Queen Formation | |
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Stratigraphic range: | |
Type | Formation |
Unit of | Artesia Group |
Underlies | Seven Rivers Formation |
Overlies | San Andres Formation |
Thickness | 500 feet (150 m) |
Lithology | |
Primary | Sandstone |
Other | dolomite, anhydrite |
Location | |
Coordinates | 32°11′28″N104°45′18″W / 32.191°N 104.755°W |
Region | New Mexico |
Country | United States |
Type section | |
Named for | Queen Post Office |
Named by | Blanchard and Davis |
Year defined | 1929 |
The Queen Formation is a geologic formation in southeastern New Mexico and west Texas. It preserves fossils dating back to the late Guadalupian Epoch of the Permian period. [1] [2]
The formation consists of up to 500 feet (150 m) [3] of mostly sandstone, with some interbedded dolomite and anhydrite. It rests on the San Andres Formation, from which it is separated by an erosional surface showing karst features. [4] The Queen Formation is overlain by the Seven Rivers Formation. The Queen Formation is part of the Artesia Group, which is interpreted as a sequence of shelf rocks of the Capitan reef. [1] [5]
The unit was first named as the Queen sandstone of the upper San Andres Formation by Grant Blanchard and Morgan Davis in 1929. [3] In 1937, W.B. Lang assigned the Seven Rivers Member to the (now abandoned) Chalk Bluff Formation. [6] The unit was promoted to formation rank and assigned to the Whitehorse Group by Ronald DeFord and Russell Lloyd in 1940. [7] The formation was assigned to the Artesia Group by D.B. Tait and coinvestigators in 1962. [1]
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