Bone Spring Formation

Bone Spring Formation
Stratigraphic range:
Type	Formation
Underlies	Cutoff Shale
Thickness	1,000 m (3,300 ft)
Lithology
Primary	Limestone
Other	Shale, sandstone
Location
Coordinates
Region	Texas New Mexico
Country	United States
Type section
Named for	Bone Spring Canyon
Named by	Blanchard and Davis
Year defined	1929

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.

Description

The formation consists of dark gray deep marine limestone interbedded with shale and sandstone interpreted as turbidites. 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. The formation grades laterally into the Victorio Peak Formation.

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

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.

History of investigation

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

Economic geology

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

See also

• List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in New Mexico
• List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Texas

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.