Geology of Northeastern New Mexico, Union and Colfax Counties, New Mexico: a Geologic Summary Kate E
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New Mexico Geological Society Downloaded from: https://nmgs.nmt.edu/publications/guidebooks/70 Geology of Northeastern New Mexico, union and Colfax Counties, New Mexico: A Geologic Summary Kate E. Zeigler, Frank C. Ramos, and Matthew J. Zimmerer, 2019, pp. 47-54 in: Geology of the Raton-Clayton Area, Ramos, Frank; Zimmerer, Matthew J.; Zeigler, Kate; Ulmer-Scholle, Dana, New Mexico Geological Society 70th Annual Fall Field Conference Guidebook, 168 p. This is one of many related papers that were included in the 2019 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. 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No material from the NMGS website, or printed and electronic publications, may be reprinted or redistributed without NMGS permission. Contact us for permission to reprint portions of any of our publications. 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. New Mexico Geological Society Guidebook, 70th Field Conference, Geology of the Raton-Clayton Area, 2019, p. 47-54. 47 GEOLOGY OF NORTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO, UNION AND COLFAX COUNTIES, NEW MEXICO: A GEOLOGIC SUMMARY KATE E. ZEIGLER1, FRANK C. RAMOS2, AND MATTHEW J. ZIMMERER3 1Zeigler Geologic Consulting, LLC, Albuquerque, NM 87123, [email protected]; 2Department of Geological Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, 88003; 3New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, NM 87801 ABSTRACT — The geology of northeastern New Mexico encompasses a range of Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks overlying Precambrian basement. The region has also been the site of abundant late Cenozoic eruptions represented by the compositionally diverse range of volcanic rocks of the Raton-Clayton volcanic field. Volumetrically minor mid-Tertiary sills and dikes are also exposed throughout northeastern New Mexico. Broad regional upwarping of the area has produced generally east-west arches that overprint much of the over- lying stratigraphy. Overall, the region presents a range of rock types, rock ages, and structural and geomorphologic features that reflect the diversity of regional geology and offers a great location for the 70th New Mexico Geological Society Fall Field Conference. INTRODUCTION trending axis that preserves a thick sequence of several thousand feet of Paleozoic to early Cenozoic sedimentary rocks. The sed- The geology of northeastern New Mexico is largely charac- iments of the Raton Basin onlap onto the Sierra Grande Arch terized by Triassic to Pliocene sedimentary strata that are com- and Bravo Dome, Precambrian-cored uplifts in the subsurface monly intruded and/or covered by upper Oligocene to Pleisto- related to the Ancestral Rocky Mountains (Ewing, this volume). cene volcanic rocks. The area is within the tectonically stable Eastward of the Sierra Grande Arch, sedimentary sequences are Great Plains province, a region characterized by thick crust and preserved in the Dalhart Basin on the margin of the craton. mantle lithosphere. The Raton-Clayton volcanic field of north- eastern New Mexico is the northeastern-most expression of the Jemez lineament, a series of volcanic fields that extends from Springerville, Arizona to northeastern New Mexico. Overall, a southwest to northeast structural fabric characterizes the upper Southern Rocky Raton Farmington crust in northeastern New Mexico with many volcanic vents Mtns. Taos Great Plains Clayton aligned along faults related to these features. Thick sedimen- (Raton Sect.) Colorado Southern o tary stratigraphic sequences underlie most of the region with Plateau Rocky Mtns. 36 N continuous exposures present in the valley of the Dry Cimar- Santa ron River along the New Mexico/Colorado border and along Fe Las Vegas Gallup Great Plains mesa fronts in Colfax County. These thick sequences uncon- Albuquerque (Southern High Plains) formably overlie Precambrian granitic and metamorphic rocks Grants at depth. The land surface in this area is dominated by high mesas and low gently sloping valleys that are interrupted by Quemado Rio Grande Rift Great Plains (Northern Sect.) Rio Grande Rift (Pecos-Canadian smaller and lower elevation basalt-capped mesas, small inter- (Eastern Rift Flank) Portales River Valley) mediate to mafic volcanic cones, and the much larger edifice of Datil-Mogollon Socorro the ~2-3 Ma Sierra Grande composite volcano. Human activ- Highlands ities that impact the geomorphology and hydrology in the area Roswell Great Plains (Southern include the many wagon ruts of the Santa Fe Trail (including Rio Grande Rift High Plains) the Cimarron Cut-off), the railroad system, open-range cattle (Southern Sect.) Alamogordo Silver ranching and some center-pivot irrigation farming. City Hobbs Basin & Range Las Cruces REGIONAL SETTING Carlsbad 32oN 104oW Northeastern New Mexico is located near the intersection of 108oW Province boundary Subprovince boundary the Rocky Mountains to the west and the High Plains to the east Borders of Jemez Lineament (Fig. 1). The western edge of the area is defined by the high FIGURE 1. Map showing physiographic provinces of New Mexico from Paz- relief of the Sangre de Cristo uplift, which transitions eastward zaglia and Hawley (2004) with the location Union and Colfax counties in the into the Raton Basin, a deep synclinal basin with a north-south gray dashed box. 48 ZEIGLER, RAMOS, AND ZIMMERER The Sangre de Cristo Mountains are a Laramide uplift bound- Group through the Miocene-Pliocene Ogallala Formation ed on the western margin by the Rio Grande Rift. The eastern (Fig. 2). These units overlie Precambrian basement composed margin is defined by Laramide reverse and thrust faults adja- of granitic rocks or thin sequences of Paleozoic sedimentary cent to the Raton Basin that accommodate up to nearly 4,700 m rocks in the subsurface. (3 miles) of structural relief (Northrop et al., 1946; Woodward, 1987). The easternmost component of the Sangre de Cristo up- Triassic System lift, the Cimarron Range, is bounded by the Fowler Pass fault, a high-angle reverse fault on the north and east edges of the range. The oldest strata exposed in Union County, the Triassic Doc- Cenozoic igneous intrusions emplaced along this fault are now kum Group, are found in the Dry Cimarron Valley and its trib- preserved as localized silicic igneous rock outcrops. utaries. The “redbeds” were first described in the early 1900s The Raton Basin, which includes the Las Vegas sub-basin, (e.g., Lee, 1902; Rothrock, 1925; Darton, 1928, among others). is approximately 300 km (185 miles) north-south and 100 km Baldwin and Muehlberger (1959) were the last to spend signif- (60 miles) east-west. A strongly asymmetric basin, the western icant time mapping the strata in the region and their work was limb is characterized by steeply dipping to locally overturned built upon by Lucas et al. (1987), who described additional beds, whereas the eastern limb is more gently dipping and stratigraphic sections of these units. Beginning in 1987, these merges to the east with the Sierra Grande and Apishapa arches. strata were referred to the Chinle Group (Lucas et al., 1987), The Raton Basin includes several thousand meters of upper but Cather et al. (2013) designated Upper Triassic strata east of Paleozoic through Tertiary sedimentary rocks that include de- the Rio Grande rift as belonging to the Dockum Group and the posits that are synorogenic with Laramide deformation (Baltz, nomenclature of Cather et al. (2013) is followed here. 1965; Johnson and Wood, 1956; Woodward, 1987). The Ra- Dockum Group units include (in ascending age order) the ton Basin is partially separated from the Las Vegas sub-basin Baldy Hill Formation, Travesser Formation, Sloan Canyon by the Cimarron Arch (not to be confused with the Cimarron Formation locally, and the Sheep Pen Sandstone (Baldwin and Range to the north; Woodward, 1983, 1987). A number of Muehlberger, 1959; Lucas et al., 1987). Taken together, this smaller anticlines and domes occur in or along the margins sequence