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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.[1]

Description

The formation consists of dark gray deep marine limestone interbedded with shale and sandstone[1] interpreted as turbidites.[2] The total thickness is about 1,000 meters (3,300 ft). The base of the formation is largely concealed in the subsurface, and the formation is overlain by the Cutoff Shale.[1] The formation grades laterally into the Victorio Peak Formation.[3]

The uppermost shale beds of the formation have been assigned to the Avalon Shale.[4]

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.[5]

History of investigation

The formation was first designated the Bone Springs Limestone by Blanchard and Davis in 1929.[6] It has subsequently been demoted to membership as the Bone Canyon Member of the Leonard Formation,[7] renamed the Bone Spring Limestone,[8] and most recently redesigned the Bone Spring Formation.[1] The Cutoff Shale was removed as a separate formation in 1964.[9]

Economic geology

The sandstones of the Bone Spring Formation are important petroleum reservoirs with estimated reserves in 1997 of 300,000–375,000 bbl.[10][11] The formation lies deep in the subsurface in the Delaware Basin, where its shale facies is known as the Avalon Shale.[12]

See also

Footnotes

References

  • Blanchard, W. Grant Jr.; Davis, Morgan J. (1929). “Permian Stratigraphy and Structure of Parts of Southeastern New Mexico and Southwestern Texas”. AAPG Bulletin. 13. doi:10.1306/3D93286E-16B1-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
  • Hayes, Philip Thayer (1964). “Geology of the Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico”. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper. Professional Paper. 446: 11. Bibcode:1964usgs.rept…11H. doi:10.3133/pp446.
  • 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.
  • King, P. B. (31 August 1934). “Permian stratigraphy of trans-Pecos Texas”. Geological Society of America Bulletin. 45 (4): 697–798. Bibcode:1934GSAB…45..697K. doi:10.1130/GSAB-45-697.
  • 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 978-1-58546-010-6.
  • Mazzullo, S. J. (1995). “Permian Stratigraphy and Facies, Permian Basin (Texas—New Mexico) and Adjoining Areas in the Midcontinent United States”. The Permian of Northern Pangea. pp. 41–60. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-78590-0_3. ISBN 978-3-642-78592-4.
  • Montgomery, Scott L. (1997). “Permian Bone Spring Formation: Sandstone Play  in the Delaware Basin, Part II-Basin”. AAPG Bulletin. 81. doi:10.1306/3B05BB0A-172A-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
  • Nester, Peter; Schwartz, Kenneth; Bishop, James; Garcia-Barriuso, Maria (2014). “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. doi:10.15530/URTEC-2014-1922929. ISBN 978-0-9912144-1-9.
  • Schwartz, Kenneth; Starr, Allison; Meier, Holly; Stolte, Natasha (2018). “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. doi:10.15530/urtec-2018-2901606. ISBN 978-0-9912144-5-7.
  • Sellards, E.H. (1933). “The pre-Paleozoic and Paleozoic systems in Texas, Part 1”. In Sellards, E.H.; Adkins, W.S.; Plummer, F.B (eds.). The geology of Texas. Vol. 1. University of Texas. pp. 15–238.
  • Stolz, Dustin J.; Franseen, Evan K.; Goldstein, Robert H. (2015). “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. doi:10.15530/urtec-2015-2154681. ISBN 978-0-9912144-2-6.