Bone Spring Formation Explained
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.
Description
The formation consists of dark gray deep marine limestone interbedded with shale and sandstone interpreted as turbidites. The total thickness is about 1000meters. The base of the formation is largely concealed in the subsurface, and the formation is overlain by the Cutoff Shale. The formation grades laterally into the Victorio Peak Formation.
The uppermost shale beds of the formation have been assigned to the Avalon Shale.
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.
History of investigation
The formation was first designated the Bone Springs Limestone by Blanchard and Davis in 1929. It has subsequently been demoted to membership as the Bone Canyon Member of the Leonard Formation, renamed the Bone Spring Limestone, and most recently redesigned the Bone Spring Formation. The Cutoff Shale was removed as a separate formation in 1964.
Economic geology
The sandstones of the Bone Spring Formation are important petroleum reservoirs with estimated reserves in 1997 of 300,000–375,000 bbl. The formation lies deep in the subsurface in the Delaware Basin, where its shale facies is known as the Avalon Shale.
See also
References
- Blanchard . W. Grant Jr. . Davis . Morgan J. . Permian Stratigraphy and Structure of Parts of Southeastern New Mexico and Southwestern Texas . AAPG Bulletin . 1929 . 13 . 10.1306/3D93286E-16B1-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
- Hayes . Philip Thayer . Geology of the Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico . U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper . Professional Paper . 1964 . 446 . 10.3133/pp446. free .
- King . Philip B. . King . Robert E. . Stratigraphy of Outcropping Carboniferous and Permian Rocks of Trans-Pecos Texas . AAPG Bulletin . 1929 . 13 . 10.1306/3D93286B-16B1-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
- King . P. B. . Permian stratigraphy of trans-Pecos Texas . Geological Society of America Bulletin . 31 August 1934 . 45 . 4 . 697–798 . 10.1130/GSAB-45-697.
- Encyclopedia: Kues . B.S. . Giles . K.A. . 2004 . The late Paleozoic Ancestral Rocky Mountain system in New Mexico . Mack . G.H. . Giles . K.A. . The geology of New Mexico. A geologic history: New Mexico Geological Society Special Volume 11 . 95–136 . 978-1-58546-010-6.
- Mazzullo . S. J. . Permian Stratigraphy and Facies, Permian Basin (Texas—New Mexico) and Adjoining Areas in the Midcontinent United States . The Permian of Northern Pangea . 1995 . 41–60 . 10.1007/978-3-642-78590-0_3. 978-3-642-78592-4 .
- Montgomery . Scott L. . Permian Bone Spring Formation: Sandstone Play in the Delaware Basin, Part II-Basin . AAPG Bulletin . 1997 . 81 . 10.1306/3B05BB0A-172A-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
- Nester . Peter . Schwartz . Kenneth . Bishop . James . Garcia-Barriuso . Maria . The Avalon Shale: Tying Geologic Variability to Productivity in a Burgeoning Shale Play in the Delaware Basin of Southeast New Mexico . Proceedings of the 2nd Unconventional Resources Technology Conference . 2014 . 10.15530/URTEC-2014-1922929.
- Schwartz . Kenneth . Starr . Allison . Meier . Holly . Stolte . Natasha . Review of the First Bone Spring Hybrid Play in the Delaware Basin, West Texas and Southeast New Mexico . Proceedings of the 6th Unconventional Resources Technology Conference . 2018 . 10.15530/urtec-2018-2901606. 978-0-9912144-5-7 .
- Encyclopedia: Sellards . E.H. . 1933 . The pre-Paleozoic and Paleozoic systems in Texas, Part 1 . Sellards . E.H. . Adkins . W.S. . Plummer . F.B . The geology of Texas . 1 . University of Texas . 15–238.
- Stolz . Dustin J. . Franseen . Evan K. . Goldstein . Robert H. . Character of the Avalon Shale (Bone Spring Formation) of the Delaware Basin, West Texas and Southeast New Mexico: Effect of Carbonate-rich Sediment Gravity Flows . Proceedings of the 3rd Unconventional Resources Technology Conference . 2015 . 10.15530/urtec-2015-2154681. 978-0-9912144-2-6 .
