Sais Quartzite

The Sais Quartzite is a geologic formation exposed in the Los Pinos Mountains of central New Mexico.

Formation
Stratigraphic range: Statherian Pha. Proterozoic Archean Had.
Sais Quartzite at its type location near Abo Pass, New Mexico, US
Type	Formation
Unit of	Manzano Group
Underlies	Blue Springs Formation
Overlies	Estadio Schist
Thickness	600 feet (180 m)
Lithology
Primary	Quartzite
Location
Coordinates	34.412°N 106.516°W / 34.412; -106.516
Region	New Mexico
Country	United States
Type section
Named for	Sais railroad station
Named by	J.T. Stark and E.C. Dapples
Year defined	1946
Sais Quartzite (the United States) Show map of the United States Sais Quartzite (New Mexico) Show map of New Mexico

Description

The formation consists of up to 600 feet (180 m) of massive gray quartzite beds, 3 to 5 feet (0.91 to 1.52 m) thick, interbedded with thinner sericite-bearing quartzite beds. A few beds are greenish to white. The individual grain size in the beds is generally less than 1mm.^[1] The formation is underlain by the Estadio Schist and unconformably overlain by the Blue Springs Formation.^[2]

Detrital zircon geochronology a minimum age of 1670 million years (Ma), corresponding to the Statherian period of the Paleoproterozoic.^[2]

History of investigation

The formation was originally described as the Sais quartzite by J.T. Stark and E.C. Dapples in 1946 and named for the Sais station of the Santa Fe Railroad near Abo Pass.^[1] The formation was first assigned to the Manzano Group in 2006.^[3]

See also

• Earth sciences portal
• Paleontology portal

• List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in New Mexico
• Paleontology in New Mexico