Queen Formation
The Queen Formation is a geologic formation in southeastern New Mexico and west Texas. It preserves fossils dating back to the late Guadalupian Epoch of the Permian period.[1][2]
| Queen Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: | |
| Type | Formation |
| Unit of | Artesia Group |
| Underlies | Seven Rivers Formation |
| Overlies | San Andres Formation |
| Thickness | 500 feet (150 m) |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Sandstone |
| Other | dolomite, anhydrite |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 32.191°N 104.755°W |
| Region | New Mexico |
| Country | United States |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Queen Post Office |
| Named by | Blanchard and Davis |
| Year defined | 1929 |
  Queen Formation (the United States)  Queen Formation (New Mexico) | |
Description
The formation consists of up to 500 feet (150 m)[3] of mostly sandstone, with some interbedded dolomite and anhydrite. It rests on the San Andres Formation, from which it is separated by an erosional surface showing karst features.[4] The Queen Formation is overlain by the Seven Rivers Formation. The Queen Formation is part of the Artesia Group, which is interpreted as a sequence of shelf rocks of the Capitan reef.[1][5]
History of investigation
The unit was first named as the Queen sandstone of the upper San Andres Formation by Grant Blanchard and Morgan Davis in 1929.[3] In 1937, W.B. Lang assigned the Seven Rivers Member to the (now abandoned) Chalk Bluff Formation.[6] The unit was promoted to formation rank and assigned to the Whitehorse Group by Ronald DeFord and Russell Lloyd in 1940.[7] The formation was assigned to the Artesia Group by D.B. Tait and coinvestigators in 1962.[1]
Footnotes
- Tait, Motts & Spitler 1962.
- Kues & Giles 2004, p. 100.
- Blanchard & Davis 1929.
- Kues & Giles 2004, pp. 124–128.
- Kues 2006.
- Lang 1937.
- DeFord & Lloyd 1940.
References
- Blanchard, W. Grant; Davis, Morgan J. (1929). "Permian Stratigraphy and Structure of Parts of Southeastern New Mexico and Southwestern Texas". AAPG Bulletin. 13 (8): 957–995. doi:10.1306/3D93286E-16B1-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
- DeFord, Ronald K.; Lloyd, E. Russell (1940). "West Texas-New Mexico Symposium: Part I Editorial Introduction". AAPG Bulletin. 24. doi:10.1306/3D933188-16B1-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
- Kues, Barry S. (2006). "Geological studies of the Guadalupe Mountains area, New Mexico and West Texas, to 1928" (PDF). New Mexico Geological Society Field Conference Series. 57: 127–144. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
- Kues, B.S.; Giles, K.A. (2004). "The late Paleozoic Ancestral Rocky Mountain system in New Mexico". In Mack, G.H.; Giles, K.A. (eds.). The geology of New Mexico. A geologic history: New Mexico Geological Society Special Volume 11. pp. 95–136. ISBN 9781585460106.
- Lang, W.B. (1937). "The Permian formations of the Pecos Valley of New Mexico and Texas". American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin. 21 (7): 833–898. doi:10.1306/3D932EDE-16B1-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
- Tait, D.B.; Motts, W.S.; Spitler, M.E. (1962). "Artesia Group of New Mexico and West Texas". American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin. 46 (4): 504–517. doi:10.1306/BC74383B-16BE-11D7-8645000102C1865D.