Artesia Group

Artesia Group
Stratigraphic range: Kungurian–Guadalupian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Type	Group
Sub-units	Grayburg Formation, Queen Formation, Seven Rivers Formation, Yates Formation, Tansill Formation
Underlies	Triassic units
Overlies	San Andres Formation
Thickness	139–1,710 feet (42–521 m)
Lithology
Primary	Limestone, dolomite
Other	Sandstone
Location
Coordinates	32°53′35″N104°00′40″W / 32.893°N 104.011°W / 32.893; -104.011
Region	New Mexico
Country	United States
Type section
Named for	Artesia, New Mexico
Named by	Tait, Motts, and Spitler
Year defined	1962
Artesia Group (the United States) Show map of the United States Artesia Group (New Mexico) Show map of New Mexico

The Artesia Group is a group of geologic formations found in southeastern New Mexico and west Texas. These preserve fossils from the Leonardian to Guadalupian Epochs of the Permian Period. ^{[1] [2]}

Description

The Artesia Group is interpreted as a sequence of shelf rocks of the Capitan reef. It shows cyclicity and considerable lateral variation, from carbonate rocks near the Capitan reef, to mixed dolomitic mudstone, evaporites, and sandstones of a lagoon environment further from the reef, to a near-shore environment of evaporites, massive red siltstones, and minor amounts of dolomite. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Formations within the group are, in ascending stratigraphic order, the Grayburg Formation, Queen Formation, Seven Rivers Formation, Yates Formation, and Tansill Formation. The Grayburg and Queen are found furthest north, pinching out north of Las Vegas, New Mexico, with the younger formations pinching out further south. This reflects the retreat of the sea from the area. ^[2] The formation is prominent in the subsurface near Artesia, New Mexico, where it attains a thickness of 1,710 feet (520 m). ^[1]

The formation lies atop the San Andres Formation, from which it is separated by an erosional surface showing karst features. It is overlain by various Triassic rock units. ^[2] In its northernmost exposures, in Glorieta Pass, it is lowered to formation rank. ^[4]

History of investigation

The group was first named by Tait and coinvestigators in 1962. It largely replaces the abandoned Whitehorse Group and Carlsbad Group. ^[1] Red beds previously assigned to the Bernal Formation at Glorieta Pass were reassigned to the Artesia Formation by Lucas and Hayden in 1991. ^[4]

See also

• Earth sciences portal
• Paleontology portal

• List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in New Mexico
• Paleontology in New Mexico

Footnotes

1. Tait, Motts & Spitler 1962.
2. Kues & Giles 2004, pp. 124–128.
3. Kues 2006.
4. Lucas & Hayden 1991.

References

• 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 September 20, 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.
• Lucas, S.G.; Hayden, S.N. (1991). "Type section of the Permian Bernal Formation and the Permian-Triassic boundary in north-central New Mexico" (PDF). New Mexico Geology. 13 (1): 9–15. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
• 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.