OKLAHOMA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE
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BURIED MOUNTAIN RANGES III OKLAHOMA
Cl'tarlea N. G:u1d
Con!u1ting Geologist, Oklahoma City.
I~ ;;; a weJJ known geo'ogic axiom that granite (used in Oil'
sense of igneous and 'metamorphic rock) underlies all other rocks.
G:'anit,~ is th(' most comrrcli expre!'~ion. on the earth's s\uh.ce. d
the basal cc·mplex or earth stuff. which occupies by far the 'arser
portion of the rt.. net or. which we livc. We were taught in (Jur
stuf\ent day!'> "'\at \f we dt\\\ d~ci' (nough anvwilC"'~ (,n the ~arth':­
surface we would encounter gral1ite.
S;>, academically. we 1lave known that granite underlics aU .)(
Oklahoma, and that if the blanket of ,edimentary rocks. indudin~
the sandstone!l, limestones Clnd shales, could be removed, that till;;
granite floor wou!d be exposed. Howc\'er, until recently, we have
had ~ery tittle definite information as to the ()(:curre\l\:e 0\ thh.
granite, and e!'peda\\y as to the depth beneath the surfac~ at
which it occurs in various parts of the state.
Thanks largely to the work of the oil geologists we ale now
\e~ming many. things heretofore unknown. The records )f the
thou~andJ of deep w~l/s dri11~d in Oklahoma, Kansas and Teu6.
have been collected, tabulated and correlated, 10 that we now
know mote about subsurface conditions in many patts of the MidContinent Oil Field than in almost any other part of tile United
States.
It is a mattet' of genera' information that there are in O\tlahom.'\
four regions of mountain uplift, namely the Wichitu and ArbUCLef,
entirely within the state, add the Ouachitas and Oarb, loca,~d
partly within' Oklahoma and partly in some othu state. The
essential structure of these four mountain rqionJ if praetica~ly the
same, btin~ in each case an elevated. truncated dome, with the
sedimentaries dipping qua'lu:lversaUy from the COTe of lhe mountain.. In the Arbaeldet, WIChita atId Ozarb erosion hal retMVtd
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THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA
the ~tarin from thr axis of th~ mountains, exposin~ the
......(t~. In the case of the Ouachitas the granite is yet covered.
are tearning these day~ that not aU the motmtains in Okla·
~ arl! f"xposed on the surface. The most conspicuous examp:e
of • buried mountain range, at least the one that has attracted
molt attention, is the Nemaha mountains of Kansas. For many
years geologists have known that there was a row of wel1-mCirked
domes and anticlines, extending north and south across east Cffitrat Kan5M, but it was not until along ..bout 1915, when welh were
dri11ed on these structures in the search for oil an\! gas, that we
learned, mt:ch to our surprise, that these surface structures were
superimposed on huried Rranite peaks. Somethin~ like 40 or SO
welb h:\\'e touched granile along a definite tine, and we are
now in flosition to say that the Nemaha mountains extend irom
5Omewh('rc near the mouth of the Platte river in southeastern Ne·
brMka, entirc'y acr05S Kamas and into Kay county, Oklahoma, a
rlil"tan("(." of more than 250 miles. At one point near thc KansasNebra~ka line. the ~ranite appro~ches to within ahout 550 feet of
the s',rface. hut deepen:; to the south, ';lItil in northern Oklahoma.
it is ('\'cr 4UOO feet deep.
Another buried granite range is now known to extend northweM·southeast across wuthern Oklahotra and the Panhandle of
T('xas. A !>erics of very prominent structur('s in th( Amarillo coun·
try ill tht' northern part of the Panhandle of Texas. i13ve develofled
ant.:> a tremen,louc: ~:l.S field. Something likc 8 or 10 well!, located
on thellte stru("h~res, and at least four wells in direct line betwc\.'n
these structures :md the \Vichita mountains han.. encountered
granite. Enough data are now avai'able to postulate a mountain
range extending from neM Caddo, Oklahoma. northwest along thp.
Arbuckle·Wichita axis, and across the Panhandle of Texas, as far
u the New Mexico line. 'fo the hurictt part of the range located
in southeastern Oklahoma and the Panhandle of T c"(as, the name
Amarillo mountAlnS has been applied. The entire known length of
the nngt i3 about 400 miles.
A third possible buried range lies along Red River in southe:n
Oklahoma and northern Texas. extending from the Petrolia field
in Clay county. southeast {or a distance of about SO mi~es. At least
8 wells along this line have encountered granite.
.Studies made by various men during th~ past several years
would indicate· that there is a probable buried range paralleling
the Arbucldes on the south side. visible expressiQll of which are
the Praton antidiDe. the Criner Hilb aDd the He.1dtoD, Loco and
COIIIIIlChe domes.
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OKLAHOMA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE
125
Those who have made careful studies of subsurface conditions
of Oklahoma are of the opinion that other buried ranges may occur
in various sections of the state. particularly in the Robberson field of
Garvin county, in the Cushing oil field, and in the Inola. Spavinaw region of eastern Oklahoma.
For many years we have known of an exposure of granite along
Spavinaw creek east of Grand river, in Mayes county. David Dale
Owen was the first geologist to mention this exposure. Drake.
Snider :md others who studied the granite have been inclined to con..
sider it a dike. but it is now believed to be the summit of a buried
gTanite ridge now being slowly uncovered by erosion.