Cherry Canyon Formation

The Cherry Canyon Formation is a geologic formation found in the Delaware Basin of southeastern New Mexico and western Texas. It contains fossils characteristic of the Guadalupian Age of the Permian Period.[1]

Cherry Canyon Formation
Stratigraphic range: Roadian-Wordian
~272–266 Ma
TypeGeological formation
Unit ofDelaware Mountain Group
Sub-unitsGetaway, South Wells, and Manzanita Members
UnderliesBell Canyon Formation
OverliesBrushy Canyon Formation
Thickness400 m (1,300 ft)
Lithology
PrimarySandstone, siltstone
OtherLimestone
Location
Coordinates31.899°N 104.780°W / 31.899; -104.780
Approximate paleocoordinates3.7°N 34.1°W / 3.7; -34.1
RegionNew Mexico, Texas
Country United States
ExtentGuadalupe and Delaware Mountains
Type section
Named forCherry Canyon
Named byDeFord and Lloyd
Year defined1940
Cherry Canyon Formation (the United States)
Cherry Canyon Formation (Texas)

Description

The formation consists mostly of cyclic marine sandstone and siltstone, but with interfingering tongues of gray limestone (the Getaway, South Wells,[2] and Manzanita Members). These extend from the Goat Seep reef, an earlier and much smaller precursor to the Capitan reef, into what was then deep, anoxic water of the Permian Basin. A lower tongue of the formation extends across the basin margin to grade into the nearby San Andres Formation. Maximum thickness of the Cherry Canyon Formation is 400 meters (1,300 ft). The formation rests on the Brushy Canyon Formation, but the lower tongue fills a few deep paleochannels that cut down through the Brushy Canyon and the underlying Cutoff Formation into the Victorio Peak Formation.[3] A hiatus in deposition, marking a substantial drop in sea level, separates the Cherry Canyon Formation from the overlying Bell Canyon Formation.[4]

The Getaway Member contains carbonate debris flow beds. All three carbonate members grade into sandstone channel deposits deeper in the basin.[3]

Fossils

The formation contain abundant fish fossils, such as sharks' teeth, preserved within small phosphatic nodules.[5]

History of investigation

The unit was first designated as a formation by DeFord and Lloyd in 1940, who raised the Delaware Mountain Formation to group rank and designed its previously informal members as formations.[6][7]

Footnotes

  1. Kues and Giles 2004, p.100
  2. King 1948, p.36
  3. Kues and Giles 2004, p.124
  4. Kues and Giles 2004, p.126
  5. "Guadalupe Mountains National Park," Hunt, Santucci, and Kenworthy (2006); page 64.
  6. DeFord and Lloyd 1940
  7. King 1942

Bibliography

  • 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.
  • Hunt, ReBecca K., Vincent L. Santucci and Jason Kenworthy. 2006. "A preliminary inventory of fossil fish from National Park Service units." in S.G. Lucas, J.A. Spielmann, P.M. Hester, J.P. Kenworthy, and V.L. Santucci (ed.s), Fossils from Federal Lands. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 34, pp. 63–69
  • King, Philip B. (1948). "Geology of the Southern Guadalupe Mountains, Texas". U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper. 215: 36. doi:10.3133/pp215.
  • 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.
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