Arikaree Group sandstones over Brule Formation (Miocene-Oligocene; Scott's Bluff, Scott's Bluff National Monument, Nebraska, USA)

Differentially eroded sedimentary rocks in the Tertiary of Nebraska, USA. (photos by James St. John; photo stitch by Mary Ellen St. John)

This erosional feature is the main scenery at Scott's Bluff National Monument (the name is usually deliberately spelled incorrectly as "Scotts Bluff"). Scott's Bluff is an erosional outlier of a moderately extensive range of hills called Wildcat Ridge, or Wildcat Hills. The bedrock in this part of Nebraska is relatively young - Tertiary in age. Before the Pliocene, sedimentation was occurring in this area. Since then, erosion has been dominant. Scott's Bluff is one of several distinctively eroded features in the Wildcat Ridge area - others include Courthouse Rock, Jail Rock, and Chimney Rock. (www.flickr.com/photos/jsjgeology/albums/72157663397139669)
(www.flickr.com/photos/jsjgeology/albums/72157664117399421).

Scott's Bluff is capped by weathering-resistant sandstones of the Miocene-to-Oligocene-aged Arikaree Group (Monroe Creek-Harrison Formation over Gering Formation). The slopes near & at the base of the feature are composed of relatively soft siltstones (often called "clays") of the Oligocene-aged Brule Formation. Two whitish-gray volcanic ash beds are present in the stratigraphy here. They’ve been sourced to a volcanic center in Nevada-Utah.

The Monroe Creek Formation (also known as the Harrison Formation) is an upper Middle Miocene, cliff-making unit consisting of (surprisingly) relatively soft, not-well-indurated, non-bedded/massive to complexly cross-bedded sandstones. Hard, horizontally-oriented, laterally discontinuous, often pipe-shaped concretions are present. These concretions represent more thoroughly-cemented sandstone. Concretion shapes reflect the geometry of groundwater lobes moving through the porous sandstone.

The underlying unit is the Oligocene-aged Gering Formation, composed of cliff-forming, horizontally-bedded sandstones.

The lowest unit is the Brule Formation (Oligocene), composed of soft, slope-forming siltstones.

Locality: Scott's Bluff, north of the western part of Wildcat Ridge (Wildcat Hills), just west of the town of Gering, central Scott's Bluff County, western Nebraska, USA (41° 50' 12.38" North latitude, 103° 41' 50.33" West longitude)

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Taken on: September 17, 2017

Tags:

Scotts

Bluff

Monument

Nebraska

Tertiary

Arikaree

Group

Miocene

Oligocene

Monroe

Creek

Harrison

Brule

Formation

sandstone

Wildcat

Ridge

Hills « less

Sets appears in: • Nebraska Rocks & Fossils • Scott's Bluff National Monument (near Gering, Nebraska, USA)

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