Geologic History of the San Juan Basin Area, New Mexico and Colorado Edward C
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Forgotten Crocodile from the Kirtland Formation, San Juan Basin, New
posed that the narial cavities of Para- Wima1l- saurolophuswere vocal resonating chambers' Goniopholiskirtlandicus Apparently included with this material shippedto Wiman was a partial skull that lromthe Wiman describedas a new speciesof croc- forgottencrocodile odile, Goniopholis kirtlandicus. Wiman publisheda descriptionof G. kirtlandicusin Basin, 1932in the Bulletin of the GeologicalInstitute KirtlandFormation, San Juan of IJppsala. Notice of this specieshas not appearedin any Americanpublication. Klilin NewMexico (1955)presented a descriptionand illustration of the speciesin French, but essentially repeatedWiman (1932). byDonald L. Wolberg, Vertebrate Paleontologist, NewMexico Bureau of lVlinesand Mineral Resources, Socorro, NIM Localityinformation for Crocodilian bone, armor, and teeth are Goni o p holi s kir t landicus common in Late Cretaceous and Early Ter- The skeletalmaterial referred to Gonio- tiary deposits of the San Juan Basin and pholis kirtlandicus includesmost of the right elsewhere.In the Fruitland and Kirtland For- side of a skull, a squamosalfragment, and a mations of the San Juan Basin, Late Creta- portion of dorsal plate. The referral of the ceous crocodiles were important carnivores of dorsalplate probably represents an interpreta- the reconstructed stream and stream-bank tion of the proximity of the material when community (Wolberg, 1980). In the Kirtland found. Figs. I and 2, taken from Wiman Formation, a mesosuchian crocodile, Gonio- (1932),illustrate this material. pholis kirtlandicus, discovered by Charles H. Wiman(1932, p. 181)recorded the follow- Sternbergin the early 1920'sand not described ing locality data, provided by Sternberg: until 1932 by Carl Wiman, has been all but of Crocodile.Kirtland shalesa 100feet ignored since its description and referral. "Skull below the Ojo Alamo Sandstonein the blue Specimensreferred to other crocodilian genera cley. -
Hydrogeology of the Chinle Wash Watershed, Navajo Nation Arizona, Utah and New Mexico
Hydrogeology of the Chinle Wash Watershed, Navajo Nation Arizona, Utah and New Mexico Item Type Thesis-Reproduction (electronic); text Authors Roessel, Raymond J. Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 07/10/2021 19:50:22 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/191379 HYDROGEOLOGY OF THE CHINLE WASH WATERSHED, NAVAJO NATION, ARIZONA, UTAH AND NEW MEXICO by Raymond J. Roessel A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF HYDROLOGY AND WATER RESOURCES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE WITH A MAJOR IN HYDROLOGY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1994 2 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. -
Notes on Paleocene and Lower Eocene Mammal Horizons of Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado
56.9(1181:78.9). Article XXXII.- NOTES ON PALEOCENE AND LOWER EOCENE MAMMAL HORIZONS OF NORTHERN NEW MEXICO AND SOUTHERN COLORADO. BY WALTER GRANGER. PLATES XCVII AND XCVIII. The purpose of the present short paper is to indicate some of the results of the Eocene exploration conducted by the writer, with the assistance of Mr. George Olsen, in the San Juan Basin in 1916. It is hoped that the fol- lowing notes may be of some aid to future Eocene collecting in this region and possibly also to detailed geologic plotting. Three separate localities were examined, viz.: the Torrejon of Angel Peak, lying south of the San Juan River; the Torrejon of the Animas Valley, between Aztec and Cedar Hill; a set of later beds in Colorado, lying north of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway, between Los Pifios and Piedra Rivers. The American Museum expedition of 1913 visited nearly all of the Paleocene localities of the San Juan Basin from which fossils had previously been obtained, made extensive collections and summarized the strati- graphic results in a paper published the following year.1 These localities are all on the south side of the San Juan River and extend in a long line from the vicinity of Ojo Alamo eastward to the Puerco River below Cuba. Exposures lying to the north near the San Juan and in the Animas Valley were known to be Paleocene but for lack of time were not examined that year. The Angel Peak Region. The exposures at Angel Peak are in the form of a gigantic crater cut out of a fairly level grass-covered plain to a depth of several hundred feet and with a diameter of three to four miles. -
VOLCANIC INFLUENCE OVER FLUVIAL SEDIMENTATION in the CRETACEOUS Mcdermott MEMBER, ANIMAS FORMATION, SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO
VOLCANIC INFLUENCE OVER FLUVIAL SEDIMENTATION IN THE CRETACEOUS McDERMOTT MEMBER, ANIMAS FORMATION, SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO Colleen O’Shea A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE August: 2009 Committee: James Evans, advisor Kurt Panter, co-advisor John Farver ii Abstract James Evans, advisor Volcanic processes during and after an eruption can impact adjacent fluvial systems by high influx rates of volcaniclastic sediment, drainage disruption, formation and failure of natural dams, changes in channel geometry and changes in channel pattern. Depending on the magnitude and frequency of disruptive events, the fluvial system might “recover” over a period of years or might change to some other morphology. The goal of this study is to evaluate the preservation potential of volcanic features in the fluvial environment and assess fluvial system recovery in a probable ancient analog of a fluvial-volcanic system. The McDermott Member is the lower member of the Late Cretaceous - Tertiary Animas Formation in SW Colorado. Field studies were based on a southwest-northeast transect of six measured sections near Durango, Colorado. In the field, 13 lithofacies have been identified including various types of sandstones, conglomerates, and mudrocks interbedded with lahars, mildly reworked tuff, and primary pyroclastic units. Subsequent microfacies analysis suggests the lahar lithofacies can be subdivided into three types based on clast composition and matrix color, this might indicate different volcanic sources or sequential changes in the volcanic center. In addition, microfacies analysis of the primary pyroclastic units suggests both surge and block-and-ash types are present. -
Geology and Stratigraphy Column
Capitol Reef National Park National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Geology “Geology knows no such word as forever.” —Wallace Stegner Capitol Reef National Park’s geologic story reveals a nearly complete set of Mesozoic-era sedimentary layers. For 200 million years, rock layers formed at or near sea level. About 75-35 million years ago tectonic forces uplifted them, forming the Waterpocket Fold. Forces of erosion have been sculpting this spectacular landscape ever since. Deposition If you could travel in time and visit Capitol Visiting Capitol Reef 180 million years ago, Reef 245 million years ago, you would not when the Navajo Sandstone was deposited, recognize the landscape. Imagine a coastal you would have been surrounded by a giant park, with beaches and tidal flats; the water sand sea, the largest in Earth’s history. In this moves in and out gently, shaping ripple marks hot, dry climate, wind blew over sand dunes, in the wet sand. This is the environment creating large, sweeping crossbeds now in which the sediments of the Moenkopi preserved in the sandstone of Capitol Dome Formation were deposited. and Fern’s Nipple. Now jump ahead 20 million years, to 225 All the sedimentary rock layers were laid million years ago. The tidal flats are gone and down at or near sea level. Younger layers were the climate supports a tropical jungle, filled deposited on top of older layers. The Moenkopi with swamps, primitive trees, and giant ferns. is the oldest layer visible from the visitor center, The water is stagnant and a humid breeze with the younger Chinle Formation above it. -
Central San Juan Basin
Acta - ---- - - ---Palaeontologic- -- ---' ~ Polonica Vol. 28, No. 1-2 pp. 195-204 Warszawa, 1983 Second Symposium on Mesozoic Terrestiol. Ecosystems, Jadwisin 1981 SPENCER G. LUCAS and NIALL J. MATEER VERTEBRATE PALEOECOLOGY OF THE LATE CAMPANIAN (CRETACEOUS):FRUITLAND FORMATION, SAN JUAN BASIN, ~EW MEXICO (USA) LUCAS, s. G. and MATEER, N. J .: Vertebrate paleoecology of the late Campanian (Cretaceous) Fruitland Formation, San Juan Basin, New Mexico (USA). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 28, 1-2, 195-204, 1983. Sediments of the Fruitland Formation in northwestern New Mexico represent a delta plain that prograded northeastward over the retrating strandline of the. North American epeiric seaway during the late Campanian. Fruitland fossil · vertebrates are fishes, amphibians, lizards, a snake, turtles, crocodilians, dinosaurs (mostly h adrosaurs and ceratopsians) and mammals. Autochthonous fossils in the Fruitland ' Form ation represent organisms of the trophically-complex Para saurolophus community. Differences in diversity, physical stress and life-history strategies within the ParasaurolopllUS community . fit well the stablllty-time hypothesis. Thus, dinosaurs experienced relatively low physical stress whereas fishes, amphibians, small reptiles and mammals experienced greater physical stress. Because of this, dinosaurs were less likely to recover from an environment al catastrophe than were smaller contemporaneous vertebrates. The terminal Cretaceous extinctions selectively eliminated animals that lived in less physlcally -stressed situations, indicating that the extinctions resulted from an environmental catastrophe. Key w 0 r d s: Fruitland Formation, New Mexico, delta plain, stablllty-time hypothesis, Cretaceous extinctions. Spencer G. Lucas, Department ot Geology and Geophysics and Peabody Museum ot Natural History, Yale University, P.O. Box 6666, New Haven, Connecticut 06511 USA ; NlaU J . -
Geology and Coal Resources of the Upper Cretaceous Fruitland Formation, San Juan Basin, New Mexico and Colorado
Chapter Q National Coal Resource Geology and Coal Resources of the Assessment Upper Cretaceous Fruitland Formation, San Juan Basin, New Mexico and Colorado Click here to return to Disc 1 By James E. Fassett1 Volume Table of Contents Chapter Q of Geologic Assessment of Coal in the Colorado Plateau: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah Edited by M.A. Kirschbaum, L.N.R. Roberts, and L.R.H. Biewick U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1625–B* 1 U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado 80225 * This report, although in the USGS Professional Paper series, is available only on CD-ROM and is not available separately U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Contents Abstract........................................................................................................................................................Q1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 2 Purpose and Scope ............................................................................................................................. 2 Location and Extent of Area............................................................................................................... 2 Earlier Investigations .......................................................................................................................... 2 Geography............................................................................................................................................ -
Mesozoic Stratigraphy at Durango, Colorado
160 New Mexico Geological Society, 56th Field Conference Guidebook, Geology of the Chama Basin, 2005, p. 160-169. LUCAS AND HECKERT MESOZOIC STRATIGRAPHY AT DURANGO, COLORADO SPENCER G. LUCAS AND ANDREW B. HECKERT New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, 1801 Mountain Rd. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104 ABSTRACT.—A nearly 3-km-thick section of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks is exposed at Durango, Colorado. This section con- sists of Upper Triassic, Middle-Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous strata that well record the geological history of southwestern Colorado during much of the Mesozoic. At Durango, Upper Triassic strata of the Chinle Group are ~ 300 m of red beds deposited in mostly fluvial paleoenvironments. Overlying Middle-Upper Jurassic strata of the San Rafael Group are ~ 300 m thick and consist of eolian sandstone, salina limestone and siltstone/sandstone deposited on an arid coastal plain. The Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation is ~ 187 m thick and consists of sandstone and mudstone deposited in fluvial environments. The only Lower Cretaceous strata at Durango are fluvial sandstone and conglomerate of the Burro Canyon Formation. Most of the overlying Upper Cretaceous section (Dakota, Mancos, Mesaverde, Lewis, Fruitland and Kirtland units) represents deposition in and along the western margin of the Western Interior seaway during Cenomanian-Campanian time. Volcaniclastic strata of the overlying McDermott Formation are the youngest Mesozoic strata at Durango. INTRODUCTION Durango, Colorado, sits in the Animas River Valley on the northern flank of the San Juan Basin and in the southern foothills of the San Juan and La Plata Mountains. Beginning at the northern end of the city, and extending to the southern end of town (from north of Animas City Mountain to just south of Smelter Moun- tain), the Animas River cuts in an essentially downdip direction through a homoclinal Mesozoic section of sedimentary rocks about 3 km thick (Figs. -
Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology of Western and Southern North America
OF WESTERN AND SOUTHERN NORTH AMERICA OF WESTERN AND SOUTHERN NORTH PALEONTOLOGY GEOLOGY AND VERTEBRATE Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology of Western and Southern North America Edited By Xiaoming Wang and Lawrence G. Barnes Contributions in Honor of David P. Whistler WANG | BARNES 900 Exposition Boulevard Los Angeles, California 90007 Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Science Series 41 May 28, 2008 Paleocene primates from the Goler Formation of the Mojave Desert in California Donald L. Lofgren,1 James G. Honey,2 Malcolm C. McKenna,2,{,2 Robert L. Zondervan,3 and Erin E. Smith3 ABSTRACT. Recent collecting efforts in the Goler Formation in California’s Mojave Desert have yielded new records of turtles, rays, lizards, crocodilians, and mammals, including the primates Paromomys depressidens Gidley, 1923; Ignacius frugivorus Matthew and Granger, 1921; Plesiadapis cf. P. anceps; and Plesiadapis cf. P. churchilli. The species of Plesiadapis Gervais, 1877, indicate that Member 4b of the Goler Formation is Tiffanian. In correlation with Tiffanian (Ti) lineage zones, Plesiadapis cf. P. anceps indicates that the Laudate Discovery Site and Edentulous Jaw Site are Ti2–Ti3 and Plesiadapis cf. P. churchilli indicates that Primate Gulch is Ti4. The presence of Paromomys Gidley, 1923, at the Laudate Discovery Site suggests that the Goler Formation occurrence is the youngest known for the genus. Fossils from Member 3 and the lower part of Member 4 indicate a possible marine influence as Goler Formation sediments accumulated. On the basis of these specimens and a previously documented occurrence of marine invertebrates in Member 4d, the Goler Basin probably was in close proximity to the ocean throughout much of its existence. -
Earliest Jurassic U-Pb Ages from Carbonate Deposits in the Navajo Sandstone, Southeastern Utah, USA Judith Totman Parrish1*, E
https://doi.org/10.1130/G46338.1 Manuscript received 3 April 2019 Revised manuscript received 10 July 2019 Manuscript accepted 11 August 2019 © 2019 The Authors. Gold Open Access: This paper is published under the terms of the CC-BY license. Published online 4 September 2019 Earliest Jurassic U-Pb ages from carbonate deposits in the Navajo Sandstone, southeastern Utah, USA Judith Totman Parrish1*, E. Troy Rasbury2, Marjorie A. Chan3 and Stephen T. Hasiotis4 1 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Idaho, P.O. Box 443022, Moscow, Idaho 83844, USA 2 Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794, USA 3 Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, 115 S 1460 E, Room 383, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0102, USA 4 Department of Geology, University of Kansas, 115 Lindley Hall, 1475 Jayhawk Boulevard, Lawrence, Kansas 66045-7594, USA ABSTRACT with the lower part of the Navajo Sandstone New uranium-lead (U-Pb) analyses of carbonate deposits in the Navajo Sandstone in across a broad region from southwestern Utah southeastern Utah (USA) yielded dates of 200.5 ± 1.5 Ma (earliest Jurassic, Hettangian Age) to northeastern Arizona (Blakey, 1989; Hassan and 195.0 ± 7.7 Ma (Early Jurassic, Sinemurian Age). These radioisotopic ages—the first re- et al., 2018). The Glen Canyon Group is under- ported from the Navajo erg and the oldest ages reported for this formation—are critical for lain by the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation, understanding Colorado Plateau stratigraphy because they demonstrate that initial Navajo which includes the Black Ledge sandstone (e.g., Sandstone deposition began just after the Triassic and that the base of the unit is strongly Blakey, 2008; Fig. -
Oil and Gas Plays Ute Moutnain Ute Reservation, Colorado and New Mexico
Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation Cortez R18W Karle Key Xu R17W T General Setting Mine Xu Xcu 36 Can y on N Xcu McElmo WIND RIVER 32 INDIAN MABEL The Ute Mountain Ute Reservation is located in the northwest RESERVATION MOUNTAIN FT HALL IND RES Little Moude Mine Xcu T N ern portion of New Mexico and the southwestern corner of Colorado UTE PEAK 35 N R16W (Fig. UM-1). The reservation consists of 553,008 acres in Montezu BLACK 666 T W Y O M I N G MOUNTAIN 35 R20W SLEEPING UTE MOUNTAIN N ma and La Plata Counties, Colorado, and San Juan County, New R19W Coche T Mexico. All of these lands belong to the tribe but are held in trust by NORTHWESTERN 34 SHOSHONI HERMANO the U.S. Government. Individually owned lands, or allotments, are IND RES Desert Canyon PEAK N MESA VERDE R14W NATIONAL GREAT SALT LAKE W Marble SENTINEL located at Allen Canyon and White Mesa, San Juan County, Utah, Wash Towaoc PARK PEAK T and cover 8,499 acres. Tribal lands held in trust within this area cov Towaoc River M E S A 33 1/2 N er 3,597 acres. An additional forty acres are defined as U.S. Govern THE MOUND R15W SKULL VALLEY ment lands in San Juan County, Utah, and are utilized for school pur TEXAS PACIFIC 6-INCH OIL PIPELINE IND RES UNITAH AND OURAY INDIAN RESERVATION Navajo poses. W Ramona GOSHUTE 789 The Allen Canyon allotments are located twelve miles west of IND RES T UTAH 33 Blanding, Utah, and adjacent to the Manti-La Sal National Forest. -
Sedimentation, Pedogenesis, and Paleoclimate Conditions in the Paleocene San Juan Basin, New Mexico, U.S.A
University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 7-1-2016 Sedimentation, pedogenesis, and paleoclimate conditions in the Paleocene San Juan Basin, New Mexico, U.S.A. Kevin Hobbs Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/eps_etds Recommended Citation Hobbs, Kevin. "Sedimentation, pedogenesis, and paleoclimate conditions in the Paleocene San Juan Basin, New Mexico, U.S.A.." (2016). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/eps_etds/104 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Kevin Michael Hobbs Candidate Earth and Planetary Sciences Department This dissertation is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: Approved by the Dissertation Committee: Dr. Peter Fawcett, Chairperson Dr. Leslie McFadden Dr. Gary Weissmann Dr. Thomas Williamson i SEDIMENTATION, PEDOGENESIS, AND PALEOCLIMATE CONDITIONS IN THE PALEOCENE SAN JUAN BASIN, NEW MEXICO, U.S.A. by KEVIN MICHAEL HOBBS B.S., Geology, The University of the South, 2006 M.S., Geological Sciences, The University of Idaho, 2010 DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Earth and Planetary Sciences The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico July 2016 ii ACKNOWLEDMENTS I thank the following persons for professional help in the form of discussions, critique of ideas, or suggestions during the research and writing of this dissertation: From the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department: Viorel Atudorei, Adrian Brearley, Ben Burnett, Jeff Carritt, Laura Crossey, Magdalena Donahue, Maya Elrick, John Geissmann, Nick George, Karl Karlstrom, Bekah Levine, Grant Meyer, Corrinne Myers, Lyman Persico, Jane Selverstone, Zach Sharp, Mike Spilde.