BULLETIN 49 Permian Sedimentary Facies, Central Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico by DONALD WILKIN BOYD 1 9 5 8 STATE BUREAU OF MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES NEW MEXICO INSTITUTE OF MINING & TECHNOLOGY CAMPUS STATION SOCORRO, NEW MEXICO NEW MEXICO INSTITUTE OF MINING & TECHNOLOGY E. J. Workman, President STATE BUREAU OF MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES Alvin J. Thompson, Director THE REGENTS MEMBERS Ex OFFICIO The Honorable Edwin L. Mechem .................. Governor of New Mexico Mrs. Georgia L. Lusk ......................... Superintendent of Public Instruction APPOINTED MEMBERS Robert W. Botts ................................................................. Albuquerque Holm 0. Bursum, Jr. ................................................................... Socorro Thomas M. Cramer .................................................................. Carlsbad John N. Mathews, Jr. ................................................................. Socorro Richard A. Matuszeski ...................................................... Albuquerque Contents Page ABSTRACT ............................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 3 Geologic importance of the Guadalupe Mountains .............................. 3 Regional setting .................................................................................... 5 Geography .......................................................................................... 5 Geology .............................................................................................. 6 Previous investigations ......................................................................... 8 Objectives and procedure ..................................................................... 9 Acknowledgments .............................................................................. 10 STRATIGRAPHY .................................................................................. 12 The southern sequence ........................................................................ 12 Victorio Peak member of the Bone Spring formation ..................... 12 Cutoff member of the Bone Spring formation ................................. 13 Cherry Canyon tongue ..................................................................... 14 Grayburg-Queen sequence ............................................................... 15 Goat Seep reef .................................................................................. 17 Capitan reef ...................................................................................... 18 The northern sequence ......................................................................... 18 Yeso formation ................................................................................ 18 San Andres formation ...................................................................... 19 San Andres transition facies ............................................................ 24 Grayburg-Queen sequence ............................................................... 27 Carlsbad group ................................................................................. 32 ROCK TYPES ........................................................................................ 33 Limestone and dolomite ..................................................................... 33 Stratigraphic distribution ................................................................. 33 Primary or secondary origin of the Permian dolomites ................... 33 Fine-grained dolomite ...................................................................... 35 Sediments influenced by algal activity ............................................ 36 Detrital carbonate ............................................................................. 38 Quartz sandstone ................................................................................ 39 Shale ................................................................................................... 40 Chert ................................................................................................... 41 Gypsum .............................................................................................. 43 iii Page STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY ....................................................................... 44 Primary structures ...................................................................................... 44 Definition ................................................................................................. 44 Reefs and reeflike structures ................................................................. 44 Ripple marks ............................................................................................ 47 Crossbedding ........................................................................................... 48 Channel fillings ........................................................................................ 49 Shrinkage cracks ...................................................................................... 49 Fracture fillings ....................................................................................... 49 Tepee structures ...................................................................................... 50 Wavy bedding .......................................................................................... 51 Glide folds ............................................................................................... 52 Primary dips of uncertain origin ........................................................... 53 Secondary structures ................................................................................. 55 Folds ......................................................................................................... 55 Faults ........................................................................................................ 56 PALEONTOLOGY ..................................................................................... 58 Fossil preservation ..................................................................................... 58 Basin faunas ................................................................................................ 59 Cutoff member ........................................................................................ 59 Cherry Canyon tongue ........................................................................... 61 Reef and bank faunas ................................................................................. 62 Vittorio Peak member ............................................................................ 62 San Andres transition facies .................................................................. 63 Goat Seep and Capitan reefs ................................................................. 64 Shelf faunas ................................................................................................. 64 Yeso formation ....................................................................................... 64 San Andres formation ............................................................................. 64 Grayburg and Queen formations ......................................................... 67 Seven Rivers formation ............................................................................ 71 GENERAL FACIES RELATIONSHIPS ................................................ 72 Correlation of formations ........................................................................ 72 Introduction ............................................................................................. 72 Important stratigraphic boundaries ..................................................... 72 Surface correlations ................................................................................ 74 Subsurface correlations .......................................................................... 78 Migration of the basin margin through time ......................................... 79 Summary of environments ....................................................................... 81 iv Page APPENDIX ..................................................................................................... 83 Check list of fossil species .......................................................................... 83 Fossils from locality 0101 (Queen formation) ........................................ 85 Selected stratigraphic sections ................................................................... 86 REFERENCES .............................................................................................. 91 INDEX ............................................................................................................. 95 Illustrations TABLES 1. Leonardian and Guadalupian rock formations of the Guadalupe Mountains ................................................................................ 3 2. Spectrographic analyses of samples from the San Andres formation ................................................................................................... 24 3. Spectrographic analyses of samples from the Grayburg- Queen sequence ........................................................................................ 30 4. Fossils collected during the present study ............................................ 60 FIGURES 1. Guadalupe Mountains and vicinity in southern