Ritito Conglomerate | |
---|---|
Stratigraphic range: Oligocene | |
Type | Formation |
Underlies | Abiquiu Formation |
Overlies | El Rito Formation |
Thickness | 210 meters (690 feet) |
Lithology | |
Primary | Conglomerate |
Other | Siltstone |
Location | |
Coordinates | 36°34′52″N106°10′01″W / 36.581°N 106.167°W |
Region | New Mexico |
Country | United States |
Type section | |
Named for | Ritito Canyon |
Named by | F. Barker |
Year defined | 1958 |
The Ritito Conglomerate is a geologic formation in northern New Mexico dating to the Oligocene epoch. [1]
The formation is composed of orange-pink to reddish-brown arkosic conglomerate, sandstone, and siltstone with muscovite. The matrix is gray to tan except near Abiquiu, where it has a distinct red-brown color. Clasts are angular to well-rounded and are mostly of pebble size, but range from granules to boulders. The clasts are 44% Proterozoic quartzite, with 25% granite, 13% metavolcanic rock, 10% quartz, 5% schist, and 3% gneiss, with traces of chert and Phanerozoic sandstone. Some of the clasts have been identified as reddish-brown quartzite from the Cerro Colorado area or quartzite of the Ortega Formation. Imbrication indicates deposition in a meandering southward-flowing river system. [1]
The formation crops out in a broad area between the northern Jemez Mountains, the southeastern flank of the Tusas Mountains, and the eastern flank of the Nacimiento Mountains. [2] Maximum thickness is 210 meters (690 ft).
The formation rests unconformably on the El Rito Formation and has a gradational contact with the overlying Abiquiu Formation. The transition zone is characterized by chert beds assigned informally to the Pedernal chert. These are interpreted as calcic paleosols replaced by silica, possibly in a hydrothermal setting. [3]
The age of the bulk of the formation is estimated as 25 to possibly more than 27 million years. [4]
The formation was named in 1958 by Fred Barker for exposures along Ritito Canyon, El Rito Creek ( 36°34′52″N106°10′01″W / 36.581°N 106.167°W ). [5] Exposures further to the south were long described as the lower Abiquiu Formation, but Florian Maldonado and Shari Kelley reassigned these to the Ritito Conglomerate in 2009. [6]
The Sierra Nacimiento, or Nacimiento Mountains, are a mountain range in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of New Mexico. They are just west of the more prominent Jemez Mountains near the town of Cuba, and are separated from them by the Río Guadalupe and the Río de Las Vacas. This article will consider them as a unit together with the San Pedro Mountains, which are a smaller range contiguous with the Sierra Nacimiento on the north, and which are also part of the Nacimiento Uplift and lie at the edge of the greater San Juan Basin, which sits atop the Colorado Plateau. The combined range runs almost due north-south with a length of about 40 mi (65 km). The highest point in the combined range is the high point of the San Pedro Peaks, known unofficially as San Pedro Peak, 10,605 ft.
Puddingstone, also known as either pudding stone or plum-pudding stone, is a popular name applied to a conglomerate that consists of distinctly rounded pebbles whose colours contrast sharply with the colour of the finer-grained, often sandy, matrix or cement surrounding them. The rounded pebbles and the sharp contrast in colour gives this type of conglomerate the appearance of a raisin or Christmas pudding. There are different types of puddingstone, with different composition, origin, and geographical distribution. Examples of different types of puddingstones include the Hertfordshire, Schunemunk, Roxbury, and St. Joseph Island puddingstones.
The Enon Formation is a geological formation found in the Eastern and Western Cape provinces in South Africa. It is the lowermost of the four formations found within the Uitenhage Group of the Algoa Basin, its type locality, where it has been measured at a maximum thickness of 480 metres (1,570 ft). Discontinuous outcrops are also found in the Worcester-Pletmos and Oudshoorn-Gamtoos Basins, including isolated occurrences in the Haasvlakte, Jubilee, and Soutpansvlakte Basins near the small town Bredasdorp.
The Caballo Mountains, are a mountain range located in Sierra and Doña Ana Counties, New Mexico, United States. The range is located east of the Rio Grande and Caballo Lake, and west of the Jornada del Muerto; the south of the range extends into northwest Doña Ana County. The nearest towns are Truth or Consequences and Hatch.
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 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 Galisteo Formation is a geologic formation in New Mexico. It contains fossils characteristic of the Bartonian stage of the Eocene epoch, Duchesnean in the NALMA classification.
The Salitral Formation is a Late Triassic geologic formation found in north-central New Mexico, primarily the northwestern Jemez Mountains. It is an older subunit of the Chinle Group, overlying the Shinarump Conglomerate and underlying the Poleo Formation.
The Poleo Formation is a geologic formation in northern New Mexico. Its stratigraphic position corresponds to the late Triassic epoch.
The Big Rock Formation is a formation that crops out in the Tusas Mountains of northern New Mexico. Detrital zircon geochronology gives a maximum age for the formation of 1665 Mya, corresponding to the Statherian period.
The El Rito Formation is a geologic formation in New Mexico dating to the Eocene epoch. It records a time when sediments were trapped in deep basins in western North America rather than being carried downstream to the Gulf of Mexico, so that sediments of this age in the western Gulf are mostly from the Appalachian Mountains.
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 Polvadera Group is a group of geologic formations exposed in and around the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico. Radiometric dating gives it an age of 13 to 2.2 million years, corresponding to the Miocene through early Quaternary.
The Keres Group is a group of geologic formations exposed in and around the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico. Radiometric dating gives it an age of 13 to 6 million years, corresponding to the Miocene epoch.
The Puye Formation is a geologic formation exposed east of the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico. Radiometric dating constrains its age to between 5 and 2 million years, corresponding to the Pliocene epoch.
The Gilman Conglomerate is a geologic formation in northern New Mexico dating to the Oligocene epoch.
The Los Pinos Formation is a geologic formation in northern New Mexico. It was deposited from the late Oligocene through the late Miocene epochs, based on radiometric ages of interbedded lava flows and overlying and underlying formations.
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 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 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.