Geology of the Tularosa Basin, New Mexico William M

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Geology of the Tularosa Basin, New Mexico William M. Sandeen, 1954, pp. 81-88 in: Southeastern New Mexico, Stipp, T. F.; [ed.], New Mexico Geological Society 5th Annual Fall Field Conference Guidebook, 209 p.

This is one of many related papers that were included in the 1954 NMGS Fall Field Conference Guidebook.

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! GEOLOGY OF THE TULAROSA BASIN, mentsare present in the northernportion of thearea NEW MEXICO and Cretaceoussediments may underlieportions of the I southernend of the Basin. by PRECAMBRIAN ROCKS William1 M. Sandeen The majoroutcrops of Pre-Cambrianrocks are found I alongthe eastfront of theSan AndresMountains and The TularosaBasin occupies the geographicde- are presenton the westernand southernflanks of the pressionseparating the Sacramento-SierraBlanc’ OscuraMountains~ Several scattered outcrops are Io- I ChainFrom the Organ-SanAndres-Oscura Chain on catedin the SacramentoMountains southeast of Ala- thewest~ The northernlimit is pickedat thecontact mogardo.The I°re-Cambrianrocks generally consist betweenthe Cenozoicand Pre-Cenozoicbeds as shown of a coarsepink granite, but vary locally. on theState map° Southward, it mergesalmost imper- I ceptiblyinto the HuecoBolson~ A logicaldividing Schists,quartzites, and othermetamorphic rocks lineis thenarrow area west of theJarilla Mountains~ frequentlyoverlie the granite or arepresent as inliers. Suchrelationships are seenin the San Andresand I Structurally,the TularosaBasin is a grabencapped SacramentoMountains~ Although the maximumthickness by bolsondeposits (valley fill). Tilted fault block forany one of themetamorphosed units in the Tularosa mountains,with the upraised fault scarps rising more Basinarea is lessthan 100 feet,Richardson(1909) I than3t000feetabovethedesertfloor,dlp away from reportedthe presenceof 1,800feet of Pre-Cambrian thevalley on the eastand west side. A mantleof Lanoriaquartzite in theFranklin Mountains. Cenozoicdeposits of varyingthicknesses, consisting largelyof gypsumand quartzsand, obscure the under- BLISS I lyingloaleozoic and Mesozoicsediments~ Much of the valleyfill appears to haveoriginated from the erosion Theoldest Paleozoic formation, the Blisssandstone, of the Yesoformation. In placesthe gypsumwas dis- withits characteristic glauconitic and oolitic hema- I solvedand later precipitated in the various playas such tit,beds is a basalsandstone unit which may trans- as LakeLucero~ A seriesof scatteredPermian lime- gresstime boundaries from Upper Cambrian into the LowerOrdovician. Apparently the Blissis younger stoneknolls trend due north from the Jarilla Moun- between6 and I tainsin thecentral portion of thevalley and suggest inagetothenorth.The Blissvaries thepresence of a buriedanticline or faultblock ridge° 120feet in thicknessin theSacramentos, and attains Topographically,thenadir of the basinparallels the a maximumthickness of 16 feetin the Oscurasbefore pinchingout in thecentral portion of ~hisrange. I San AndresMountains and terminatesin LakeLucero~ In viewof thefact that no significantwells have been drilledin theTularosa Basin proper, it willbe neces- EL PASO i saryto discussthe stratigraphy of the region on the The El Paso formationof LowerOrdovician age basisof outcropsin the adjacentmountain ranges~ consistsof a seriesof alternatinglimestones and dol- omiteswhich rest conformably on theBliss through- STRATIGRAPHY out mostof theregion. The El Pasoattains a thick- I nessof approximately400 feetin the Sacramento Sedimentaryrocks ranging in age fromCambrian Mountains.It thickenssouthward to 1,000feet in the throughRecent are present in theregion. Although HuecoMountains and to 1,590feet in the Franklin i Triassicrocks are found in thenorthern portion of the Mountainsaccording to Cloudand Barnes(1946). basinnear Carrizozo and areexposed near the Jicar- Kelleyand Silver(1952) have divided the El Paso iliaand CapitanMountains, no Jurassicunits are the CaballoMountains to thewest into the Sierrite I ~kn~Wn ~ The Pre-Mississippiansedimentarybeds and Bat Cave members.The BatCavecontainsstro- thindepositionally anderoslonally northward to the matoliticreefs with associated bioherms and biastromes, OscuraMountains, where they pinch out completely, by whichit maybe distinguishedfrom the underlying Sierrite~These same units may be presentin theSan I Cretaceous,Triassic and possiblyJurassic sedi- Andresand SacramentoMountains° Although the El I 1. Geologist,Standard Oil Companyof Texas,El Paso. 81 ! I NEW MEXICO GEOLOGICAL ISOC ETY I* FIFTH FIELD CONFERENCE * SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO ! ~ o,u,’,,OeRAWtS,,1 ~ .,~ 1 ,,r,,~. ¯ v..--o,ov,,/ ) /-’~-~ ...,, r,,, | / / ] ’ - ": LINCOLN SOGORRO , ~/ r / S "-. ~" cAiInlZOZO* ~ .C,4~6...... "-’-~¯ rail .,.,"% ~ % ¯ / / ~ ,,,’,, .... =...... ,,,, I , ~,oL". "- ." /l’~:::" / .." I °.". ’ )D -:.;t- i

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P. 18 . CaptionI line6 p. 99 Column1, line 10 tJ Change "steamboat" to "Steamboat" add (pages102, 105) after photog[aphs p. 18 Mileage3.0, pare. 3, line6 Column1, line 11 Change "descernibJe"to "discernible" Add (page 18) after ’*one". p. 19 pare.:3, line 3 ’j Column2, pare.2, line 17 Change "alwo" to "also Change "Meremecian" to "Meramecian" p. 20 pare.3, llne2 p. 100 Column1, pare.2, line2 Delete "the" Change "southeast"to "southwest". p. 21 para.1, line4 ¯ Column 2, line 4, add "pre-Aboerosion" after Change "prophyry" to "porphyry .... locally". pare.1, line5 Column2, pare.4, line 4, add "the"after "locally". Change "sulcoretoporaanomalotruncate" to - "Sulcoretoporaanomalotruncata" p. 101 Column1, para. 4, line 4, Change1~100 to 1,400. 14 pare.4, line8 " Column 2, para. 1, line 7, change "Mountains"to Change *’as much as** to "as much at" : "Mountain". pare.5, line5 p. 103 Column1, ,era. 2, line 2, add absence"of outcrops" Change "prophyry’*to "porphyry" of the .... p. 23 Mileage1.2, line 2 Column1, pare. 2, line 3, change"Basin" to Change period after "here" to comma "basin" p. 24 par’a.1, line4 Col.1, pare.4, line10, change"sturct~ral" to Change "fusslinids"to "fusulinids" "structural" p. 24 Caption,line 4 Col.1, pare.5, line4, add after"drawing" (p. 22) Change "Pig Canyon fault*’ to "Fresnalfault". Col.1, pare.6, line2, changeto read:"into p. 25 Mileage7.0, line 6 twomajorgroups’* Ill Delete’*view in northernSacramento Mountains Col. 2, para. 1, line9, change"Mountain" to towardeast along Hew Mexico 83", and substitute "mquntains" "cross-sectionshown on page 27". p. 104 Col. 1, par. 5, line 6; change"mesozoic" to p. 27 Caption, line 2 " "Mesozoic" ~1~ Change"Plumbley" to"Plumley" Col.2, pal 2, llne 10, ’*disturbances*’should be p. 28 Mileage12.5, line 1 "disturbance" Delete comma after Abe Col. 2, par. 3, "structure**should be "structures" ¯ Line2 C01.2, line 19, delete "Age and" Change "in" to "in" p. ]07 p. 29 Mileage13.4, para. 2, line1 p. 185 ::~nd pare.from bottom,line I, "Central"should be Change "exposure’*to "exposures" ¶~central*’. -: L-ine5 p. 186 Mileage1.9. A’Canyon"should be ’*canyon** Change"alteration" to "alternation** p. 187 line 6, "preceeded"should be "preceded" p. 30 Mileage16.6, line8 line 9, "presumbaly"should be "presumably" Changeleft¯ to right Mileage5.2, line 8, change"sly Gap" to "Sly Gap’* p. 30 Mileage18.0, line7 Add **which"after above Mileage7.0, line 1, change*’Tongue** to "tongue, line17, Change"that** to "the’* _: p. 188 Mileage11.5, line 1. "in the Canyon"should be "Intile canyon**. p. 93 Add * after Bug ScuffleIs mbr* in Pennsylvanian. p. 189 Mileage17.1 shouldread 17.3 p. 94 Column2, ,era.2, line 9 Mileage17.3, llne 3, delete"of thisknob" Change "contToversey’*to "controversy’* p. 95 Caption,line 2 Change"stratographic" to "stratigraphlc** . p. 97 Column2, line11 Change¯ "or" to "of" p. 98 ¯Column1, pare.5, line6 Change "lithoJogy.Thickness," to "Jithaiogy, thickness,". . . Column2, line1 Change "Rancheris" to "Rancheria" tl~ Column2,pare. 2, line 6 4 Change "easternmostto "southeasternmost" i ! NEW MEXICO GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY * FIFTH FIELD CONFERENCE * SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO

I Pasois equivalentto the Ellenburgerof WestTexas, DEVONIAN no sedimentscomparable to the overlyingSimpson shaleof WestTexas are knownin thisregion. Simp- TheDevonian unconformably, overlies the Silurian Fusselmandolomite. A local post-Silurian uplift is i son timehere, however, could be representedby the depositionof a carbonatesequence included with the wellrepresented in Ash and San AndresCanyons of El Pasoor may be representedby the CableCanyon the San AndresMountains, where according to Laudon sand. and Bowsher(1949) the DevonianOnate formation was I depositeddirectly on an erodedEl Pasosurface. North- MONTOYA ward,however, in Lostmanand AndrecitoCanyons the siltstonesand shales of theOnate rest directly on the I The Montoya,according to Flower(1953), repre- Fusselman.This indicates, assuming these correlations sentsRichmond time (Ordovician). It is separated to be correct,that several hundred feet of the Montoya fromthe underlyingEl Pasoby an unconformityand and Fusselman,which are presentto the north,have I by theCableCanyonsandstone wedge° This sand- beenremoved by erosionin thevicinity of Ash and stone,named by Kelleyand Silver(1952) from outcrops San AndresCanyons. The aggregatethickness of all in theCaballo Mountains, varies from 5 to 36 feetin Devonianunits in the San AndresMountains is approxi- I thicknessand is widelydistributed throughout south ° mately80 feetcompared to about100 feetin the westernNew Mexico,,Although Pray (1953) did not Sacromentos. mentionthe CableCanyon by name,he showsa sand stoneunit, which attains a thicknessof 12 feet,oc- The MiddleDevonian Canutillo formation, outcrop- I cupyinga comparablestratigraphic position in the pingin theFranklin Mountains (Nelson, 1940) is the SacramentoMountains. The CableCanyon is probably oldest-Devonianrepresentative in southwestern New presentin the San AndresMountains. Mexico.Here these shales, siltstones, cherts, and i limestonestotal approximately 175 feetin thickness. Kelleyand Silver(1952) have divided the Montoya of the CaballosMountains into the Upham,Aleman, Stevenson(1945)’ recognized and namedanother i andCutter,whilePray(1953) has subdividedthis MiddleDevonian unit, the Onate,which is restricted samesequence into two unitsin the SacramentoMount- to the San Andresand SacramentoMountains. These ains~The lower one, a massivecherty dolomite at- siltstonesand shalesaverage about 40 feetin thickness I taininga maximumthickness of 225feet, retains the andarecorrelatedwith the Canutilloby Stevenson(1945). nameMontoya, while the upper one~ cs lightgray sub- lithographiclimestone, attains a thicknessof 200feet, The UpperDevonian units in ascendingorder are the I and has beennamed Valmont~ According to Darton SlyGap and Contaderoformations, both of whichcon- (1928)0the Montoyain the San AndresMountains thins sistof shales,limestones, and siltstoneswith wide from200 feet in thesouthern end to about30 feetin lateralfacies variations and the Percha shale which thenorthern portion, and pinches out in theOscura has beendivided into a basalReady Pay memberand I Mountains~ an upperBox member.

FUSSELMAN The Perch,has beencorrelated with the °’Mississ- I Siluriantime is representedin the Tularosa Basin ippian"Woodford shale of the PermianBnsin. Lloyd by the Fusselmandolomite, which pinches out northof (1949)mentions Ellison’s studies (1946) based SulphurCanyon in the San AndresMountains and is condontsand fossil wood and feels that there i’s strong ¯ I absentin thenortheastern portion of theSacramentos= evidenceto supportthe viewthat the Woodfordis Up- In bothranges it attainsa thicknessof notmore than per Devonian.Flower (1953) states that a IateDevon- 100feet, but thickens rapidly southward toward its ianage for the Perchais indicatedby clymenidam- I typesection in the FranklinMountains, where it is monJtesStainbrook,(1947)who recognizedmegafossits 1,000feet thick. The exposures in the FranklinMount- of bothDevonian and Mississippianaspect, concluded ainsare on the eastflank of theSouthwestern New thatit is Mississippian.Stratigraphically thereis no reasonwhy the PerchoWoodford facies may not cross I MexicoSilurian l~asin, which is centeredin thevicinity of the FloridaMountains, where Kelley and Bo- the systemboundry and includeboth Mississippian and gart/1952) have reported a thickness of 1377feet of Devonianrocks. I Fusselman. 83 ! ¯ NEW MEXICO GEOLOGICAL SOCIFTY * FIFTH FIELD CONFERENCE * SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO’

MISSISSIPPIAN was one of the threenegative areas in New Mexicoat I The Mississippianis separated from the underlying thattime. As the higherPennsylvanian seas trans- gressedacross highly-irregular surfaces near shore, Perchaby an unconformityand ~s characterizedby elasticswere deposited ’around the flanks of theseup- numerousfacies changes. The basalMississippian I lifts~followed by shelfcarbonates~ reef limestones~ representativein the regionis theCaballero formation and in the deepestwaters basinal shales° Subsequent (Kinderhook),a gray calcareous shale and nodular ¯ crustalmovements and truncationshave made these limestone,which attains a thicknessof approximately relationshipsdifficult to decipher. 60 feetin boththe San Andresand SacramentoMount- ains. The Pennsylvanianof, the TularosaBasin is characterizedby lateralfacies changes varying from gray I Laudonand Bowsher(1949) have divided the Lake shalesto nearshore clastics~ Probably the most sat- Valley(Osage) formation into the followingmembers isfactorysolution for the subdivision of the Pennsylvan- ¯ (ascendingorder): Andrecito, Alamogordo, Nunn, ~.- Jan was the workof Thompson/1942),who dividedthe erra Blanca~Arcentea and DonaAna~ The LakeValley Pennsylvanianinto series on thebasis of fusilinids, consistsof a seriesof limestonesand shales with Unfortunatelyllater workers have tended to rejecthis somesiltstones~ The overlyingLos (~ruces~nd Ran- g subdivisionsbecause they were not mappableunits~ cheria(Meramec)~ silty gray thin-bedded limestones, butthe writer proposes that they be retainedfor at least are bothpresent in the San Androsand Sacramento regionalconsiderations andthat facies differentiation g Mountainsand are separatedfrom the LakeValley for- be usedto supplementthe series definitions, mationby a markedunconformity~ The Helmsformation (Chester),largely a siltstoneand shale sequencer Thisclassification shown below retains the major alsorepresented in the SacramentoMountains, Probably seriesdefinitions used by Thompson(1942) theaggregate thickness of theMississippian at any I onelocality in theSacramentos is not morethan 400 feet, CLASSIFICATION OF THE P ENNSYLVANIAN I The Mississippianin the San Andres~Mountainsav- SYSTEM IN SOUTHWESTERN NEW MEXICO eragesapproximately 200feet~ but locally it hasa thicknessof as muchas 285 feet~The’Mississippian Namescommonly used in Namescommonly usecl i n pinchesout rapidly in thenorthern end of theSan An ~ SouthwesternNew Mexico West Texas I dresMountains° It is approximately20 feet thick in Virgilseries Ciscoseries MockingbirdGap and is absentin the OscuraMount- Missouriseries Canyonseries Imm ains~ Des Moinesseries Strawnseries Atokoseries Bendseries Morrowseries Morrowseries ¯ PENNSYLVANIAN (presentin south- One of the mostpronounced Paleozoic unconformi- easternNew Mexico) tiesin southernNew Mexicooccurs between the close Approximately3,000 feet of Pennsylvaniani’s present I of the Mississippianandthe beginning of the Penn- in the SacramentoMountains and about 3,200 feet in the BB sylvanian.The Pennsylvanianseas which first inun- San AndresMountains° Northward in the southernOscura datedthe areaat thebeginning of Pennsylvaniantime Mountainsthis section thins to approximately2,400 feet ¯ werecontrolled in southwesternNew Mexicoby two andto lessthan 900 feet at thenorth end of thisrange~ extensiveland masses~ One of thesellying to the northeastof the TularosaBasin and trending southward The Pennsylvaniansection is quitevariable lithol- ¯ to the Guadalupes,was the PedernalUplift= This pos- ogicallyand maybe generallydescribed as consisting II itivearea with its southernmost extension provided an of nearshore clastics~ inner shelf carbenates~ marine effectivebarrier between southwestern New Mexico limestones,and shales. Virgil reefs have been des- BIB and the DelawareBasin, The otherdome controlling cribedfrom the SacramentoMountains by Pray(1953). g thepattern of sedimentationforthe periodwas-the ZuniUplift if Valencia"County~The TularosaBasin ! 84 ! I NEW MEXICO GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY * FIFI"H FIELD CONFERENCE * SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO i PERMIAN dolomitesof the San Andres,which attain a maximum "ThePermo-Pennsylvanian boundary is poorlydefined thicknessof about700 feetin the Sacramentos.The throughoutmost of theregions The baseof the Abored upperportion of the San Andreshas beenremoved by I shalesand sandstonesis generallyregarded as thebase erosionthroughout most of thisregion. of the Permianthroughout much of southwesternNew Mexico,but the Bursumcarbonate wedge is presentbe- TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC I neaththe Abo in the vicinityof theTularosa Basin~ Triassicrocks are present in surfaceoutcrops near the Bursumage limestoneshave been recognized as far northeasternedge of the TularosaBasin. They outcrop southas the RobledoMountains by Kottlowski(1953). nearCarrizozo, are present in a wideband near the i Capitan,Sierra Blanca, and JicarillaMountains, and are BasalPermian l ithologiestransgress time boundaries, presentin severalscattered outcrops near the Oscuras. The contactbetween the Pennsylvanianand Permiani’s Northeastwardin the vicinity of the Capitanquadrangle, i gradationalin local areas of deposition,but is uncon- forinstance, approximately 350 feetof theBernal, a red formablein the regionsof uplift°Read and Wood (1947) siltstoneand medium-grainedsandstone, is present. haveshown that the Abo interfingerswith the Pennsyl- Thisis overlainby about280 feet of SantaRosa, a fine vanianin the ManzanoMountains to the northwestof the I to coarse-grainedbuffsandstonecontainingthinlenses TularosaBasin. Northwa~’d the Bursumalso interfingers of conglomerate.The upperportion of the Triassicin withthe Pennsylvanian,while in the SacramentoMoun - thisIox:ality consists of thebright colored (red, green, I rainsit interfingerswith the Abo. Southward in the and purple)mudstones and siltstonesof the Chinle. HuecoMountains of Texasthe clasticsof the Abo and Westwardfrom Carrizozo the Triassicsequence consists Yesoare representedby the Huecolimestone. This of redd’ishpurple silty shales and siltstones termed regionwas alsoan areaof uplift,as evidencedby the Dockum.The Sun #1 VictoriaLand and CattleCompany, i Powwowconglomerate (Wolfcamp), which rests directly T 10 S, R 1 W, abandonedwildcat, drilled in the Jornada on an erodedVirgil surface in the Huecos. del Muerto,encountered 150 feetof thissequence.

The Typesection Of theBursum formation i’s located I No Jurassicrocksare knowninthisregion. aboutfive miles west of thegranite outcrops along the westside of the OscuraMountains. Here it consistsof CRETACEOUS arkose,reddish purple shales, and limestone.The red I shalesand sandstonesof the overlyingAbo arequite Erosionor burialhas obscured the relationships of the variablein thicknessand range from about 400 to 1,000 Cretaceousthroughout most of the TularosaBasin. Evi- feetin the Vicinityof the TularosaBasin. The maximum dencei’s availablethat Cretaceous seas once covered the l thicknessof the Abo,about 1,400 feet, was encountered entireregion. in the Standardof Texas# 1 HeardWell, which was drilled about8 milesnorthwest of Carrizozo.The overlying No LowerCretaceous units are knownto existhere, I ¥eso,consisting of gypsum,red and yellowsiltstones, althoughoutcrops are present alongthewestsideof the and limestone,also attains a maximumthickness of about FranklinMountains, in the HuecoMountains and in the 4,000feet in thiswell. The awerage, thickness of theYeso CornudasMountains to the south. I is approximately1,000 feet elsewhere in thevicinity of theTularoso Basin, but maybe thickerwithin basins of UpperCretaceous sediments are present in the northern localdeposition. The Standardof Texas# 1 Heard,which portionof theregion, where they are represented by the wasdrilled in suchan area,also encountered a relatively Dakota,consisting of a brownto whitesandstone, varies I thicksequence of saltwithin the Yesa.This suggests in thicknessfrom 80 to 130feet throughout the region. thatportions of the Yesosection which have not been It is overlainby the Mantas,which consists predominantly exposedto weatheringmay encountera somewhatthicker of about450 feet of grayto black,sometimes green I sequencethan can be measuredin surfaceoutcrops. The shales,containing thin limestone beds ] nd sandlentils. removalof saltmay explainthe contortions of theYeso Approximately550 feetof the .Mesaverdeshcdes and bedsin thesurrounding mountain outcrops. Another sandstonescan be measuredin outcropsnear the Capitan I Permianrepresentative in the region is theGlorieta Mountains,butthisisan incompletesection,Approxii sandstone, which intertongues with the Yeso and attains mateiy 2,000 feet of MesaveNle has been measured near a thicknessof severalhundred feet in thevicinity of ElephantButte Reservoir. I ChupaderaMesa. This is overlainby the limestonesand 85 ! ! NEW MEXICO GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY * FIFTH FIELD CONFERENCE * SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO

Cretaceoussediments parallel the westfront of the Evidenceof an earlysubmergence during Pre-Cambrian I San Andresand OscuraMountains, but are usuallyob- timeis foundin themetasedimentary units underlying souredby bolsondeposits. Although they have not been the Blissin the Sacramentoand San AndresMounfains. ¯ encounteredin any wells drilled in thesouthern end of The deepestknown portion of thisPre-Cambrian Basin the TularosaBasin, they are present in the HuecoBolson wasin thevicinity of VanHorn, where 19,000 feet of to the southand may underliemost of the basin, metamorphosedunits have been recognizedby Flawn ¯ (1953).All of southernand centralNew Mexicoappears II CENOZOIC DEPOSITS to havebeen a positiveland area for sometime before the depositionof the UpperCambrian Bliss Sandstone. Theterm botson deposits is usedhere to describethe ¯ heterogeneous,poorly consolidated sediments which [] The Cambro-Ordovicianseas advanced on thislate coverthe underlyingMesozoic and Paleozoicsediments Cambrianlandmass from the southand southwest.Limits of the region.This name is derivedfrom the term botson, of the transgressionoccur somewhere in the vicinityof a flat-flooreddesert valley which drains to a central the northernTularosa Basin. Pre-Devonian movement I playa.This terminology is preferred because it is diffi- was largelyepeirogenic and is representedby broad cultto describethese deposits lithologically andage gentledownwarping to thesouth. ¯ determinationsare almostimpossible to make. Widespreadunconformities are foundat the closeof Thebolson depasits consi’st generally of ~fanglomerates, Siluriantime and at the closeof Devoniantime. Laudon conglomerates, softsandstones,caJJche,shale,and and Bowsher(1949) report a numberof possibleuncon- g gypsum.They include Tertiary beds such as those fortuitiesto be presentwithin the Mississippian, which presentin theVicinity of ThreeRivers and La Luz Canyon, appearsto havetransgressed more widely than any of whichprobably represent the oldestknown Cenozoic sad- the earlierseaways. A Widespreadorogenic movement imentspresent in theregion. occurringat the closeof the Mississippian,denuded I mastof the Missi’ssippiansediments from Central New Thesebeds within the TularosaBasin consist of red m I clayand silt intercalated with sands and conglomerates. Mexico,leaving occasional outliers present in the Gypsumand saltbeds have been deposited locally within vicinityof theMagdalena and SandiaMountains. thebolsons. The Pedernaluplift north and eastof theTularasa ¯ The maximumknown thickness of bolsondeposits Basincontrolled the pattern of sedimentationin the whichwere encountered in the TularosaBasin were found regionduring Pennsylvanian time.. By the beginning in a railroadwell drilled approximately one andone-half of the Permianthis hinge line had moved east of the ¯ mileswest of Alamogordo,where approximctely 1000 feet Paleozoicaxis to forma generalizedpositive trend of sectionis present.No lithifiedsedimentary rocks connectingthe Pedernaland Guadaluperegions. werereported from this well. South of theTularosa Basin properin thenorthwestern portion of the HuecoBolson Steadand Waldschmidt/1953)have discovered Pre- threewells encountered more than 3,000 feet of bolson Cambriangranite in thePump Station Hills south of the deposits.Sayre and Livingston(1945) report that the CornudasMountains, which is possiblya Pre-Cambrian CincoMinas testa drilled in the HuecoBolson, was batholith.They show a positivearch which trends g bottomedat 4,010feet without encountering bedrock, northwestwardthrough the Sacra¯antesinto the Pedernal The thicknessof the Botsondeposits in the HuecoBolson upliftand suggest that thi’s may represent the divide may rangeupward to 10,000feet. betweenthe PermianBasin and the SouthwesternNew ¯ MexicoBasin. STRUCTURE Althoughsedimentation was probablycontinuous from m SouthwesternNew MexicoandtheTularasaBasin thePennsylvanian into the Permian throughout a large I haveundergone a great number of separatedeformations " " portion.of southwesternNew Mexico,on unconformity commencingin Pre-Cambriantime and continuinginter- ts presentsoutheastof the~Tularasa Basin. In the mittentlyto thepresent day. A briefurJderstanding of HuecoMountains this is markedby the PowwowCon- I theserelationships is helpful in enablingone to obtain glomeratewhich rests on a well-erodedVirgil surface. Ig an ideaof thepresent structural configuration of the A morepronounced break is recordedby the Abo resting TularasaBasin and adjacentareas, on the Mi’ssouriand Des Moinesin the Sacramentosand I 86 ! i NEW MEXICO GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY * FIFTH FIELD CONFERENCE * SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO

I on the Pre-Cambrianof the DiabloPlateau. Ellison,S. P..Jr., 1949, "Subsurface Wo~dford Black .Shaleof West Texasand SoutheastNewlMexico" The PermianCretaceous unconformity is widespread abstract,Geol. Sac. Am. Bull.,Vol. 60, p. 1885. and is markedby a well-developed conglomerate in i Flawn0P. T., 1953,"Precambrian Rocks of the Van regionswhere the contactbetween the LowerCretaceous HornArea", West Tex. Geol. Sac. Fall Field Trip and Permiancan be seen.This was followedby the Guidebook,p. 56. I rapidinvasion of UpperCretaceous seas. If theTularosa Basinwas coveredby LowerCretaceous ¯seas, most of Flower,Rosseau H., 1953,"Age of BlissSandstone", thesesediments were removed by erosionand are not Bull.Amer. Assoc. Petrol. Geol., Vol. 37, no.8, p. 2054, knownto be present.Volcanics interbedded with Cre- I 1953 ~’FranklinMountainsSection", taceoussediments elsewhere in southwesternNew Mexico New Mex.Geoi. Sac. Field Tr!p Guidebook, p. 15. attestto thefact that movement was occurring during LowerCretaceous time. , 1953,"Paleozoic Sedimentary Rocks I of SouthwesternNew Mexico",New Mex. Geol.Sac. The most pronouncedmovement which occurred in the FieldTrip Guidebo~p. 106. TularasaBasin began with the Laramiderevolution at Heindl,L. A., 1952,"Gila Conglomerate", Arizona i the closeof the Cretaceous.This was followedby the Geol.Sac. Field Trip Guidebookj p. 113. Cascadianrevolution which set up the patternof Basin and Rangestructure for theregion. These two revolutions Kelley,V. C., and Bogmt,L. E., 1952,"Gym Limestone in New Mexico",Bull. Amer. Asso. Petrol. Geol~ I havehad a pronouncedeffecton thepresentstructural pattern.Kelley and Silver (1952) outlined the events vol.36, p. 1644...... ~,b,,,i,,,,~,,b,,,,,,,,, ~,~,,~,,,~,~~,, ~,,,,,,,,, i,,, n,,,,,,,,~,b,, ~,,,,,,,,~,,g,,, b,~,, L,!,,, ~,,,,,,,, ~, 9,~,,~,, ~,~,,i,,, n,,, ~,,,,,,,,, ~,, ~,,,,,,,,, fo,,,!,,,, !,,, ~,~,,,~,,"...... K,~],,,,,,,,,V,:,,,,,,,C,,:,~~,,,,,,,,,S,! ,,,!,~,~,,[’,,,,,,,,,,C,:~~2’,,,,,,,,,,,,,[,,{,,9,~,,!,, ,,,,,,,,~,!,,,~,~...... i...... ~,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, F,,x,~~,,~,, ~,,, ~1, ~,,,,,,,, ~,, ~,~, ~ n,, ~,~,, ~,,~,,~,,,,,,,, ~, ~,, .i,,""~"~’. ,"~"t"~"~"~ ...... ~,~,ba,,I,,,,I,,~,,,,,,,M,~u,,n,~,,i,,.,~,,~,,,~,,,,,,,,,,,,61,~,,i,,~,l,,,,,,,,, N,e,w,,,,,, M ~, ~,,,,,,,,, i~,w,,b~,,,,,,,,, i,, ~,,,,,,,,~¯ ~,, i,, ~i"""’ ......

l~ 2. Miocene (9) high anglefaulting and tilting and No.4. moderatefolding. King,P. B.,King, R. E., andKnight¯ J. B.,1945, ...... ;~... Coscadiao.. ~autiog, U ring, and~egiooa up i~ ...... ~Geol~gyoL~b~...Hu.e~.M~uotai~s,. El..~aso..a0d ...... 4. Quaternaryfaulting. HudspethCounties, Texas", Oil and Gas Inv.36. Kottlowski,Frank E., 1953,"Tertiary- Quaternary A similarsequence of eventsis suggestedfor the Sedimentsof the Rio GrandeValley in SouthernNew TularosaBasin. Lasky and Hogland(1949) recognized i Mexico",New Mex.Geol. Sac. Field Trip Guidebooke sixdistinct periods of movementin theSanta Rita area, p. 144. and Dunham(1935) rec~ognized seven periods of movement I in the vicinityof theOrgan Mountains. The history of Lasky,S. G., and Hoagland,A. D.. 1948,"Central nearlyevery major mountain range adjacent to the Tularosa MiningDistrict, New Mexico",18th International Basinduring Cenozoic time appears to havebeen one Geol.Con~., London, p. 86. of intermittentuplift. Laudon,LL,, and Bowsher,A.L., 1949, "Mississ- ippianFormations of SouthwesternNew Mexico", BIBLIOGRAPHY G eo!~Sac. Am. Bull., Volo 60, p. 1. Bose,E., 1910,"Monografia Oeologica y Paleontologica Lloyd,E.R., 1949, "Pre-San Andres Stratigraphy and del Cerrodel Muleros", Bol. Inst. Geol. Mex. , No. 25. Oil ProducingZones in SoutheasternNew Mexico", Cloud,P. E., and Barnes,%(. E.,1946, "The Ellenburger New Mex~Bur. Mines Bull. 29. Groupof CentralTexas", Texas Univ. Bull. 4621. Meinzer,O. E., and Hare,R. F., 1915,"Geology and Darton,N. H., 1928,"Red Beds and AssociatedForma- WaterResources of TularosaBasin, New Mexico", tionsof NewMexico", U. S. Geolo.Survey ~ B u_ll.794. USGSWater Supply Paper. 343. Dunham,K. C., 1935,’Geology of the OrganMountains", Nelson,L.A., 1940, "Paleozoic Stratigraphy of the NewMexicoBur. Mines, Bull. 11. FranklinMountains of ~NestTexas", Bull. Amer. Assoc.Petrol. Geol., Vol. 24, No. 1, p. 37. 1 Ellison,S. P.,Jr., 1946, "C0nodonts as Paleozoic GuideFossils", Bull. Amer. Asso. Petro. Geol., Pray,L.C., 1953, "Geology of the SacramentoMoun- vol.30, no. 1, p. 99. tains",master’s thesis, California Inst. of Tech., unpublished.

I i. ¯ NEW MEXICO GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY * FIFTH FIELD CONFERENCE * SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO

19530"Upper Ordovician and Silurian Resourcesof the El Paso Area,Texas", USGS i Stratigraphyof the SacramentoMountains", Bull. WaterSupply Paper, 919¯ --- -- Amer.Assoc. Petrol. Geol., Vol. 37, No¯8, p. 1894. Stainbrook0M.A., 1947, "Brachiopoda of the Perch, Read,C.B., and Wood,G.H.0 Jr.° 1947, "Distrlbution Shaleof New Mexicoand Arizona",Jour. Paleon- i tology0vol¯ 21, no. 4, p¯.r1’97. -- andpaleozoicCorrelatiOnsedimentaryOfPennsylvanianBasinsofN0rthernR°Cks inNewLate gl Stevenson,F.V., 1945, Devonian Of New Mexico", Mexico",Journ. of Geol..!vol. 55, p. 220. i Jour.Geol., Voi. 53° D. 217. Read,C.B.0 Wilpolt, R.H., Andrews° D.A., Summer- ..Regional " Stead,F.L. and Waldschmidt,W.A., 1953, son0 C.H.,andWood,G.H.,Jr.,1944, Geologic Significanceof the PumpStation Hills", West Tex- n Map and StratigraphicSections of Permianand Penn- ,~ ...... , , ~- as ~eol.ooc. I"lelCI /rip k3uIGleDOOK, /rarls-wecos sylvanianRocks of Partsof San Miguel0Santa Fe, ~-- p" Sandoval,Bernalillo0 Torrance° and ValenciaCoun- ~ n Thompson°M L , 19420 "PennsylvanianSystemin ties°North-Central New Mexico", ~US .Geole Sur., ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ - Oil andGas Inves.¯21. New Mexico",New Mex.Bur. Mines6ull. 17.

Richardson,G.B., 1909, "El PasoFolio", ~US Geol. Wilpolt,R.H. and Wan.k,A.A., 1952, "Geology of i Sur.0Atlas° No. 166. of theRegion from Socorro and San ¯Antonio east to ,, ChupaderaMesa° Socorro County, New Mexico", Sayre,A.N.0 and Livnngston0¯ P , 1945,Ground Water " U.S.Geol. Surv., Oil andGas Inves.121. i !

MonumentHeadquarter~s-White Sands ¯ THE WHITE SAHDS~A SHORT REVIEW " usedas the Rio GrandeValley because of the problems of watersupply. Undoubtedly the whitesands were i by avoidedby thewagonners because of the possibility. ID HenryL. Jicha,Jr. of boggingdown in thesofter dunes as wellas the New MexicoBureau of Mines& MineralResources easiergoing on the flatsto theeast and west.The ¯ earlierranchers are saidto havefeared the encroach- One of the maststriking features of theTularosa Ba- mentof the sandsover a widerarea. Apparently they sin is thelarge area of purewhite gypsum sand dunes, wereamong the first to re cognze themigratory nature iI This"gypsum sea" covers an areaof about270 square of thedunes. However° their estimates of therate of mileswithin the basin,and is associatedwith an area movementwere undoubtedly exaggerated by theirfears. of almosthalf that extent ¯ sufficientlygypsiferous to Thehi’story of Indianraids, range wars, and outlaw be termed"alkali flats," The gypsumsands extend depredationsduring the late19th and early 20th cen- forabout 27 milesin a northeasterlydirection, with turieshas been a sourcefor many interesting ,riven- an averagewidth of 10 miles,though at someplaces turetales. the dunearea is considerablywider. Quartz sand dunes coveringmore than 20 squat,miles form the northern Withthe advent¯of a more settled era° the white partof thedune area. The quartz sand is slightly sandswere recognized as a greatnatural wonder° not gypsiferous.Because of the sparklingwhite color ira- onlyfrom the ¯standpoint of scenic beauty° but also partedto the sandsby the crystalsof selenitewhich geologically.Nowhere in the worldis theresuch a composethem° these snow-like dunes are called"The largedeposit of gypsumsand so beautifullydisplayed. WhiteSands." Thesefacts led Congress to establishin 1933a Na- tionalMonument in thearea with the purpose of setting Historically,the TularosaBasin is probablyone of asidemore than 200 squaremiles selected for scenic the routesused for commerce by the earlySpanish in- and geologicinterest. The Monumentincludes Lake habitantsof theregion, but certainly it wasnot as well Lucero0a largeplay, salt lake which, as willlater

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