New Mexico Bureau of Mines & Mineral Resources A DIVISION OF NEW MEXICO INSTITUTE OF MINING & TECHNOLOGY Geology and paleontology of the Santa Fe Group, southwestern Albuquerque Basin, Valencia County, New Mexico by Richard P. Lozinsky¹ and Richard H. Tedford2 'New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, Socorro, NM 87801 'American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024 SOCORRO 1991 ii NEW MEXICO INSTITUTE OF MINING & TECHNOLOGY Laurence H. Lattman, President NEW MEXICO BUREAU OF MINES & MINERAL RESOURCES Charles E. Chapin, Director and State Geologist BOARD OF REGENTS Ex Officio Bruce King, Governor of New Mexico Alan Morgan, Superintendent of Public Instruction Appointed Steve Torres, President, 1967-1997, Albuquerque Carol A. Rymer, M.D., President-Designate, 1989-1995, Albuquerque Lt. Gen. Leo Marquez, Secretary/Treasurer, 1989-1995, Albuquerque Robert 0. Anderson, 1987-1993, Roswell Charles Zimmerly, 1991-1997, Socorro BUREAU STAFF Full Time ORIN J. ANDERSON, Geologist ROBERT W. EVELETH, Senior Mining Engineer NORMA J. MEEKS, Senior Pub./Bus. Office Clerk RUBEN ARCHULETA, Metallurgical Lab. Tech. Lois GOLLMER, Staff Secretary BARBARA R. POPP, Chemical Lab. Tech. 11 AUGUSTUS K. ARMSTRONG, USGS Geologist IBRAHIM GUMMIER, Metallurgist MARSHALL A. REITER, Senior Geophysicist GEORGE S. AUSTIN, Senior Industrial Minerals Geologist WILLIAM C. HANEBERG, Engineering Geologist JACQUES R. RENAULT, Senior Geologist AL BACA, Maintenance Carpenter II JoHN W. HAWLEY, Senior Env. Geologist JAMES M. ROBERTSON, Senior Economic Geologist JAMES M. BARKER, Industrial Minerals Geologist CAROL A. HJELLMING, Assistant Editor JANETTE THOMAS, Cartographic Drafter II MARGARET W. BARROLL, Post-Doctoral Fellow GRETCHEN K. HOFFMAN, Coal Geologist SAMUEL THOMPSON III, Senior Petrol. Geologist PAUL W. BAUER, Field Economic Geologist GLEN JONES, Computer Scientist/Geologist REBECCA J. Titus, Cartographic Supervisor ROBERT A. BIEBERMAN, Emeritus Sr. Petroleum Geologist FRANK E. Kottlowski, Emeritus Director and State Geologist JUDY M. VAIZA, Executive Secretary LYNN A. BRANDVOLD, Senior Chemist ANN LAMING, Administrative Secretary MANUEL J. VASQUEZ, Mechanic I RON BROADHEAD, Petrol. Geologist, Head, Petroleum Section ANNABELLE LOPEZ, Petroleum Records Clerk JEANNE M. VERPLOEGH, Chemical lab. Tech. II MONTE M. BROWN, Cartographic Drafter II THERESA L. LOPEZ, Receptionist/Staff Secretary ROBERT H. WEBER, Emeritus Senior Geologist KATHRYN E. CAMPBELL, Cartographic Drafter II DAVID W. LOVE, Environmental Geologist SUSAN J. WELCH, Assistant Editor STEVEN M. LATHER, Field Economic Geologist JANE A. CALVERT LOVE, Editor NEIL H. WHITEHEAD, III Petroleum Geologist RICHARD CHAMBERLIN, Field Economic Geologist WILLIAM MCINTOSH, Research Geologist MARC L. WILSON, Mineralogist RICHARD R. CHAVEZ, Assistant Head, Petroleum Section CHRISTOPHER G. McKEE, X-ray Facility Manager DONALD WOLBERG, Vertebrate Paleontologist RUBEN A. CRESPIN, Garage Supervisor VIRGINIA MCLEMORE, Geologist MICHAEL W. WOOLDRIDGE, Scientific Illustrator Lois M. DEVLIN, Director, Bus./Pub. Office LYNNE MCNEIL, Technical Secretary Jun ZIDEK, Chief Editor—Geologist Research Associates CHRISTINA L. BALK, NMT ALONZO D. JACKA, Texas Tech HOWARD B. NICKELSON, Carlsbad WILLIAM L. CHENOWETH, Grand Junction, CO BOB JULYAN, Albuquerque GLENN R. OSBURN, Washington Univ. RUSSELL E. CLEMONS, NMSU SHARI A. KELLEY, SMU ALLAN R. SANFORD, NMT WILLIAM A. COBBAN, USGS WILLIAM E. KING, NMSU JoHN H. SCHILLING, Reno, NV CHARLES A. FERGUSON, Univ. Alberta MICHALL J. KUNK, USGS WILLIAM R. SEAGER, NMSU JOHN W. GEISSMAN, UNM TIMOTHY E LAWTON, NMSU EDWARD W. SMITH, Tesuque LELAND H. GILE, Las Cruces DAVID V. LEMONE, UTEP JOHN F. SUTTER, USGS JEFFREY A. GRAMBUNG, UNM GREG H. MACK, NMSU RICHARD H. TEDFORD, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. RICHARD W. HARRISON, T or C NANCY J. MCMILLAN, NMSU TOMMY B. THOMPSON, CSU CAROL A. HILL, Albuquerque Graduate Students WILLIAM C. BECK ROBERT L. FRIESEN GARRETT K. Ross JENNIFER R. BORYTA ROBERT S. KING ERNEST F. SCHARKAN, JR. STEPHEN G. CROSS DAVID J. SIVILS Plus about 30 undergraduate assistants Original Printing Published by Authority of State of New Mexico, NMSA 1953 Sec. 63-1-4 Printed by University of New Mexico Printing Services, August 1991 Available from New Mexico Bureau of Mines & Mineral Resources, Socorro, NM 87801 Published as public domain, therefore reproducible without permission. Source credit requested. iii Preface Most work in this publication was done by Lozinsky as part of a Ph.D. dissertation completed at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in 1988. Field work was done intermittently from 1984 to 1987. Fossils found during the project, together with earlier discoveries by Theodore Galusha of the American Museum of Natural History, were the basis for the paleontological contribution by Tedford. This report on the geology and paleontology of the southwestern Albuquerque Basin is important because it is the first study of the Santa Fe Group that combines surface and subsurface information to interpret the depositional history of the area. Although focusing mainly on the Santa Fe Group, this work also discusses pre-Santa Fe Tertiary deposits recognized in oil test wells and provides inferences on the erosion history of the surrounding uplifts. Acknowledgments—The Huning Land Trust and the McKinley Ranch granted access to the mighty Gabaldon badlands area, and special thanks are due to Jack Huning and Weldon McKinley for their steadfast support of geological research in the area. Shell Oil Company allowed Lozinsky to examine and release some of its seismic reflection data on this southwestern part of the Albuquerque Basin. J. Hawley and D. Love aided Lozinsky in the field and discussions with them greatly helped this study. Major funding was provided by the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources (F. Kottlowski, Director) through a research assistantship to Lozinsky and field funds to Tedford. Additional funding for Lozinsky was provided by the New Mexico Geological Society. The Frick Laboratory Endowment Fund of the American Museum of Natural History also supported Tedford's work. We are indebted to the late Theodore Galusha, whose careful field records helped us to integrate his collections with those of ours. The recent cataloging and editing of Mr. Galusha's records by Marian Galusha has also been of great help and her contribution is gratefully acknowledged. Critical reviews by J. Hawley, S. Lucas, G. Smith, and S. Cather improved the content of this report and are sincerely appreciated. iv CONTENTS ABSTRACT 5 Age of Bobo Butte section 17 INTRODUCTION 7 OIL TEST WELLS 17 GEOGRAPHIC SETTING 7 Stratigraphy of units encountered 17 GEOLOGIC SETTING7 Humble SFP #1 17 GEOLOGY 7 Shell SFP #2 18 PREVIOUS WORK 7 SANDSTONE PETROLOGY 18 METHODS AND TECHNIQUES 8 Santa Fe Group 18 Mapping and measuring sections 8 Pre-Santa Fe Tertiary deposits 20 Paleocurrent measurements 8 Upper Cretaceous deposits 22 Clast counts 8 PROVENANCE 22 Sample collection and preparation 8 DEPOSITIONAL HISTORY OF SOUTHWESTERN ALBUQUERQUE Petrographic analyses 8 BASIN 23 GABALDON BADLANDS 9 PALEONTOLOGY 24 Stratigraphy of Santa Fe Group 10 PREVIOUS WORK 24 Popotosa Formation 10 BIOSTRATIGRAPHY 24 Unit 1 10 SYSTEMATICS 24 Unit 2 11 Order Lagomorpha 24 Unit 3 12 Order Rodentia 24 Sierra Ladrones Formation 12 Order Carnivora 25 Mohinas Mountain 14 Order Perissodactyla 26 Age of Gabaldon section 14 Order Artiodactyla 26 Structure 15 BIOCHRONOLOGY AND ZOOGEOGRAPHY 28 Bobo BUTTE 15 CONCLUSIONS 28 Stratigraphy of Santa Fe Group 15 REFERENCES 29 Popotosa Formation 15 APPENDICES 31 Sierra Ladrones Formation (?) caprock unit on I—MEASURED SECTIONS 31 Bobo Butte 17 II—POINT-COUNT DATA 35 Tables 1—Point-count parameters 8 3—Clast counts in Bobo Butte area 17 2—Clast counts in Gabaldon badlands area 10 Figures 1—Location map for the Gabaldon badlands and Bobo 10—View of Bobo Butte from the north 16 Butte areas 6 11—Stratigraphic column for Humble SFP #1 18 2—Aerial photograph of the Gabaldon badlands 9 12—Stratigraphic column for Shell SFP #2 18 3—Sink hole in unit 1 of Popotosa Formation 9 13—Ternary diagrams for Gabaldon badlands 19 4—Stratigraphic chart for Gabaldon badlands 10 14—Ternary diagrams for Bobo Butte 20 5—Unit 1 deposits 11 15—Ternary diagrams for oil test wells 21 6—Contact between units 1 and 2 of Popotosa 16—Rose diagram for Popotosa Formation units 1- Formation 11 3 22 7—Camel trackway in unit 3 of Popotosa 17—Rose diagram for Sierra Ladrones Formation 23 Formation 13 18—Fossil bone drawings of Leporidae, Castoridae, and 8—Crossbeds in Sierra Ladrones Formation 14 Canidae 25 9—Contact between Triassic sediments and Santa Fe 19—Fossil bone drawings of Camelidae 26 Group 16 20—Fossil bone drawings of Antilocapridae 27 Sheets 1—Geology of the Gabaldon badlands area in pocket 3—Geology of the Bobo Butte area in pocket 2—Geologic cross sections of the Gabaldon badlands area in pocket 5 Abstract Santa Fe Group outcrops in the southwestern Albuquerque Basin occur in the Gabaldon badlands and Bobo Butte areas. Two oil test wells located near the Gabaldon badlands, the Humble Santa Fe Pacific #1 and Shell Santa Fe Pacific #2, penetrate the Santa Fe Group and pre-Santa Fe Tertiary deposits and bottom in Mesozoic bedrock. In the Gabaldon badlands, the thickness of the exposed Santa Fe Group is at least 1,138 m (3,732 ft) and may be as much as 1,800 m (6,000 ft). In the Humble Santa Fe Pacific #1 and Shell Santa Fe Pacific #2 wells, the Santa Fe thickness is 1,494 and 1,460 m (4,902 and 4,790 ft), respectively. The thickness of the exposed Santa Fe section at Bobo Butte is 246 m (807 ft). In the oil test wells, up to 1,097 m (3,600 ft) of pre-Santa Fe Group Tertiary deposits, which are correlative with possible Baca Formation and an unnamed post-Baca/pre-Santa Fe unit, underlie the Santa Fe Group. These pre--Santa Fe deposits indicate the presence of a depositional basin that predates the Albuquerque Basin. The Santa Fe Group exposed in the Gabaldon badlands area is divided into four units that correlate with the Popotosa Formation (units 1-3) and the Sierra Ladrones Formation.