Capitan Formation
| Capitan Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Guadalupian | |
 The Capitan Formation underlies El Capitan in Guadalupe Mountains National Park. | |
| Type | Formation |
| Underlies | Castile Formation |
| Overlies | Goat Seep Dolomite |
| Thickness | 1,800 ft (550 m) |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Limestone |
| Other | Dolomite |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 31°52′38″N 104°52′00″W / 31.8773°N 104.8668°W |
| Region | Texas New Mexico |
| Country | United States |
| Type section | |
| Named for | El Capitan Peak |
| Named by | G.B. Richardson |
| Year defined | 1904 |
  Capitan Formation (the United States)  Capitan Formation (Texas) | |
The Capitan 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.
The formation underlies El Capitan in Guadalupe Mountains National Park,[1] and the formation and its associated basin, shelf margin, and backreef formations have been described as "the largest, best-preserved, most accessible, and most intensively studied Paleozoic reef complex in the world."[2]
History of investigation
The formation was first named by G.B. Richardson in 1904 for exposures in the Guadalupe Mountains.[3] By 1929, King and King had recognized that the Tessey, Gilliam, and Vidrio Limestones of the Glass Mountains of west Texas were correlative with the Capitan Formation, and redesigned them as members of the formation.[4][5]
Description
The formation consists of compact, massive, light grey to white limestone with minor dolomite. Its total thickness is 1,000–2,000 feet (300–610 m).[6]
See also
Footnotes
References
- King, P.B. (1930). "The geology of the Glass Mountains, Texas; Part 1, Descriptive geology". University of Texas Bulletin. 3038.
- King, Philip B. (1948). "Geology of the Southern Guadalupe Mountains, Texas". U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper. 215. doi:10.3133/pp215.
- Kues, B.S.; Giles, K.A. (2004). "The late Paleozoic Ancestral Rocky Mountain system in New Mexico". In Mack, G.H.; Giles, K.A. (eds.). The geology of New Mexico. A geologic history: New Mexico Geological Society Special Volume 11. pp. 95–136. ISBN 9781585460106.
- King, Philip B.; King, Robert E. (1929). "Stratigraphy of Outcropping Carboniferous and Permian Rocks of Trans-Pecos Texas". AAPG Bulletin. 13. doi:10.1306/3D93286B-16B1-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
- "Geologic Formations". Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas. National Park Service. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
- Richardson, G.B. (1904). "Report of a reconnaissance in Trans-Pecos Texas north of the Texas and Pacific Railway". University of Texas Mineral Survey Bulletin. 9. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
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