Cherry Canyon Formation
Stratigraphic range: Roadian-Wordian
~272–266 Ma

PreЄ

Cherry Canyon Formation exposed in roadcut near its type location

Type| Geological formation
Unit of| Delaware Mountain Group
Sub-units| Getaway, South Wells, and Manzanita Members
Underlies| Bell Canyon Formation
Overlies| Brushy Canyon Formation
Thickness| 400 m (1,300 ft)
Lithology
Primary| Sandstone, siltstone
Other| Limestone
Location
Coordinates|  [ ⚑ ] : 31°53′56″N 104°46′48″W﻿ / ﻿31.899°N 104.780°W﻿ / 31.899; -104.780
Paleocoordinates|  [ ⚑ ] 3°42′N 34°06′W﻿ / ﻿3.7°N 34.1°W﻿ / 3.7; -34.1
Region| New Mexico, Texas
Country| United States
Extent| Guadalupe and Delaware Mountains
Type section
Named for| Cherry Canyon
Named by| DeFord and Lloyd
Year defined| 1940
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The Cherry Canyon Formation is a geologic formation found in the Delaware Basin of southeastern New Mexico and western Texas. It contains fossils characteristic of the Guadalupian Age of the Permian Period.[1]

## Contents

* 1 Description
* 2 Fossils
* 3 Economic resources
* 4 History of investigation
* 5 Footnotes
* 5.1 Bibliography

## Description

The formation consists mostly of cyclic marine sandstone and siltstone, but with interfingering tongues of gray limestone (the Getaway, South Wells,[2] and Manzanita Members). These extend from the Goat Seep reef, an earlier and much smaller precursor to the Capitan reef, into what was then deep, anoxic water of the Permian Basin. A lower tongue of the formation extends across the basin margin to grade into the nearby San Andres Formation. Maximum thickness of the Cherry Canyon Formation is 400 meters (1,300 ft). The formation rests on the Brushy Canyon Formation, but the lower tongue fills a few deep paleochannels that cut down through the Brushy Canyon and the underlying Cutoff Formation into the Victorio Peak Formation.[3] A hiatus in deposition, marking a substantial drop in sea level, separates the Cherry Canyon Formation from the overlying Bell Canyon Formation.[4]

The Getaway Member contains carbonate debris flow beds. All three carbonate members grade into sandstone channel deposits deeper in the basin.[3]

## Fossils

The formation contain abundant fish fossils, such as sharks' teeth, preserved within small phosphatic nodules.[5] Ostracods have been identified in the Getaway Member, including Amphissites, Aurikirkbya, Ceratobairdia, Polytylites, and Roundyella.[6]

## Economic resources

The Cherry Canyon Formation has been exploited for its hydrocarbon resources.[7] Some of the hydrocarbons present in the formation may have leaked into nearby gypsum beds of the Castile Formation, producing sulfuric acid that contributed to the formation of Carlsbad Cavern.[8]

## History of investigation

The unit was first designated as a formation by DeFord and Lloyd in 1940, who raised the Delaware Mountain Formation to group rank and designed its previously informal members as formations.[9][10]

## Footnotes

1. ↑ Kues and Giles 2004, p.100
2. ↑ King 1948, p.36
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Kues and Giles 2004, p.124
4. ↑ Kues and Giles 2004, p.126
5. ↑ "Guadalupe Mountains National Park," Hunt, Santucci, and Kenworthy (2006); page 64.
6. ↑ Tarnac, Anaëlle; Forel, Marie-Béatrice; Nestell, Galina; Nestell, Merlynd; Crasquin, Sylvie (22 September 2021). "Middle Permian ostracods (Crustacea) from the Guadalupe Mountains, West Texas, USA". European Journal of Taxonomy (770): 1–60. doi:10.5852/ejt.2021.770.1499.
7. ↑ Montgomery, S.L.; Hamilton, D.; Hunt, T.; Worrall, J. (2000). "Delaware Mountain Group, West Texas, A Case of Refound Opportunity: Part 2--Cherry Canyon Formation (E & P Notes)". AAPG Bulletin 84 (1): 1–11. doi:10.1306/C9EBCD47-1735-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
8. ↑ Hill, C.A. (1990). "Sulfuric Acid Speleogenesis of Carlsbad Cavern and Its Relationship to Hydrocarbons, Delaware Basin, New Mexico and Texas (1)". AAPG Bulletin 74 (11): 1685–1694. doi:10.1306/0C9B2565-1710-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
9. ↑ DeFord and Lloyd 1940
10. ↑ King 1942

Laminae in the Cherry Canyon Formation

### Bibliography

* DeFord, Ronald K.; Lloyd, E. Russell (1940). "West Texas-New Mexico Symposium: Part I Editorial Introduction". AAPG Bulletin 24. doi:10.1306/3D933188-16B1-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
* 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
* King, Philip B. (1948). "Geology of the Southern Guadalupe Mountains, Texas". U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 215: 36. doi:10.3133/pp215. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1036553/.
* Kues, B.S.; Giles, K.A. (2004). "The late Paleozoic Ancestral Rocky Mountain system in New Mexico". in Mack, G.H.; Giles, K.A.. The geology of New Mexico. A geologic history: New Mexico Geological Society Special Volume 11. pp. 95–136. ISBN 9781585460106.

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