The Chinle Formation is an Upper Triassic continental geological formation of fluvial, lacustrine, and palustrine to eolian deposits spread across the U.S. states of Nevada, Utah, northern Arizona, western New Mexico, and western Colorado. In New Mexico, it is often raised to the status of a geological group, the Chinle Group. Some authors have controversially considered the Chinle to be synonymous to the Dockum Group of eastern Colorado and New Mexico, western Texas, the Oklahoma panhandle, and southwestern Kansas. The Chinle Formation is part of the Colorado Plateau, Basin and Range, and the southern section of the Interior Plains. A probable separate depositional basin within the Chinle is found in northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah. The southern portion of the Chinle reaches a maximum thickness of a little over 520 meters (1,710 ft). Typically, the Chinle rests unconformably on the Moenkopi Formation.
The Rio Puerco is a tributary of the Rio Grande in the U.S. state of New Mexico. From its source on the west side of the Nacimiento Mountains, it flows about 230 miles (370 km), generally south to join the Rio Grande about 20 miles (32 km) south of Belen and about 50 miles (80 km) south of Albuquerque. Its drainage basin is about 7,350 square miles (19,000 km2) large, of which probably about 1,130 square miles (2,900 km2) are noncontributing.
The Acoma-Zuni Section is a physiographic section of the larger Colorado Plateaus province, which in turn is part of the larger Intermontane Plateaus physiographic division. It is bounded on the east by the Albuquerque Basin, a Rio Grande Rift basin in the northern part of the Basin and Range Province. The Datil-Mogollon Section lies to the south. It is also a newly defined physiographic unit that includes the northern part of the area previously designated the Datil Section. The southeastern edge of the Colorado Plateau from Springerville, Arizona, northeastward to the tip of the Sierra Nacimiento comprises this area.
The Albuquerque Basin is a structural basin and ecoregion within the Rio Grande rift in central New Mexico. It contains the city of Albuquerque.
The Palomas Formation is a geologic formation exposed in the southern Rio Grande rift of New Mexico. It preserves fossils dating back to the Pliocene to Quaternary.
The Chamita Formation is a geologic formation in north-central New Mexico. It preserves unique fossils dating back to the Neogene period. The presence of volcanic ash beds in the formation, which can be radiometrically dated, gives the absolute age of the fossils, which is valuable for establishing the geologic time scale of the Neogene.
The Popotosa Formation is a geologic formation in New Mexico. It preserves fossils dating back to the Neogene period. These include the Socorro flora, notable for its fine preservation of plant reproductive structures.
The Sierra Ladrones Formation is a geologic formation exposed near the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico. It preserves fossils of Pliocene to Pleistocene age.
The Tesuque Formation is a geologic formation in north-central New Mexico, United States. The formation provides an unusually complete record of the evolution of mammals during the Miocene epoch.
The Zia Formation is a geologic formation in the southwestern Jemez Mountains and northwestern Santo Domingo basin. It contains vertebrate fossils that date it to early to middle Miocene in age.
The Edith Formation is a fluvial gravel Pleistocene geologic formation exposed near Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The Santa Fe Group is a group of geologic formations in New Mexico and Colorado. It contains fossils characteristic of the Oligocene through Pleistocene epochs. The group consists of basin-filling sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the Rio Grande rift, and contains important regional aquifers.
The Tanos Formation is a geologic formation in central New Mexico. It is estimated to be about 25 million years in age, corresponding to the Oligocene epoch.
The Ancha Formation is a geologic formation found near Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is estimated to be between 1 and 3 million years in age, corresponding to the late Pliocene and Pleistocene.
The Arroyo del Agua Formation is a geologic formation in New Mexico. It preserves fossils dating back to the early Permian period.
The Arroyo Ojito Formation is a late Miocene geologic formation exposed near Albuquerque, New Mexico. It records deposition of sediments in the Albuquerque Basin of the Rio Grande Rift after full integration of the Rio Grande through the basin.
The Tuerto Formation is a geologic formation exposed around the Ortiz Mountains of New Mexico. It is estimated to be of Pliocene to Pleistocene age, and forms the gravel cap of the Ortiz surface, one of the first pediment surfaces recognized by geologists.
The Blackshare Formation is a geologic formation exposed in the Hagan Basin west of the Ortiz Mountains of New Mexico. It is estimated be to of Miocene age.
The Cerro Conejo Formation is a middle to late Miocene geologic formation exposed near Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The Picuris Formation is a geologic formation exposed in the eastern flank of the Rio Grande rift in northern New Mexico. It was deposited from the late Eocene to Miocene epochs.
