Cliff House Sandstone

The Cliff House Sandstone is a late Campanian stratigraphic unit comprising sandstones in the western United States.

Cliff House Sandstone
Stratigraphic range: Late Campanian
~75 Ma
↓
Cliff House Sandstone at Cliff House, Mesa Verde National Park
TypeFormation
Unit ofMesaverde Group
Sub-unitsBarker Dome Tongue, Beechatuda Tongue, Chacra Tongue, Cholla Canyon Tongue, La Ventana Tongue, Ute Canyon Tongue
UnderliesLewis Shale
OverliesMenefee Formation
Thickness300 m (980 ft)
Lithology
PrimarySandstone
Location
Coordinates37.167°N 108.473°W / 37.167; -108.473
RegionColorado
Country United States
ExtentMesa Verde National Park
Type section
Named forCliff House, Mesa Verde National Park
Named byA.J. Collier
Year defined1919

Description

The Cliff House Sandstone consists of fine grained white to orange calcareous sandstone. It intertongues with the underlying Menefee Formation and the overlying Lewis Shale.[1] Where the Lewis Shale pinches out in the southwest San Juan Basin, the formation is indistinguishable from the Pictured Cliffs Formation and the name "Pictured Cliffs" is applied to the entire sequence of massive sandstone.[2]

The formation is exposed at Mesa Verde National Park, where it forms the prominent cliffs around Cliff House, for which it is named.[3] It is also prominent at Chaco Canyon.[4]

At Chaco Canyon, the formation can be divided into three informal members. These are a lower massive marine sandstone deposited in a high-energy environment; a middle unit deposited in deeper water that contains some shale beds; and an upper sandstone deposited in a beach and bar environment.[4]

The formation is part of the Mesaverde Group of the San Juan Basin, which records a regression-transgression sequence of the Western Interior Seaway. The Cliff House Sandstone was deposited during the return of the sea as near-shore sand.[5]

Fossils

Outcrops of the formation in Mesa Verde National Park have produced fossil shark teeth along with the jaws, teeth and fins of Enchodus.[6]

At Chaco Canyon, the lower beds produce shells and casts from clams, ammonites (including possible Placenticeras), snails, and shark's teeth. Trace fossils classified as Ophiomorpha nodosa are common and are thought to have been produced by Callianasa shrimp. The middle unit hyas fewer trace fossils but more Inoceramus, while the upper beds are rich in invertebrate shells, shark teeth, and bone debris from marine lizards.[4]

History of investigation

The Cliff House Sandstone was first described by W.H.Holmes in 1877 during the Hayden Survey as the "Upper Escarpment" of the Mesaverde Formation.[7] A.J. Collier redesignated this unit in 1919 as the Cliff House Sandstone and raised the Mesaverde Formation to group rank.[3]

References
  1. Hayes and Zapp 1955
  2. Beaumont et al. 1956
  3. Collier 1919
  4. National Park Service 2015
  5. Fillmore 2011
  6. "Mesa Verde National Park," Hunt, Santucci, and Kenworthy (2006); page 65.
  7. Holmes 1877

Bibliography
  • Beaumont, E.C., Dane, C.H., and Sears, J.D., 1956, Revised nomenclature of Mesaverde group in San Juan basin, New Mexico: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 40, no. 9, p. 2149-2162. [Available online, with subscription, from AAPG archives: http://www.aapg.org/datasystems or http://search.datapages.com]
  • Collier, A.J., 1919, Coal south of Mancos, Montezuma County, Colorado, IN Contributions to economic geology, 1918; Part 2, Mineral fuels: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin, 691-K, p. K293-K310.
  • Hayes, P.T., and Zapp, A.D., 1955, Geology and fuel resources of the Upper Cretaceous rocks of the Barker Dome-Fruitland area, San Juan County, New Mexico: U.S. Geological Survey Oil and Gas Investigations Map, OM-144, scale 1:62,500
  • Hunt, ReBecca K., Vincent L. Santucci and Jason Kenworthy. 2006. "A preliminary inventory of fossil fish from National Park Service units." in S.G. Lucas, J.A. Spielmann, P.M. Hester, J.P. Kenworthy, and V.L. Santucci (ed.s), Fossils from Federal Lands. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 34, pp. 63–69.
  • Holmes, W.H., 1877, Report [on the San Juan District, Colorado], IN Hayden, F.V., Ninth annual report of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, embracing Colorado and parts of adjacent territories, being a report of progress of the exploration for the year 1875; Part I, Geology: U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories (Hayden), Annual Report, 9, p. 237-276, pls. 34-49., Reprint, 1873
  • "Cliff House Sandstone". Chaco Culture Natural Historical Park, New Mexico. National Park Service. 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.