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Edith Formation
A geologic formation in New Mexico From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Edith Formation is a fluvial gravel Pleistocene geologic formation exposed near Albuquerque, New Mexico.[1][2]
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Description
The Edith Formation consists of a single upward fining sequence, with a gravel base and overlying sandy to muddy floodplain deposits. It is poorly to moderately consolidated and locally cemented brown gravel, sand, and sandy clay. A typical composition for the basal gravel is 30% quartzite and 40% volcanic rock, with smaller amounts of granite and metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. It contains sparse clasts of densely welded Bandelier Tuff.[1]
The formation extends at least from near Algodones to Albuquerque and forms a distinctive regional marker bed, cropping out along the inner valley escarpment of the Rio Grande. Its thickness is 10–40 feet (3.0–12.2 m). Its upper contact is marked by a diatomite bed and it unconformably rests on the Arroyo Ojito and Sierra Ladrones Formations, with a weakly developed paleosol (fossil soil) at the contact. The base of the formation defines a prominent strath (fossil floodplain) some 40–80 feet (12–24 m) above the present Rio Grande floodplain.[1]
The formation was initially interpreted as a late Pleistocene terrace of the most recent glaciation.[3] More recent work extends its temporal range into the middle Pleistocene.[4]
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Formations
The Edith Formation contains fossils characteristic of the Rancholabrean North American land mammal age, including Bison, Mastodon, Camelops, and Equus.[2]
History of investigation
The unit was first defined by P.W. Lambert in his dissertation on the Quaternary geology of Albuquerque in 1968, and named for nearby Edith Boulevard.[3]
See also
Footnotes
References
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