The unit was originally designated as the Salitral Shale tongue of the Chinle Formation by Wood and Northrup in 1946, as part of their petroleum survey of the region. It was presumably named for Salitral Creek (36°10′35″N106°41′22″W / 36.1764797°N 106.6893804°W / 36.1764797; -106.6893804).[1] Lucas and Hunt raised it to formation rank in 1992 in the same study in which they raised the Chinle Formation to group rank.[2] Other authors prefer a lower rank, as the Salitral Member of the Chinle Formation.[3]
The Salitral Formation is time-equivalent to other Chinle strata found further west, occupying the same stratigraphic position. These include the Bluewater Creek Formation and the Blue Mesa Member in west-central New Mexico, and the Monitor Butte Formation and Blue Mesa Member in southeastern Utah. However, it is not a synonym for any of these formations, being much thinner and having its own distinctive lithology.[5]
As a formation, the Salitral consists of two members. The lower Piedre Lumbre Member, named for the Piedre Lumbre Land Grant, is sandstone and siltstone, olive gray to brown in color, up to 5 meters (16 feet) thick. It tends to form a green slope immediately above the underlying Shinarump Conglomerate. The upper bed is occasionally prominent as a brownish yellow intraformational conglomerate up to 1.6 meters (5.2 feet) thick. When present, this is designated the El Cerrito Bed. The upper Youngsville Member is reddish brown, bentonitic mudstone up to 26 meters (85 feet) thick. It is named for the nearby village of Youngsville.[5]
