Journal of Petroleum Geology, Vol.8,
No.3, pp. 343-352, 1985
©Copyright 2000 Scientific Press,
Ltd.
THE TRANSCONTINENTAL ARCH
AND ITS RELATION TO THE
COLORADO OIL AND MINERAL BELT
Saleh M. Billo*
*King Saud University, Geology
Dept., ad-Dir'yah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Abstract
The Transcontinental Arch and its flanking
basins dominated the landscape of North America before the rise
of the Ancestral Rockies and the Wichita system. It is the SW
extension of the Canadian Shield, and is partly of PreCambrian
origin and partly a later development. It is found in a belt
extending SW from Minnesota to New Mexico. This concealed
structural feature is depicted here from comparisons of
stratigraphic sections and well records. It was active from the
Cambrian through the Mississippian. During Cambrian time it was
wide and uniform from the Canadian Shield to Arizona. Later, sags
developed in Colorado and in Arizona. The changes in size and
shape were partly positive and partly negative. PreCambrian rocks
and structures have been recorded from geophysical data as well
as from holes drilled for oil and gas in the intervening areas,
particularly in the western half of the lowlands. The narrow
NE-trending Colorado mineral belt, containing the major mining
districts of Colorado is closely related to this continental
backbone. It is characterized by NE-trending faults, and oil and
mineral deposits of Laramide age.
