Fence Lake Formation Stratigraphic range: | |
---|---|
Type | Geological formation |
Underlies | Quemado Formation |
Overlies | Moreno Hill Formation |
Thickness | 230 feet (70 m) |
Lithology | |
Primary | Sandstone, conglomerate |
Location | |
Coordinates | 34°36′03″N108°40′32″W / 34.6009°N 108.6756°W |
Region | New Mexico |
Country | United States |
Type section | |
Named for | Fence Lake, New Mexico |
Named by | McLellan, Haschke, Robinson, Carter, and Medlin |
Year defined | 1982 |
The Fence Lake Formation is a geological formation in western New Mexico whose strata were deposited in the Miocene. [1]
The formation consists of two informal members. The lower member is 60 feet (18 m) of coarse conglomerate consisting mostly of fragments of volcanic rock. The upper member is 180 feet (55 m) of calcareous grayish-pink sandstone, poorly sorted and very fine- to coarse-grained. The upper member also includes scattered lenses of conglomerate. [2]
The formation unconformably overlies the Moreno Hill Formation. It is relatively resistant to erosion and so forms cliffs and shelves [3] and caps mesas in the area. Drainages eroded through the formation are filled by younger beds of the Quemado Formation. [4]
The formation is interpreted as fluvial deposits. [5] The volcanic rock fragments making up the formation are thought to come from the Oligocene Mogollon-Datil volcanic field and the formation itself is thought to be Miocene in age. [6] from before 14.5 to 7 million years old. [7]
The beds making up the unit were originally included in the Bidahochi Formation by Charles Repenning and James Irwin in 1954, along with all other Tertiary beds of the Zuni Plateau. [8] In !956, R.J. Marr informally named the gravel beds of the lower member as the Fence Lake Gravel, [9] and in 1958, Repenning, Lance, and Irwin excluded the high-level gravels near Fence Lake, New Mexico from the Bidahochi. [10] In 1982, Marguerite McLellan and coinvestigators recognized that these beds were older than the beds inset in nearby drainages (identified at the time as Bidahochi Formation and later redefined as Quemado Formation) [7] and defined them as the Fence Lake Formation. [2]
Red Hill volcanic field, also known as Quemado volcanic field, is a monogenetic volcanic field located in the vicinity of the ghost town of Red Hill in Catron County New Mexico. Red Hill is 24 kilometers (15 mi) east of the larger Springerville volcanic field and immediately south of the Zuni Salt Lake field. The area is made up of scoria cone and silicic dome fields. Over 40 volcanic vents have been identified in the field. These erupted basaltic flows, with no other rock types evident in the field.
The Mogollon-Datil volcanic field is a large silicic volcanic field in western New Mexico. It is a part of an extensive Eocene to Oligocene volcanic event which includes the San Juan volcanic field in southwestern Colorado, the Trans-Pecos volcanic field in west Texas and north central Mexico, the Boot Heel volcanic field in the bootheel of southwestern New Mexico and adjacent areas of Arizona and Mexico; and the vast volcanic field of the Sierra Madre Occidental of western Mexico. The Mogollon-Datil volcanic field was formed in "four discrete pulses representing synchronized activity of two separate cauldron complexes".
The Pliocene to Late Neogene Bidahochi Formation lies at an elevation of about 6,300 feet (1,920 m) to 6,600 feet (2,012 m) at the southeast of the Colorado Plateau; the deposits are from Hopi Lake, and the deposits extend southwards to the region at the north perimeter of the White Mountains of central-east Arizona. Bidahochi Lake is thought to have been a single "large lake, or several shallow, and ephemeral ones." Various fossil types are found; also bird trackways.
The Abiquiu Formation is a geologic formation found in northern New Mexico. Radiometric dating constrains its age to between 18 million and 27 million years, corresponding to the late Oligocene to Miocene epochs.
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 Gila Group is a group of geologic formations found along the upper tributaries of the Gila River in Arizona and New Mexico. Radiometric dating of lava flows within the group yields an age of Miocene to Quaternary.
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 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 Baca Formation is a geologic formation in southern New Mexico and Arizona. It preserves fossils dating back to the Eocene period.
The Palm Park Formation is a geologic formation in southern New Mexico. It preserves fossils dating back to the Eocene epoch.
The Alajuela Formation, originally Alhajuela Formation (Tau), is a Late Miocene geologic formation in the Panama Canal Zone of central Panama.
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 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 Hayner Ranch Formation is a geologic formation found near the San Diego Mountains of New Mexico. It is estimated to have been deposited during the Miocene epoch.
The Bluff Formation is a geological formation found in the Four Corners area. It was deposited in the late Jurassic Period.
The Oligocene Chuska Sandstone is a geologic formation that crops out in the Chuska Mountains of northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico. The formation is a remnant of a great sand sea, or erg, that once covered an area of 140,000 square kilometres (54,000 sq mi) reaching from the present locations of the Chuska Mountains to near Albuquerque and to the southwest. This erg deposited a succession of sandstone beds exceeded in thickness only by the Navajo Sandstone on the Colorado Plateau.
The Bearwallow Mountain Andesite or Bearwallow Mountain Formation is a geologic formation exposed in and around the Mogollon Mountains of southwest New Mexico. It has a radiometric age of 27 to 23 million years, corresponding to the late Oligocene to early Miocene epochs.