Outline of the Stratigraphy and Structure of the Sacramento Mountain Escarpment Lloyd C
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New Mexico Geological Society Downloaded from: http://nmgs.nmt.edu/publications/guidebooks/5 Outline of the stratigraphy and structure of the Sacramento Mountain escarpment Lloyd C. Pray, 1954, pp. 92-107 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. Annual NMGS Fall Field Conference Guidebooks Every fall since 1950, the New Mexico Geological Society (NMGS) has held an annual Fall Field Conference that explores some region of New Mexico (or surrounding states). Always well attended, these conferences provide a guidebook to participants. Besides detailed road logs, the guidebooks contain many well written, edited, and peer-reviewed geoscience papers. These books have set the national standard for geologic guidebooks and are an essential geologic reference for anyone working in or around New Mexico. 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One printed copy of any materials from the NMGS website or our print and electronic publications may be made for individual use without our permission. Teachers and students may make unlimited copies for educational use. Any other use of these materials requires explicit permission. This page is intentionally left blank to maintain order of facing pages. I NEW MEXICO GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY * FIFTH FIELD CONFERENCE * SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO andgreen, the cleanliness of its vast expanse, and its way betweenthe east and westborders of the state, 1 appealto thelover of theunexplored mark it as an thesemountains extend northward for 40 milesfrom a areawhich attracts those discerning travelers who pointabout 40 milesnorth of the Texasborder. The U would~’ see Nature’smasterpieces. mountainsare sharplyasymmetrical and riseabruptly g in two majorsteps to a mileabove the TularosaBasin on the west.From the crest,the range slopes almost REFERENCES CITED ¯ imperceptiblyeastward to thePecos River, 80 miles g awayand about6000 feet lower. Although the crest n 1. Botkin,C.W, (1933)(abs) The WhiteSands Na- of therange lies about 9000 feet for more than 20 miles, tionalMonument, Pan-Am. Geologist, v 60, no partis as highas 9700feet. The SacramentoMoun- ¯ tainsare a largeeast-dipping cuesta, uplifted on:the n 4 304-305. westside along a normalOr gravityfault zone. In this sense,they are structurally similar to, and en echelon 2. Dart0n,N.H. (1928) Red bedsand associatedfor- withthe GuadalupeMountains to the southeast,and theOscura Mountains to the northwest.The stratigra- n mationsin New MexicoS U.S.Geol. Survey Bull. phicsection is almostentirely composed¯ of Paleozoic 794,59, 216-218. rocks,ranging in agefrom Cambrian (?) to middlePer- g mian.Rock units of thisarea have many similarities 3. Meinzer,O.E. and Hare,R.F. (1915) Geology and withthe Paleozoicsections of the BasinRanges far- waterresources of TularosaB-asir~ I NewMexi- therto the west,visited by theprevious Field Con- ¯ co, U.S.Geol, Survey Water Supply Paper 343, ference,and withthe down-dipsubsurface sections of [] southeasternNew Mexico.The outcropsalong the 317pp, 19 pis,51 figs. SacramentoMountain escarpment are the closestmajor ii : surfaceexposures in thestate to the subsurfacepre- ¯ 4. Richard,L.M.(1932) White Sands nomadicin na- r Permianstratigraphic section of southeasternNew Mex- tore,may enterAlamogordo in about4097 A.D., ice,a partof thesection which has been of increasing significancein petroleum exploration i n recentyears, The AlamogordoNews, August 4, 1932. n II 5. Russell,C.P. (1935)The whitesands of Alamo- Thisbrief paper is designedto supplementthe road gordoThe NationalGeogr~ Mago, v 68, n 2, 250- log andthe discussion at thestops in presentingthe lib salientgeological features of thewestern escarpment [] 264. Of the SacramentoMountains, with particular:reference to thosefeatures that will be seenduring the Fifth 6. Talmage,S, B,, and Wootton,T. P.,(1937)The Non- FieldConference. An indexmap of the westernpart n MetallicMineral Resources of New Mexicoand of the¯SacramentoMountains is included.A general- U 1"heirEconomic Features, N~w/~exicQ_ School of izedgeologic map of the northwesternpart of thees- Mines,Bull~ 12, 103-107. carpmentarea that will be viewedor visitedduring ¯ the FieldConference accompanies this paper. Essen- [] 7. Winchester,D. E. ! 1933)The Oil and Gas Resources tiallythis same map was usedduring the 1949 G.S.A. of New Mexic.o~New MexicoSchool of Mines,Bull, fieldtrip sponsored by theWestTexas Geological So- am 9,48-49. ciety(King, et al 1949).A compositestratigraphic g ¯ sectionof thepre- Cambribn and Paleozoic rocks will OIJTLINE OF THE STRATIGRAPHY=AND be foundin thegu.idebook and the structural features STRUCTURE OF THE SACRAg~ENTO alongtwo east-westcross sections from the baseto n MOUNTAIN ESCARPMENT thec~est of therangeare given elsewhere in thisguide- book.Several aerial views of thewestern :escarpment LloydC. Pray* are shown, n II INTRODUCTION The writerhas workedintermittently in the escarp- mentarea of the SacramentoMountains since 1947, and The SacramentoMount.iris form one of the major has mappedmost of the westernescarpment and part g mm mountainmasses in southernNew Mexico.About mid- of the crestof therangeat a scaleof twoinches equals onemile. Geologic maps and e reportwill be published ¯ Divisionof GeologicalScience, California Insti- by the New MexicoBureau of Minesand MineralRe- [] tuteof Technology. [] 92 ! I J i i QUATERNARY / ¯ Alluvium,l colluviumspring deposits eft. --~r--~r~, l÷ r~ ?00 Limestoneand minorinterbedded dolomite, erosional i SAN ANDRES " I, ~ uppersurface. GUADALUPIAN LS, "~~’~MBR. ~E~:=:~~in upper pelt ...............0-150’ Limestone and dolomite;cleon quartz sandstone -- I HONDO i ~ Ill70 O 0 ’ ~=’,~-~Z_~ IPOO-IBO0’Limestone red end yellowmudstone, gypsum, PERMIAN YES() FM. and m nor fine quartzsandstone. L E O N A R D I A N "--~’--~-~:: II I 60O OI - ~ UPI~ERTONGUE -7,-.’’ I I I I ~ 200-550’ ~rk ..... d red mudsf.... Thin beddedlime.tone WOLFCAMPIAN ABO FM, PENDEdO TONGU~ ~.-~ in I LOWERTONGUE. ~"" "" " " -~"-- ""--- southernandgraypartSheofe area.(Pendej° tongueof Hueco fm) BURSUM FM, ~~=-~-- 0- 350’ Shale, gray and red sandstone;limestone I M i:~ \end limest ......gl .....re, l .... I]5oo0’ A ~............... ¯ --~---7.,.~ VIRGILIAN "x " ~.’,,c~.L~ 0-850’Limestone Qray and red calcareousshale, 1 G HOLDER FM. sandstoneand ~onglomerote.8ioherms ° 4000’ A ~ O-500’ Shale,argilla(:eous limestone and feldspothic BEEMAN FM.")(" ~~I .....’~ m sandstone. L ~- -- I MISSOURIAN _~. _I~=~ i, PENNSYLVANIAN E G-X- B BuG SCUFFLE LS, A 0-1600’ Limestonesandstone end shale, Coarse quartz 3000’ B MBR. LOCALLY ~-~ sandstonein lower part. Massivegrey, cherty i L ==== mestoneBug Scuff e mestonernb~, grades DES MOINESIAN DIFFERENTIATED "~ l E ----’-- laterallyinto sandstone and 6hole. I R G ~ T-"r- r’--E ATOKAN __ R, M.F ~’~:"I : ~I":~ "~ I JSCALE CHANGE, I I MORROWAN (?) 1 ~~ _~’= shale, Id2000,1 CHESTERIAN HELMS P’M. i=-~ ~_-~_TI 0-60’ Limestone end I I i-- p I RANCHERIA AND 1~! I~ O- 300’Limestone, silty, dark gray. thinbedded. i MERAMECIAN ~:~: LAS CRUCES (?) EM. ¯-r.. i~ LAKE ~ O-200 Limestone,dark gray, argillaceous,thin 1500’ ARCENTE MBR~.’=Z~: bedded,and calcareousshale. VALILE Y ~ __-- " " __ " ~-T~- OSAGIAN TIERRA BLANC~ ~ 0 - 140’ Limestone,gray, cherty,cr~noidol, FM, MSR ,M~ NUNN MBR, ~Limestone and crinoidol marl~ - I I >~ , ALAMOGORIDO ~P 0 l 400 Limestone1 cherty; I O ¢ ~l, bioherm facies. AND£E~ITO MBR,~~~5’ Limestone silty L and shale. KIN OERHOOKIAN CABALLEROI FM," ~--~’~’~-J~-~i~3 .~.~_c~.~__% -~ .~-c~’~--~---~_15-60’ Limestonenodularand .colaareousshale, 1 I UPPER ISLY GAP& PERCHA (?) FM. --I~-----:~---~I~- 0-45’ Shale and llmeet .... Blockshale ot top moy be DEVONIAN ON~6.TE FM. ~-~-~ 0-60 Siltstone, dalomitic. ~equlvolent to Percho sh, I I J~IODI~E I I0001 I SILURIAN II L~? ) FUSSELMAN FM" ~~=lCO’ Dolomite. dark, Gherty~ resistant, 15012~5’ Dolomite lightgray sublithacjrephic thin bedded. VALMONT DOL, i~r~ ~ ~ ~ ’--~ ClNCINNATIAN "._~5L~-) MONTOYA FM ’ ~ 140-250’Dolomite, upper member cherty lower member massive; I O-I2’OuottZsandslone at th~ bose. ORDOVICIAN L , 500’ I ";",""~ CANADIAN EL PASO FM, ~ 420’ Dolomite,thin bedded,some quartz .sandstone, ..... ~oo’ I =[ ...... .’~ 200 I CAMBRIAN (?) UPPER (?) BLISS SS ~::-:’;!~(;;~}!~!’~:~ I10’ Quartz sandstone, glauconitic. I00’ ¯-’ ~ ¯ ~+~.-~.---80’+Quartz s~ndsfone.-siltstone and shale,slightly PRE - CAMBRIAN (7) metamorphosed,diobese $[1[$. O’ I L l l l ~’~ r" pRAY=54 COMPOSITE COLUMNAH SECTION,