Romeroville Sandstone

The Romeroville Sandstone is a geologic formation in northeastern New Mexico.[1][2] It likely was deposited in the Cenomanian Age of the Cretaceous Period.[3]

Romeroville Sandstone Stratigraphic range: Cenomanian
Romeroville Sandstone beds resting on Pajarito Formation, I-25 road cut, Romeroville, New Mexico, USA
Type	Formation
Unit of	Dakota Group
Underlies	Graneros Shale
Overlies	Pajarito Formation
Thickness	up to 9 m (30 ft)
Lithology
Primary	Sandstone
Other	Siltstone
Location
Coordinates	35.5258°N 105.2380°W
Region	New Mexico
Country	United States
Type section
Named for	Settlement of Romeroville, New Mexico
Named by	Kues and Lucas
Year defined	1987
Romeroville Sandstone (the United States) Romeroville Sandstone (New Mexico)

Description

The formation consists of yellow-gray quartz sandstone with minor siltstone. The sandstone is planar crossbedded and bioturbated[1] and locally pebbly.[2] It overlies the Pajarito Formation and is in turn overlain by the Graneros Shale. Maximum thickness is 9 meters (30 ft).[1]

The formation is interpreted as the onset of a marine transgression of the Greenhorn cycle.[1]

History of investigation

The formation was first named by Kues and Lucas in 1987 for previously undivided Dakota Group beds at the Romeroville Gap. Kues and Lucas also identified it at Clayton Lake and in the valley of the Dry Cimarron.[1]

References

1. Kues and Lucas 1987
2. Ziegler et al. 2019
3. Lucas and Hunt 2000

Bibliography

• Kues, B.S.; Lucas, S.G. (1987). "Cretaceous stratigraphy and paleontology in the Dry Cimarron Valley, New Mexico, Colorado, and Oklahoma" (PDF). New Mexico Geological Society Field Conference Guidebook. 38: 167–198. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
• Lucas, Spencer G.; Hunt, Adrian P. (2000). "The lower Cretaceous ammonite Mortoniceras equidistans (Cragin) from the Mesa Rica Sandstone, Quay County, New Mexioco". New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletins. 16: 97–100. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
• Ziegler, Kate E.; Ramos, Frank C.; Zimmerer, Matthew J. (2019). "Geology of Northeastern New Mexico, union and Colfax Counties, New Mexico: A Geologic Summary" (PDF). New Mexico Geological Society Field Conference Series. 70 (4): 47–54. Retrieved 1 September 2020.