QTu 

Tjr 

Tjc 

Tb 

Tjc

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS MAP 2992 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Version 1.0 

115°48'11" 115°45'00" 115°37'30" R 55 E R 56 E 

41°46'46" 41°46'46" CORRELATION OF MAP UNITS Contact 

D 

U Normal fault—D, downthrown; U, upthrown side 

QUATERNARY 

Low-angle fault (Unknown or unspecified sense of 

Middle Miocene slip)—Identity and existence certain; dashed where 

approximately located or inferred. Half-circles on 

upper plate TERTIARY 

Trend-line of bedding—From surface exposures and 

Unconformity aerial photographs 

Tmc Ti Ta

Jg 

upper Eocene? Strike and dip of bedding 

30 Inclined 

Late Jurassic JURASSIC Vertical 

Intrusive contact 70 Overturned 

Pss 

hsl Phs

hsc 

Lower Permian PERMIAN Anticline—Showing axis and direction of plunge 

Upper and 

upper Middle Syncline—Showing axis and direction of plunge Pennsylvanian 71015 Locality and field number of fossil collection—See 

PENNSYLVANIAN table 1 for more information on fossil collection Fault 

hMh 

lower Middle and 

eapm 

eapm 

Oetm 

Oetm 

Oetm 

Oetm 

Oetm 

Oetm 

Oetm 

Oetm 

Oetm 

hMh 

hMh 

hMh 

hMh 

hMh 

Phs 

Phs 

Phs 

Phs 

Phs 

hsc 

hsc 

hsc 

hsc 

hsc 

hsc 

hsc 

hsc 

hsc 

hsl 

hsl 

hsl 

hsl 

hsl 

hsl 

Pss 

Pss Pss 

Pss 

Pss 

Pss 

Pss 

Jg 

Jg 

Jg 

Ta 

Ta Ta 

Ti 

Ti 

Ti 

Ti 

Tmc 

Tmc 

Tmc 

Tmc 

Tmc 

Tb 

Tjc 

Tjc 

Tjr 

QTu 

QTu 

QTu QTu 

QTu 

QTu 

QTu 

QTu QTu 

QTu 

QTu 

QTu 

QTu 

QTu 

QTu 

QTu 

QTu 

QTu 

hsc 

eapm 

eapm 

Ta 

eapm 

Tmc 

71097 

62005 

62309 

62310 

62301 

14092 

14136 

71004 

71013 

71012 

71015 

14098 

14096 

62319 

64165 

64028 

14140 

14099 

14103 

14102 

14101 

71059 

13053 

71070 

6821

71052 

U 

U 

U 

U D 

U D 

D 

D D

25

25

60

35

70

75

35

80

40

45

70

55

50

65

35

75

35

45

70

50

50

80

70

70

70

70

20

20

70

20

65

65

60

60

65

60 80

55

10

20

30

35

35

35

15

115°48'11" 115°45'00" 115°37'30" R 55 E R 56 E 

Diamond Jim 

Mine 

Lower Pennsylvanian 

Upper Mississippian MISSISSIPPIAN 

Fault 

Oetm 

eapm 

Lower Ordovician ORDOVICIAN CONVERSION FACTORS 

CAMBRIAN Multiply By To obtain 

PROTEROZOIC (?) inches (in) 2.54 centimeters (cm) 

feet (ft) 0.3048 meters (m) 

miles (mi) 1.609 kilometers (km) 

41°45'00" 41°45'00"

DESCRIPTION OF MAP UNITS
 

QTu 

Tjr 

T 45 N Unconsolidated sand and gravel (Quaternary and late Tertiary)—Sand and gravel along 

streams; soil, colluvium, talus, landslides, quartzite-boulder gravel T 44 N 

Jarbidge Rhyolite (middle Miocene)—Rhyolite characterized by abundant, large 


phenocrysts of quartz and unaltered feldspar. Potassium-Argon dating indicates a 117°
 114° T 45 N 

Elko 

ELKO COUNTY 

NEVADA 

Mountain 

City 

ELKO 

COUNTY 

Carson City 

Las Vegas 

42° 

Ketner and others, 1995

 Map I–2536 

Ketner and others, 1996

 Map I–2535 

Ehman, 1985 

Miller and others, 1984 

Gold Creek map area 

Conglomerate (Miocene?)—Loosely consolidated conglomerate, gravel, and tuffaceous, 

sandy deposits locally underlying the Jarbidge Rhyolite 

Basalt (Tertiary)—A single exposure of basaltic rock on a hill just northeast of Jenkins Peaks 

(elevation of hill, 6821 ft.); composed of an upper unit of basalt flows and an underlying 

unit of tuffaceous sandstone and gravel; basalt characterized by very large phenocrysts 117° 114° 

42° 

middle Miocene age (Coats, 1987; Evernden and others, 1964). Except for high-angle 

T 44 N faults, the Jarbidge Rhyolite is nearly undeformed tectonically in contrast with the 

distinctly folded Eocene Martin Creek sequence 

Tb 

of unaltered plagioclase. Plagioclase from the tuffaceous part of a similar basaltic unit 

at Rough Mountain, 8 km to the west, was K-Ar dated at 22.9±3 my, near the 41° Miocene-Oligocene boundary (Coats and others, 1984; McKee and others, 1976). 

Correlated with the Seventy Six Basalt by Coats and others (1984) 

Martin Creek sequence (upper Eocene?)—Interlayered ignimbrite, lahar deposits, volcanic 

ash, alluvial conglomerate, and sandstone. Lahar deposits, consisting mainly of clasts 

of ignimbrite (Ti), some of which are 2 m or more in diameter, are prominently exposed 

just southeast of Fuzzie Spring. The thickness of the exposed part of the Martin Creek 

sequence is estimated to be many hundreds of meters. The age of the sequence in the 

Gold Creek area was not determined but it is correlated, on the basis of general 

lithologic features, with the upper Eocene Meadow Fork Formation and Dead Horse 

Tuff (Coats, 1964, 1987), and with upper Eocene units in the Bull Run Mountains area 

(Ehman, 1985) 

Tmc 

Ti 

Ta 

Jg 

Ignimbrite (upper Eocene?)—Relatively undeformed layered tuff composed of highly 

altered devitrified glass matrix and abundant phenocrysts of plagioclase entirely altered 

to clay; lesser amounts of quartz and biotite. Weathered outcrops are characterized by 

pink color and large lenticular voids parallel to layering. The ignimbrite is prominently 

exposed at Point of Rocks in the northwest part of the map area. It is identical to some 

strata and some large clasts of the Martin Creek sequence 

Andesite (upper Eocene?)—Relatively undeformed, thinly layered, gray-weathering andesite 

consisting of devitrified glass, biotite, abundant euhedral crystals and fragments of 

unaltered plagioclase, and somewhat less abundant quartz; lithologically similar to the 

upper Eocene Dead Horse Tuff of Coats (1964, 1987). It was named Bieroth Andesite 

by Bushnell (1967) but the same name was applied to rocks of other types by Coats 

and others (1984) 

Gold Creek pluton (Late Jurassic)—Ranges from quartz diorite to quartz monzonite; 

contains distinctive poikilitic biotite (Coats, 1987). It occupies the contact zone 

between the allochthonous Sunflower Formation and the allochthonous Havallah 

Figure 1. Index map of Nevada showing the location of the Gold Creek map area, and the locations of geologic 

maps of other areas that are referenced in this investigation. 

Table 1. Age ranges of fossil collections from the Gold Creek map area. 

Field

1 

USGS Fossil type Age range of collection Paleontologist no. no. 

sequence and it produced contact metamorphic deposits along its margin in both units. 

Contacts with autochthonous rocks are not exposed. A drill hole in the pluton Sunflower sequence

62005 24600 Conodonts Late? Pennsylvanian J.W. Huddle 

41°42'30" 41°42'30" bottomed at 457 m in the pluton (David Greenan, Aur Resources Inc., written 62309 21597 Brachiopods Late Pennsylvanian to Permian MacKenzie Gordon, Jr. commun., 1997) 62310 21598 Brachiopods Late Pennsylvanian to Permian MacKenzie Gordon, Jr. 

Phs 

Digital cartography by Springfield and Springfield members are mapped separately in places. Unit was named by Coash (1967) and

62319 21587 Brachiopods Permian MacKenzie Gordon, Jr. 

TRUE NORTH

MAGNETIC NORTH 

15° 

Tennessee Mountain, 1986; Wild Horse, 1986; Cornwell 1 1/ 2 0 1 MILE 

Merritt 

Mountain 

Mountain 

City 

Tennessee 

Mountain Coon Creek 

Badger 

Creek Wild Horse Cornwall 

Mountain 

Annie 

Creek 

Map 

area 

NEVADA 

CONTOUR INTERVAL 40 FEET Permian to late Middle Pennsylvanian interval 14096 n/a Conodonts Permian, Leonardian B.R. Wardlaw 

Base from U.S. Geological Survey. Merritt Mountain, 1986; SCALE 1: 24 000 116° 00' 115° 52' 30" 115° 45' 115° 37' 30" 115° 30' Geology by K.B. Ketner, 1995–2001 Sunflower Formation (Permian to upper Middle Pennsylvanian)—Informally designated 41° 52' 30" 64028 23845 Fusilinids Late Pennsylvanian R.C. Douglas 

Mountain, 1986 64165 23781 Brachiopods Late Pennsylvanian to Permian MacKenzie Gordon, Jr. 

1 .5 0 1 KILOMETER Edited by L.J. Binder, Bushnell (1967). Conodonts, fusulinids, and bivalves from the middle and upper 71052 24816 Conodonts Pennsylvanian to Permian J.W. Huddle 

Universal Transverse Mercator projection, zone 11 Denver Publishing Service Center members in the Gold Creek area indicate that the Sunflower's age is within the 71059 24877 Conodonts Early Permian B.R. Wardlaw 

Nevada State Plane coordinate system, east zone Manuscript approved for publication September 9, 2007 NATIONAL GEODETIC VERTICAL DATUM OF 1929 MAP LOCATION 14098 n/a Conodonts Late Middle Pennsylvanian through Permian B.R. Wardlaw 

Pss 

hsl 

APPROXIMATE MEAN 41° 45'

DECLINATION, 2001 Upper member—Siltstone, chert, and limestone; A relatively deep-water deposit 14101 n/a Conodonts Permian, Leonardian B.R. Wardlaw 

14102 n/a Conodonts Earliest Permian B.R. Wardlaw 

Middle member—Abundantly fossiliferous limestone, oolitic in places; A shallow-water 14103 n/a Conodonts Earliest Permian B.R. Wardlaw 

deposit Havallah sequence 

hsc Lower member—Conglomerate and sandstone; A shallow-water deposit. Clasts of the 62301 24602 Conodonts Late Mississippian J.W. Huddle 41° 37' 30" 

ADJOINING QUADRANGLE LOCATIONS 71004 24810 Conodonts Early Pennsylvanian J.W. Huddle lower member are mainly chert and quartzite derived from lower Paleozoic deep­ 71012 24811 Conodonts Late Mississippian J.W. Huddle water or western facies rocks. The microscopic texture of the quartzite cobbles is 71013 24863 Brachiopods Mississippian MacKenzie Gordon, Jr. similar to that of quartzite beds in the Ordovician Valmy Formation but different from 71015 24818 Conodonts Pennsylvanian to Permian J.W. Huddle 

that of the Prospect Mountain Quartzite. Based on the age of the overlying middle 71070 24819 Conodonts Early Pennsylvanian J.W. Huddle STRUCTURAL FEATURES AND MINERAL DEPOSITS The Havallah sequence appears to be either isoclinally folded on north-south- folds of the Martin Creek plate are the result of contractional or extensional stress is Formation. The Diamond Jim mine on Rosebud Mountain produced significant Coats, R.R., and McKee, E.H., 1972, Ages of plutons and types of mineralization, member and regional stratigraphic relations, the age of the lower member is 71097 24821 Conodonts Late Mississippian J.W. Huddle 

trending axes or to be cut by faults nearly parallel to bedding. Bedding trends are indeterminate from the local evidence. The younger-on-older nature of the fault quantities of lead and small amounts of copper, silver, and gold from the phyllitic northwestern Elko County, Nevada, in Geological Survey Research 1972: U.S. probably late Middle Pennsylvanian. The depositional substrate of the Sunflower 13053 n/a Conodonts Early-Middle Pennsylvanian B.R. Wardlaw Autochthonous Sequence consistently steep as indicated by their pattern in relation to topography, and the suggests extension, but the strong folding suggests contraction. shale at the base of the Tennessee Mountain Formation. Other claims on the Geological Survey Professional Paper 800–C, p. C165–C168. 14092 n/a Conodonts Late Mississippian, Chesterian B.R. Wardlaw Formation is not exposed in the Gold Creek area but relations nearby are clear: The Prospect Mountain Quartzite, and the overlying Tennessee Mountain east-west alternation of Mississippian and Pennsylvanian strata within and south of mountain produced minor amounts of lead, silver, and gold. The source of Ehman, K.D., 1985, Paleozoic stratigraphy and tectonics of the Bull Run 14136 n/a Conodonts Late Mississippian, Chesterian C.A. Sandberg Ages of Deformation lithic and temporal equivalents of the Sunflower in the Mount Ichabod area were Formation in the Gold Creek area are considered to be essentially autochthonous, the map area indicates the presence of folds or faults. The Havallah plate is information on these deposits is Bushnell (1967) and references therein. Mountains, Elko County, Nevada: Davis, California, University of California, deposited unconformably on lower Paleozoic western facies units (Ketner and others, The Havallah and Sunflower plates were emplaced during the Jurassic or earlier. Tennessee Mountain Formation although this is assumed. Strata composing the autochthon within and adjacent to regarded as allochthonous because its internal structure is incompatible with that of Ph.D. dissertation, 174 p. 1996). A correlative sequence in the Independence Mountains was deposited 14099 11905 Conodonts Middle to early Late Cambrian J.R. Repetski 

unconformably on rocks equivalent to the Tennessee Mountain Formation (Miller 14140 11906 Conodonts Middle to early Late Cambrian J.R. Repetski 

The Gold Creek pluton of Late Jurassic age (Coats and McKee, 1972) intruded both the map area form a north- to northwest-facing sequence with variable but generally the autochthon. The younger-on-older relation of this plate to the autochthon ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Evernden, J.F., Savage, D.E., Curtis, G.H., and James, G.T., 1964, Potassium- the Havallah sequence and the Sunflower Formation, producing contact alteration in argon dates and the Cenozoic mammalian chronology of North America: steep dips. The upper part of this sequence, which is separated from the lower part suggests emplacement by extensional means, but the unit extends continuously to and others, 1984) both units. A hole drilled into the pluton bottomed at 457 m in plutonic rock (David The geologic maps by Bushnell (1967), Coash (1967), and Coats and others 

hMh American Journal of Science, v. 262, p. 145–198. Havallah sequence within six km. south of the map area by large granitic stocks just north of the map area, is exposed in the Rowland-Bear the Mount Ichabod area (south of the map area), where it overlies Triassic rocks on a Greenan, Aur Resources Inc., written commun., 1997), which suggests that the (1984) served as a useful introduction to the area. Fossils were identified by R.C. Havallah sequence (lower Middle Pennsylvanian to Upper Mississippian)— 71011 25084 Brachiopods Mississippian MacKenzie Gordon, Jr. Johnson, M.G., 1973, Placer gold deposits of Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey Paw Mountain area (Ketner and others, 1995; see fig. 1). There, it includes the low-angle contractional fault (Ketner and others, 1996). pluton is probably not underlain by low-angle faults that reach the surface nearby. Douglass, Mackenzie Gordon, Jr., J.W. Huddle, C.R. Sandberg, J.R. Repetski, Allochthonous mass of siliceous deposits. Commonly in Nevada, the name Havallah is 71021 24812 Conodonts Late Mississippian to early Pennsylvanian J.W. Huddle 

71022 24813 Conodonts Late Mississippian J.W. Huddle The Sunflower Formation displays near-vertical east-west bedding trends in the Bulletin 1356, 118 p. Ordovician Valmy Formation and disconformably overlying Mississippian rocks. Therefore, the pluton pins the Havallah and Sunflower plates to the autochthon. and B.R. Wardlaw, all of the U.S. Geological Survey. given to allochthonous, deep-water deposits of Late Devonian to Permian age. The

The steep dips in the autochthon could be the result of tilting in an extensional area just south of Sunflower Reservoir, and the sequence faces south. It is cut by The detachment and folding of the Martin Creek sequence must have taken Ketner, K.B., 1998, The nature and timing of tectonism in the western facies name "Schoonover," which was applied to a similar sequence in the Independence 71024 24814 Conodonts Late Mississippian J.W. Huddle 

internal low-angle faults there as well as in other exposures. The plate is regarded as place between the upper Eocene, the age of the unit, and the middle Miocene, the terrane of Nevada and California—An outline of evidence and interpretations Mountains (Miller and others, 1984), is a local term for equivalent strata. In the Gold 71027 24815 Conodonts REFERENCES CITED Pennsylvanian to Permian J.W. Huddle environment or could represent the northwest limb of a large contractional anticline. allochthonous because (1) its structure is incompatible with that of the underlying age of the undetached and nonfolded Jarbidge Rhyolite. derived from geologic maps of key areas: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Creek map area, the Havallah consists of siltstone and lesser amounts of bedded chert, 72035 24996 Conodonts Early Pennsylvanian J.W. Huddle 

Bushnell, K.O., 1967, Geology of the Rowland quadrangle, Elko County, Paper 1592, 19 p. 72037 24997 Conodonts Early Pennsylvanian J.W. Huddle Allochthonous Structural Plates autochthon, (2) clasts comprising the conglomerate member do not reflect the argillite, limestone, sandstone, conglomerate, and greenstone. Beds of richly 72040 24999 Conodonts Early Pennsylvanian J.W. Huddle 

72043 25000 Conodonts Early Pennsylvanian J.W. Huddle 

Gold deposits Nevada: Nevada Bureau of Mines Bulletin no. 67, 38 p. composition of the underlying autochthon and, (3) the conglomeratic member is not Ketner, K.B., Repetski, J.E., Wardlaw, B.R., and Stamm, R.G., 1995, Geologic phosphatic rock are present in the Mississippian strata. Fossils of Late Pennsylvanian Each of the pre-Miocene stratigraphic units overlying the autochthon consistently at the base of the plate. The fault underlying the Sunflower plate is a Placers along the lower part of Gold Creek and its tributaries in Coleman and Coash, J.R., 1967, Geology of the Mount Velma quadrangle, Elko County, map of the Rowland-Bearpaw Mountain area, Elko County, Nevada: U.S. to Permian age were not found in the Gold Creek area but are common in the 72151 25084 Conodonts Middle Pennsylvanian J.W. Huddle constitutes a distinct structural plate. In general, exposures in the Gold Creek gold younger-on-older fault which suggests extensional conditions. However, at Jenkins Hammond Canyons were the source of almost all of the gold produced in the Nevada: Nevada Bureau of Mines Bulletin no. 68, 21 p. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Map I–2536, scale 1:24,000. Havallah sequence of the Mt. Ichabod area (Ketner and others, 1996). The district do not permit precise measurement of bedding attitudes, but the trend lines 

of bedding, observed on the ground and on aerial photographs, indicate that in all of 

district. Most production was in the years immediately following discovery in 1873, Peaks, the members are tectonically repeated, normally the result of thrust faulting. Coats, R.R., 1964, Geology of the Jarbidge Quadrangle, Nevada-Idaho: U.S. Ketner, K.B., Murchey, B.L. Stamm, R.G., and Wardlaw, B.R., 1996, Geologic depositional base of the Havallah is not exposed in the map area but in the Rowland- 1 but subsequent efforts to revive production continued sporadically into the 1990s. Samples numbered 62005–72151 were collected by R.R. Coats from 1962 to 1972 (Coats, 1986)

The Martin Creek sequence is locally strongly folded as can be observed in Geological Survey Bulletin 1141–M, p. M1–M24. map of the Mount Ichabod area, Elko County, Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey Bearpaw Mountain area (Ketner and others, 1995) and at Schoonover Creek, in the n/a; no USGS sample number Minor production was from veins in the Gold Creek pluton and its wall rocks. It the allochthonous plates, the bedding dips are generally steep and the strikes differ Coats, R.R., 1986, Invertebrate and paleobotanical fossils collected in Elko Miscellaneous Investigations Map I–2535, scale 1:24,000. Independence Mountains (Miller and others, 1984; Ketner, 1998), it disconformably 

County, Nevada: Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Open-File report McKee, E.H., Tarshis, A.L., and Marvin, R.F., 1976, Summary of radiometric overlies the Ordovician Valmy Formation 

exposures and very clearly on aerial photographs. Dips on exposed sedimentary seems likely that the source of at least some of the placer gold was the pluton which from those of other plates. Restoration of the bedding in each of these plates to the strata near the mouth of Gold Creek are more than 60 degrees. Elsewhere, poor is upstream from the placers; however, a contribution from other sources cannot be 

ruled out from the scanty information available. The principal source of information horizontal would result in structurally improbable reorientation of the autochthon or 86–1, 397 p. ages of Tertiary volcanic and selected plutonic rocks in Nevada, Part 

Coats, R.R., 1987, Geology of Elko County, Nevada: Nevada Bureau of Mines V—Northeastern Nevada: Isochron/West, no. 16, p. 15–27. 

exposures do not permit measurement of attitudes, but dips estimated from bedding Oetm Tennessee Mountain Formation (Ordovician and Cambrian)—This formation, named by 

Bushnell (1967), is a distal turbidite composed mainly of thinly laminated, fine-grained of underlying allochthonous plates. This is the principal basis for classifying the traces on aerial photographs appear to be equally steep. Except for the area of on the placers is Johnson (1973) and references therein. plates as allochthonous. The local evidence that would determine whether the sharp folds in northern exposures, bedding strikes trend generally north to northwest and Geology Bulletin no. 101, 112 p. Miller, E.L., Holdsworth, B.K., Whiteford, W.B., and Rodgers, D., 1984, limestone with interbeds of calcareous shale, silty or sandy beds, and sparse 

greenstone. Bedded chert is present near the top at its gradational contact with the 

Ordovician Valmy Formation in the Rowland-Bearpaw Mountain area (Ketner and 

allochthonous plates were emplaced under contractional or extensional stress and dips are to the west. Assuming it is upright, the sequence faces west. The plate Other Mineral Deposits Coats, R.R., Howard, K.A., and Greene, R.C., 1984, Geologic map of the Stratigraphy and structure of the Schoonover sequence, northeastern 

conditions is inconsistent or inconclusive and resolution of the ambiguity awaits is regarded as allochthonous because its structure is incompatible with that of the Claims in the upper reaches of Big Bend Creek produced small quantities of southeast quarter of the Mountain City quadrangle, Elko County, Nevada: Nevada—Implications for Paleozoic plate-margin tectonics: Geological Society 

regional studies. autochthon and of the other plates. Whether the underlying low-angle fault, and the lead, zinc, antimony, and tungsten from small pockets in the Tennessee Mountain U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 84–644, scale 1:20,000. of America Bulletin, v. 95, p. 1063–1076. others, 1995). The lowermost beds near its sedimentary contact with the underlying 

Prospect Mountain Quartzite on the west side of Rosebud Mountain are composed 

mostly of brown, sandy, phyllitic shale with lenticular, distinctively blue beds. These 

shaly beds are similar to the Cambrian Edgemont Formation described by Ehman 

(1985) in the Bull Run Mountains. In the map area, however, the thin, poorly exposed Suggested citation: 

shale grades upward into the Tennessee Mountain Formation and is included here in Ketner, K.B., 2007, Geologic map of the Gold Creek gold district, Elko County, 

GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE GOLD CREEK GOLD DISTRICT, ELKO COUNTY, NEVADA
 Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 2992, scale 1:24,000. that formation 

Prospect Mountain Quartzite (Cambrian and Proterozoic?)—Cross-bedded quartzite, 

correlated lithologically and stratigraphically with the Prospect Mountain Quartzite 

eapm 

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4400 ° 

Tjc