Goat Seep Formation

Geologic formation in Texas and New Mexico, US

Goat Seep Formation

Stratigraphic range: Guadalupian

PreꞒ

Type| Formation
Underlies| Capitan Formation
Overlies| Cherry Canyon Formation
Thickness| 1,200 ft (370 m)
Lithology
Primary| dolomite, limestone
Other| sandstone
Location
Coordinates| 31°54′14″N 104°52′50″W﻿ / ﻿31.9040°N 104.8805°W﻿ / 31.9040; -104.8805
Region| Texas
New Mexico
Country| United States
Type section
Named for| Goat Seep (spring)
Named by| King
Year defined| 1942

Goat Seep Formation (the United States)

Show map of the United States

Goat Seep Formation (Texas)

Show map of Texas

The Goat Seep Formation is a geologic formation found in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. It is a fossilized reef dating to the Guadalupian Age of the Permian period.[1]

The formation underlies Bartlett Peak (31°55′04″N 104°52′54″W﻿ / ﻿31.9177°N 104.8817°W﻿ / 31.9177; -104.8817) and nearby areas in Guadalupe Mountains National Park.[1]

## Description

[edit]

The Goat Seep Formation consists of up to 1,200 feet (370 m) of massive to thickly bedded light grey to white dolomite. The lower part of the formation contains some sandstone beds. It grades below into the Cherry Canyon Formation and is overlain by the Capitan Formation, a younger Permian reef. The Capitan Formation and Goat Seep Formation are quite similar, but are separated by an unconformity marked by ledges of dark limestone.[1][2]

The formation represents a fossil reef, and grades laterally into the shelf limestones of the Grayburg and Queen Formations.[3] It is regarded as a precursor to the Capitan reef.[4] The reef was built mostly by red (Solenopora) and green (Dasycladaceae) algae and cyanobacteria (Girvanella) with calcareous sponges, bryozoa, and hydrocorals also playing a role.[5]

## Fossils

[edit]

Portions of the formation are highly fossiliferous, and these include beds very rich in fusulinids. However, dolomitization (conversion of the original limestone to dolomite) has resulted in very poor preservation of most of these fossils. The fusulinid Parafusulina rothi has been identified in a few locations. Other tentative identifications are of the sponge Guadalupia zitteliana, several genera of brachiopods, some poorly preserved gastropods, and a species of trilobite, Anisopyge perannulata.[2]

## History of investigation

[edit]

The beds were first described by K.H. Crandall and assigned to the Chupadera Formation, a unit recognized in central New Mexico but since abandoned.[6] W.B. Land assigned the same beds to the Dog Canyon Limestone,[7] but P.B. King found this name too similar to that of a unit in the oil fields of Oklahoma, and he renamed the unit as the Goat Seep Limestone.[8][2] N.D. Newell and coinvestigators renamed the formation as the Goat Seep Dolomite, due to its extensive dolomitization, and reassigned the shelf facies originally assigned to the formation to the Queen Formation.[9]

## See also

[edit]

* Earth sciences portal
* Texas portal
* Paleontology portal

* List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Texas
* Paleontology in Texas

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Scholle, Peter. "Permian Reef Complex Virtual Field Trip, Stop I-1: West Face of Guadalupe & Delaware Mountains". New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources. New Mexico Tech. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
2. ^ a b c King, Philip B. (1948). "Geology of the Southern Guadalupe Mountains, Texas". U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper. Professional Paper. 215. doi:10.3133/pp215.
3. ^ Hayes, P.T. (1964). "Geology of the Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico". U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper. 446. doi:10.3133/pp446.
4. ^ Crawford, G.A. (1979). "Sedimentology of Goat Seep Dolomite (Guadalupian, Permian), Guadalupe Mountains, West Texas and New Mexico". AAPG Bulletin. 63 (3): 437–437. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
5. ^ Kuznetsov, V. G. (December 2018). "Reef Construction in the Second Half of the Permian and Biotic Crisis at the Permian–Triassic Boundary". Stratigraphy and Geological Correlation. 26 (7): 755–770. doi:10.1134/S086959381807002X.
6. ^ Crandall, K.H. (1929). "Permian Stratigraphy of Southeastern New Mexico and Adjacent Parts of Western Texas". AAPG Bulletin. 13 (8): 927–944. doi:10.1306/3D93286C-16B1-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
7. ^ Lang, W.B. (1937). "The Permian Formations of the Pecos Valley of New Mexico and Texas". AAPG Bulletin. 21 (7): 833–898. doi:10.1306/3D932EDE-16B1-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
8. ^ King, P.B. (1942). "The Permian of West Texas and Southeastern New Mexico: Part 1". AAPG Bulletin. 26 (4): 535–649. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
9. ^ Newell, N.D.; Rigby, J.K.; Fischer, A.G. (1953). The Permian reef complex of the Guadalupe Mountains region, Texas and New Mexico, a study in paleoecology. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Co. pp. 42–43.