Lake Valley Limestone

The Lake Valley Limestone is a geologic formation widely exposed in southwestern New Mexico.[1] It preserves fossils dating back to the lower to middle Mississippian.[2]

Lake Valley Limestone
Stratigraphic range: lower to middle Mississippian
TypeFormation
Sub-unitsSee text
OverliesPercha Shale, Caballero Formation
Thickness420 ft (130 m)
Lithology
PrimaryLimestone
Location
Coordinates32.859°N 105.910°W / 32.859; -105.910
RegionNew Mexico
CountryUnited States
Type section
Named forLake Valley
Named byE.D. Cope
Year defined1882
Lake Valley Limestone (the United States)
Lake Valley Limestone (New Mexico)

Description

The Lake Valley Limestone consists of gray cherty limestone with thin shale beds.[3] It overlies the Caballero Formation and is overlain by Pennsylvanian beds. The total thickness is 420 ft (130 m).[4]

Members of the formation, in ascending stratigraphic order, are the Andrecito, Alamogordo, Nunn, Tierra Blanca, Arcente, and Dona Ana Members.[2]

Fossils

The formation contains abundant crinoids as well as corals and brachiopods.[3] The Andrecito and Alamogordo Members contain foraminifers characteristic of the Kinderhookian (lower Tournasian) while the foraminifers of the Tierra Blanca Member are Osagean (upper Tournasian to lower Visean).[2]

History of investigation

The formation was first named by E.D. Cope in 1882 for exposures in the Sacramento Mountains.[3] In 1941, Laudon and Bowsher removed the lowermost beds into the Caballero Formation and divided the Lake Valley Limestone into the Alamgordo, Arcente, and Dona Ana Members.[4] In 1949, they added the Andrecito, Nunn, and Tierra Blanca Members.[1]

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See also

References
  • Armstrong, Augustus K; Mamet, Bernard L. (1974). "Biostratigraphy of the Arroyo Penasco Group, Lower Carboniferous (Mississsippian), north-central New Mexico" (PDF). Annual NMGS Fall Field Conference Guidebooks. 25. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  • Gordon, C.H. (1907). "Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) formations in the Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico". American Journal of Science, 4th series. 24: 58–64. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  • Laudon, L.R.; Bowsher, A.L. (1941). "Stratigraphy of the Mississippian formations of the Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico". Tulsa Geological Society Digest. 9: 73–75. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  • Laudon, Lowell R.; Bowsher, Arthur L. (1949). "Mississippian formations of southwestern New Mexico". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 60 (1): 1. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1949)60[1:MFOSNM]2.0.CO;2.
  1. Laudon and Bowsher 1949
  2. Armstrong and Mamet 1974
  3. Gordon 1907
  4. Laudon and Bowsher 1941
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