Diamond Tail Formation

Diamond Tail Formation
Stratigraphic range: late Paleocene–early Eocene
Exposure of Diamond Tail Formation on Cerro Colorado, near Lamy, New Mexico
TypeFormation
UnderliesGalisteo Formation
OverliesMenefee Formation
Thickness442 m (1,450 ft)
Lithology
PrimarySandstone
OtherMudstone
Location
RegionCentral New Mexico
CountryUnited States
Type section
Named forDiamond Tail Ranch
Named byLucas, Cather, Abbott, and Williamson
Year defined1997
Diamond Tail Formation is located in the United States
Diamond Tail Formation
Diamond Tail Formation (the United States)
Diamond Tail Formation is located in New Mexico
Diamond Tail Formation
Diamond Tail Formation (New Mexico)

The Diamond Tail Formation is a geologic formation in New Mexico. It contains fossils characteristic of the late Paleocene or early Eocene.

Description

Diamond Tail Formation near Los Cerros, New Mexico

The Diamond Tail Formation consists of a lower member composed of sandstone and conglomeratic sandstone, a middle member of variegated mudstone, and an upper sandstone member. The formation crops out over a limited area between Sandia Crest and the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

The formation is cut by thrust and strike-slip faults consistent with east-northeast to east-trending tectonic compression of the late stages of the Laramide Orogeny.[1]

The formation likely correlates with the lower San Jose Formation of the San Juan Basin.[2]

Fossils

The presence of Hyracotherium teeth dates the formation to the late Paleocene or early Eocene.[2]

History

The beds now designated as the Diamond Tail Formation were originally part of F.V. Hayden's Galisteo sand group.[3] By 1997, it was clear that these beds were separated from the remainder of the Galisteo by a significant regional unconformity, and they were split off into the Diamond Tail Formation, named after exposures near Diamond Tail Ranch.[2]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Erslev 2001.
  2. ^ a b c Lucas et al. 1997.
  3. ^ Hayden 1869.

References

  • Erslev, Eric A. (1 January 2001). "Multistage, multidirectional Tertiary shortening and compression in north-central New Mexico". GSA Bulletin. 113 (1): 63–74. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(2001)113<0063:MMTSAC>2.0.CO;2.
  • Hayden, F.V. (1869). United States Geologic Survey of New Mexico and Colorado.
  • Lucas, Spencer G.; Cather, Steven M.; Abbott, John C.; Williamson, Thomas E. (November 1997). "Stratigraphy and tectonic implications of Paleogene strata in the Laramide Galisteo Basin, north-central New Mexico" (PDF). New Mexico Geology.

See also