Orogrande Basin

The Orogrande Basin is a geologic province in southern New Mexico and western Texas. It includes Doña Ana, Sierra, Socorro, Lincoln, and Otero Counties in New Mexico and El Paso County, Texas.[1] The province takes its name from the community of Orogrande, New Mexico.

Map of the Orogrande Basin geologic province, New Mexico, US

Geology

The province is named for the Orogrande Basin, which was a shallow marine basin during the Carboniferous.[2] This basin was one of several basins that opened along the southwestern margin of the North American craton due to crustal stress from the Ouachita Orogeny. At this time, this area was very close to the equator.[3] Up to 910 meters (3,000 ft) of limestones and shales were deposited.[2][4] These included sediments from a Carboniferous mountain range, the Pedernal Uplift, located to the east.[5]

A narrow shelf, the Sacramento Shelf, was located between the basin and mountain range, and formations in this area from the Carboniferous are notable for their algal mounds.[6] This steep shelf margin gave way further west to a gently-inclined ramp, the Robledo Ramp. The Gobbler Formation is typical of middle Pennsylvanian deposition in the basin.[3] The Orogrande Basin was centered on the present-day Tularosa Basin.[7]

References
  1. Moore, B.J. (1982). Analyses of natural gases, 1917-80. Vol. 8870. US Department of the Interior. pp. 4–5. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  2. Kottlowski, Frank E. (1962). "Pennsylvanian rocks of southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona". Pennsylvania System in the United States. AAPG. pp. 331–371. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  3. Algeo, T.J.; Wilkinson, B.H.; Lohmann, K.C. (1992). "Meteoric-burial Diagenesis of Middle Pennsylvanian Limestones in the Orogrande Basin, New Mexico: Water/Rock Interactions and Basin Geothermics". SEPM Journal of Sedimentary Research. 62. doi:10.1306/D426797E-2B26-11D7-8648000102C1865D.
  4. Kottlowski, Frank E. (1964). "Sedimentary Basins of Central and Southwestern New Mexico: ABSTRACT". AAPG Bulletin. 48. doi:10.1306/BC743DE7-16BE-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
  5. Bachman, George O. (1975). "Paleotectonic investigations of the Pennsylvanian System in the United States, Part I: Introduction and regional analyses of the Pennsylvanian System: New Mexico". United States Geological Survey Professional Paper. 853 (1): 235. doi:10.3133/pp8531.
  6. Toomey, D.F.; Wilson, J.L.; Rezak, R. (1977). "Evolution of Yucca Mound Complex, Late Pennsylvanian Phylloid-Algal Buildup, Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico". AAPG Bulletin. 61. doi:10.1306/C1EA47D4-16C9-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
  7. Kottlowski, Frank E. (1960). "Summary of Pennsylvanian Sections in Southwestern New Mexico and Southeastern Arizona" (PDF). New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources Bulletin. 66: 145. Retrieved 7 December 2021.

32°24′N 106°06′W

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