Browsing by Subject "Guadalupe Mountains"
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Item Airborne lidar-aided comparative facies architecture of Yates Formation (Permian) middle to outer shelf depositional systems, McKittrick Canyon, Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico and west Texas(2010-12) Sadler, Cari Elizabeth; Kerans, C. (Charles), 1954-; Steel, Ronald; Fisher, WilliamThe eastern side of the Guadalupe Mountains, located in New Mexico and west Texas, represents an erosional profile along the Capitan reef margin. A complete shelf-to-basin exposure of the Upper Permian Capitan shelf margin is found on the north wall of North McKittrick Canyon, which is nearly perpendicular to the Capitan reef margin. An excellent 2-D sequence stratigraphic framework for upper Permian backreef facies has been developed by previous workers for North McKittrick Canyon (Tinker, 1998) and Slaughter Canyon (Osleger, 1998), forming the basis for observations in this study. The goal of this study is to describe the sequence stratigraphic architecture of the Yates Formation, focusing on the Y4-Y6 high-frequency sequences (HFSs) found in the middle to outer shelf depositional systems, and to illustrate the use of airborne lidar data to quantitatively map at the cycle-scale. Seven measured sections were taken in North McKittrick Canyon. From airborne lidar, 3-D geometries of key sedimentary and structural features were mapped in Polyworks, in addition to the sequence boundaries delineating the Yates 4-6 HFSs. In general, major cycles exhibit asymmetry and shoal upward. Cycle boundaries are sometimes hard to delineate due to amalgamation, particularly in the shelf crest. High-frequency sequences are commonly asymmetric; they deepen and thicken upward toward the maximum flooding surface, and the boundaries between HFSs are usually marked by thick siltstones. Major HFS boundaries can be mapped across the entire dataset, and some component cycles can be observed for minimum distances of one kilometer in an updip-downdip direction. Also, some facies tract dimensions can be estimated directly from the lidar data. Measured sections indicate that the shelf crest facies tract shifts seaward with each successive HFS, while the outer shelf facies tract steps landward. Future work that could be done with the Y4-Y6 HFSs includes 8-10 more measured sections, collection of samples for thin sections, and tracing out of contacts between facies tracts. Extensive lidar data interpretation needs to be done so that digital outcrop models demonstrating facies distributions can be produced. This would enable the development of an outcrop analog model to mixed carbonate-siliciclastic reservoirs, which would be unprecedented in this area.Item Anatomy, dimensions, and significance of the penultimate Yates tepee-shelf crest complex, G25 Hairpin HFS, Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico and Texas(2016-05) Voorhees, Kristopher James; Kerans, C. (Charles), 1954-; Janson, Xavier; Fisher, William L.The steep-rimmed Permian Capitan platform in the Guadalupe Mountains has been studied in extensive detail to understand the effect of eustacy on platform architecture as seen in continuously exposed 700 m relief shelf-to-basin depositional profile. The Guadalupian Hairpin member (G25 High-Frequency Sequence) of the Yates Formation represents a major regional shelf marker and displays continuous 2.5 km dip-width exposures of the Capitan platform in McKittrick, Big, Double, Gunsight, Slaughter, Rattlesnake, and Walnut Canyons. Compared to the sequences above and below it, the G25 HFS is unique in that it reveals pronounced expansion of the shelf crest tepee-pisolite complex from an average of 1 km width to greater than 2 km. Tepee structures are 2-20 m diameter expansion megapolygons with compressional ridges formed by syndepositional expansive crystallization of micritic cement in arid to evaporitic supratidal settings. Increased dip-width of the shelf crest tepee-belt reflects a prolonged period where repeated cycles of wetting, evaporation, precipitation, and buckling of storm-ridge washover facies (grainy tidal flats/beaches) dominated the shelf. This study seeks to examine the role that eustacy/accommodation play in expansion of the shelf crest tepee complex by quantifying the dimensions of Capitan-equivalent shelf facies in McKittrick and Rattlesnake Canyons. Dip-oriented regional cross sections in Rattlesnake and McKittrick Canyons were created from 21 measured sections from 50-500 m spacing covering 30 to 70 m in thickness calibrated to 3 high-resolution gigapan photomosaics that are in turn constrained spatially using airborne lidar data. Cross sections in both canyons constrain facies tract dimensions as well as depositional topography and spatial distribution of the tepee complexes, allowing construction of a new tightly controlled depositional profile. 29 thin sections aid in grain identification, cement composition, and facies classification. Two main results of this study are (1) a new tightly constrained model for the Capitan shelf unequivocally showing that the tepee-belt is the topographic high-point of the profile, and (2) the Hairpin G25 highstand marks a period of prolonged supratidal exposure of the shelf and rapid volumetrically significant marine cementation from a supersaturated fluid, marking the first phase of silling of the Delaware Basin and onset of basinal restriction prior to end-Capitan Castile evaporite deposition.Item Characterizing transitional flow deposits in the proximal Brushy Canyon Formation, Texas(2015-12) Ustipak, Kelsi Rae; Mohrig, David; Milliken, Kitty; Ponten, Anna; Steel, RonaldTransitional flow deposits are identified, characterized, and placed in a stratigraphic context in the proximal Brushy Canyon Formation, Guadalupe Mountains, Texas. Transitional flows are sand-laden, mud-rich sediment gravity flows that deposit matrix-rich sandstones that are laterally equivalent to matrix-poor sandstones in deepwater lobe environments. Understanding spatial variability in deepwater facies and developing correct process models based on outcrop studies facilitates accurate predictive drilling and exploration in deepwater hydrocarbon reservoirs. In this study, two well-known outcrops of the Brushy Canyon Formation are investigated with high-resolution data sets of detailed stratigraphic sections, grain size analysis, and thin sections. Results of the study reveal that transitional flow deposits have grain size trends and lateral bed thickness trends that distinguish them from the deposits of other sediment gravity flows.Item Geomorphology and morphometric characteristics of alluvial fans, Guadalupe Mountains National Park and adjacent areas, west Texas and New Mexico(Texas A&M University, 2004-09-30) Given, Jeffrey LyleThis study qualitatively and quantitatively analyzes the geomorphology of alluvial fans in the Guadalupe Mountains Region (GMR) of west Texas and south-central New Mexico. Morphometric data for 31 alluvial fans and drainage basins ha ve been derived. The data set was subdivided into Guadalupe and Brokeoff Mountain fans and was further subdivided on the basis of their location along the two mountain ranges. A conventional morphometric analysis was conducted relating alluvial fan area and slope to drainage basin area in order to understand if and to what extent the alluvial fans of the GMR are dependent on the physical environment, including characteristics and processes of the drainage basin and depositional site. The results of the morphometric analysis indicate that the morphometric relationships that exist between the alluvial fans of the GMR and their contributory drainage basins are comparably to those of alluvial fans of the western United States. Morphologic and morphometric differences between the various groups primarily reflect geographic differences in the physiography and lithology of the contributory drainage basin, tectonics, and the various physical constraints imposed by the GMR.Item High-resolution correlation framework of the Grayburg Formation-Shattuck Escarpment and Plowman Ridge : testing models of shelf-to-basin frameworks(2013-08) Hiebert, Samuel Franz; Kerans, C. (Charles), 1954-The San Andres and Grayburg Formations are important stratigraphic units for constructing correlation frameworks of the Guadalupe Mountains because these strata record the transition between the ramp profiles of the San Andres along the Algerita Escarpment and the reef-rimmed platforms of the Capitan Formation of the southern Guadalupe Mountains (Franseen et al. 1989). Sarg et al. (1999) and Kerans and Tinker (1999) have published significantly different models of shelf-to-basin correlations within this stratigraphic interval. Central to the debate is the correlation of mixed carbonate-siliciclastic strata exposed at Plowman Ridge in the Brokeoff Mountains to the better-constrained strata along the Shattuck Escarpment in the Guadalupe Mountains. This study applies high-resolution cyclostratigraphy, inorganic carbon isotope geochemistry, and sequence stratigraphic concepts to test the hypothesis that the strata exposed at Plowman Ridge are equivalent to Grayburg strata exposed at the Shattuck Escarpment in the southern Guadalupe Mountains (Kerans and Nance 1991, Kerans and Kempter 2002). The shelf-to-basin cyclostratigraphic framework of the Grayburg Formation used in this study was established at the Shattuck Escarpment with data compiled from nine detailed measured sections, high-resolution photopans, and petrographic analysis. Based on one- and two-dimensional cycle stacking analysis, the Grayburg Formation was divided into three high-frequency sequences (HFSs). The high-frequency sequences contain transgressive systems tracts separated by maximum flooding surfaces from the highstand systems tracts. The Grayburg high-frequency sequences are composed of between 6 and 20 high-frequency cycles (HFCs), which were identified and classified into vertical facies successions. The Grayburg succession at Shattuck section 7 (32.09ᵒ, -104.81ᵒ) was selected as the reference section from the Guadalupe Mountains for comparison with Plowman section PR1 (32.03ᵒ, -104.89ᵒ) in the Brokeoff Mountains. Correlation between sections is documented at the 3rd-order composite sequence, high-frequency sequence, and when feasible, high-frequency cycle scale. Three high-frequency sequences recognized at Plowman Ridge section PR1 are equivalent to the G10, G11, and G12 Grayburg sequences described at Shattuck section 7. Correlation of the Grayburg G10-G12 high-frequency sequences with the three sequences at Plowman Ridge is based on comparison of overall thicknesses, facies proportions, cycle number, vertical facies succession, stratigraphic position of diagnostic units, and excursions within the inorganic carbon isotope profiles taken from both sections. Establishing the links between Grayburg strata on the Shattuck wall with strata on Plowman Ridge corroborates the framework/correlation scheme of Kerans and Tinker (1999) in lieu of other published correlation frameworks.Item Integrated lidar and outcrop study of syndepositional faults and fractures in the Capitan Formation, Gaudalupe Mountains, New Mexico, U.S.A.(2012-12) Jones, Nathaniel Baird; Kerans, C. (Charles), 1954-An appreciation of the extent of syndepositional fracturing, faulting, and cementation of carbonate platform margins is essential to understanding the role of early diagenesis and compaction in margin deformation. This study uses integrated lidar and outcrop data along the Capitan Reef from an area encompassing the mouths of both Rattlesnake and Walnut Canyons. Mapping geomorphic expressions of syndepositional faults and fractures at multiple scales of observation was the main approach to delineating zones of syndepositional fractures. Ridge- groove couplets visible in exposures of the Capitan Reef throughout the Guadalupe Mountains were targeted because the ability to identify these as signs of syndepositional fracture development would have implications for the entire reef complex. Results show that these ridgegroove couplets are the product of differential weathering of syndepositional as well as burial-related fractures. Recessive grooves have an average syndepositional fracture spacing of ~13 m whereas ridges have a spacing of ~33 m. vi Smaller (~5-20 m-wide) scale erosional lineaments common in the study area and mappable on airborne lidar are formed by differential erosion of planes of syndepositional faults. Maps of these fault lineaments on the lidar show that syndepositional faults extend laterally for 300 m - 2000 m and relay near the terminations of the faults at each end. Faults can be further grouped into fault systems consisting of sets of faults connected by fault relays that extend for at least the entire length (~12 km) of the study area. Although vertical displacement along faults is typically less than 11 m, syndepositional faults result in changes in structural dip domain of 1-6 degrees across an individual fault. Even smaller erosional lineaments (10 cm-1 m) are visible on the airborne lidar that form as a result of differential erosion of individual fractures. Larger fractures (> 20 cm) can be reliably mapped on the lidar, but smaller features (< 20 cm) cannot be reliably mapped with currently available data and can only be captured using field studies. Fracture fill types are heterogeneous along strike as shown by comparisons of field study locations. Siliciclastic-dominated fills are likely sourced from overlying siliciclastic units of the shelf, which, in this area, were from the Ocotillo Siltstone. These silt-filled fractures are broadly distributed, indicating preferential development and infill of syndepositional fractures during the deposition of the Ocotillo Siltstone in the G27/28 high-frequency sequences. Development of early fractures is also shown to have been influenced by mechanical stratigraphy with changes in fracture spacing between massive to thick-bedded shelf-margin (~17 m fracture spacing) and outer-shelf facies tracts versus thin-bedded outer-shelf and shelf-crest (~28 m fracture spacing). Ultimately, this study demonstrated that the Capitan shelf margin was ubiquitously overprinted by syndepositional fracturing and faulting and that this nearsurface structural modification influenced early diagenetic patterns and internal vii sedimentation throughout the reef margin. Before this study, the extent and nature of syndepositional fracture/fault development within the margin were largely unquantified. Here, by integrating field observations and surface weathering reflections of these fractures as observed in the lidar, we can demonstrate a widespread impact of early fracturing more akin to analogous early-lithified margins such as the Devonian of the Canning Basin of Australia.Item Outcrop-derived facies model and cycle architecture of the Tansill G27-G28 high-frequency sequences, Rattlesnake Canyon, New Mexico(2016-05) McKenzie, Kyle Michael; Kerans, C. (Charles), 1954-; Loucks, R. G.; Fisher, William LHigh-relief, steep-rimmed carbonate margins are significant geologic features documented in a variety of locations throughout the geologic record. The Tansill Formation, the shallow-water platform equivalent of the steep-rimmed Capitan Reef, is the end member of a depositional system that progressively narrowed through time and has the most compressed outer-shelf-facies tract of Permian strata on the Northwest Shelf. Extensive precipitation of in-situ marine cements allowed for early lithification and oversteepening of the narrow outer-shelf and resulted in the most extensive network of syndepositional fractures and the best margin collapse features documented in the Late Guadalupian. Tansill shelfal strata is well constrained and served as part of the the archetype high-frequency cycle (HFC)/sequence (HFS) stratigraphic framework developed and modified over decades of extensive outcrop studies (Tyrrell, 1969), making it one of the type locations to study depositinal processes of a structurally dynamic platform. This study provides the opportunity to examine the terminal phase of carbonate deposition of a dynamically restrictive basin and better understand the associated platform geometries and facies architecture of a steep-rimmed platform leading up to the extreme reorganization of basin fill as evaporite precipitation took over during the Wuchiapingian Stage, Ochoan Series. The stratigraphic framework at Rattlesnake Canyon for the lower and middle Tansill was built from eight detailed measured sections within the Guadalupian HFS G27-G28 interval, totaling 467 m. Sections were described on the northern wall of Rattlesnake Canyon where detailed characterization of the G25 and G26 (Hairpin and Triplet) HFSs had been resolved. Distinct bedding planes within each measured sections were correlated using photomosaic panels of the canyon walls and airborne LIDAR-based digital outcrop models, creating a high degree of certainty when correlating and interpreting cycle architecture along a palinspastically reconstructed dip-oriented cross section. The spacing between sections ranges between 58 m – 232 m, and when projected onto a true dip profile they span a distance of 1.1 km, beginning 300 m inland of the G28 platform margin. The close spacing of measured sections was mandated by the abrupt lateral facies tract changes within the narrow Tansill shelf. A more extensive record of the G27 and G28 HFSs were documented in Rattlesnake Canyon than in adjacent canyons where exposure is incomplete because of covered intervals (Dark Canyon) or the collapse of the time-equivalent platform margin and removal of outer-shelf strata (Walnut Canyon). The framework of the G27-G28 HFSs further constrains the maximum flooding surface (MFS) of the CS13 and indicates a rocky shoreline juxtaposed against the windward side of shelf-crest tepee-pisolite barrier-island complexes. Previous studies have emphasized the stacking patterns comprising the outer few kilometers of the platform but have given little to no recognition to the breccia prone high-energy shorelines deposits and have not incorporated this distinct facies into depositional models. Comparison of data from this study with the proximal Walnut and Dark Canyon profiles help to further delineate the G27 – G28 platform geometries and facies tract widths and can be incorporated into the larger scale stratigraphic framework of Permian strata exposed in the Guadalupe Mountains.Item Stratigraphic analysis of the lower Grayburg Formation in Last Chance Canyon, New Mexico: Utilization of high-precision geospatial mapping and surveying technologies(2011-05) Ojeda, Sergio R.; Nagihara, Seiichi; Holterhoff, Peter; Asquith, George B.The lower Grayburg Formation is a Middle Permian, mixed siliciclastic-carbonate on the rim of the Delaware and Midland basins that is well exposed in Last Chance Canyon, Guadalupe Mountains, U.S.A. Previous sequence stratigraphic work in the Grayburg recognizes the Grayburg Formation composite sequence onlapping the San Andres composite sequence. However, this onlap has only been vaguely documented and described in a regional sense (10’s km), using the “paradigm” or “universal” model of an onlap in sequence stratigraphy. This research questions this “paradigm” model of how the Grayburg onlapping wedge developed during deposition at the flow-unit scale (100’s m). The main objective of this study is to use geospatial technologies (i.e., Light Detection and Radar (LIDAR) and Differential Global Positioning Systems (DGPS) to build a three-dimensional (3-D) geographic model of the lower Grayburg Formation that can be used to define the structural orientations, thickness variations, and stratal geometries. This can then be used in conjunction with field observations to better define the higher-resolution depositional processes of the lower Grayburg Formation’s onlapping wedge. Digital mapping techniques yielded over 10 million high resolution (5-20 cm) LIDAR points of the Last Chance Canyon topography and ~900 GPS positional measurements for three stratigraphic marker beds (i.e., “Big Brown”, “Meter Brown”, and “Hayes” sandstones). This data was combined with Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data and used to construct both digital elevation model (DEM) and triangular irregular network (TIN) surfaces of the study area. These models were then used to build elevation, slope, aspect, and isopach maps. Traditional techniques resulted in identification of six lithofacies. Lithofacies 1 is the deepest and is interpreted to represent a subtidal environment, while Lithofcaies 6 is the shallowest and is interpreted to represent a supratidal environment. A tide-dominated coastal system conceptual geologic model of the lower Grayburg Formation was constructed and used to define an idealized facies cycle that represents an upward shallowing parasequence package that was initiated with deposition of Lithofacies 1 and terminated with deposition of Lithofacies 6. There are variations in the cycle facies stacking patterns that are present within the study area and are interpreted to be caused by tidal-ravinement surfaces and truncation. Finally, a panoramic photograph of the northeast wall of Last Chance Canyon is interpreted and results in capturing sandstone bodies both truncating carbonate mudstone and amalgamating on the updip side of the study area. By combining LIDAR and DGPS technologies the lower Grayburg Formation’s subtle dip anomalies were identified and used to determine current day structural dip and “true” depositional dip. Isopach maps defined the wedge shaped geometry of the lower Grayburg Formation and helped orient facies transitions in a basinward direction. Field observations aided in identifying variations in facies stacking patterns within the lower Grayburg Formation and are interpreted to be directly influenced by tidal-ravinement surfaces and truncation that result in updip thinning of parasequences and amalgamation of sand bodies. By combining digital mapping and traditional outcrop techniques the lower Grayburg’s onlapping wedge is interpreted to represent a much more geologically complex system than the stately onlap.Item Temporal and spatial evolution of the Cave Graben Fault System, Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico(2014-12) Mathisen, Maren Gabriella; Kerans, C. (Charles), 1954-; Zahm, Christopher KentNumerous recent studies have demonstrated the importance of syndepositional faulting as an inherent element of steep-rimmed carbonate margins. However, these studies have not emphasized the relationship to older shelf margins, multiphase deformation history, and complexity of fault zone internal structure. In the Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico, extensive syndepositional deformation parallels the Permian Capitan shelf margin reef and has developed in the absence of regional tectonic forces due to a combination of early carbonate cementation, gravitational instability, differential compaction, and variable progradation to aggradation at pre-existing shelf margins. This study focuses on the geometry, growth history, and internal fill type distribution within the Cave Graben Fault System (CGFS) in Slaughter and Rattlesnake Canyons of the Guadalupian (Capitan) shelf margin with the intent to understand the temporal and spatial evolution of deformation in front of the G24 shelf margin. Stratigraphy, faults and fractures exposed within the CGFS were mapped using high-resolution gigapan photos and GPS, along with RCRL Guadalupe airborne lidar, provides a geospatial database for 3D visualization, quantification, and interpretation. Detailed mapping reveals a high degree of variability in fault geometry, including the presence of vertical and lateral fault relays, antithetic and synthetic splays, and highly variable fault and fracture apertures, suggesting a complex deformational history. Hundreds of early-formed fractures have been mapped within the G24-G25 shelf margin system, but the development of significant faults with appreciable displacement only occurs in front of the G24 margin. Vertical fault displacement varies from 9 to 34 m in the CGFS. Breccias several meters in width fill the main faults and contain entrained sediment and clasts of variable age and composition. Stratal geometries reveal that movement and episodic growth occurred along the faults soon after deposition. Further investigation of the sediment and breccia fills suggests that a significant dissolution event along the fault allowed for the entrainment of much younger, post-Permian sediment. Based on these findings it appears that in Rattlesnake Canyon at least 30-60% of the CGFS vertical displacement occurs in the Permian, whereas up to 40-70% may develop post-Permian, providing a significant advancement in the understanding of timing of fault systems within the Capitan shelf margin.