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Capitan Formation

January 01, 1970

The Capitan Formation is a geologic formation found in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. It is a fossilized reef dating to the Guadalupian Age of the Permian period.

Capitan Formation
Stratigraphic range: Guadalupian
The Capitan Formation underlies El Capitan in Guadalupe Mountains National Park.
TypeFormation
UnderliesArtesia Group, Castile Formation
OverliesGoat Seep Dolomite, Delaware Mountain Group
Thickness1,800 ft (550 m)
Lithology
PrimaryLimestone
Otherdolomite
Location
Coordinates31°52′38″N 104°52′00″W / 31.8773°N 104.8668°W / 31.8773; -104.8668
RegionTexas
New Mexico
CountryUnited States
Type section
Named forEl Capitan Peak
Named byG.B. Richardson
Year defined1904
Capitan Formation (the United States)
Capitan Formation (Texas)
Capitan Reef in Guadalupe Mountains National Park

The formation underlies El Capitan in Guadalupe Mountains National Park,[1] and the formation and its associated basin, shelf margin, and backreef formations have been described as "the largest, best-preserved, most accessible, and most intensively studied Paleozoic reef complex in the world."[2]

History of investigation edit

The Guadalupe Mountains were first described in the reports of 1849 and 1850 United States military expeditions to the area. George Shumard was the first geologist to study the area, in 1855, and described an "upper white limestone" containing fossils. These included fusulinids and brachiopods, that were identified correctly by his brother, B.F. Shumard, as Permian in age. However, debate on whether the beds were Carboniferous or Permian in age continued until at least 1920.[3] The work of Darton and Reeside in 1926[4] established the accepted framework for the stratigraphy of the area, and identified the Capitan Formation as late Permian in age.[3]

The Capitan Formation itself was first named by G.B. Richardson in 1904 for exposures in the Guadalupe Mountains. Richardson was impressed by the great mass of seemingly uniform limestone, forming vertical cliffs over 1,000 feet (300 m) tall, and noted that much of the limestone was dolomitized. He was also impressed with the abundant fossils found in the middle beds of the formation, forming a fossil assemblage unlike anything else known at that time. Richardson interpreted the Guadalupe Mountains as an east-dipping monocline with a fault on the steep western boundary, and believed El Capitan itself was a product of erosion.[5][6]

Interest in the formation was rekindled by the discovery in May 1923 of the Big Lake oil field in Texas and the drilling of the first commercial oil well in southeastern New Mexico in 1924. This culminated in the publication by E. Russell Lloyd in 1929 of his interpretation of the Capitan Limestone and associated formations as a gigantic fossil coral reef. Lloyd traced the reef nearly to Carlsbad and noted that the dissimilarity of the formations on the two sides of the reef, now known as the basin and backreef shelf facies.[7] Two months later, a “Symposium on Pennsylvanian and Permian stratigraphy of southwestern United States” appeared in the August, 1929 issue of the Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists,[8] which provided a flood of new details on the Capitan reef.[3]

As part of that symposium, Philip B. King and R.E. King presented their conclusion that the Tessey, Gilliam, and Vidrio Limestones of the Glass Mountains of west Texas were correlative with the Capitan Formation, and redesigned them as members of the formation.[9][10] However, by 1937, King had concluded that the Tessey Limestone was not part of the Capital Formation and removed it as a member.[11] By 1942 he had restricted the definition of the Capitan Formation to reef limestone, consistent with the stratigraphic conventions in the Guadalupe Mountains, and removed the Gilliam and most of the Vidrio Limestone from the formation.[12]

Description edit

The Capitan Formation consists of compact, massive, light grey to white limestone with minor dolomite. Its total thickness is 1,000–2,000 feet (300–610 m).[13] On the backreef side of the formation, the Capitan rests on the Goat Seep Dolomite and grades into and is overlain by the Artesia Group, while on the basin side, the Capitan rests on the Delaware Mountain Group and is overlain by the Castile Formation.[13][14][15] The formation thus forms a narrow belt curving around the western side of the Delaware Basin that interfingers with backreef formations on the northwestern to southwestern side and with basin formations on the southeastern to northeastern side.[13]

The formation is a giant fossil reef, extending at least from the Carlsbad area[7] to the Glass Mountains of Texas.[9] At its greatest development, the reef may have been built up to 200–300 feet (61–91 m) above the sea floor.[11]

Fossils edit

Richardson (1904) found that the upper and lower beds of the formation were relatively unfossiliferous, but the middle section contained an abundant fossil assemblage unlike any other known at that time.[5]

Fusulinida edit

Porifera edit

  • Numerous species

Anthozoa edit

  • A few species

Bryozoa edit

  • Acanthocladia
  • Goniocladia

Brachiopoda edit

Mollusca edit

King found that the Vidrio Limestone Member had been highly dolomitized, destroying most of its fossil contents, but he recognized fossils of coralline algae, cup corals, crinoid stems, fusulinids, echinoid spines, and brachiopods.[11]

See also edit

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ "Geologic Formations." Gualadupe Mountains National Park
  2. ^ Kues and Giles 2004, p.125
  3. ^ a b c Kues 2006
  4. ^ Darton and Reeside 1926
  5. ^ a b Richardson 1904
  6. ^ Richardson 1908
  7. ^ a b Lloyd 1929
  8. ^ Lahee 1929
  9. ^ a b King and King 1929
  10. ^ King 1930
  11. ^ a b c King 1937
  12. ^ King 1942
  13. ^ a b c King 1948
  14. ^ Kues 2006, p.128
  15. ^ Kues and Giles 2004, p.100

References edit

  • Darton, N. H.; Reeside, J. B. (30 September 1926). "Guadalupe Group". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 37 (3): 413–428. Bibcode:1926GSAB...37..413D. doi:10.1130/GSAB-37-413.
  • King, P.B. (1930). "The geology of the Glass Mountains, Texas; Part 1, Descriptive geology". University of Texas Bulletin. 3038.
  • King, P.B. (1937). "Geology of the southern Guadalupe Mountains, Texas". U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper. 187. doi:10.3133/pp187.
  • King, Philip B. (1948). "Geology of the Southern Guadalupe Mountains, Texas". U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper. Professional Paper. 215. doi:10.3133/pp215.
  • King, P.B. (1942). "Permian of West Texas and Southeastern New Mexico: PART 1". AAPG Bulletin. 26. doi:10.1306/3D933466-16B1-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
  • King, Philip B.; King, Robert E. (1929). "Stratigraphy of Outcropping Carboniferous and Permian Rocks of Trans-Pecos Texas". AAPG Bulletin. 13. doi:10.1306/3D93286B-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.
  • Lahee, Frederic H. (August 1929). "Foreword: SYMPOSIUM ON PENNSYLVANIAN AND PERMIAN STRATIGRAPHY OF SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES". Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. 13 (8). doi:10.1306/3D932868-16B1-11D7-8645000102C1865D. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  • Lloyd, E. Russell (1929). "Capitan Limestone and Associated Formations of New Mexico and Texas". AAPG Bulletin. 13. doi:10.1306/3D932855-16B1-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
  • "Geologic Formations". Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas. National Park Service. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  • Richardson, G.B. (1904). "Report of a reconnaissance in Trans-Pecos Texas north of the Texas and Pacific Railway". University of Texas Mineral Survey Bulletin. 9. hdl:2152/24408. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  • Richardson, G B. (Jun 1908). "Paleozoic Formations in Trans-Pecos Texas". American Journal of Science. 25 (150): 474. Bibcode:1908AmJS...25..474R. doi:10.2475/ajs.s4-25.150.474. Retrieved 20 September 2020.

January 01, 1970
capitan, formation, geologic, formation, found, western, texas, southeastern, mexico, fossilized, reef, dating, guadalupian, permian, period, stratigraphic, range, guadalupian, preꞒ, nthe, underlies, capitan, guadalupe, mountains, national, park, typeformation. The Capitan Formation is a geologic formation found in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico It is a fossilized reef dating to the Guadalupian Age of the Permian period Capitan FormationStratigraphic range Guadalupian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg NThe Capitan Formation underlies El Capitan in Guadalupe Mountains National Park TypeFormationUnderliesArtesia Group Castile FormationOverliesGoat Seep Dolomite Delaware Mountain GroupThickness1 800 ft 550 m LithologyPrimaryLimestoneOtherdolomiteLocationCoordinates31 52 38 N 104 52 00 W 31 8773 N 104 8668 W 31 8773 104 8668RegionTexasNew MexicoCountryUnited StatesType sectionNamed forEl Capitan PeakNamed byG B RichardsonYear defined1904Capitan Formation the United States Show map of the United StatesCapitan Formation Texas Show map of Texas Capitan Reef in Guadalupe Mountains National Park The formation underlies El Capitan in Guadalupe Mountains National Park 1 and the formation and its associated basin shelf margin and backreef formations have been described as the largest best preserved most accessible and most intensively studied Paleozoic reef complex in the world 2 Contents 1 History of investigation 2 Description 3 Fossils 3 1 Fusulinida 3 2 Porifera 3 3 Anthozoa 3 4 Bryozoa 3 5 Brachiopoda 3 6 Mollusca 4 See also 5 Footnotes 6 ReferencesHistory of investigation editThe Guadalupe Mountains were first described in the reports of 1849 and 1850 United States military expeditions to the area George Shumard was the first geologist to study the area in 1855 and described an upper white limestone containing fossils These included fusulinids and brachiopods that were identified correctly by his brother B F Shumard as Permian in age However debate on whether the beds were Carboniferous or Permian in age continued until at least 1920 3 The work of Darton and Reeside in 1926 4 established the accepted framework for the stratigraphy of the area and identified the Capitan Formation as late Permian in age 3 The Capitan Formation itself was first named by G B Richardson in 1904 for exposures in the Guadalupe Mountains Richardson was impressed by the great mass of seemingly uniform limestone forming vertical cliffs over 1 000 feet 300 m tall and noted that much of the limestone was dolomitized He was also impressed with the abundant fossils found in the middle beds of the formation forming a fossil assemblage unlike anything else known at that time Richardson interpreted the Guadalupe Mountains as an east dipping monocline with a fault on the steep western boundary and believed El Capitan itself was a product of erosion 5 6 Interest in the formation was rekindled by the discovery in May 1923 of the Big Lake oil field in Texas and the drilling of the first commercial oil well in southeastern New Mexico in 1924 This culminated in the publication by E Russell Lloyd in 1929 of his interpretation of the Capitan Limestone and associated formations as a gigantic fossil coral reef Lloyd traced the reef nearly to Carlsbad and noted that the dissimilarity of the formations on the two sides of the reef now known as the basin and backreef shelf facies 7 Two months later a Symposium on Pennsylvanian and Permian stratigraphy of southwestern United States appeared in the August 1929 issue of the Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists 8 which provided a flood of new details on the Capitan reef 3 As part of that symposium Philip B King and R E King presented their conclusion that the Tessey Gilliam and Vidrio Limestones of the Glass Mountains of west Texas were correlative with the Capitan Formation and redesigned them as members of the formation 9 10 However by 1937 King had concluded that the Tessey Limestone was not part of the Capital Formation and removed it as a member 11 By 1942 he had restricted the definition of the Capitan Formation to reef limestone consistent with the stratigraphic conventions in the Guadalupe Mountains and removed the Gilliam and most of the Vidrio Limestone from the formation 12 Description editThe Capitan Formation consists of compact massive light grey to white limestone with minor dolomite Its total thickness is 1 000 2 000 feet 300 610 m 13 On the backreef side of the formation the Capitan rests on the Goat Seep Dolomite and grades into and is overlain by the Artesia Group while on the basin side the Capitan rests on the Delaware Mountain Group and is overlain by the Castile Formation 13 14 15 The formation thus forms a narrow belt curving around the western side of the Delaware Basin that interfingers with backreef formations on the northwestern to southwestern side and with basin formations on the southeastern to northeastern side 13 The formation is a giant fossil reef extending at least from the Carlsbad area 7 to the Glass Mountains of Texas 9 At its greatest development the reef may have been built up to 200 300 feet 61 91 m above the sea floor 11 Fossils editRichardson 1904 found that the upper and lower beds of the formation were relatively unfossiliferous but the middle section contained an abundant fossil assemblage unlike any other known at that time 5 Fusulinida edit Fusulina elongata Porifera edit Numerous species Anthozoa edit A few species Bryozoa edit Acanthocladia Goniocladia Brachiopoda edit Streptorhynchus Orthotetes Geyerella Orthothetina Chonetes Productus occidentalis P subhotridus P popei P mexicanus Marginifera pileolus Spirifer mexicanus Spirifer sev sp Martinia Squamularia guadalupensis Ambocoelia Spiriferina billingsi Hustedia meekana Pugnax swallowiana Rhynchonella indentata Terebratuloids Leptodus Richthofenia permiana Mollusca edit Schizodus securas Aviculopecten Lima Camptonectes Streblopteria Myalina squamosa Myoconcha Indeterminate gastropods King found that the Vidrio Limestone Member had been highly dolomitized destroying most of its fossil contents but he recognized fossils of coralline algae cup corals crinoid stems fusulinids echinoid spines and brachiopods 11 See also edit nbsp Earth sciences portal nbsp Texas portal nbsp Paleontology portal List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Texas Paleontology in TexasFootnotes edit Geologic Formations Gualadupe Mountains National Park Kues and Giles 2004 p 125 a b c Kues 2006 Darton and Reeside 1926 a b Richardson 1904 Richardson 1908 a b Lloyd 1929 Lahee 1929 a b King and King 1929 King 1930 a b c King 1937 King 1942 a b c King 1948 Kues 2006 p 128 Kues and Giles 2004 p 100References editDarton N H Reeside J B 30 September 1926 Guadalupe Group Geological Society of America Bulletin 37 3 413 428 Bibcode 1926GSAB 37 413D doi 10 1130 GSAB 37 413 King P B 1930 The geology of the Glass Mountains Texas Part 1 Descriptive geology University of Texas Bulletin 3038 King P B 1937 Geology of the southern Guadalupe Mountains Texas U S Geological Survey Professional Paper 187 doi 10 3133 pp187 King Philip B 1948 Geology of the Southern Guadalupe Mountains Texas U S Geological Survey Professional Paper Professional Paper 215 doi 10 3133 pp215 King P B 1942 Permian of West Texas and Southeastern New Mexico PART 1 AAPG Bulletin 26 doi 10 1306 3D933466 16B1 11D7 8645000102C1865D King Philip B King Robert E 1929 Stratigraphy of Outcropping Carboniferous and Permian Rocks of Trans Pecos Texas AAPG Bulletin 13 doi 10 1306 3D93286B 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 Lahee Frederic H August 1929 Foreword SYMPOSIUM ON PENNSYLVANIAN AND PERMIAN STRATIGRAPHY OF SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists 13 8 doi 10 1306 3D932868 16B1 11D7 8645000102C1865D Retrieved 20 September 2020 Lloyd E Russell 1929 Capitan Limestone and Associated Formations of New Mexico and Texas AAPG Bulletin 13 doi 10 1306 3D932855 16B1 11D7 8645000102C1865D Geologic Formations Guadalupe Mountains National Park Texas National Park Service Retrieved 19 September 2020 Richardson G B 1904 Report of a reconnaissance in Trans Pecos Texas north of the Texas and Pacific Railway University of Texas Mineral Survey Bulletin 9 hdl 2152 24408 Retrieved 19 September 2020 Richardson G B Jun 1908 Paleozoic Formations in Trans Pecos Texas American Journal of Science 25 150 474 Bibcode 1908AmJS 25 474R doi 10 2475 ajs s4 25 150 474 Retrieved 20 September 2020 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Capitan Formation amp oldid 1207276336, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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