudflat origin along the eastern margins of Eocene Lake Gosiute in the Washakie 

and Sand Wash basins." 

Includes bibliographical references. 

Supt. of Docs, no.: I 19.16:1506-C

1. Geology, Stratigraphic Eocene. 2. Geology Wyoming. 3. Geology Colorado. 4. Green River Formation. 

I. Title. II. Series. III. Series: U.S. Geological Survey professional paper ; 1506-C. 

QE692.2.R6 1991

551.7'84'0978785-dc20 90-3763

CIP

For sale by the Books and Open-File Reports Section, U.S. Geological Survey, 

Federal Center, Box 25425, Denver, CO 80225
CONTENTS

Page

Abstract .................................................................................................................... Cl

Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1

Previous investigations ................................................................................................ 1

Location and description of type section ......................................................................... 3

Depositional environments and lithofacies ....................................................................... 5

Areal distribution and correlation .................................................................................. 5

Age of the Godiva Rim Member .................................................................................... 7

Paleogeography .......................................................................................................... 7

References cited.......................................................................................................... 9

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

FIGURE 1. Map showing location of greater Green River basin and the approximate Eocene areal distribution of the Godiva Rim

Member ................................................................................................................................................... C2

2. Photograph of outcrops of the Godiva Rim Member and overlying and underlying rocks on Godiva Rim ........................ 3

3. Generalized cross section of Eocene rocks in greater Green River basin ................................................................... 6

4. Geologic map of the Godiva Rim area ................................................................................................................. 8

5. Photograph of the type section of the Godiva Rim Member .................................................................................... 9

6. Columnar section of the type Godiva Rim Member and adjacent rocks ..................................................................... 10

7. Cross sections showing the stratigraphic relationships of the Godiva Rim Member in the Washakie and

Sand Wash basins...................................................................................................................................... 11

8. Photograph showing outcrops of the buff marker bed and adjacent oil shale beds on Kinney Rim in

Washakie basin ........................................................................................................................................ 15

9. Photograph showing outcrops of the Godiva Rim Member and adjacent rocks near The Nipple in

Sand Wash basin ...................................................................................................................................... 15

10. Cross section showing probable connections of Lake Gosiute with Lake Uinta ........................................................... 16

GEOLOGY OF THE EOCENE WASATCH, GREEN RIVER, AND BRIDGER (WASHAKIE) FORMATIONS, 

GREATER GREEN RIVER BASIN, WYOMING, UTAH, AND COLORADO

GODIVA RIM MEMBER-A NEW STRATIGRAPHIC UNIT OF THE 

GREEN RIVER FORMATION IN SOUTHWEST WYOMING AND

NORTHWEST COLORADO

By HENRY W. ROEHLER

ABSTRACT

The report names and describes the Godiva Rim Member of the 

Green River Formation in the eastern part of the Washakie basin in 

southwest Wyoming and the central part of the Sand Wash basin in 

northwest Colorado. The Godiva Rim Member comprises lithofacies of 

mixed mudflat and lacustrine origin situated between the overlying 

lacustrine Laney Member of the Green River Formation and the 

underlying fluvial Cathedral Bluffs Tongue of the Wasatch Formation. 

The Godiva Rim Member is laterally equivalent to and grades 

westward into the LaClede Bed of the Laney Member.

The type section of the Godiva Rim Member is located on Bald 

Mountain at the northeast end of Godiva Rim in the Sand Wash basin. 

The type section is 324 feet thick and consists mostly of gray and green 

mudstone that is interbedded with brown oil shale, gray-brown silty 

kerogenaceous shale, gray or tan sandstone and siltstone, and gray 

shale. Very thin beds of gray limestone and brown algal limestone also 

are present locally. Fossil mammal determinations indicate that the age 

of the member is early middle Eocene.

The Godiva Rim Member of the Green River Formation was 

deposited along the southeast margins of Lake Gosiute and is 

correlated to similar lithologic units that were deposited along the 

northeast margins of Lake Uinta in the Parachute Creek Member of 

the Green River Formation. The stratigraphic data presented provide 

significant evidence that the two lakes were periodically connected 

around the east end of the Uinta Mountains during the middle Eocene.

INTRODUCTION

The name Godiva Rim Member of the Green River 

Formation is herein applied to an interval of 160-375 ft of 

mudstone, shale, oil shale, sandstone, siltstone, and 

limestone all of which crop out between the overlying 

Laney Member of the Green River Formation and the 

underlying Cathedral Bluffs Tongue of the Wasatch

Manuscript approved for publication April 12, 1990.

Formation across the central part of the Sand Wash 

basin in northwest Colorado and the eastern part of the 

Washakie basin in southwest Wyoming. The member 

comprises rocks that were deposited in and adjacent to 

Eocene Lake Gosiute. Lake Gosiute occupied the intermontane greater Green River basin (fig. 1), which 

includes the Sand Wash and Washakie basins.

The Godiva Rim Member is named for exposures along 

the southeast slopes of Godiva Rim in the Sand Wash 

basin in T. 8 N., R. 96 W., Moffat County, Colo. (fig. 2). 

The member is easily identified in outcrops by its distinct 

gray-weathering color, which sharply contrasts with the 

tan-weathering Laney Member of the Green River 

Formation and the mostly red- and gray-weathering 

Cathedral Bluffs Tongue of the Wasatch Formation. The 

Godiva Rim Member has been mapped previously, but 

has not been formally named. Recognition of the member 

as a formal stratigraphic unit completes a stratigraphic 

framework prepared by the author for the Wasatch, 

Green River, and Bridger (Washakie) Formations in the 

greater Green River basin (fig. 3).

PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS

The first detailed investigation of the geology of 

Eocene rocks in the Sand Wash and Washakie basins was 

undertaken in 1921 and 1922 by J.D. Sears and W.H. 

Bradley. Sears and Bradley (1925, pi. 24) published a 

geologic map of the Sand Wash and Washakie basins on 

which the stratigraphic interval of the Godiva Rim 

Member was included in the Cathedral Bluffs Tongue of 

the Wasatch Formation. On later more detailed geologic

Ci
C2 WASATCH, GREEN RIVER, AND BRIDGER (WASHAKIE) FORMATIONS

> \ WYOMING V\\O^/

OLORADO./l'V;^

, \1 / -Zy. I

50 MILES

FIGURE 1. Location of greater Green River basin and the approximate Eocene areal distribution (shaded) of the Godiva Rim Member of the

Green River Formation.

maps of the Washakie basin, Bradley (1945; 1964, pi. 1) 

included the same interval in the basal part of the Laney 

Member of the Green River Formation. Roehler (1985) 

assigned these rocks to the basal unnamed tongue of the 

Laney.

The basal part of the Laney Member of the Green 

River Formation and the upper part of the underlying 

Cathedral Bluffs Tongue of the Wasatch Formation are 

shown to be intertongued in the eastern Washakie basin 

on a geologic map published by Roehler (1973a, fig. 1,

p. 48). This intertonguing is also shown by Love and 

Christiansen (1985) on the geologic map of Wyoming. As 

a result of my recent field work in the area, the intertongued interval is herein designated the Godiva Rim 

Member.

The Godiva Rim Member was identified and mapped as 

the "gray zone" at the top of the Wasatch Formation by 

McKay and Bergin (1974) on the Maybell quadrangle in 

the Sand Wash basin. A segment of this quadrangle that 

includes the Godiva Rim area is shown in figure 4. The
GODIVA RIM MEMBER, GREEN RIVER FORMATION, WYOMING AND COLORADO C3

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FIGURE 2. Outcrops of the Laney Member (Tgla) and Godiva Rim 

Member (Tgg) of the Green River Formation and the Cathedral 

Bluffs Tongue (Twc) of the Wasatch Formation on the southeast 

slopes of Godiva Rim. View is to the west in sec. 10, T. 8 N., R. 96 

W. The Godiva Rim Member is about 250 ft thick at this location.

gray zone (Tgg, fig. 4) was described by them as about 

200 ft of gray interbedded claystone and siltstone, and 

gray and buff flat-bedded and crossbedded fine-grained 

sandstone.

My stratigraphic investigations of the Godiva Rim 

Member began in July 1987, when I measured a section 

of the Cathedral Bluffs Tongue of the Wasatch Formation and the Laney Member of the Green River Formation on the southeast slopes of Godiva Rim in sees. 20, 

27, 28, and 29, T. 8 N., R. 96 W. (fig. 4). In this section 

the unit mapped as the gray zone of the Wasatch 

Formation by McKay and Bergin (1974) was discovered 

to be primarily composed of interbedded lacustrine, 

shoreline, and mudflat deposits that are normally 

included in the Green River Formation. Later in 1987, I 

measured several additional sections along outcrops of 

the gray zone across the central part of the Sand Wash 

basin and eastern part of the Washakie basin. The gray 

zone was consistently present in these sections, but it 

gradually thinned northward across the basins where it 

was replaced from the base upward by the Cathedral 

Bluffs Tongue of the Wasatch Formation. The interbedded lacustrine, shoreline, and mudflat deposits of the 

gray zone were then correlated in the subsurface by drill 

holes and coreholes to sections measured along the 

eastern and western margins of the Sand Wash and 

Washakie basins. These investigations resulted in my 

designating a new formal stratigraphic unit in the Green 

River Formation, the Godiva Rim Member, which supersedes the term gray zone of the Wasatch Formation used 

by McKay and Bergin (1974).

LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION OF 

TYPE SECTION

The type section of the Godiva Rim Member lies on the 

east slopes of Bald Mountain (fig. 5) at the northeast end 

of Godiva Rim in NEV4 sec. 1, T. 8 N., R. 96 W. (fig. 4). 

The type section is accessible by Moffat County road 19, 

which branches northward from U.S. Highway 40 at 

Maybell, Colo. Twelve miles north of Maybell in SE 

sec. 32, T. 9 N., R. 95 W., a secondary gravel road joins 

county road 19 from the southwest. Bald Mountain is 

located on the west side of this road, 2 miles southwest of 

the road junction. Rocks composing the type section and 

adjacent rocks in the Laney Member and Cathedral 

Bluffs Tongue are illustrated in a columnar section, 

figure 6. Lithologies, interpreted depositional environments, and thicknesses of rock units are listed in the 

following descriptions.

Type section of the Godiva Rim Member of the Green River Formation,

with parts of the overlying Laney Member of the Green River

Formation and underlying Cathedral Bluffs Tongue

of the Wasatch Formation

[Measured by Jacob's staff on the east slopes of Bald Mountain in NEVi sec. 1, T. 8 N., 

R. 96W.J

Thickness 

Feet

LaClede Bed of Laney Member of Green River

Formation (part):

72. Ostracodal sandstone, gray, very fine grained, 

limy, hard; in thin parallel beds; nearshore lacustrine deposit; caps ledge at the top of Bald 

Mountain................................................... 4.7

71. Oil shale, brown, flaky, soft; offshore lacustrine

deposit...................................................... 33.0

70. Sandstone, gray, fine-grained, fairly well sorted, 

very limy; in thin parallel beds; abundant ostracodes, oolites and fish bones; lacustrine shoreline 

deposit...................................................... 1.9

69. Oil shale, brown, flaky, soft; offshore lacustrine

deposit...................................................... 129.0

68. Tuff, rust, deeply weathered, soft; airfall volcanic

ash deposit................................................. 0.8

67. Oil shale, brown, flaky, soft; offshore lacustrine

deposit...................................................... 6.9

66. Tuff, rust, deeply weathered, soft; airfall volcanic

ash deposit................................................. 0.4

65. Oil shale, brown, flaky, soft; offshore lacustrine

deposit...................................................... 45.8

Total LaClede Bed measured ..................... 222.5

Godiva Rim Member (type) of Green River 

Formation: 

64. Sandstone, tan, very fine grained, argillaceous,

micaceous, soft, loose; vague parallel bedding;

lacustrine shoreline deposit........................... 4.3

63. Mudstone, gray-green, flaky to shaly, soft; mudflat

deposit...................................................... 2.6
C4 WASATCH, GREEN RIVER, AND BRIDGER (WASHAKIE) FORMATIONS

Type section of the Godiva Rim Member, with parts of the Laney 

Member and Cathedral Bluffs Tongue Continued

Godiva Rim Member (type) of Green River FormationContinued

62. Siltstone, tan, argillaceous, very soft; lacustrine 

shoreline deposit.........................................

61. Shale, gray-brown, flaky, soft; becomes gray 

toward the top; low kerogen content; offshore 

lacustrine deposit........................................

60. Sandstone, gray, very fine grained, calcareous; 

abundant muscovite and biotite grains; in thin 

parallel, partly current rippled laminae; lacustrine shoreline deposit..................................

59. Mudstone, gray, gray-green, partly silty; and 

interbedded shale, gray, gray-brown, fissile, 

traces of kerogen; mudflat and nearshore lacustrine deposits..............................................

58. Oil shale, brown, flaky, soft; offshore lacustrine 

deposit......................................................

57. Mudstone, gray-green, soft, a few sandy layers; 

becomes shaly upwards; mudflat deposit.........

56. Sandstone, gray, fine to very coarse grained, 

poorly sorted, subangular, micaceous, mostly 

soft and loose; fines upward; vague trough crossbedding; a local, lenticular fluvial channel 

deposit......................................................

55. Mudstone, gray-green, silty, soft; mudflat deposit

54. Sandstone, tan, very fine grained, soft, loose; 

splay deposit..............................................

53. Mudstone, dark-gray-green, silty, soft; mudflat 

deposit......................................................

52. Sandstone, gray, very fine grained, calcareous, 

fairly well sorted; in current rippled laminae; 

splay deposit..............................................

51. Mudstone, gray-green, flaky, soft; mudflat deposit

50. Oil shale, brown, flaky, soft; abundant ostracodes; 

offshore lacustrine deposit............................

49. Mudstone, gray, gray-green, silty, soft; mudflat 

deposit......................................................

48. Shale, gray, gray-brown, fissile, soft; trace of 

kerogen; nearshore lacustrine deposit.............

47. Mudstone, dark-gray-green, blocky, soft; some 

very silty layers, some shaly layers; mudflat 

deposits.....................................................

46. Oil shale, tan, very silty, soft, deeply weathered; 

scattered ostracodes; offshore lacustrine deposit

45. Limestone, tan, silty, hard, dense; scattered small 

gray clay pebbles; abundant ostracodes; a few 

algal colonies; weathers to brown ledge; lacustrine shoreline deposit..................................

44. Mudstone, gray-green, blocky, some shaly, silty, 

soft; mudflat deposit....................................

43. Limestone, tan, hard, dense, massive; weathers to 

brown jointed ledge; offshore lacustrine deposit

42. Oil shale, brown, flaky to papery, soft, partly silty; 

scattered small plant fragments; offshore lacustrine deposit...............................................

41. Shale, gray-brown, very silty in the lower part, 

firm; trace of kerogen; offshore lacustrine 

deposit......................................................

Thickness 

Feet

3.2

1.1

34.9

7.8

21.2

20.2

10.4

2.7 

2.9

0.4 

8.6

16.1

28.5 

2.0

25.4 

0.7

0.8 

3.5 

0.4

6.9 

2.7

Type section of the Godiva Rim Member, with parts of the Laney 

Member and Cathedral Bluffs Tongue Continued

Godiva Rim Member (type) of Green River Formation 

Continued

40. Mudstone, dark-gray-green, soft; mudflat deposit

39. Oil shale, brown, flaky, soft; scattered ostracodes; 

offshore lacustrine deposit............................

38. Shale, gray-brown, fissile, soft; trace of kerogen; 

offshore lacustrine deposit............................

37. Mudstone, gray-green, very silty to sandy, soft; 

mudflat deposit...........................................

36. Sandstone, gray, very fine to fine grained, fairly 

well sorted, slightly calcareous; scattered red 

and black grains; in thin current-rippled laminae; 

and a few interlaminated shale beds, gray, the 

lower 3.0 ft; splay deposit.............................

35. Mudstone, dark-gray-green, blocky, soft, noncalcareous; mudflat deposit...............................

34. Sandstone, gray, very coarse grained in a very fine 

grained matrix, poorly sorted, subangular, 

slightly calcareous; abundant gray and milky 

quartz grains; scattered black and red grains; in 

small-scale trough crossbeds; fluvial channel 

deposit......................................................

33. Mudstone, gray, gray-green, blocky, silty; 

becomes shaly the top 3.0 ft; mudflat deposit...

32. Ostracodal sandstone, gray, brown-weathering, 

very fine grained; in thin undulating beds; some 

worm trails on the upper surface; lacustrine 

shoreline deposit.........................................

31. Mudstone, dark-gray-green, fissile to blocky, soft; 

mudflat deposit...........................................

30. Sandstone, tan-rust, very fine grained, soft, loose; 

lacustrine shoreline deposit...........................

29. Ostracodal siltstone, gray, calcareous; in thin subparallel wave-rippled laminae; weathers to small 

bench; lacustrine shoreline deposit.................

28. Mudstone, dark-green, blocky, soft, noncalcareous; mudflat deposit.....................................

27. Oil shale, brown, flaky, soft; abundant ostracodes; 

offshore lacustrine deposit............................

26. Shale, gray-brown, silty, firm, trace of kerogen; 

offshore lacustrine deposit............................

Total thickness of the Godiva Rim Member...

Cathedral Bluffs Tongue of Wasatch Formation (part):

25. Mudstone, gray-green, soft; flood-basin deposit...

24. Sandstone, gray, very fine grained, slightly

calcareous; in parallel laminae; flood-plain splay

deposit......................................................

23. Mudstone, gray-green, some mottled maroon the 

lower 4.0 ft; and two 0.3-ft-thick beds of siltstone, gray, calcareous, in parallel laminae, 6.0 

and 15.0 ft above the base; flood-basin and 

flood-plain splay deposits..............................

22. Mudstone, maroon, soft; flood-basin deposit 

21. Mudstone, gray-green, silty, soft; flood-basin 

deposit......................................................

20. Mudstone, maroon, soft; flood-basin deposit........

Thickness 

Feet

4.8

1.9 

1.5 

5.5

4.9 

11.9

19.9

14.3

0.4

16.4

0.9

5.9 

9.6 

6.7

30.2

0.9

21.7 

2.8

7.4 

0.9
GODIVA RIM MEMBER, GREEN RIVER FORMATION, WYOMING AND COLORADO C5

Type section of the Godiva Rim Member, with parts of the Laney 

Member and Cathedral Bluffs Tongue Continued

Thickness 

Feet

Cathedral Bluffs Tongue of Wasatch Formation 

(part) Continued 

19. Siltstone, gray, calcareous, crumbly; weathers to

small blocks; flood-plain splay deposit............. 0.2

18. Mudstone, gray-green, soft; flood-basin deposit... 2.4 

17. Mudstone, maroon, soft; flood-basin deposit........ 4.5

16. Mudstone, gray-green, silty, soft; flood-basin

deposit...................................................... 14.6

15. Siltstone, gray, slightly calcareous; in parallel laminae; flood-basin splay deposit........................ 2.7

14. Mudstone, gray-green, silty, soft; flood-basin

deposit...................................................... 6.8

13. Mudstone, maroon, blocky, soft; flood-basin

deposit...................................................... 2.6

12. Mudstone, gray-green, silty, soft; flood-basin

deposit...................................................... 6.5

11. Sandstone, gray, very fine grained, silty, slightly 

calcareous; in thin parallel laminae; flood-plain 

splay deposit.............................................. 2.7

10. Mudstone, gray-green, soft; flood-basin deposit... 9.6 

9. Mudstone, maroon, soft; flood-basin deposit........ 6.9

8. Mudstone, gray-green, soft, silty in the lower part;

flood-basin deposit....................................... 1.7

7. Sandstone, gray, very fine to fine grained, slightly 

calcareous; abundant dark grains, large grains of 

muscovite; in very low angle trough crosslaminations; flood-plain splay deposit.............. 5.2

6. Mudstone, gray, silty, soft; flood-basin deposit.... 2.4

5. Mudstone, maroon, silty, soft; flood-basin deposit 8.0 

4. Mudstone, green, silty, soft; flood-basin deposit.. 18.3 

3. Mudstone, maroon, silty, soft; flood-basin deposit 6.2 

2. Sandstone, gray, fine- to coarse-grained, poorly 

sorted, subangular, soft, loose; abundant muscovite grains; vague trough crossbedding; fluvial 

channel deposit........................................... 10.9

1. Mudstone, maroon, brick-red, gray, banded, in 

bands as much as 15 ft thick, silty, soft; floodbasin deposit.............................................. 84.0

Total Cathedral Bluffs Tongue measured...... 260.1

DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS AND 

LITHOFACIES

The Godiva Rim Member comprises rocks that were 

deposited along the eastern margins of the basin of Lake 

Gosiute during east-west expansions and contractions of 

the lake waters across the Sand Wash and Washakie 

basins. Oil shale was deposited in offshore and nearshore 

areas during expanded phases of the lake, and as the lake 

waters retreated, the exposed featureless parts of the 

former lake bottom became broad mudflats on which 

muds were deposited. Ephemeral shoreline sandstone, 

siltstone, and limestone occur intermittently in association with the oil shale and mudstone. At times streams

flowed across the mudflats toward contracted parts of 

the lake as evidenced by widely spaced channel sandstones. From these stream channels splays fanned 

outward onto the adjacent mudflats.

The lithologies of the type section of the Godiva Rim 

Member reveal that Lake Gosiute expanded and 

contracted across the Bald Mountain area at least 10 

times. Periods of maximum expansion are indicated by 

beds of gray-brown kerogenaceous shale (type section, 

beds 26, 38, 41, 48, 59, and 61) and brown oil shale (beds 

27, 39, 42, 46, 50, and 58). The thickest oil shale bed (bed 

50) is 16 ft thick, and its deposition probably took several 

thousand years. Shorelines in the type section consist of 

tan or gray, partly ostracode bearing, parallel-bedded 

siltstone and sandstone (beds 29, 30, 32, 60, 62, and 64) 

and tan ostracodal limestone and sandstone (bed 45). 

Most of the rocks in the section consist of gray or green 

mudflat mudstone (beds 28, 31, 33, 35, 37, 40, 44, 47, 49, 

51, 53, 55, 57, 59, and 63). Two gray, fine to very coarse 

grained, lenticular, trough-crossbedded, fluvial channel 

sandstones (beds 34 and 56) are present in the lower and 

upper parts of the section. A few thin gray or tan, 

current-rippled, splay sandstones (beds 36, 52, and 54) 

are interbedded with the mudflat mudstone. One thin tan 

limestone of probable offshore lacustrine origin (bed 43) 

was also identified.

The lithologic composition and genesis of the Godiva 

Rim Member are very similar to those of the Wilkins 

Peak Member of the Green River Formation (fig. 3). The 

units are not chronostratigraphic equivalents, however, 

and they occupy different geographic parts of the greater 

Green River basin.

The climate during deposition of the Godiva Rim 

Member was subtropical with an average annual temperature of about 70 °F and average precipitation of 

nearly 60 inches. These estimates were interpreted from 

plant megafossils collected by H.D. MacGinitie (written 

commun., 1970). The expansions and contractions of 

Lake Gosiute across the Sand Wash and Washakie basins 

undoubtedly are climate related and suggest that within 

the average temperature and precipitation ranges 

determined by MacGinitie are numerous cyclic climate 

changes of lesser duration. The periodicity and extent of 

the lesser climate changes have not been determined, but 

I speculate that they occurred every 15 to 25 thousand 

years and that they were worldwide.

AREAL DISTRIBUTION AND 

CORRELATION

The Godiva Rim Member was deposited across an area 

of about 2,600 mi2 that comprises the central part of the 

Sand Wash basin, the eastern part of the Washakie
C6 WASATCH, GREEN RIVER, AND BRIDGER (WASHAKIE) FORMATIONS

. '' X -"" '' X
GODIVA RIM MEMBER, GREEN RIVER FORMATION, WYOMING AND COLORADO C7

X'/N'/N

v 3, f

< l, -V

EXPLANATION

Arkose (pediment) deposits 

Lacustrine sandstone deposits 

Red flood-plain deposits 

Gray and green flood-plain deposits

Mixed freshwater lacustrine and gray 

and green flood-plain deposits

Mudflat and some saltwater lacustrine 

oil shale deposits

Cyclic saltwater lacustrine oil shale, 

evaporite, and mudflat deposits

Saltwater lacustrine (rich) oil shale deposits 

Freshwater lacustrine (lean) oil shale deposits 

Paludal (coal-bearing) deposits 

Unconformity

FIGURE 3 (above and facing page). Generalized cross 

section of Eocene rocks in greater Green River 

basin showing stratigraphic nomenclature and 

depositional environments.

basin, and the south-central part of the Great Divide 

basin. The precise areal distribution of the Godiva Rim 

Member cannot be determined, because it has been 

eroded from the Great Divide basin and from the areas 

east of where it crops out in the Sand Wash and 

Washakie basins. Moreover, the member intertongues 

with and grades laterally westward into the LaClede Bed 

of the Laney Member, making its western boundary 

arbitrary. Its approximate Eocene areal distribution is 

shown in figure 1.

The stratigraphic relationships of the Godiva Rim 

Member with the overlying Laney Member of the Green 

River Formation and the underlying Cathedral Bluffs 

Tongue of the Wasatch Formation in the Sand Wash and 

Washakie Basins are illustrated in figure 7. In the three 

transbasin cross sections shown in figure 7, the Godiva 

Rim Member is replaced laterally westward by the lower 

part of the LaClede Bed of the Laney Member. Along 

Kinney Rim in the western part of the Washakie basin 

(nos. 1 and 4, fig. 7), and along Lookout Mountain in the 

western part of the Sand Wash basin (no. 8, fig. 7), the 

lower part of the LaClede Bed is composed of oil shale 

and interbedded tuff and tuffaceous sandstone and siltstone. The thickest of the tuffaceous sandstone and 

siltstone beds in this part of the section is called the buff 

marker bed (Roehler, 1973b, p. E6-E7), which is easily 

correlated in outcrops and on electric logs. Along Kinney 

Rim the buff marker is locally more than 50 ft thick and 

forms a distinct massive buff band in outcrops between

overlying and underlying parallel-bedded oil shale beds 

that weather brown and gray (fig. 8). Eastward across 

the Sand Wash and Washakie basins, the oil shale in the 

lower part of the LaClede Bed grades laterally into the 

mudstone, shale, sandstone, and limestone that compose 

the Godiva Rim Member (fig. 7). Where the Godiva Rim 

Member crops out across the central part of the Sand 

Wash basin (fig. 9) and across the eastern part of the 

Washakie basin, it bears little resemblance to its lateral 

equivalents in the lower part of the LaClede Bed 

(compare figs. 8 and 9).

AGE OF THE GODIVA RIM MEMBER

The age of the Godiva Rim Member is early middle 

Eocene based on the stratigraphic occurrence of agediagnostic fossil mammals collected in the eastern part of 

the Washakie basin. No fossil mammals have been 

collected from the Godiva Rim Member itself, but they 

have been collected from overlying and underlying rocks 

that bracket the member. McGrew and Roehler (1960, p. 

158) collected Sciuravus nitidus from a 15-ft-thick 

sandstone bed located 75 ft below the top of the 

Cathedral Bluffs Tongue of the Wasatch Formation in 

NWV4 sec. 8, T. 15 N., R. 93 W. (near section 7, fig. 7, 

this report). In 1969 I collected (unpublished data) the 

mammals Nyctitherium serotinum and Omomys sp. 

from a 0.4-ft-thick bed of mollusk-bearing black chert 

situated 9.5 ft below the base of the green shale marker 

bed in the upper part of the LaClede Bed of the Laney 

Member of the Green River Formation in NEVi sec. 36, 

T. 18 N., R. 95 W. (section 3, fig. 7).

PALEOGEOGRAPHY

The Godiva Rim Member, as discussed previously, 

thickens from north to south along the eastern part of the 

Washakie basin and the central part of the Sand Wash 

basin (figs. 1 and 7). The thickening occurs in directions 

away from the deep parts of Lake Gosiute where kerogenaceous shale and oil shale were deposited (no. 1, 

fig. 10) but toward the basin margin south of Godiva Rim 

where the member is eroded around the east end of the 

Uinta Mountains. These relationships suggest that 

during the middle Eocene, equivalents of the Godiva Rim 

Member were deposited continuously around the east 

end of the Uinta Mountains through a broad depression 

or channel that connected Lake Gosiute to the north with 

Lake Uinta to the south (index map, fig. 10). The 

presence of a channel there is further suggested by the 

occurrence of mudflat mudstones at the stratigraphic 

interval of the Godiva Rim Member in the Piceance 

Creek basin 33 miles south of Godiva Rim on the south
C8 WASATCH, GREEN RIVER, AND BRIDGER (WASHAKIE) FORMATIONS

2 MILES

R 96 W R 95 W

QUADRANGLE LOCATION

FIGURE 4. Geologic map of the Godiva Rim area showing location of the type section of the Godiva Rim Member of the Green River 

Formation on Bald Mountain in sec. 1, T. 8 N., R. 96 W. (Modified from McKay and Bergin, 1974.) Qal, Quaternary alluvium; 

Tgla, Laney Member of Green River Formation; Tgg, Godiva Rim Member of Green River Formation (the gray zone); Twc, 

Cathedral Bluffs Tongue of Wasatch Formation; Tgt, Scheggs Bed of the Tipton Tongue of Green River Formation; Twm, main 

body of Wasatch Formation. Structure contour interval 200 ft; dashed where approximately located; datum is the base of the 

Laney Member. Base from Maybell 1:62,500 (1958). 
GODIVA RIM MEMBER, GREEN RIVER FORMATION, WYOMING AND COLORADO C9

FIGURE 5. Type section of the Godiva Rim Member of the Green 

River Formation, east slopes of Bald Mountain, NEJ/4 sec. 1, T. 8 N., 

R. 96 W. (fig. 4). Arrow indicates sloping ridge where the type 

section was measured. Tgla, Laney Member of Green River 

Formation; Tgg, Godiva Rim Member of Green River Formation; 

Twc, Cathedral Bluffs Tongue of Wasatch Formation. The Godiva 

Rim Member is 324 ft thick at this location.

side of the Uinta Mountains (Roehler, 1974). These 

mudflat deposits, informally called the green fades, are 

situated in the Parachute Creek Member of the Green 

River Formation at the mouth of Yellow Creek (no. 3, 

fig. 10). A few miles southeast of the mouth of Yellow 

Creek, at the U.S. Bureau of Mines Yellow Creek 

Corehole No. 1 (no. 4, fig. 10), these mudflat mudstones 

have graded laterally into oil shale that was deposited in 

deep parts of Lake Uinta. Correlation of the buff marker 

in the LaClede Bed to part of the interval between A 

Groove and B Groove in the Parachute Creek Member, 

shown in figure 10, was first proposed by Roehler (1974, 

p. 64, fig. 4).

The lithologic units shown in the columns on figure 10 

suggest that Lake Gosiute and Lake Uinta were joined 

as a single body of open water at least three times during 

the middle Eocene. The earliest juncture of the lakes 

probably occurred at interval A, which consists of oil 

shale and slightly kerogenaceous shale beds located at 

the base of the Godiva Rim Member on Godiva Rim

(no. 2, fig. 10) that correlate to similar oil shale beds 

situated about 320 ft below the Mahogany Bed at the 

mouth of Yellow Creek (no. 3, fig. 10). The second 

juncture of the lakes probably occurred at interval B, 

which consists of oil shale beds underlying the buff 

marker (nos. 1 and 2, fig. 10), that correlate to the 

Mahogany Bed (nos. 3 and 4, fig. 10). The third and most 

prolonged juncture of the lakes took place during 

deposition of the beds in interval C (nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4, 

fig. 10).

REFERENCES CITED

Bradley, W.H., 1945, Geology of the Washakie basin, Sweetwater and 

Carbon Counties, Wyoming and Moffat County, Colorado: U.S. 

Geological Survey Oil and Gas Investigations Preliminary Map 32, 

scale 1:190,000, 1 sheet.

____ 1964, Geology of Green River Formation and associated 

Eocene rocks in southwestern Wyoming and adjacent parts of 

Colorado and Utah: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 

496-A, 86 p.

Love, J.D., and Christiansen, A.C., 1985, Geologic map of Wyoming: 

U.S. Geological Survey, 2 sheets.

McGrew, P.O., and Roehler, H.W., 1960, Correlation of Tertiary units 

in Southwestern Wyoming, in McGookey, D.P., and Miller, D.N., 

Jr., eds., Overthrust belt of southwestern Wyoming and adjacent 

areas: Wyoming Geological Association Guidebook, 15th Annual 

Field Conference, Wyoming, p. 156-158.

McKay, E.J., and Bergin, M.J., 1974, Geologic map of the Maybell 

quadrangle, Moffat County, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey 

Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-1145, scale 1:62,500.

Roehler, H.W., 1973a, Mineral resources in the Washakie basin, 

Wyoming and Sand Wash basin, Colorado, in Schell, E.M., ed., 

Wyoming Geological Association Guidebook, 25th Field 

Conference, Greater Green River basin Symposium: Casper, 

Wyoming, p. 47-56.

____ 1973b, Stratigraphic divisions and geologic history of the 

Laney Member of the Green River Formation in the Washakie 

basin in southwestern Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 

1372-E, 28 p.

____ 1974, Depositional environments of rocks in the Piceance 

Creek basin, Colorado, in Murray, D.K., Energy resources of the 

Piceance Creek Basin: Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists 

Guidebook, 25th Field Conference, Denver, Colo., p. 57-64.

1985, Geologic map of the Kinney Rim 30x60 minute

quadrangle, Wyoming and Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey 

Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map 1-1615, scale 1:100,000. 

Sears, J.D., and Bradley, W.H., 1925, Relations of the Wasatch and 

Green River Formations in northwestern Colorado and southern 

Wyoming, with notes on oil shale in the Green River Formation: 

U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 132, p. 93-107.
CIO WASATCH, GREEN RIVER, AND BRIDGER (WASHAKIE) FORMATIONS 

FORMATION DEPOSITIONS. ENVIRONMENT

LaClede Bed of Laney 

Member of Green River 

Formation (part)

Godiva Rim Member 

(type) of Green River 

Formation, 324 ft

Cathedral Bluffs Tongue 

of Wasatch Formation 

(part)

Brackish-water lacustrine 

deposits (weathers tan)

Brackish-water and saltwater 

lacustrine, mudflat, and 

fluvial deposits (weathers 

gray with light-brown 

banding)

Variegated flood-plain 

deposits (weathers 

red and gray)

EXPLANATION

. .' ;.i

^ Gray channel sandstone

;;ij Tan or gray beach or splay sandstone

Jis Tan or gray beach or splay siltstone

J3 Brown oil shale

m|g Gray-brown slightly kerogenaceous shale

=3 Gray shale La

In Gray or green mudstone

ETT1

lg Maroon or red mudstone

i&J

=j Gray limestone

~ Brown algal limestone

^J Rust tuff

" Ostracodes

Oolites

U Burrows or trails 

$ Plants 

<C* Fish

FEET 

r100

L 0

FIGURE 6. Columnar section of the Godiva Rim Member and adjacent rocks in the Green River and Wasatch Formations. Location

of the section is shown in figure 4.
100

Hartt Cabin Bed of

Laney Member of

Green River Formation Sand Butte Bed of

Laney Member of

Green River Formation Green shale marker bed

Gyraulus marker bed

LaClede Bed of

Laney Member of

Green River Formation Godiva Rim Member of 

Green River Formation

Cathedral Bluffs Tongue of 

Wasatch Formation

Oo

OI I $

gMgwM»Q 

» 

M M

M

»

^ 

O

O 

S!

QOo

o 

o

600 - -^4

FIGURE 7. Cross sections showing the stratigraphic relationships of the Godiva Rim Member to adjacent parts of the Green River and Wasatch Formations in the Washakie and Sand 

Wash basins. Sections composed mostly of oil shale are shaded. Thicknesses shown are drill-hole depths or measured section intervals. O
oI 1

to

100-£^

600

Sand Butte Bed of

Laney Member of

Green River Formation

Hartt Cabin Bed of 

Laney Member of 

Green River Formation 

100

Gyraulus marker bed

Godiva Rim Member of 

Green River Formation

LaClede Bed of

Laney Member of

Green River Formation

Cathedral Bluffs Tongue of 

Wasatch Formation

CG

W^ 

oo

X

CG
100

eoo-fiTd

10

LaClede Bed of

Laney Member of

Green River Formation

Godiva Rim Member of 

Green River Formation

Cathedral Bluffs Tongue of 

Wasatch Formation

FIGURE 7. Cross sections showing stratigraphic relationships of the Godiva Rim Member. Continued

td

Oo5! ^O

g o

O ( *

CO
108°30' 108°00' o

° Wamsutter

41°30' - 41°00'

Maybell

EXPLANATION

Sandstone

Siltstone 

Mudstone 

Shale 

Oil shale

TuffLimestone 

Algal limestone

NOTE: Thicknesses are in feet

Electric logs show resistivity curves

SOURCES OF DATA

1. Antelope Draw measured section No. 1068, SVi sec. 36, T. 17 N., R. 99 W.

2. Sands American Corporation Well No. 1-14, NEV^NEV^ sec. 14, T. 16 N, 

R. 97 W.

3. North Barrel Springs Draw measured section No. 3569, NWV4 sec. 6, T. 17 N., 

R. 94 W., NJ/2 sec. 1, T. 17 N., R. 95 W., and SWV4 sec. 36, T. 18 N., R. 95 W.

4. U.S. Bureau of Mines Washakie Basin Corehole No. 1, NWViSWVA sec. 17, 

T. 14 N.,- R. 99 W.

5. Shell Oil Company Shell Creek Well No. 1, NEV4NEV4 sec. 36, T. 14 N., R. 97 W.6. True Oil Company Nance Well No. 1, NEViSEV* sec. 14, T. 14 N., R. 94 W.

7. Northwest Flat Top Mountain measured section No. 3469, EV6 and SWV4 

sec. 29, SEV4 sec. 30, and El/2 sec. 31, T. 15 N., R. 93 W.

8. Lookout Mountain measured section No. 3769, WJ/2 sec. 30, T. 11 N., 

R. 98 W.

9. Belco Petroleum Corporation Yellow Cat Well No. 1-5, NE 1/4NE1/4 sec. 5, 

T. 10 N., R. 97 W.

10. Bald Mountain measured section No. 188, NEV4 sec. 1, T. 8 N., R. 96 W.

O

D W fd > iD 

Q 

M

FIGURE 7. Cross sections showing stratigraphic relationships of the Godiva Rim Member. Continued
GODIVA RIM MEMBER, GREEN RIVER FORMATION, WYOMING AND COLORADO C15

FIGURE 8. Outcrops of the buff marker bed and adjacent oil shale 

beds in the lower part of the LaClede Bed of the Laney Member of 

the Green River Formation on Kinney Rim in the western Washakie 

basin in sec. 22, T. 15 N., R. 100 W. The buff marker bed is 59 ft thick 

here. Contact of the LaClede Bed with the underlying Cathedral 

Bluffs tongue of the Wasatch Formation is covered in lower left part 

of photograph.

FIGURE 9. Outcrops of the LaClede Bed of the Laney Member (Tgla) and Godiva Rim Member (Tgg) of the Green River Formation and the 

Cathedral Bluffs Tongue (Twc) of the Wasatch Formation, west side of Little Snake River, Sand Wash basin. View is to the west toward The 

Nipple in T. 10 N., R. 96 W. The Godiva Rim Member is 185 ft thick here.
C16 WASATCH, GREEN RIVER, AND BRIDGER (WASHAKIE) FORMATIONS
GODIVA RIM MEMBER, GREEN RIVER FORMATION, WYOMING AND COLORADO C17

nr 110° 109° 10B°

42' IDAHO S

UTAH §

Rawlins <

40C

LaClede Bed of 

Laney Member

°Rock Springs

LAKE UINTA

I 

I 

Parachute Creek iMember

[Grand Junction"--

NOTE: Thicknesses are in feet

Electric logs show resistivity curves 

Lithologies are described in figure 7

SOURCES OF DATA

1. U.S. Bureau of Mines Washakie Basin Corehole No. 1, sec. 17, T. 14 N., 

R. 99 W.

2. Bald Mountain measured section No. X88, sec. 1, T. 8 N., R. 96 W.

3. Yellow Creek measured section No. 967, sees. 9, 10 and 15, T. 2 N., R. 98 W.

4. U.S. Bureau of Mines Yellow Creek Corehole No. 1, sec. 13, T. 1 N., R. 98 W.

FIGURE 10 (above and facing page). Cross section showing the 

probable connections of the Eocene Lake Gosiute and Lake Uinta 

east of the Uinta Mountains. A, B, C, the intervals of the merging 

open water; intervals of the intervening mudflats are patterned. 

Generalized paleogeography shown on index map. Datum is the top 

of the Mahogany Bed. Thicknesses shown are drill-hole depths or 

measured section intervals.

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