New regional mapping documents that a thick quartzite sequence in the Lemhi subbasin of the Belt-Purcell basin lies near the top of the Mesoproterozoic stratigraphic column, and that two finer-grained units have been miscorrelated. This observation requires reassessment of the subbasin's stratigraphy, which we present here. Determination of the relationships between the stratigraphic units of the Lemhi Range and Salmon River and Beaverhead Mountains and better-known Belt Supergroup units to the north has been hampered by miscorrelation of this upper quartzite sequence with older strata, and by miscorrelation of the type Apple Creek Formation with a similar but stratigraphically lower unit. The base of the upper quartzite sequence includes the Swauger and Lawson Creek Formations, which are the highest units previously identified in the Lemhi subbasin. This sequence continues upward through quartzite units described here that underlie or comprise lateral equivalents of the type Apple Creek Formation in the Lemhi Range. The spatial distribution of these quartzite units extends the Lemhi subbasin farther east and north in Montana and northwest in Idaho. The complete stratigraphy reflects the stratigraphic separation of the two “Apple Creeks” and expands the type Apple Creek Formation to accommodate the quartzite units into the regional Mesoproterozoic stratigraphy. Our proposed correlation of the thick upper quartzite sequence with the Bonner Formation and higher units of the Missoula Group in the main part of the Belt basin requires that subsidence of the Lemhi subbasin was significantly faster than that of the main part of the Belt basin during deposition of the upper Missoula Group. Therefore, the two parts of the Belt basin were distinct tectonically, although they shared common sediment sources.

Abstract This field guide covers the Precambrian geology of the western portion of the Clearwater complex and surrounding area in north-central Idaho in the vicinity of Marble Creek within the St. Joe National Forest. The regional geology of the Marble Creek area includes Precambrian basement orthogneisses, possible basement metasupracrustal rocks, and overlying metamorphosed Belt Supergroup strata. These rocks are exhumed within the western portion of the Cretaceous-Eocene Clearwater metamorphic core complex. This guide focuses on the western part of the Clearwater complex in the vicinity of Marble Creek. Outcrops of Paleoproterozoic basement and overlying Mesoproterozoic metasedimentary units provide a better understanding of the Precambrian magmatic and metamorphic history of this region. The road log in this guide describes the regional geology in a south to north transect from Clarkia, Idaho, to the confluence of Marble Creek with the St. Joe River.

Abstract The Cougar Gulch area near Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, is a newly recognized Paleoproterozoic to Archean basement occurrence located in the southern Priest River complex. Here, a structural culmination exposes deeper levels of the core complex infrastructure, similar to where Archean basement is exposed in the northern portion of the complex near Priest River, Idaho. At Cougar Gulch, the basement rocks are composed of a variety of granitic orthogneisses and amphibolite, which are unconformably overlain by a graphite-bearing orthoquartzite. The orthoquartzite is in turn overlain by the Hauser Lake Gneiss. The similarity of structure, metamorphic fabrics, and kinematics here and in the northern portions of the complex is consistent with the Cougar Gulch area being the southern continuation of the Spokane dome mylonite zone. Neoarchean amphibolites (2.65 Ga) have been identified as part of the basement sequence. These amphibolites had a basaltic protolith and can be distinguished geochemically from amphibolites found within the overlying Hauser Lake Gneiss (Mesoproterozoic, Lower Belt Group equivalent), which are metamorphosed Moyie sills. The Archean amphibolites have steeper REE (rare earth element) slopes and consistently higher REE values. Protoliths of the Paleoproterozoic orthogneisses (1.87–1.86 Ga) are calc-alkaline, “I-type” monzogranites and granodiorites, which exhibit subduction-related geochemical characteristics such as high LILE:HFSE (large ion lithophile element: high field strength element) concentrations, along with characteristic depletions in Nb, Ta, P, Ti, and Eu. A second distinctive geochemical unit of orthogneiss, the Kidd Creek tonalite, exhibits TTG (tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite) geochemical characteristics. The Kidd Creek tonalite has Sr/Y and La/Yb ratios, along with Y and HREE (heavy rare earth element) concentrations (no Eu anomalies) similar to Precambrian TTG compositions formed in subduction settings. Detrital zircon data from the orthoquartzite unit, along with characteristic graphite and its consistent stratigraphic level support correlation to the pre-Belt Gold Cup Quartzite in the northern part of the complex.

New structural, metamorphic, and geochronologic data from the Clearwater complex, north-central Idaho, define the origin and exhumation history of the complex. The complex is divisible into an external zone bound by normal faults and strike-slip faults of the Lewis and Clark Line, and an internal zone of Paleoproterozoic basement exposed in two shear zone–bounded culminations. U-Pb sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) dating of metamorphic zircon overgrowths from the external zone yield zircon growth at ca. 70–72 Ma and 80–82 Ma, during peak metamorphism and before tectonic exhumation of the external zone. U-Pb SHRIMP dating of metamorphic zircon rims from the internal zone record growth at ca. 64 and between 59 and 55 Ma. The older ages record pre-extension metamorphism. The younger rim ages were derived from fractured zircons in the Jug Rock shear zone, and they document the beginning of exhumation of the internal zone along deep-seated shear zones that transported the basement rocks to the west. The 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages record quenching of the external zone starting ca. 54 Ma and the internal zone between 53 and 47 Ma by movement along the bounding faults and internal shear zones. After ca. 47 Ma, extension was accommodated via a west-dipping detachment that was active until after ca. 41 Ma. The Clearwater complex is interpreted as an Eocene metamorphic core complex that formed in an extensional relay zone between faults of the Lewis and Clark Line.

Abstract From the early 1900s through the 1950s the Silver Crescent mine and mill processed lead, zinc, and silver from ore found in the Precambrian metasedimentary rocks of the Belt Supergroup. Approximately 150,000 cubic yards of tailings and waste rock were deposited in the floodplain of Moon Creek less than 2 miles upstream of what is now a residential area. The actively eroding tailings impoundments were a source of heavy metal contamination to the surface and groundwater flowing through the site. The U.S. Forest Service began a CERCLA non-time-critical removal action at the Silver Crescent mine in 1998. Removal action goals included reduction of particulate and dissolved metal loading into Moon Creek and local groundwater. These goals were successfully achieved in part by incorporating the tailings and waste rock dumps into an on-site capped repository. The nearly $2 million Silver Crescent removal action construction phase was completed in late 2000 with the final habitat restoration phase scheduled for completion in 2007.