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Bone Spring Formation

Geologic formation in Texas and New Mexico, US From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The Bone Spring Formation is a geologic formation found in the Delaware Basin in Texas and New Mexico. It preserves fossils dating back to the Leonardian Age of the Permian Period.[1]

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Description

The formation consists of dark gray deep marine limestone interbedded with shale and sandstone[1] interpreted as turbidites.[2] The total thickness is about 1,000 meters (3,300 ft). The base of the formation is largely concealed in the subsurface, and the formation is overlain by the Cutoff Shale.[1] The formation grades laterally into the Victorio Peak Formation.[3]

The uppermost shale beds of the formation have been assigned to the Avalon Shale.[4]

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Fossils

The formation contains fossils of the brachiopods Productus leonardensis, Marginifera cristobalensis, Pugnoides texanus, P. bidentatus, and Composita mexicana; the ammonites Peritrochia erebus, Paracelites elegans, Agathiceras texanum, and Perrinites.[5]

History of investigation

The formation was first designated the Bone Springs Limestone by Blanchard and Davis in 1929.[6] It has subsequently been demoted to membership as the Bone Canyon Member of the Leonard Formation,[7] renamed the Bone Spring Limestone,[8] and most recently redesigned the Bone Spring Formation.[1] The Cutoff Shale was removed as a separate formation in 1964.[9]

Economic geology

The sandstones of the Bone Spring Formation are important petroleum reservoirs with estimated reserves in 1997 of 300,000–375,000 bbl.[10][11] The formation lies deep in the subsurface in the Delaware Basin, where its shale facies is known as the Avalon Shale.[12]

See also

Footnotes

References

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