I 

I 

Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) 

Biostratigraphy, Facies, and Microfossils, 

Pedregosa Basin, Southeastern Arizona 

and Southwestern New Mexico 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1826 
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Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) 

Biostratigraphy, Facies, and Microfossils, 

Pedregosa Basin, Southeastern Arizona 

and Southwestern New Mexico 
Frontispiece. Northeast side of the Big Hatchet Mountains, N.Mex., with Big Hatchet Peak on the skyline. pCg, Precambrian granite 

at base of hill in foreground; Cb, Upper Cambrian Bliss Sandstone; Oep, Lower Ordovician El Paso Limestone; Om, Middle and 

Upper Ordovician Montoya Dolomite; Dp, Upper Devonian Percha Shale. Massive cliff of Mississippian Escabrosa Group is well 

displayed, with Lower Mississippian Keating Formation (Mk) and encrinite of Lower and Upper Mississippian Hachita Formation 

(Mh) forming bold cliff. Upper Mississippian Paradise Formation (Mp) forms slope beneath limestone cliff of Pennsylvanian Horquilla Limestone ([ph). 
Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) 

Biostratigraphy, Facies, and Microfossils, 

Pedregosa Basin, Southeastern Arizona 

and Southwestern New Mexico 

By AUGUSTUS K. ARMSTRONG and BERNARD L. MAMET 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1826 
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

DONALD PAUL HODEL, Secretary 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Dallas L. Peck, Director 

Any use of trade names and trademarks 

in this publication is for descriptive 

purposes only and does not constitute 

endorsement by the U.S. Geological Survey 

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1988 

For sale by the 

Books and Open-File Reports Section 

U.S. Geological Survey 

Federal Center, Box 25425 

Denver, CO 80225 

Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data 

Armstrong, Augustus K. 

Mississippian (lower carboniferous) biostratigraphy, 

facies, and microfossils, pedregosa basin, southeastern 

Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. 

(U.S. Geological Survey bulletin ; 1826} 

Supt. of Docs. no. : I 19.3:1826 

Bibliography: p. 

1. Paleontology-Mississippian. 2. PaleontologyPedregosa Basin. 3. Paleontology-Arizona. 

4. Paleontology-New Mexico. I. Mamet, Bernard L. 

II. Title. Ill. Series. 

QE75.B9 no. 1826 557.3 s 88-16040 

[QE729.2] [560'.1'72709791] 
CONTENTS 

Abstract 1 

Introduction 1 

Previous studies 1 

Stratigraphy 4 

Lower boundary of the Mississippian 8 

Units overlying the Mississippian 8 

Escabrosa Group 9 

Keating Formation 9 

Bugle Member 9 

Witch Member 10 

Hachita Formation 11 

Paradise Formation 13 

Western facies of the Escabrosa Limestone 15 

Rancheria Formation 16 

Summary of the lithologies of the three regional facies 17 

Lithologies of the western facies 17 

Lithologies of the central facies 17 

Lithologies of the eastern facies 18 

Microfossils, foraminifers, and calcareous algae 18 

Biostratigraphic correlations 18 

Mississippian carbonate facies and paleotectonics 19 

Conclusions 24 

References cited 24 

Supplementary data: Detailed biostratigraphy 30 

Index 39 

FIGURES 

Frontispiece. Photograph of northeast side of the Big Hatchet Mountains, N.Mex. 

1. Index map of New Mexico and eastern Arizona 2 

2. Map of New Mexico and eastern Arizona, showing Mississippian and earliest Pennsylvanian regional tectonic features 3 

3. Correlation chart for the Mississippian System of New Mexico, eastern Arizona, 

western Texas, and southwestern Colorado 4 

4. Correlation diagram showing microfacies and microfossil zones in the eastern, central, 

and western facies 6 

5-8. Photographs of: 

5. Northeast side of the Boss Ranch section, Pedregosa Mountains, Ariz. 9 

6. Escabrosa Group on the north side of Blue Mountain in the Chiricahua 

Mountains, Ariz. 10 

7. Typical dark-gray chert of the Witch Member of the Keating Formation 

in the Blue Mountain section, Chiricahua Mountains, Ariz. 11 

8. Contact between the Witch Member of the Keating Formation and 

the Hachita Formation 12 

9. Time-stratigraphic chart for the Paradise Formation 15 

10. Stratigraphic chart of Mississippian microfossils in southwestern New Mexico and 

southeastern Arizona 20 

11. Isopach map of western New Mexico and eastern Arizona for Lower Mississippian 

zones pre-7, 7, and 8 23 

Contents V 
VI Contents 

12. Idealized sequence of standard facies belts for the Escabrosa Group, Escabrosa Limestone, 

Lake Valley Limestone, Las Cruces Formation, and Rancheria Formation 24 

13. Block diagram illustrating facies environments and lithostratigraphic units in the 

Mississippian of southern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona 26 

14. Isopach map of western New Mexico and eastern Arizona for Late Mississippian 

(Meramecian) zones 12 through 15 27 

15. Cross sections illustrating Mississippian regional stratigraphic relations across the Pedregosa 

Basin 28 
Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) Biostratigraphy, 

Facies, and Microfossils, Pedregosa Basin, 

Southeastern Arizona and Southwestern New Mexico 

By Augustus K. Armstrong and Bernard L. Mamet 1 

Abstract 

Initial Lower Mississippian deposits of southwestern New 

Mexico and southeastern Arizona are early Tournaisian (prezone 7) in age and rest unconformably on rocks of Late Devonian 

age. Mississippian sediment was deposited during a marine 

transgression across an erosional surface of very low relief. 

Early and middle Tournaisian marine transgression began in 

southwestern New Mexico and adjacent parts of Arizona, depositing the Keating Formation of the Escabrosa Group and, to 

the west, the lower part of the Escabrosa Limestone on a shoaling subtidal to supratidal carbonate platform. By the end ofTournaisian (late Osagean) time, epicontinental seas had flooded 

much of New Mexico and Arizona. The Hachita Formation of 

the Escabrosa Group in the Pedregosa Basin was deposited in 

shoaling water as crinoidal sand on a wide carbonate shelf. To 

the west in Arizona, the stratigraphic equivalent of the Hachita 

Formation is the upper part of the Escabrosa Limestone, composed of peloid/calcareous-algal micrite deposited in subtidal to 

intertidal environments. A major regional marine regression and 

ensuing transgression that took place during early Visean (in part 

Meramecian) time are represented by a hiatus in the upper part 

of massive encrinite of the Hachita Formation in southwestern 

New Mexico. This hiatus is expressed in the unconformity between shelf carbonates of the Lake Valley Formation and deeperwater, basinal carbonate rocks of the lower part of the Rancheria 

Formation in south-central New Mexico. In southwestern New 

Mexico and adjacent parts of Arizona, the Paradise Formation 

represents shallow-marine sedimentation that ranges in age from 

zone 15 (late Meramecian) through zone 19 (late Chesterian). 

The upper part of the Rancheria Formation and the Helms Formation of south-central New Mexico and western Texas are a 

deeper-water facies of the Paradise Formation. 

Over the entire region, Lower Pennsylvanian sedimentary 

rocks truncate Mississippian sedimentary rocks of Tournaisian, 

Visean, and Namurian age. 

INTRODUCTION 

This study describes the stratigraphy, carbonate facies, 

paleotectonics, and micropaleontology of the Mississippian 

rocks in the Franklin Mountains of western Texas, southPublication authorized by the Director. U.S. Geological Survey, October 5, 1987. 

1

University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 

western New Mexico, and southeastern Arizona (figs. 1-3). 

Our investigation of the Mississippian outcrops, carbonate 

rocks, microfossils, and microfacies in the Pedregosa Basin 

and adjacent areas is based on field studies from 1956 to 1978. 

The thin sections on which microfossil and petrographic 

analyses were done are deposited in the U.S. National Museum 

in Washington. Calcareous algae and foraminifers are used to 

construct regional correlations among the stable-shelf-platform carbonates, the somewhat deeper water, crinoidbryozoan bank carbonates, and the semi-starved-basin, 

spiculitic carbonate facies. 

Specific descriptions, and the locations of outcrop sections 

described in this report, are shown adjacent to the stratigraphic 

sections that form the regional diagram (fig. 4). The locations 

of outcrop sections not discussed in this report but shown on 

the index map of New Mexico and eastern Arizona (fig. 1) can 

be found in the reports by Laudon and Bowsher (1941, 1949) 

and Armstrong and Mamet (1974, 1976). The microfossil 

zonations established and described by Sando and others 

(1969) and Armstrong and Mamet (1977) are used in this 

report, along with Dunham's ( 1962) carbonate-rock classification. 

Acknowledgments.-We thank Frank E. Kottlowski, director of the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, for his continuing support of this project. Kenneth E. 

Caster, formerly of the University of Cincinnati, suggested this 

study to Armstrong in 1956 and supported his efforts in the 

study of corals and brachiopods. We are grateful to James Lee 

Wilson, formerly of the University of Michigan, and Robert 

N. Ginsburg of the University of Miami for many hours of conversation and discussion on carbonate depositional models and 

diagenesis. James Lee Wilson, Sam Thompson III, John E. 

Repetski, and J. Thomas Dutro, Jr., reviewed the manuscript; 

we appreciate their time and help in greatly enhancing the 

quality of this study. 

PREVIOUS STUDIES 

Fossils from Mississippian rocks of New Mexico were first 

identified by White (1881) at Lake Valley, N.Mex. Cope 

(1882a, b) referred to the rocks at Lake Valley and proposed 

the name "Lake Valley formation." Herrick ( 1904) used the 

Introduction 
name "Kelly limestone" for the Mississippian rocks of the 

Magdalena mining district. Laudon and Bowsher (1941, 

1949) divided the Mississippian System of south-central New 

Mexico into five formations and the Lake Valley Formation 

into six members (fig. 2). They named the Caballero Formation for rocks of Kinderhookian age in the Sacramento and San 

Andres Mountains and the area around Lake Valley, N.Mex., 

and applied the names "Las Cruces and Rancheria Formations" to Meramecian rocks in the Hueco and Franklin Mountains of western Texas and in the San Andres and Sacramento 

Mountains of New Mexico. They restricted Beede's (1920) 

designation of the Helms Formation to beds of Chesterian age. 

Kues (1986) published a detailed faunal list for the Caballero 

and Lake Valley Formations west of the Rio Grande. 

110° 109° 1oao 

37". 

36° 

35° 

34° 

33° 

32° 

0 50 tOO 

The Escabrosa Limestone of Mississippian age was named 

by G .H. Girty (in Ransome, 1904) for the lower Carboniferous 

section in the Escabrosa Cliffs, west of Bisbee, Cochise County, southeastern Arizona. Huddle and Dobrovolny (1952) 

made a regional stratigraphic study of the Devonian and Mississippian strata of central Arizona that included the northern 

parts of the Escabrosa Limestone. They described and illustrated the Mississippian erosional surface and the effects of 

pre-Pennsylvanian solution activity. Gilluly and others 

(1954) established the nomenclature for the upper Paleozoic 

rocks of Cochise County, Ariz., which also included the Mississippian System. Sabins (1957) described the Escabrosa 

Limestone and the Paradise Formation in the Chiricahua 

Mountains. Armstrong (1962) described the megafossils and 

107" 106° 

··it~ fl 

150 200 KILOMETERS 

105° 104° 

~ After Foster and ~ 

others (1972) ; 

0~---:---···,, 

.. 

-·- -- -- - - ' ~~ -- ~- -

' ' 

After 

Meyer 

(1966) 

103° 

l-

~~ I 

\ 

I 

Figure 1. Index map of New Mexico and eastern Arizona, showing locations of outcrop sections used in this report (triangles) and 

in biostratigraphic and lithologic regional-correlation diagram (numbers; see figs. 4, 15). Contours (in feet; queried where uncertain), isopachs of the Mississippian System. IFZ, lower Paleozoic rocks. Section line 8-B' is dotted. 

2 Mississippian (lower Carboniferous) Biostratigraphy, Fades, and Microfossils, Pedregosa Basin, Arizona and New Mexico 
stratigraphy of the Escabrosa Limestone in the Chiricahua 

Mountains of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New 

Mexico. He locally elevated the Escabrosa Limestone to 

group rank and divided it into two formations: the Keating 

Formation, with two informal members, A and B; and the 

overlying Hachita Formation. Armstrong and Mamet ( 1978a) 

formally named these two informal members of the Keating 

Formation, in ascending order, the Bugle and Witch Members. 

the east side of the Chiricahua Mountains. Hernon (1935) 

described and illustrated the macrofauna of the Paradise Formation at Blue Mountain in the Chiricahua Mountains. McKee (1951, pl. 1) published the first detailed paleotectonic 

discussion and isopach map for the Mississippian System of 

New Mexico and Arizona. Zeller (1965) published M.K. 

Elias' extensive macrofossil list for the Paradise Formation of 

the Big Hatchet Mountains. Armstrong and Mamet (1978a, 

b) and Armstrong and others (1979, 1980) published short 

papers on a regional correlation of the Mississippian System 

Stoyanow (1926) named the Paradise Formation for outcrops a few miles east of the old mining camp of Paradise, on 

36° 

35" 

34° 

33° 

32" 

112° 

_____ \ 

• 

• 

1110 110° 109° 108° 107" 

r' • • 1--- ---L ~" I 

ARIZONA 

BLACK MESA 

i BASIN 

LA~E PALEOZOIC. 

_______ !_ --,'-.}_ '----- --

c-<1:4;_~ 

.s-~<>ol\1 t 

TCi> CENOZOIC ; 

TO HQLOCENE 

' ! 

4--+--........... -- I 

PEr,INSYLVANt. N_-MlSSISS\PP\AN-~ ! I I 

i 

i 

i 0~ : : ! : ~~ ·~ 

~-···· :_,'( ___ 1 ·J: --~ -- --~ : I i ~ I A i -------- --_ L --:, • \ 

i i. • ' 

i "\ t r·-. • • \ ~ 

i : I j ~ - ~1- ---·: 

L __ _ 

106" 105° 

I I 

L .. ----: I 

' . \S\ -- ---~'--1 : PENNSYLVANIAN RANC~ERIA "'o• j : \ FLORIDA UPLIFT BASIN , 

104° 

I 

i 

\ i---

i 

I 

r· 

\ 

\--

i 

\ 

r 

i 

• Mississi*-·~an car~nat:~ LATE ~ISSI~SIPPIAN f.-)_·-~----·-·-·-·:-·-·-·-;'\~ .. -·-·:- .• ( 6 s elf basil'\----\ STARVEni BASIN "· •· '-~ ' ...,,... :PEDREGO Ai·-·-·----~----·-· -·\.,_\ I '~ - .._- -

................ 1 6 ~ BASIN ~ ! MEXICO \ ~EXAS ........ ......_ : • ..O.q~~ I \.,. •, 

-........ ______ _; _____ ~---·-·-·l.._??ok".j ''""'\ 

0 50 100 150 200 KILOMETERS 

EXPlANATION 

Anticline + Syncline + Showina plunge 

'· / 

I 

I 

Figure 2. New Mexico and eastern Arizona, showing Mississippian and earliest Pennsylvanian regional tectonic features. Triangles, 

locations of outcrop sections used in this report. 

Previous Studies 3 
of southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona. 

Armstrong and others (1984) documented the MississippianPennsylvanian transition and hiatus in the Pedregosa Basin of 

southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. 

~.!! 

I

E' 

en :;; >CI) 

(/.) 

c: 

ca 

Q) 

c. 

0 

:5 

LU 

Q) 

en 

ca 

-

en 

c: 

-~- J2t 

..c:ca 

en C. caal 

Q) 

c: 

0 

N 

-~ 

0 

-~ (.l 

~ 

"' "" c: 

::::1 • 0~ j§ 

0 

N 

19 c: 

-~-f--.---

:5 ~ 18 ~~f--.---

2 

c: 

ca 

Q) 

en 

> 

c: 

ca 

·u; 

"Cii 

c: 

:5 

0 

1-

17 

16s l----

16i -

15 ---

14 -

13 -

12 1------

11 -

10 

9 -

8 

7 

Pre-7 

Mooney 

FaHs Mbr 

1

-fii,jiidel-, 

~ _St>!!!'&!~b!o_l 

~ :.:::; 

Whitmore 

Wash 

Member 

Sectoon cut by 

Cenozoic fauh 

"' "' "' c: e.s 

.Q "' 

~.5 "' "' UJ _. 

? ? .. 

"' "'"' c: e.s 

.Q "' "' "' ~:§ 

"' "'"' c: 

~~ 

"'"' 

~:5 

STRATIGRAPHY 

The stratigraphic sections described in this report were systematically measured and sampled at 1- to 1.7-m intervals for 

This report 

? ? [,. 

Reworked 

regolith 

with boulders 

"'c: "' "' 0 0 .cu; 

"' 

~ "' .5 ..... _. 

Escabrosa 

Limestone 

jpart) 

Escabrosa 

Limestone 

jpart) 

Escabrosa 

Limestone 

jpart) 

Escabrosa 

Limestone 

jpart) 

Escabrosa 

Limestone 

jpart) 

c.. 

::::1 

0 

t5 

r1 ·1Tn rr TTin II II Tin riTil llf TTITI !II n Ill rT II llllYII 

Rocks 

beneath 

Mississippian 

System 

w...l!-l.I_UIAJJLL!J l__.lj_l )jllJ_J_IIJ-.L liJ..L 1.1 J.l_J---Jl..LJ lL!.JJ l...ul U.-~.._.l!~~I..J...~--ucr..v~.Jr-<..'"'t~~ J I ILl IJ I I JJ Ll u LLLI-J._LWJ.Uj_ 

Perch a 

Shale 

Upper 

!Devonian) IIDevonian) 

Martin Martin 

Formation Formation 

i 

I Devonian) 

Martin 

Formation 

I Devonian) 

Martin 

Formation 

I Devonian) 

Martin 

Formation 

I Devonian) 

Martin 

Formation 

I Devonian) 

Martin 

Formation 

I Devonian) 

Martin 

Formation 

I Devonian) 

Martin 

Formation I Devonian) 

Figure 3. Correlation chart for the Mississippian System of New Mexico, eastern Arizona, western Texas, and southwestern 

Colorado. Krukowski (1988) reported a Kinderhookian age based on conodonts for the Caloso Member of the Kelly Limestone 

in west-central New Mexico. Wavy line, unconformity (queried where uncertain); arrow, direction of relative movement along 

fault. 

4 Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) Biostratigraphy, Facies, and Microfossils, Pedregosa Basin, Arizona and New Mexico 
carbonate petrographic studies, microfacies analysis, and microfossil zonation. The principal stratigraphic diagram forms 

a line of measured sections (A-A', fig. 4) that starts near El 

Paso, Tex., and extends westward across southwestern New 

This report 

Unconform· 

ably overlain 

by Permian 

~ "-' 

Rancheria 

Formation 

? ? ? 

V'l."l'l-.1 .~ll ILA? 

Rancheria 

Formation 

? ~!'. 

Las Cruces 

Formation 

of Laudon 

and 

Bowsher 

(1949) 

? ? 

lane 11 974), !Laudon and Bowsher 11949) Yurewi·cz 11 977), K 1 k. d h 1 ' Laudon and Bowsher n 949) ott ows I an ot ers I 1963) 

"' c: 

~·~ u E ~ 0 a: u.. 

Oooa Ana 

~ ~---~~.!!-

] ! ~::~r 1------ T~erra ~A...J-..1 .1-L-'--V~h.-'--J-.uc.....-_,_ ... __..._, 

Blanca 

.! 1-- .M"!!!i'!!.- ~ Nunn 

~--~·.!'!b!!.._ Alamogordo 

Member 

~ ~Anctr_ecrto_ 

Member 

T11rra Blanca I ! Member ~ ----·- = NuM 

:.5 1-:.Mf!!..'b!!._ .!" Alamogordo 

~ Member 

:! r-A..-eci;- Member 

., T~erra Blanca 

g Member o; r----- E Nunn 

:.::; 1--.~"!!'fl~­ ! Alamogordo 

> Member .:11------

~ Andrecito 

Member 

Caballero Caballero Caballer~~~ ~~~For~~~~~~~~~F-or~~tioo~~~-Fo~rm-at~ioo n 

nn 

-~ 

I~J..-V..PerJ....L....chaf....LU.-1."'-.J--'Per ........... cha..--.....,WllljJJ lll. IJ LlliJ Up~;c~; IJ J ~~~r~c~; l 

Shale Shale Sly Gap Sly Gap Shale Shale 

Formation Formation 1 Upper 'Upper (Upper jUpper (Upper jUpper I 1 

Devonian) Devonian) Devonian) Devonian) Devonian) Devonian) 

Mexico and southeastern Arizona. The outcrop sections are: 

in western Texas, Vinton Canyon in the southern Franklin 

Mountains, just north ofEl Paso; in southwestern New Mexico, the Florida Mountains, Klondike Hills, and Big Hatchet 

Precambrian 

Armstrong and Mamet 11974, 1976) 

Precambrian 

0 

·.:(I) "' - c..J .5 >< 

~~~ 

~sz 

~::!!: 

en 

Cowles 

Member 

Log 

Springs 

Format1on 

? ? ? 

Manuel· c ; -

.•• d fi·i =i=~- Member .! ~ i :FE 

~~~ gL~-...-<~.-..--1 

Turqu~lo .; 

Member 

.!f.,_ 

ii~ Macho 

Member 

? ? 

Precambrian Precambrian 

Ouray 

limestone 

jUpper 

Devonian) 

Q) 

c: 

0 

N 

·~ 

0 

-0 

ti 

~ 

19 

18 

17 

16s 

16i 

15 

14 

13 

12 

11 

8 

7 

Pre-7 

f---7-

tC: 

._ ro Q.)·-

"'C ~ 

c:o 

·- 0 ::::t::...c: 

Rocks 

beneath 

Mississippian 

System 

Stratigraphy 5 
32" 

A 

.,., 

=<= 

·- 0 

~~ "'-

:£g _J 

Q) 

c 

~ Q) 

E 

:.:; 

"' ., 

w 

~ 

7-8 

.(11). 

Symbols explained in figure 1 

EXPLANATION 

SEDIMENTARY STRUCTURES 

<!> Bird's- eye ---L... Crossbedding 

E Intraclasts Q Vugs 

t:, Chert - Calcite pseudo- morphs or gypsum 

PARTICLES 

Stromatolite * ")-.. 

FOSSIL 

~ 

Fusulinids Echinoderm 

00 

105" 104" 

"r 

Bryozoan 

Sponge spicules Solita,9 coral 

Pele~pod db Foraminifers 

Colonial carol ~ 

Broch1opod 

Cal~ous algae 

(J» 

Ostracode 

IJ, 

Leaves 

6 Molluscan 

fragments 

CARBONATE PARTICLES OTHER THAN FOSSILS 

COATED PARTICLES 

Size Mud ONE MORE THAN COAT ONE COAT 

SILT '*' 0 SAND 0 -o- 0010 

GRANULE ¢1 SUPERFICIAL 

0010 @ PEBBLE .. PISOIO 

WESTERN 

4 Ajax Hills,Tombstone Hills, 

SW 1,4 sec. 23, T. 20 S., 

R. 22 E., Arizona 

FACIES 

Mountains, 

SE 1,4 sec. 4, 

T. 23 S., R. 23 E., 

Arizona 

3 Dry Canyon. 

Whetstone Mountains, 

NW',4 sec. 23, T. 19 N., R. 19 E., 

ROCK TYPES 

Sandstone 

c:=J . 

Argillaceous 

~ la= 

Chert 

~ Covered 

limestone 

f&~'R-=l interval 

~ l===tJ 0 

Conglomerate Nodular limestone Shale ;n shale 

< 

< 

< 

< 

< 

< 

< 

Figure 4. Correlation diagram along section line A-A', extending from Vinton Canyon in the Franklin Mountains of western Texas 

to the Vekol Mountains of Arizona, showing microfacies and microfossil zones in the eastern facies (Las Cruces, Rancheria, and 

Helms Formations), central facies (Escabrosa Group, Paradise Formation), and western facies (Escabrosa Limestone). Wiggly lines, 

unconformities; vertical jagged lines, facies changes; oblique arrows, directions of faulting. 

6 Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) Biostratigraphy, Facies, and Microfossils, Pedregosa Basin, Arizona and New Mexico 
CENTRAL FACIES 

Pedregosa Basin 

6 Pedregosa 

Mountains. 

5E~ sec. 19 

Big Hatchet Mountains, 

NE ~ sec. 30. R. 15 W .. T. 30 5 .. and 

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New Mexico 

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METERS 

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Stratigraphy 7 
Mountains; and in Arizona, the Pedregosa Mountains, Mule 

Mountains, Ajax Hills, Waterman Mountains, and Vekol 

Mountains. 

Three main lithologic successions are recognized, forming 

a western facies, a central Pedregosa Basin facies, and an eastem, semi-starved-basin carbonate facies. The most westerly 

outcrops studied for this report are the Vekol and Waterman 

Mountains sections in Arizona on the Papago Indian Reservation. Here, the Escabrosa Limestone disconformably rests on 

the Devonian Martin Formation and is overlain unconformably by thin beds of Morrowan sandstone and fusulinid limestone. The Escabrosa Limestone sections in the Vekol and 

Waterman Mountains are thin in comparison with the Escabrosa Limestone to the east in the Mule or Whetstone Mountains. 

In southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, 

the boundary of the Pedregosa Basin delineates an important 

facies change within Mississippian carbonates. The major differences are that the Escabrosa Limestone west of the Pedregosa Basin contains, in zones 7 and 8, an Asphaltinella and 

Columbiapora calcareous-algae biofacies which is absent in 

the Keating Formation of the Escabrosa Group. Furthermore, 

the dark-gray, silty-chert, spiculitic Witch Member of the 

Keating Formation of the Escabrosa Group is not recognized 

west of the Pedregosa Basin. Massive encrinite of the Hachita 

Formation is also represented in Meramecian encrinite of the 

Escabrosa Limestone in the Mule Mountains of southeastern 

Arizona. In the Pedregosa Basin, the Escabrosa Group rests 

on the Upper Devonian Percha Shale and is overlain by the 

upper Meramecian (fig. 3) and Chesterian Paradise Formation. 

Farther east, the Escabrosa Group and Paradise Formation 

grade laterally into the Mississippian Las Cruces, Rancheria, 

and Helms Formations. In the Franklin Mountains, the Las 

Cruces Formation rests on the Upper Devonian Percha Shale 

and is overlain by the Rancheria and Helms Formations, 

which, in tum, are overlain unconformably by Pennsylvanian 

fossiliferous limestone of the Magdalena Group. 

LOWER BOUNDARY OF THE MISSISSIPPIAN 

In southwestern New Mexico, pre-zone 7 beds of the Bugle 

Member of the Keating Formation unconformably overlie the 

Box Member of the Percha Shale (Famennian, Upper Devonian). This relation is observed in the Klondike Hills, Big 

Hatchet Mountains, and Peloncillo Mountains. To the north, 

in central New Mexico, the shallow-water, cratonic Caballero 

and Lake Valley Formations have a similar depositional relation to the Percha Shale. In the Pedregosa Basin, it is difficult 

to recognize the hiatus and contact between the Devonian and 

the Mississippian on the basis of lithologic characteristics. 

The highest Devonian beds are argillaceous, commonly fossiliferous limestone that does not differ lithologically from the 

basal Mississippian beds. The Devonian limestone beds are 

generally thinner and contain more shale interbeds, or are more 

argillaceous and have a yellowish-gray tint. The basal Escabrosa carbonates are of pre-zone 7 and zone 7 age in the 

Pedregosa, Mule, Whetstone, Waterman, and Vekol Mountains and in the Tombstone and Gunnison Hills. They rest unconformably on yellowish-gray to maroon sandstone and 

limestone of the Martin Formation (Upper Devonian). The 

Devonian-Mississippian hiatus represents latest Famennian 

and earliest Toumaisian time. On the basis of conodont 

studies, Moore and Barrick (1988) found a substantial hiatus 

in the Big Hatchet Mountains, encompassing the latest 

Devonian and most of the Kinderhookian, at the base of the 

oolitic limestone. 

UNITS OVERLYING THE MISSISSIPPIAN 

Transgressive Pennsylvanian basal quartz-pebble conglomerate and quartz sandstone, succeeded by shale and fossiliferous, oolitic limestone, were deposited above the Late 

Mississippian erosional surface and unconformity. This relation is observed throughout southwestern New Mexico and 

southeastern Arizona. Pennsylvanian strata in southeastern 

Arizona truncate progressively older, Mississippian sedimentary rocks to the west. In the Pedregosa Mountains, the 

youngest beds are Chesterian, whereas in the Vekol Mountains 

they are Osagean (figs. 3-4 ). In the Big Hatchet Mountains 

of southwestern New Mexico, the hiatus between the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian Systems represents small parts of 

zones 19 and 20. Elsewhere in the Pedregosa Basin, in the 

Klondike Hills of southwestern New Mexico, at Blue Mountain in the Chiricahua Mountains, and in the Pedregosa Mountains of southeastern Arizona, the hiatus between the two 

systems represents the upper part of zone 18 (Chesterian), all 

of zone 19 (Chesterian), and the lower part of zone 20 (Morrowan). In the Florida Mountains, carbonate slope sedimentary rocks of the Mississippian Rancheria Formation are 

unconformably overlain by carbonate rocks of the Hueco Formation (Wolfcampian and Leonardian). This relation and 

large hiatus reflect the Pennsylvanian Florida uplift (Kottlowski, 1960, 1963). To the west, in the Waterman and Vekol 

Mountains on the Papago Indian Reservation, the Mississippian Escabrosa Limestone is Toumaisian in age and is overlain by Lower Pennsylvanian carbonates. 

At the top of the Gunnison Hills section, a thick regolith is 

developed on the Escabrosa Limestone. The Mississippian 

limestone surface has solution holes filled with red-maroon 

clay and silt and reworked cobbles of fossiliferous Mississippian limestone and chert. Rounded and reworked Meramecian rugose colonial corals assigned to Acrocyathus? shimeri 

(Crickmay) are associated with the cobbles. 

The Whetstone Mountains section also shows evidence of 

extensive pre-Pennsylvanian solution activity. The top of the 

Mississippian limestone is an irregular surface marked by 

cavities and solution holes filled by a dark-maroon "Terra 

Rossa" shale. These solution features extend some 2 to 3 m 

8 Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) Biostratigraphy, Facies, and Microfossils, Pedregosa Basin, Arizona and New Mexico 
downward into the Escabrosa Limestone. The basal Pennsylvanian is a thick (2m) bed of brown pebble conglomerate comJ,osed of chert derived from the Escabrosa Limestone. 

ESCABROSA GROUP 

The Escabrosa Limestone in the eastern Chiricahua Mountlins was elevated to group rank by Armstrong (1962), who 

C.ivided it into two named formations: the Keating Formation 

and the overlying Hachita Formation (figs. 5, 6). Armstrong 

and Mamet (1978b) formally named the two informal memt·ers of the Keating Formation the Bugle and Witch Members. 

Keating Formation 

E.ugle Member 

The Bugle Member of the Keating is 29 m thick in the Klondike Hills and 98 m thick in the Pedregosa Mountains. It rests 

with disconformity on calcareous shale and limestone of the 

I'ercha Shale. In the Pedregosa Mountains, the basal beds of 

the Bugle Member are chert-free, arenaceous, oolitic grainstone. Dolomite is rare in the Bugle Member except in the 

Pedregosa Mountains section, where 40 m of gray dolomite 

succeeds the basal oolites. Sedimentary structures in the dolomite include algal mats, fenestrate structures, bird's-eyes, 

and possible spar-dolomite pseudomorphs after evaporites. In 

the Big Hatchet Mountains, the basal beds are oolitic grainstone and bryozoan-echinoderm packstone (Moore and Barrick, 1988). The upper half of the Bugle Member is 

thin-bedded, argillaceous and arenaceous, fossiliferous 

wackestone and packstone. Younger beds contain a distinctive 

and diagnostic coral fauna that is commonly preserved by 

brown chert on the surface of the limestone. This coral fauna 

includes Stelechophyllummicrostylum (White), S.lochmanae 

(Armstrong), and Rylstonia cf. R. teres (Girty). The faunal 

diversity and the oolitic to bryozoan-echinoderm packstone 

and wackestone suggest subtidal to shoaling environments of 

deposition. Sedimentary structures in the dolomites of the 

Pedregosa Mountains indicate that parts of the Bugle Member 

were deposited in an intertidal environment. 

The lower, pre-zone 7 beds in the Escabrosa Limestone in 

southeastern Arizona are a westward facies of the Bugle Member. These dolomitic lime mudstone and dolomite contain 

Figure 5. Northeast side of the Boss Ranch section, Pedregosa Mountains, Ariz. Arrows denote part of measured section. The 

Paradise Formation is exposed over west side of high ridge in a valley. Om, Devonian Martin Formation; Mk, Lower Mississippian 

Keating Formation; Mh, Lower and Upper Mississippian Hachita Formation. 

Escabrosa Croup 9 
laminated algal mats and bird's-eye structures, suggesting an 

intertidal to supratidal environment of deposition. In southcentral New Mexico, the Caballero Formation and the Andrecito Member of the Lake Valley Formation are a 

northeastward subtidal facies of the Bugle Member. 

The Bugle Member comprises a series of incomplete shoaling-upward shelf or platform cycles formed by crinoidbryozoan sand, succeeded by oolitic shoals with restricted 

communities of rugose and tabulate corals associated with 

oolitic packstone, and capped by lime mudstone and dolomite 

of supratidal origin. These rock types and shoaling-upward 

cycles are best displayed in the Pedregosa Mountains. 

Witch Member 

The Witch Member ofthe Keating Formation is 62 m thick 

in the Pedregosa Mountains, 81 m thick in the Big Hatchet 

Mountains, and 175m thick in the Klondike Hills. The Witch 

Member is a dark-gray, medium-bedded limestone containing 

abundant dark-brown to black nodular chert (fig. 7); chert 

nodules form 30 to 50 percent of the rock. The contact between the Bugle and Witch Members is gradational over a 

stratigraphic thickness of 1 to 2m; the contact is placed at the 

change in lithology from gray chert-free limestone of the 

Bugle Member to dark-gray limestone and nodular chert of the 

Witch Member. The lower beds of the Witch Member, 0.2 to 

0.3 m thick, are peloid-bryozoan-echinoderm wackestone and 

packstone. Arenaceous, spiculitic lime mudstone and 

arenaceous, well-sorted peloid-bioclastic packstone are the 

common rock types in the upper part of the member. Quartz 

sand grains, 100 j..tm in size, constitute 5 to 10 percent to the 

rock. Thin-section studies reveal that the nodular chert preserves in silica the relic texture of the replaced carbonate rock. 

The Witch Member contains a zone 7 microfossil assemblage; 

the most characteristic megafossil is the brachiopod Imbrexia 

forbesi (Norwood and Pratten). The dark color of the organicrich limestone and chert, the presence of arenaceous spiculitic 

and peloidal microfacies, and the abundance of chert suggest 

that the Witch Member was deposited on the outer shelf in a 

deeper-water environment. Within the Pedregosa Basin, the 

sedimentary rocks of the Witch Member indicate that they 

Figure 6. Escabrosa Group on north side of Blue Mountain in the Chiricahua Mountains, Ariz. Dm, Devonian Martin Formation; 

Mh, Lower and Upper Mississippian Hachita Formation; Mkb, Bugle Member of the Mississipp ian Keating Formation; Mkw, Witch 

Member of the Keating Formation; Mp, Upper Mississippian Paradise Formation; IPh, Pennsylvanian Horquilla Limestone. Type 

section of the Paradise Formation is on this hill, where exposures are excellent. 

10 Mississippian (lower Carboniferous) Biostratigraphy, Facies, and Microfossils, Pedregosa Basin, Arizona and New Mexico 
were deposited in a shallow-water cratonic basin, as a carbonate slope facies, in a semistarved environment, at water 

depths possibly greater than 30m (Wilson, 1975a; Mullins, 

1986). 

Hachita Formation 

The type section for the Hachita Formation of the Escabrosa Group is in the Big Hatchet Mountains (Armstrong, 

1962), where the formation is 90 m thick. It is 140m thick in 

the Pedregosa Mountains (fig. 7), 80 m thick in the Klondike 

Hills, and 48 m thick at Blue Mountain in the Chiricahua 

Mountains (fig. 8). The Hachita Formation has a sharp contact with underlying dark-gray cherty limestone of the Witch 

Member of the Keating Formation (fig. 8). The Hachita is 

composed of light-gray, massive, poorly bedded, bryozoanechinoderm packstone to grainstone and contains light-gray 

nodular chert. In thin section, the rock is composed of poorly 

sorted crinoid and bryozoan bioclasts, with a micritic or sparry-calcite matrix. Some beds contain brachiopod bioclasts, 

but the predominant fossil remains are echinoderms. 

Foraminifers and calcareous algae are very rare in this facies. 

Figure 7. Typical dark-gray chert of the Witch Member of the Keating Formation in the Blue Mountain section, Chiricahua Mountains, Ariz., showing abundance of lenticular chert in a matrix of gray, silty, peloid-echinoderm-spiculitic packstone. 

Hachita Formation 11 
The lithology of the Hachita Formation remains constant 

throughout its area of outcrops. Paleontologic zonation ofthe 

Hachita Formation is difficult owing to the absence of recognizable megafossils and microfossils. In an effort to determine 

the age of the base of the formation, conodont samples were 

collected from the base of the section in the Pedregosa Mountains. In these samples, J .E. Repetski (written commun., 1979) 

identified the following conodonts: 

Figure 8. Contact between the Witch Member of the Keating Formation and the Hachita Formation. Underlying Witch Member 

is dark-gray lenticular chert in a matrix of well-sorted crinoid-peloidal packstone; overlying Hachita Formation is I ighter gray, coarser grained, crinoidal packstone-grainstone that is devoid of dark-gray lenticular chert. 

12 Mississippian (lower Carboniferous) Biostratigraphy, Facies, and Microfossils, Pedregosa Basin, Arizona and New Mexico 
Bispathodus? spp. (B. stabilis type, fragment) 1 

Polygnathus communis communis Branson & Mehl 3 

Spathognathodontiform element (fragment) 1 

Igonodiniform (A2) elements 3 

Onchodiniform (A2) element 1 

Platform element, robust form (fragment) 1 

Repetski stated: 

Because the rocks that immediately underlie these samples are Osagean, then 

these sample are also Osagean. Polygnathus commun.is ranges only through 

the lower two-thirds of this series. Nothing in this faunule indicates a considerable hiatus. The conodont-alteration index (CAl) of these specimens is 

about 4, indicating minimum host-rock temperatures of about 140 to 215 "C. 

* * * The conodonts suggest that sedimentation may have continued across 

the Keating-Hachita boundary, and possibly no hiatus exists between the two 

formations. If a hiatus does exist, it represents less time than indicated by the 

Armstrong and Mamet (1978b) regional correlation chart for the Escabrosa 

Group. It spans a relatively short time interval within the Osagean. 

Repetski found a similar age relation between the Keating 

and Hachita Formations in the Peloncillo Mountains of New 

Mexico. 

Megafossils found in the lower two-thirds of the Hachita 

Formation in the Big Hatchet Mountains and at Blue Mountain 

in the Chiricahua Mountains include Brachythyris subcardiiformis (Hall) and a few specimens of the coral Amplexizaphrentis spp. The upper 20 to 30 m of the formation yielded 

a fauna of the brachiopods Werriea keokuk (Hall), and Syringothyris subcuspidatus (Hall). This assemblage indicates an 

early Visean (early Meramecian) age. Microfossil studies 

(fig. 10) indicate that a hiatus which spans zones 12 and 13 is 

present within the Hachita Formation (fig. 4). 

The Tierra Blanca Member of the Lake Valley Formation 

is an eastward, echinoderm-bioclastic, carbonate-sand facies 

of the Hachita Formation of the Escabrosa Group. To the west, 

the upper part of encrinite of the Escabrosa Limestone at Dos 

Cabezas and in the Mule Mountains, Tombstone Hills, and 

Whetstone Mountains of Arizona is also a lateral, echinodermbioclastic, carbonate-sand facies of the Hachita Formation. 

The late Visean foraminiferal "Brunsia biofacies," which 

corresponds to zones 14 and 15 (late Meramecian), has been 

recognized in the upper part of the Hachita Formation. The 

abundance of crinoid-bioclastic grainstone and packstone, 

with minor oolitic grainstone, indicates that the sediment was 

deposited as crossbedded sand in shoaling water. This 

crinoidal facies was deposited on a broad, regional shallow 

platform that extended over a large area of southern New 

Mexico and southern Arizona. This massive crinoidallimestone or encrinite is common in rocks of this age in the Cordilleran miogeosyncline of North America from Arctic Alaska 

to central Mexico (Mamet, 1976; Armstrong and Mamet, 

1977; Mamet and others, 1986). 

PARADISE FORMATION 

Stoyanow ( 1926) named the Paradise Formation (late Meramecian and Chesterian), for outcrops near the old mining 

camp of Paradise in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona. 

The Paradise Formation is limited to the Pedregosa Basin of 

southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and 

northwestern Chihuahua, Mexico. 

The base of the Paradise Formation is defined at the change 

from massive echinoderm-bryozoan packstone at the top of 

the Hachita Formation to olive-gray, thin- to medium-bedded, 

ooidal, argillaceous-arenaceous limestone of the Paradise Formation. Hernon (1935, p. 658) explained this change as due 

to "* * * the shallowing of waters of Escabrosa sedimentation 

and the introduction of terrigenous clastic sedimentation 

during Paradise time." In the Big Hatchet Mountains section, 

at 4 m above the base of the Paradise Formation, a cephalopod 

fauna was identified by MacKenzie Gordon, Jr. (written commun., 1973), at USGS locality 25052-PC: 

Brachycycloceras spp. 

Girtyoceras spp. 

Goniatites americanus Gordon 

Miche/inoceras? spp. 

Mitorthoceras perfilosum ?Gordon 

Reticycloceras spp. 

Gordon stated: 

The cephalopods are fairly well preserved. The nautiloids have never been 

worked out for this zone, so I have hesitated to apply specific names on this 

little material. The Mitorthoceras has the same surface sculpture as M. perfilosum, but I have not seen the internal structure. The G irtyoceras is the same 

species that we find in this zone in the Confusion Range, Utah, but is not 

described. The Goniatites americanus zone is the lowest of three zones 

characterized by species of Goniatites and marks the top of the Meramecian 

series in the Midcontinental and Western United States. It should occur with 

zone 15 foraminifers. 

A foraminiferal fauna of zone 15 does, indeed, occur with 

the cephalopods. 

The thickest and most complete sections of the Paradise 

Formation are in outcrops in the Big Hatchet Mountains of 

New Mexico. Here, the Paradise Formation is 133 m thick and 

consists of gray through dusty-yellow-gray to dusty-greenishgray limestone alternating with thin-bedded calcareous shale, 

siltstone, and sandstone. The carbonate rocks are typically 

lime mudstone, brachiopod-bryozoan-molluscan wackestone 

and packstone, and crossbedded ooid-foraminiferal packstone 

to grainstone, in beds 0.5 to 2m thick. 

The type section of the Paradise Formation at Blue Mountain is 48 m thick (fig. 6). The base of the Paradise is characterized by thin-bedded (0.3-0.9 m thick), arenaceous, 

peloid-crinoidal packstone that overlies light-gray, massive 

Paradise Formation 13 
echinoderm-bryozoan packstone of the Hachita Formation. 

Hernon (1935) found 155 fossil taxa in the Paradise Formation and described and illustrated many genera and species of 

megafossils. He divided the Paradise Formation into eight informal members and gave the stratigraphic ranges of the 

megafossils. Hernon found the faunas to be well zoned and 

indicated that the formation is correlated with the St. Louis(?) 

through Ste. Genevieve Limestones (Meramecian) and the 

lower and middle Chesterian of the Mississippi Valley. The 

lower 25 m of the Paradise Formation is characterized by 0.3-

to 1-m-thick beds of ooidal packstone to grainstone, peloidechinoderm wackestone and packstone with gray calcareous 

shale interbeds, and nodular calcareous lime mudstone. Subrounded grains of 50- to 100-J..Ull quartz sand are common. 

Platy, brownish-yellow-weathering, argillaceous quartz sandstone is found from 25 to 32m above the base; the quartz grains 

are angular and range in size from 75 to 125 J..Lm. Above these 

arenaceous beds are 7 m of 10- to 30-cm-thick beds of 

foraminifer-brachiopod-crinoidal to ooid-peloidal packstone. 

Interbedded are thin (5-30 em thick) beds of light-olive-green 

to yellow-gray calcareous shale and quartz sandstone. The top 

10 to 12m of the Paradise Formation is composed of lightolive-gray to brown, argillaceous, fossil-leaf-bearing sandstone. A 1-m-thick, ooid-brachiopod-Archimedes wackestone is interbedded in the sandstone 4 m below the ParadiseHorquilla contact. The poorly exposed, plant-bearing 

quartzose sandstone at the top of the Paradise Formation contains abundant hematite and argillaceous partings. Thus, the 

contact between the Chesterian part of the Paradise Formation 

and the Morrowan part of the Horquilla Limestone is poorly 

exposed. 

The hiatus between the two systems at Blue Mountain, as 

indicated by foraminifers and calcareous algae, represents a 

part of zone 18 and all of zone 19 (Chesterian) time (fig. 9). 

The basal peloid-ooidal wackestone and packstone of the Horquilla Limestone contain a rich microfossil assemblage of 

zone 20 (Morrowan, Pennsylvanian) age (fig. 9). Foraminifers from the type section of the Paradise Formation indicate a similar hiatus. Horquilla Limestone conodonts at Blue 

Mountain include: Adetognathus lautus (Gunnell), A. gigantus (Gunnell), and Streptognathodus parvus Dunn. The presence of S. parvus indicates that part of the Horquilla Limestone 

is equivalent to the middle Morrowan or the upper (G 1) 

Gastrioceras goniatite zone. Cavusgnathus unicornis Youngquist and Miller, Gnathodus bilineatus (Roundy), and Lambdagnathus Rexroad indicate a middle late Chesterian age or 

lower Eumorphoceras zone for the underlying Paradise Formation. 

The Paradise Formation in the Big Hatchet Mountains contains all the Chesterian microfossil zones from zones 16 

through 19 (fig. 9). Zone 19 isknownonlyin the Paradise Formation of the Big Hatchet Mountains, where Quasiarchaediscus spp. is found. The contact between the top of the Paradise 

Formation and the Horquilla Limestone is a 1-m-thick layer 

of quartz sandstone. The overlying Horquilla carbonate strata 

are massive brachiopod-echinoderm-coral-foraminiferal 

wackestone to packstone. Zeller (1965) collected fossil plants 

in the 1-m-thick sandstone bed that overlies the Paradise Formation; these fossils were identified by C.B. Read (in Zeller, 

1965, p. 29) as Lepidodendron obovatum Sternberg. Read 

commented, "Lepidodendron obovatum is very common in the 

Early Pennsylvanian and is not found in rocks of Chesterian 

age." The sandstone and the massive overlying Horquilla 

Limestone indicate both a lithostratigraphic change in sedimentation and a biostratigraphic break. Armstrong and 

others' (1984) conodonts obtained from the section indicate a 

short hiatus between the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian. 

TheRhachistognathus-zone fauna established by Dunn (1970) 

in Nevada and Utah is absent here. Diagnostic conodont elements extracted from the basal part of the Horquilla Limestone 

include: Gnathodus bass/eri symmetricus Lane, G. bassleri 

bass/eri (Harris and Hollingsworth), and Declinognathodus 

noduliferus (Ellison and Graves). The Paradise Formation 

yields Gnathodus girtyi simplex Dunn, which represents the 

youngest Mississippian faunal zone established by Dunn 

(1970). 

The Paradise Formation of the Pedregosa Mountains is 

similar in lithology to the Big Hatchet Mountains outcrops. 

The 87-m-thick section contains, in its basal beds, calcareous 

quartz sandstone and rounded-chert-pebble conglomerate in 

beds 1 m thick. The uppermost 20 m of the Paradise Formation is peloidal to ooid-foraminiferal packstone and grainstone 

that yielded a zone 18 microfossil assemblage. The overlying 

Pennsylvanian part of the Horquilla Limestone is foraminiferooidal grainstone containing a Morrowan zone 20 microfossil 

assemblage. No sandstone, shale, or terrigenous clastic beds 

occur between the two systems. At the top of the Paradise Formation is an olive-gray ooidal grainstone that is overlain by a 

gray, nodular-chert, tabulate-coraVooidal grainstone. Microfossil determinations show that the hiatus between the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian Systems in the Pedregosa 

Mountains represents part of zone 18 and all of zone 19 

(Chesterian) time. Burton identified the conodonts Cavusgnathus Harris and Hollingsworth, Streptognathodus Stauffer 

and Plummer, andNeoprioniodus Rhodes and Miller, indicating a latest Chesterian age for the upper part of the Paradise 

Formation. Basal beds of the overlying Horquilla Limestone 

yield Adetognathus lautus (Gunnell) and A. gigantus (Gunnell), which, in the absence of the zone indicator Rhachistognathus, suggest an early Morrowan age. 

The Paradise Formation section in the Klondike Hills of 

New Mexico is 63 m thick and contains the "Brunsia biofacies" in its basal beds. Microfossils of zone 16i are found 5 

m above the base. The upper 6 m of the section is a 

crossbedded ooid-foraminiferal packstone and grainstone 

containing zone 18 microfossils. The basal Pennsylvanian is 

a light-brown, hematitic, massive 6-m-thick bed of Lepidodendron-bearing, crossbedded quartz sandstone. This bed is 

14 Mississippian (lower Carboniferous) Biostratigraphy, Facies, and Microfossils, Pedragosa Basin, Arizona and New Mexico 
overlain by peloid-echinoderm-foraminiferal packstone containing zone 20 (Morrowan) foraminifers. 

The hiatus in the Klondike Hills, as indicated by 

foraminifers and calcareous algae, represents part of zone 18 

and all of zone 19 (Chesterian). The youngest conodont fauna 

derived from the Paradise Formation in the Klondike Hills 

contains Gnathodus texanus Roundy, G. commutatus (Branson and Mehl),Neoprioniodus loxus Rexroad, and Hibbardella milleri Rexroad. This fauna indicates the lower part of the 

upper Chesterian, or lower Eumorphoceras goniatite, zone. 

The oldest Pennsylvanian conodont element present is Adetognathus lautus (Gunnell), which, in the absence of Rhachistognathus, indicates a lower Morrowan age. The Paradise 

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with abundant foraminifers, brachiopods, crinoids, bryozoans, 

and mollusks. The terrigenous clastic material represents influxes of clay and quartz sand, possibly derived from rising 

positive areas to the west and north (fig. 2). 

WESTERN FACIES OF THE ESCABROSA 

LIMESTONE 

The Escabrosa Limestone includes the Mississippian strata 

from the west side of the Chiricahua Mountains westward to 

the Vekol Mountains and northward to the Mogollon Rim in 

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Figure 9. Time-stratigraphic chart for the Paradise Formation, showing extent of hiatus between the 

Mississippian and Pennsylvanian Systems in the Pedregosa Basin (after Armstrong and others, 1984). 

Paradise Formation 15 
Arizona. G .H. Girty' s (in Ransome, 1904) type section for the 

Escabrosa Limestone is in the Mule Mountains, south of Bisbee, Ariz. (Hayes and Landis, 1965), where it is 218m thick; 

it thins to the west and is 100m thick in the Vekol Mountains. 

The Escabrosa Limestone unconformably overlies shale, arenaceous limestone, and dolomite of the Devonian Martin Formation. 

Basal beds of the Escabrosa Limestone are typically bryozoan-echinoderm wackestone and packstone. In the Gunnison 

and Ajax Hills, they contain a pre-zone 7 microfossil assemblage; elsewhere, the oldest recognized microfossil assemblages are zone 7 or 8. As shown in figure 4, correlation 

between outcrops by lithologic characteristics is difficult 

owing to rapid lateral facies changes. Correlations based on 

the abundance of chert or carbonate microfacies are not supported by microfossil-assemblage zones. Lithologic correlations that prove reliable in the Escabrosa Group do not carry 

westward into the thinner Escabrosa Limestone. The Escabrosa Limestone thins westward and northward to the Mogollon Rim (McKee and Gutschick, 1969, fig. 2), owing not 

only to depositional thinning but also to pre-Pennsylvanian 

erosion that removed the younger beds. The Escabrosa Limestone at Superior, Ariz., is 188m thick and ranges in age from 

pre-zone 7 to zones 9/10. The Gunnison Hills section has a 

similar age range but is 239 m thick (Armstrong and Mamet, 

1978b; Armstrong and others, 1980). The Escabrosa Limestone thins and becomes more dolomitic westward from the 

Whetstone Mountains to the Waterman and Vekol Mountains. 

The Vekol Mountains section contains well-developed algal 

mats, stromatolites, mud chips, mud cracks, and fenestrate 

sedimentary structures in its upper half, indicating intertidal to 

supratidal environments of carbonate deposition, according to 

the criteria of Hardie (1977) and Hardie and Shinn (1986). 

The Escabrosa Limestone in southeastern Arizona represents a marine transgression over an eroded Devonian surface, 

and development of a shallow carbonate shelf with subtidal to 

supratidal environments during the Early Mississippian. Terrigenous clastic materials are generally absent, and typical 

sedimentary rocks are lime mudstone, dolomite, peloidal 

wackestone-packstone, crinoid-brachiopod wackestonepackstone, and ooid-oolitic packstone-grainstone. 

RANCHERIA FORMATION 

The fauna and lithology of the Mississippian carbonate 

rocks in the San Andres and Sacramento Mountains of southcentral New Mexico have been well described. The first 

detailed studies of the Mississippian of this area were by 

Laudon and Bowsher (1941, 1949) on the stratigraphy and 

megafaunas of the Mississippian Caballero and Lake Valley 

Formations and on bioherms of the Lake Valley Formation. 

They described the wedge-on-wedge relations of these Lower 

Mississippian strata to the Lower and Upper Mississippian 

Rancheria and Upper Mississippian Helms Formations. Pray 

(1958) made a petrographic and microfacies analysis ofWaulsortian bioherms of the Lake Valley Formation in the Sacramento and San Andres Mountains. 

Wilson (1969, 1971, 1975b) and Kottlowski (1970, 1975) 

described the complex tectonic events that resulted in deposition of the Lower and Upper Mississippian Rancheria and 

Upper Mississippian Helms Formation over eroded Lower 

Mississippian shelf carbonates of the Lake Valley Limestone 

in south-central New Mexico and western Texas. Meyers 

(1974, 1975) and Meyers and James (1978) deciphered the 

complex geologic history of the Mississippian carbonates and 

their diagenesis in the Sacramento Mountains from petrographic, stable-isotope, and cathodoluminescence studies. 

Meyers demonstrated that the nonferroan calcite-cement 

zones in the Lake Valley Limestone reflect ancient phreatic 

lenses established during pre-Visean (pre-Meramecian) and 

pre-Bashkirian (pre-Morrowan) periods when meteoric waters 

cemented these rocks below unconformities. 

Investigations of the basin-margin sedimentary rocks of the 

Visean (Meramecian and Chesterian) Rancheria Formation in 

the Sacramento and Franklin Mountains by Yurewicz (1973, 

1977) showed that the Rancheria Formation postdates the 

Lake Valley Limestone and is separated from it by an unconformity. Yurewicz (1977) found that intraformational erosional surfaces, interpreted as submarine features, are present 

locally within the Rancheria Formation; they are most significant along the basin margin in the Sacramento Mountains. 

The rarity of slumping in the Rancheria Formation indicates a 

relatively stable basin floor. A deep-water origin for most of 

the Rancheria Formation is suggested by its dark color, the 

predominance of mud- and silt-size sedimentary material, its 

very low faunal density, the absence of wave- and surf-formed 

structures, the absence of typical shallow-water features, the 

amount of relief along the basin margin, and its similarity to 

other known deep-water carbonates. 

Study of the conodont faunas of the Lake Valley Limestone, Rancheria Formation, and Helms Formation by Lane 

(1974, 1975) (fig. 6) conclusively demonstrated that the 

Visean Rancheria Formation in the Franklin Mountains of 

western Texas and in the southern San Andres and Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico has a wedge-on-wedge relation 

to, separated by an unconformity from, upper Tournaisian 

(Osagean) shelf carbonates and bioherms of the Lake Valley 

Formation. 

Conodont samples were collected with the foraminiferal 

samples from the Florida Mountains section of the Rancheria 

Formation. Foraminifers of the zone 14/15 Meramecian 

"Brunsia biofacies" were found from 12 m above the base to 

the top of the section beneath Wolfcampian limestone. J.E. 

Repetski (written commun., 1979) found Meramecian conodonts within the "Brunsia biofacies" and reported the following conodonts in a sample from 1.5 m above the base of the 

Rancheria section: 

16 Mississippian (lower Carboniferous) Biostratigraphy, Facies, and Microfossils, Pedregosa Basin, Arizona and New Mexico 
Gnathodus spp. (juvenile?) 1 

Polygnathus communis Branson and Mehl 4 

Spathognathodus cf. S. cristulus Youngquist and Miller 6 

Spathognathodus spp. 1 

Ozarkodiniform element 1 

Neoprioniodiform (N) elements 2 

Synprioniodiniform (N) elements 2 

Hindeodelliform (AI) elements 11 

Ligonodiniform (A2) element 1 

Hibbardelliform (A3) elements 4 

Repetski stated, "The age is Mississippian, probably 

Osagean." Polygnathus communis has a known range from 

the upper two-thirds of the Famennian (Upper Devonian) 

through the lower half of the Osagean. Burton (1964, p. 75) 

reported finding P. communis throughout the Rancheria Formation in the southern Sacramento Mountains of New 

Mexico, and he referred the Rancheria Formation to the 

Meramecian. Elsewhere (p. 73), however, he stated that the 

faunas from the Rancheria Formation "* * * are small and 

reworked and thus are oflimited stratigraphic value." The apparent absence of abrasion in specimens from the Florida 

Mountains (sample 72N-5+4) suggests that the Rancheria 

Formation is a highly condensed sequence. This thin ( 1.3 m 

thick) unit, of probable Osagean age, is here assigned on 

lithologic evidence to the Rancheria Formation. 

J.E. Repetski (written commun., 1979) recovered the following conodonts in a sample from 3 m above the base of the 

Rancheria Formation in the Florida Mountains: 

Cavusgnathus spp. 

Gnathodus texanus Roundy 

Gnathodus spp. (fragments) 

Spathognathodus spp. (fragment) 

Ligonodiniform (A2) elements 

Lonchodiniform elements 

Neoprioniodiform element 

4 

38 

3 

1 

10 

7 

1 

Repetski reported the age to be Meramecian and stated: 

Cavusgnathus first appears in the Meramecian and ranges into the Chesterian. 

Gnathodus te.xanus ranges from the upper Osagean into the lower Chesterian. 

The Cavusgnathus specimens are broken, as are the specimens of Gnathodus 

spp. The latter have widely expanded outer lobes, similar to G. bi/ineatus 

(Roundy). The G. te.xanus collection shows a wide variation in platform ornamentation. 

The Visean (zones 13-16, Meramecian and Chesterian) 

Rancheria and Visean and Namurian (zones 16-19, Chesterian) Helms Formations of western Texas and in the Sacramento and San Andres Mountains of New Mexico, and the 

truncated outcrops of the Rancheria Formation in the Florida 

Mountains of New Mexico, also appear to have a wedge-onwedge relation and are separated from the Toumaisian Keating Formation by a post-zone 9, pre-zone 14 unconformity. 

SUMMARY OF THE LITHOLOGIES OF THE 

THREE REGIONAL FACIES 

Lithologies of the Western Facies 

The relatively thin sections of the Escabrosa Limestone in 

the Vekol and Waterman Mountains were deeply eroded 

before Pennsylvanian deposition. The strata are dominately 

dolomite, with well-developed intertidal and supratidal sedimentary structures. In these outcrops, the diagnostic 

microfossils and carbonate rock types are columbiaporid-algal 

grainstone containing Asphaltinella and Syringopora corals. 

In the Whetstone Mountains, Ajax Hills, Tombstone Hills, and 

Mule Mountains of Arizona, the Escabrosa Limestone is composed mainly of algal-rich lime mud, peloidal grainstone, and 

associated crinoid-bryozoan packstone and grainstone. The 

upper part of the section is formed by crinoid-bryozoan packstone and grainstone. 

Lithologies of the Central Facies 

The Boss Ranch section is one of the best exposures of the 

Escabrosa Group in the Pedregosa Mountains and Pedregosa 

Basin. Here, the Bugle Member of the Keating Formation is, 

in part, light-gray, coarsely crystalline dolomite. The 

dolomite contains well-developed stromatolites, rip-up clasts, 

spar-dolomite pseudomorphs after anhydrite, and laminated 

algal mats; all these features indicate intertidal to supratidal 

environments of deposition. The upper part of the member 

contains peloid-crinoidal wackestone and packstone. Some 

beds contain varying amounts of subrounded, silt- and sandsize quartz grains in a calcite matrix. Silicified solitary and 

colonial rugose corals are abundant in the higher beds. 

The Witch Member of the Keating Formation contains 

abundant dark-gray nodular chert in an arenaceous, peloidspiculitic lime mudstone to peloidal packstone. The top of the 

Witch Member, deposited in shallow water with an abundant 

foraminiferal fauna, is composed of black nodular chert, 

peloid-spiculitic grainstone, and packstone; some silt-size 

quartz is also present. Field evidence suggests a paraconformity at the top of the Witch Member. 

The Hachita Formation is a massive, poorly bedded, 

crinoidal packstone containing minor amounts of light-gray 

nodular chert; some beds contain abundant bryozoan fragments. The lower and middle parts of massive encrinite of the 

Hachita Formation contain no diagnostic foraminifers, but the 

partially oolitic upper part of the formation contains 

foraminifers and brachiopods of late Visean age. 

The Paradise Formation, upper Visean to lower Namurian 

(upper Meramecian to upper Chesterian), comprises a cyclic 

succession of very shallow water sedimentary rocks, consisting of medium-bedded siltstone, mudstone, shale, lime mudstone, bryozoan packstone, oolites, coral- and brachiopod-rich 

Summary of the Lithologies of the Three Regional Facies 17 
carbonates, and nearshore sandstone containing abundant 

plant remains. 

Lithologies of the Eastern Facies 

The Mississippian Las Cruces Formation (Laudon and 

Bowsher, 1949) is a dark-gray, carbonaceous-argillaceoussiliceous, spiculitic wackestone to lime mudstone. It is overlain by the Rancheria Formation (Laudon and Bowsher, 1949, 

Yurewicz, 1977), which consists of lime mudstone, spiculitic 

wackestone, quartz-silt-pellet grainstone, and packstone. The 

rocks contain abundant brown to gray nodular chert. 

The contact between the Rancheria Formation and Helms 

Formation was considered by Laudon and Bowsher (1949) to 

be an unconformity. The Helms Formation consists of yellowish-gray, thin-bedded lime mudstone, dolomite, and 

greenish-gray to gray shale. The Helms Formation is unconformably overlain by highly fossiliferous wackestone and 

shale of Morrowan (zone 20, Pennsylvanian) age. 

MICROFOSSILS, FORAMINIFERS, AND 

CALCAREOUS ALGAE 

Calcareous secreted foraminifers (endothyrids sensu /ato), 

girvanellids, and dasycladacean and codiacean algae have 

been identified in varying amounts in this study. Generally, 

foraminifers are scarce to absent in the dolomite and coarsegrained crinoidal packstone. They are most abundant and 

diversified in oolite-peloidal carbonate banks, in algal-lump 

shoals, and in carbonate sand at the edge of the platform or on 

the open platform itself. No foraminifers have been identified 

in the Las Cruces or Helms Formations. The Hachita Formation of the Escabrosa Group also is very poor in foraminifers. 

Although foraminifers and calcareous algae occur sporadically at all levels within the Mississippian carbonate rocks, 

they permit a regional zonation and correlation of the Mississippian strata. 

BIOSTRATIGRAPHIC CORRELATIONS 

The stratigraphic distribution of 113 microfossil taxa (foraminifers, algae, and incertae sedis) recognized in this study 

is illustrated in figure 10. Though based on an incomplete representation of the known ranges elsewhere, this chart permits 

recognition of several assemblages that can be assigned, with 

varying degree of accuracy, to foraminiferal zones. 

In the V ekol and Waterman Mountains of Arizona, the very 

thin Escabrosa Limestone was subjected to erosion during 

Late Mississippian and earliest Pennsylvanian time. At these 

localities, the Escabrosa Limestone is middle to late Tournaisian in age. 

Pre-zone 7 foraminifers are absent above the Devonian 

Martin Formation in the Mule Mountains, Whetstone Mountains, Ajax Hills, and Tombstone Hills outcrops. The Mississippian carbonates above the Devonian unconformity are 

peloidal wackestone and packstone containing late Tournaisian and early Visean microfossils. Stratigraphically 

higher in these outcrops, possible hiatus and noncontinuity of 

microfossil zones make it impossible to determine how much 

of the Visean (in part, Meramecian) may be represented. In 

the Ajax Hills, Tombstone Hills, and Mule Mountains, the 

youngest part of the Escabrosa Limestone contains the late 

Visean "Brunsia biofacies" (zones 14-15) of the southern 

Arizona western facies. 

In the Klondike Hills and Big Hatchet Mountains of New 

Mexico, the Bugle Member of the Keating Formation rests disconformably on Upper Devonian (Famennian) marine sedimentary rocks of the Box Member of the Percha Shale. The 

Bugle Member is Kinderhookian (pre-zone 7) in age, on the 

basis of foraminifers. It contains a rich rugose-coral fauna, 

typified by Stelechophyllum microstylum (White) (Armstrong, 1962). Sando and Bamber (1985) reported this coral 

to be common in upper Kinderhookian strata of the Canadian 

and U.S. Cordilleran province. 

Middle Tournaisian pre-zone 7 is very poorly represented 

by earlandiids, endothyrids, and tournayellids. Septaglomospiranella granulosa (Zeller), a diagnostic foraminifer, is 

present. In contrast, the overlying Tournaisian zone 7 is well 

represented by such characteristic tournayellids as Chernyshinella, Palaeospiroplectammina, and Rectoseptaglomospiranella. In the uppermost part of the zone, Tuberendothyra 

occurs for the first time, and the genus (T. safonovae Skipp, T. 

tuberculata (Chernysheva)) flourishes in zone 8. An interesting and characteristic algal micro flora straddles the zone 7-8 

boundary. Asphaltinella is so abundant in the Escabrosa 

Limestone that it forms an "Asphaltinella biofacies," locally 

associated with Columbiapora and Pekiskopora. A similar 

distribution is observed in Wyoming and Montana, where the 

"Asphaltinella biofacies" also straddles the boundary between 

the middle and late Toumaisian (Mamet, 1984). 

Latest Tournaisian zone 9 is very poor in microfossils because most of the carbonate rocks at that time were deposited 

in deeper-water environment. Thus, the apparent extinction 

recorded on figure 10 is quite misleading. In normal-marine, 

shallow-water conditions, toumayellids associated with spinoendothyrids would be abundant at this level. The base of the 

zone is drawn here on the first appearance of the foraminifer 

Priscella. 

The same unfavorable deep-water conditions prevailed 

during early Visean zones 10 and 11. Fauna and flora are quite 

undiversified. The first occurrence of Globoendothyra approximates the base of the Visean. Stacheeins are present at 

slightly younger levels. No middle Visean fauna has been 

recorded; this absence is partly due to the widespread paraconformity that separates the Keating and Hachita Formations. 

18 Mississippian (lower Carboniferous) Biostratigraphy, Facies, and Microfossils, Pedregosa Basin, Arizona and New Mexico 
The next identifiable assemblage is basal late Visean zone 

14, which is well displayed at the Mule Mountains section. 

The microfauna contains a rich Eoendothyranopsis assemblage, with the characteristic E. macra (Zeller). 

The exact age of the overlying "Brunsia biofacies" is difficult to determine. This level is characterized by the proliferation of Brunsia associated with Planoarchaediscus, 

whereas endothyrids, endothyranopsids, and eoendothyranopsids are conspicuously scarce or absent. In the Mule Mountains, the "Brunsia biofacies" directly overlies zone 14 and is 

overlain everywhere by zone 16i. We note that the "Brunsia 

biofacies" crosses the lithofacies change between the Rancheria Formation in the Florida Mountains and the Hachita 

Formation in the Klondike Hills. 

The base of Chesterian zone 16i is generally marked in the 

North American Cordillera by the elimination of numerous 

Meramecian foraminifers, such as Eoforschia and Eoendothyranopsis. ThisJevel of extinction is not apparent in figure 

10 because the widespread "Brunsia biofacies" is itself a level 

of major extinction. However, the first occurrence of abundant Eostaffella and Zellerinella is used to mark the base of 

zone 16i. 

The Chesterian (zones 16i-16s-17-18-19) succession in 

the Paradise Formation is quite complete and is similar to that 

observed elsewhere in the Cordillera. Zone 16s is marked by 

the proliferation of Neoarchaediscus and Planopirodiscus, 

early Namurian zone 17 by abundantAsteroarchaediscus, and 

zone 18 by numerousBiseriella. Zone 19, recognizable by the 

short range of eosigmoilinids, is known only from the Big 

Hatchet Mountains succession. Extensive erosion on the Late 

Mississippian surface occurred before Pennsylvanian marine 

transgression and sedimentation (Armstrong and others, 

1984 ). The base of Morrowan zone 20 is missing, and the zone 

is recognized by the first apparent occurrence of Millerella, 

associated with primitive Globivalvulina and Glomospiroides 

spp. A rather important ecologic change is is reflected by sessile foraminifers: Quite scarce in the Visean, they became 

common in the early Namurian and dominated the earliest 

Pennsylvanian. A conspicuous change is also observed 

among calcareous algae, which are represented in the Pennsylvanian by abundant crustose Archaeolithophyllum, branching 

Donezella,leafy Masloviporidium, and encrusting Osagia. 

MISSISSIPPIAN CARBONATE FACIES AND 

PALEOTECTONICS 

The regional isopach map (fig. 1) of the Mississippian strata 

in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona is 

based on the pre-Pennsylvanian erosional remnants of Mississippian sedimentary rocks. The isopach contours and subcrop 

map for northeastern New Mexico are from Foster and others 

(1972), and for southeastern New Mexico from Meyer (1966); 

the data for northwestern New Mexico and the San J nan Basin 

are based on our study of some 100 oil-welllogs. 

Marine transgressions and regressions during the Late Devonian and earliest Mississippian in southwestern New Mexico and southern Arizona are believed to be related to Antler 

orogenic events to the northwest in Nevada. These orogenic 

events are reflected in the regional disconformities within 

Upper Devonian sedimentary rocks and in the regional hiatus 

between Late Devonian and the Early Mississippian (Poole 

and Sandberg, 1977; Sandberg andPoole,1977; Schumacher, 

1978; Cooper and Dutro, 1982; Moore and Barrick, 1988). 

The first Mississippian marine transgression, during early 

Toumaisian (pre-zone 7) time, occurred in the Pedregosa 

Basin of southwestern New Mexico, southwestern Arizona, 

and south-central New Mexico. A broad, shallow-water 

carbonate shelf developed over the entire region (fig. 11). 

Carbonate sediment included crinoidal and oolitic sand interdigitated with intertidal to supratidal peloidal micrite, 

stromatolites, and dolomite. Our interpretation of the lower 

part of the Escabrosa carbonates suggests that the environments of deposition were similar to those of the modem Trucial Coast in the Persian Gulf. Escabrosa carbonate rocks have 

many sedimentary structures and features in common with 

those described by Evans and others (1973), Purser and Evans 

(1973), Shinn (1973), and Hardie and Shinn (1986). Conceptual models for the various environments of deposition of the 

Escabrosa Group and the Escabrosa Limestone are shown in 

figures 12 and 13. The Bugle Member (figs. 15, 16) consists 

of a series of incomplete shoaling-upward carbonate cycles 

(Wilson, 1975b; James, 1984; Harris and others, 1985). The 

intertidal and supratidal facies are best developed in the Pedregosa Mountains exposures. The sedimentary structures suggest deposition on a hypersaline tidal flat in an arid climate. 

In contrast, the Witch Memberrepresents sedimentation under 

deeper water on a subsiding shelf. In fact, the Witch Member 

may have been deposited at the edge of the carbonate shelf or 

on the upper parts of the carbonate slope. The Escabrosa carbonate slope (fig. 13) is believed to have been gently inclined; 

the slope angle decreased with depth, and the shallow-water 

sediment merged imperceptibly into basinal deposits (James, 

1984; Mcllreath and James, 1984; Mullins, 1986). The end of 

Toumaisian (late Osagean) time was accentuated by a regional 

marine regression. During late Osagean time, regional uplift, 

erosion, and removal of most or all of the Lower Mississippian sedimentary rocks took place in south-central New Mexico (southern Sacramento Mountains, southern San Andres 

Mountains, Franklin Mountains, Florida Mountains, figs. 11, 

13, 14). These events, and subsequent deposition of lower 

Meramecian deeper-water carbonates, resulted in a wedge-onwedge relation, with an angular unconformity between the 

deeply eroded Lake Valley Formation mounds and the deeperwater, starved-basin Rancheria Formation (Laudon and Bowsher, 1941, 1949; Lane, 1974; Meyers, 1974; Wilson, 1975a, 

b; Yurewiez, 1977; Meyers and James, 1978). 

Mississippian Carbonate Facies and Paleotectonics 19 
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southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona, showing 

range of foraminifers, calcareous algae, and incertae sedis 

recognized in this study. Microfossils: 

8. Asphaltinel/a sp. 

9. Chernyshinella sp. 

1 0. Columbiapora sp. 

11. Columbiapora johnsoni Mamet 

1. Calcisphaera /aevis Williamson 

2. Earlandia sp. 

3. Earlandia elegans (Rauzer-Chernoussova and Reitlinger) 

4. Earlandia minima (Birina) 

5. Kamaena sp. 

6. Latiendothyra sp. 

7. Septag/omospiranel/a granulosa (Zeller) 

12. Earlandia c/avatula (Howchin) 

13. Earlandia moderata (Malakhova) 

14. Eotuberitina sp. 

15. /ssinella sp. (mainly /.devonica Reitlinger) 

16. Kamaena itkillikensis Mamet 

17. Latiendothyra /atispiralis (Lipina) 

1 8. Mitcheldeania sp. 

20 Mississippian (lower Carboniferous) Biostratigraphy, Facies, and Microfossils, Pedregosa Basin, Arizona and New Mexico 

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I I I I 

I I I I I 

I I I I I 

I I I I I 

I I I 

I I I 

I I I 

I I I 

I I I 

I I 

EXPLANATION 

I f 

Last occurrence 

Acme 

Present Common First occurrence 

30. Septaglomospiranella primaeva (Chernysheva) 

31 . Bisphaera sp. 

32. Ortonella sp. 

33. Mitcheldeania distans (Coni I and Lys) 

34. Pekiskopora sp. 

35. Spinoendothyra sp. 

36. Tuberendothyra safonovae Skipp 

37. Tuberendothyra tuberculata (Chernysheva) 

38. Spinotournayella sp. 

39. Priscella sp. 

4 I I I I I I 

I I 

40. Septatournayella pseudocamerata Lip ina in Lebedeva 

Mississippian Carbonate Facies and Paleotectonics 21 
In New Mexico and Arizona, a regional marine transgression again occurred during middle Visean (Meramecian) time. 

A broad carbonate platform developed over the Pedregosa 

Basin in much of New Mexico and southeastern Arizona. Carbonate sedimentation in the eastern part of the Pedregosa 

Basin is represented by the upper part of the Hachita Formation, which was deposited as broad areas of bioclastic carbonate sand and crinoidal packstone. The sand consists of 

abraded crinoid fragments, smaller amounts of bryozoan fragments, and minor amounts of ooids and oolites. To the west 

in southeastern Arizona, the carbonate facies in the upper part 

of the Escabrosa Limestone are subtidal, peloidal, micritic 

packstone and subtidal to intertidal fossiliferous wackestone, 

lime mudstone, and dolomite (figs. 13, 14). 

The middle Visean in south-central New Mexico is represented by deeper-water carbonates of the Rancheria Formation in the southern San Andres, Sacramento, and Florida 

Mountains of New Mexico and in the Franklin and Hueco 

Mountains of western Texas. These Meramecian cherty car41. Tournayella discoidea Dain 

42. Calcisphaera pachysphaerica (Pronina) 

43. Dainella sp. 

44. Earlandia vulgaris (Rauzer-Chernoussova and Reitlinger) 

45. Eblanaia sp. 

46. Endothyra sp. 

47. Globoendothyra sp. 

48. Tetrataxis sp. 

49. Eoforschia sp. 

50. Epistacheoides sp. (mainly E. nephroformis Petryk and 

Mamet) 

51. Globoendothyra bridgensis Skipp 

52. Stacheoides sp. (mainly 5. meandriformis Mamet and 

Rudloff) 

53. Archaediscus sp. 

54. Aoujgalia sp. 

55. Eoendothyranopsiscf. E. ermakiensis (Lebedeva) 

56. Eoendothyranopsis macra (Zeller) 

57. Eoendothyranopsiscf. E. prodigiosa (Armstrong) 

58. Eoendothyranopsis scitula (Toomey) 

59. Globoendothyra cf. G. tomiliensis (Lebedeva) 

60. Globoendothyra paula (Vissarionova) 

61. Koninckopora inflata (de Koninck) 

62. Koninckopora tenuiramosa Wood 

63. Mametella sp. 

64. Skippella sp. 

65. Stacheoides tenuis Petryk and Mamet 

66. Asphaltina sp. 

67. Asphaltina cordillerensis Mamet 

68. Brunsia sp. 

69. Nanopora sp. 

70. Planoarchaediscus sp. 

71. Pseudoammodiscus sp. 

72. Pseudoglomospira sp. 

73. Pseudotaxis sp. 

74. Archaediscus cf. A. chernoussovensis Mamet 

75. Archaediscus cf. A. krestovnikovi Rauzer-Chernoussova 

76. Archaediscus koktjubensis Rauzer-Chernoussova 

bonates lie unconformably on sedimentary rocks of Early Mississippian and Late Devonian age (fig. 15). 

In the Franklin and Florida Mountains of south-central New 

Mexico, upper Visean carbonates are represented by deepwater sedimentary rocks of the upper part of the Rancheria 

Formation and the lower part of the Helms Formation. In the 

Pedregosa Basin, the Paradise Formation is a shallow-water, 

shoaling (zones 15-16 and younger) equivalent of the deeperwater Rancheria and Helms Formations. 

The region underwent differential uplift during early Namurian (latest Chesterian) time, and the carbonate terrane was 

exposed to subaerial weathering, vadose solution activity, and 

dissection. By latest Mississippian and earliest Pennsylvanian 

time, well-defined uplifts and basins had developed that were 

to characterize the later Paleozoic deposition. Adjacent to or 

within this study area are the Zuni-Defiance uplift (McKee, 

1951), the Florida uplift, and the Pedregosa and Orogrande 

Basins (Kottlowski, 1960, 1963). A regional marine transgression of Bashkirian (early Morrowan) Pennsylvanian age 

77. Eostaffella sp. 

78. Neoarchaediscus sp., primitive 

79. Zellerinella sp. 

80. Cuneiphycus sp. 

81 . Koskinotextularia sp. 

82. Neoarchaediscus sp. 

83. Neoarchaediscus incertus (Grozdilova and Lebedeva) 

84. Neoarchaediscus parvus 

85. Nostocites sp. 

86. Planospirodiscus sp. 

87. Pseudoendothyra sp. 

88. Zellerinella discoidea (Girty) 

89. Zellerinel/a designata (Zeller) 

90. Asteroarchaediscus sp. 

91 . Atractyliopsis sp. 

92. Climacammina sp. 

93. Planoendothyra sp. 

94. Volvotextularia sp. 

95. Apterrinellids 

96. Biseriella sp. (mainly B. parva (Chernysheva)) 

97. Endothyranopsis sphaerica (Rauzer-Chernoussova and 

Reitlinger) 

98. Koskinobigenerina? sp. 

99. Cribrostomum? sp. 

1 00. Quasiarchaediscus sp. and Eosigmoilina sp. 

1 01. Archaeolithophyllum sp. 

1 02. Calcitornel/a sp. and Calcivertella sp. 

1 03. Donezella sp. 

1 04. Fourstonella sp. 

105. Globivalvulina sp., primitive 

1 06. Glomospiroides sp. 

1 07. Masloviporidium sp. 

1 08. Millerella sp. 

1 09. Millerella marblensis Thompson 

11 0. Millerella pressa Thompson 

111 . Monotaxinoides sp. 

112. Osagia sp. 

113. Tuberitina sp. 

22 Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) Biostratigraphy, Facies, and Microfossils, Pedregosa Basin, Arizona and New Mexico 
112° 

37" 

1110 11 oo 

Pennsylvanian 

erosional edge 

109° 

i ~ 

i 

I 

r 

I 

i 

108° 

r ~~ --~ --- -- -----~ -- --- -- -· -

! 

... 

... 

... 

106° 

0 50 100 150 200 KILOMETERS 

D 

Precambrian terrane 

EXPlANATION 

~ 

c~ 

Lower Paleozoic rocks 

(mostly carbonates) 

Pre-zone 7 to zone 8 

Mississippian carbonates 

Figure 11. Western New Mexico and eastern Arizona, showing isopachs (in feet; queried where uncertain) of 

Lower Mississippian zones pre-7, 7, and 8 and distribution of carbonate rocks in the Pedregosa Basin, northeastern 

Arizona. Triangles, locations of outcrop sections used in this report. 

Mississippian Carbonate Facies and Paleotectonics 23 
deposited quartz conglomerate and sand over the eroded Mississippian surface. These clastic beds are generally succeeded 

by fossiliferous, fusulinid-bearing limestone. 

CONCLUSIONS 

Biostratigraphic correlations among the western, central, 

and eastern facies are difficult because of numerous paraconformities, hiatuses, and rapid facies changes from the shelf 

facies of the Pedregosa Basin to the semi-starved-basin or 

basinal carbonate facies of the Florida and Franklin Mountains. A subsiding, shallow-water to shoaling carbonate shelf 

developed during Kinderhookian and early Osagean time in 

the central facies, in an area that later became the Pedregosa 

Basin. Oolitic and bioclastic sand was deposited on this shelf, 

disconformably over Upper Devonian (Famennian) marine 

carbonates and shale. The basal Mississippian sedimentary 

rocks are separated from the Upper Devonian strata by a major 

hiatus. 

Shallow-water carbonate deposition prevailed nearly continuously from Osagean through early Meramecian time in the 

area of the Pedregosa Basin. These carbonates are time 

equivalents of the semi-starved-basin deposits of dark-gray, 

argillaceous lime mudstone of the Las Cruces Formation in the 

Franklin Mountains of Texas. 

The only biostratigraphic unit that is recognizable 

throughout the region is the late Visean "Brunsia biofacies," 

which occurs at the top of the Escabrosa Limestone in the Ajax 

Hills, at Tombstone, and in the Mule Mountains. The "BrunSlope carbonates 

sia biofacies" is also present at the top of the Hachita Forma-· 

tion and at the base of the Paradise Formation in all outcrop 

sections in the Pedregosa Basin. 

REFERENCES CITED 

Armstrong, A.K., 1962, Stratigraphy and paleontology of the Mississippian System in southwestern New Mexico and adjacent 

southeastern Arizona: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources Memoir 8, 95 p. 

Armstrong, A.K., Kottlowski, F.E., Stewart, W.J., Mamet, B.L., 

Baltz, E.H. Jr., Siemers, W.T., and Thompson, Sam, lll, 1979, 

The Mississippian and Pennsylvanian (Carboniferous) Systems 

in the United States-New Mexico: U.S. Geological Survey 

Professional Paper 1110-W, p. W1-W27. 

Armstrong, A.K., and Mamet, B.L., 1974, Biostratigraphy of the Arroyo Penasco Group, Lower Carboniferous (Mississippian), 

north-central New Mexico, in Siemers, C.T., ed., Central-northem New Mexico: New Mexico Geological Society Field Conference, 25th, Guidebook, p. 145-158. 

-- 1976, Biostratigraphy and regional relations of the Mississippian Leadville Limestone in the San Juan Mountains, southwestern Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 

985,25 p. 

--1977, Carboniferous microfacies, microfossils, and corals, Lisburne Group, Arctic Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 849, 120 p. 

-- 1978a, The Bugle and Witch Members of the Keating Formation, Escabrosa Group, and the Mississippian nomenclature in 

the Big Hatchet Mountains, Hidalgo County, New Mexico, in 

Sohl, N.E., and Wright, W.B., Changes in stratigraphic 

Facies Basal carbonates Crinoid meadows Crinoid-bryozoan 

meadows 

Tidal shelf Crinoid-bioclastic sand Nearshore shelf 

lime mudstone, radiolarian- Encrinite , peloid-crinoid- Encrinite. crinoid- Interbedded th~ to medium- Crinoi~bryozoan-brachiopod Bioclastic wackestone and 

spiculitic wackestone, brachiopod wackestone, bryozoan packstone . bedded lime mudstone. packstone-wackestone packstone to pelletoidal I 

lithology silty pelletoidal packstone, and some and arenaceous peloidal dolomite, and chert and lenticular to nodular lime mudstone, with 

grainstone, and orange arenaceous pelletoidal 

I 

wackestone chert abundant foraminifers 

dolomite wackestone 

Color Dark brown gray Gray to brown light gray to brown Gray to brown light gray to gray light gray to gray 

Intraformational erosional Medium-bedded abundant Crossbedded to massive Thoroughly burrowed, thin Crossbedded to massive Stratified, with abundant 

Bedding and sedimentary surfaces, medium-bedded gray to brown chert beds of nodular gray to medium-bedded, wavy beds of gray nodular ripple marks; bioturbated 

angular diastems, and chert to nodular surfaces show- chert gray nodular chert structures abundant clayey shale ing diasterns; dark-gray 

to black chert 

Figure 12. Idealized sequence of standard facies belts for the Escabrosa Group, Escabrosa Limestone, Lake Valley Limestone, Las 

24 Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) Biostratigraphy, Facies, and Microfossils, Pedregosa Basin, Arizona and New Mexico 
nomenclature by the U.S. Geological Survey, 1977: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1457-A, p. A90-A94. 

--1978b, The Mississippian System of southwestern New Mexico 

and southeastern Arizona, in Callender, J.F., Wilt, J.C., and 

Clemons, R.E., ed., Land of Cochise: Southeastern Arizona: 

New Mexico Geological Society Field Conference, 29th, Guidebook, p. 183-192. 

Armstrong, A.K., Mamet, B.L., and Burton, R.C., 1984, The Mississippian-Pennsylvanian boundary in the Pedregosa Basin in 

southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, in Sutherland, P.K., and Manger, W.L., eds., Biostratigraphy, v. 2 of 

Neuvieme Congres International de Stratigraphie et de Geologie 

du Carbonifere, Washington, 1979, Compte Rendu: Carbondale, Southern Illinois University Press, p. 399-405. 

Armstrong, A.K., Mamet, B.L., and Repetski, J.E., 1980, Mississippian System of New Mexico and southern Arizona, in Fouch, 

T.D., and Magathan, E.R., eds., Paleozoic paleogeography of 

the west-central United States: Rocky Mountain Paleogeography Symposium 1: Denver, Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Rocky Mountain Section, p. 82-99. 

Beede, J.W., 1920, Notes on the geology and oil possibilities of the 

northern Diablo Plateau in Texas: University of Texas Bulletin 

1852,40 p. 

Burton, R.C., 1964, A preliminary range chart of Lake Valley Formation (Osage) conodonts in the southern Sacremento Mountain, New Mexico, in Ash, S.R., and Davis, L.V., eds., Ruidoso 

country: New Mexico Geological Society Field Conference, 

15th, Guidebook, p. 73-75. 

Cooper, G.A., and Dutro, J.T., Jr., 1982, Devonian brachiopods of 

New Mexico: Bulletins of American Paleontology, v. 82-83, 

no. 315, 215 p. 

Cope, E. D., 1882a, Invertebrate fossils from the Lake Valley District, 

New Mexico: American Naturalist, v. 16, p. 158-159. 

--1882b, Geologic age of the Lake Valley mines of New Mexico: 

Engineering and Mining Journal, v. 34, p. 214. 

Dunham, R.J., 1962, Classification of carbonate rocks according to 

depositional texture, in Ham, W.E., ed., Classification of carbonate rocks: American Association of Petroleum Geologists 

Memoir 1, p. 108-121. 

Dunn, D.L., 1970, Conodont zonation near the Mississippian-Pennsylvanian boundary in the western United States: Geological 

Society of America Bulletin, v. 81, no. 10, p. 2959-2974. 

Evans, Graham, Murray, J.W., Briggs, H.E.J., Bate, R.H., and Bush, 

P.R., 1973, The oceanography, ecology, sedimentology and 

geomorphology of parts of the Trucial Coast barrier island complex, Persian Gulf, in Purser, B.H., ed., The Persian Gulf: 

Holocene carbonate sedimentation and diagenesis in a shallow 

epicontinental sea: New York, Springer-Verlag, p. 233-277. 

Foster, R.W., Frentress, R.M., Riess, W.C., 1972, Subsurface geology of east-central New Mexico: New Mexico Geological 

Society Special Publication 4, 22 p. 

Gilluly, James,Cooper,J.R., andWilliams,J.S.,l954, Late Paleozoic 

stratigraphy of central Cochise County, Arizona: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 226, 49 p. 

Hardie, L.A., 1977, Sedimentation on the modem carbonate tidal flats 

of northwest Andros Island, Bahamas: Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 202 p. 

Hardie, L.A., and Shinn, E.A., 1986, Tidal flats, carbonate depositional environments, modem and ancient: Colorado School of 

Mines Quarterly, v. 81, no. 1, 874 p. 

Harris, P.M., Moore, C.H., and Wilson, J.L., 1985, Carbonate platforms, carbonate depositional environments, modem and ancient: Colorado School of Mines Quarterly, v. 80, no. 4, 60 p. 

Hayes, P.T., and Landis, E.R., 1965, Paleozoic stratigraphy of the 

southern part of the Mule Mountains, Arizona: U.S. Geological 

Survey Bulletin 1201-F, p. Fl-F43. 

Hernon, R.M., 1935, The Paradise Formation and its fauna: Journal 

of Paleontology, v. 9, no. 8, p. 653-696. 

Herrick, C.L., 1904, Laws of formation of New Mexico mountain 

ranges: American Geologist, v. 33, no. 5, p. 301-312. -----------------------------------------------------, 

SALINITY INCREASES 

Tidal deltas and tidal Frontal beaches and oolite Restricted platform; subtidal Intertidal zone Supratidal zone Vadose weathering of 

channels dunes; back beach, algal lagoon and channel zone sabkha surface; carbonate 

mats, lime mudstone dune sand, calcretecaliche 

Bioclastic-oolitic packstone Inclined oolitic packstone, Pelletoidal lime mudstone, Algal mats and stromatolites, Seams and nodules of Coated particles, peloids, 

and grainstone grainstone, and lime crinoidal wackestone, with skeletal pelletal anhydrite, micrite, and pisolites, alternating 

mudstone, with algal packstone, and dolomite, carbonate sand and lime dolomite, displaced micro- microlaminae, and limpid 

mats and tidalite de- with brachiopods and mudstone, dolomite, and fauna, and fine quartz dolomite 

posits backside ostracodes gypsum sand 

light gray light gray to gray light gray to gray Gray-yellow brownish red Gray-yellow-orange light gray to gray 

brownish red yellowish red 

Cross-stratified, with Steeply inclined, cross- Bioturbated, with tidal- Stromatolites, with 

Anhydrite-gypsum rhombs, large chips and chunks of pseudomorphs after 

abundant ripple marks stratified, with scattered channel lag and fill of gypsum; tidal-channel bedded anhydrite, chips, carbonates, with a thick 

carbonate lithoclasts coarse carbonate material lag and fill of coarse algal mats, and tepee zone of caliche 

material; bird 's-eye structures 

structures and chips 

Cruces Formation, and Rancheria Formation. See figure 4 for explanation of symbols. 

Mississippian Carbonate Facies and Paleotectonics 25 
t..J 

a"> 

s: 

~-

v;· 

Vl 

.:c· 

"'C 

~· 

::I 

-r 

0 

::;: 

~ 

("') 

~ 

;;. 

0 

::I 

0 

~ 

= 

~ 

Cl:l 

o· 

~ 

e:. 

c:P.i' 

r;l 

"'C 

:r 

~ 

"T1 

~ 

('\ 

--~· ~ 

::I 

c.. 

s: 

r:;· 

0 

--~ .., 

It) 

~ 

~ 0 

~ 

Cl:l 

~ __ :;· 

~ N. 

0 

::I 

~ 

~ 

::I 

c.. 

z 

~ 

s: 

It) 

)( 

r:;· 

0 

~ ~~ ~1\.0tA~i~RS ____.z. 

~e s\OQe 

~ c:ioo'<'a 

((,.O~eo 

s\oQe 

'<'a'-e ca~'c,O 

. ..,.eo9P . 

~~/~ 

./_ -

Figure 13. Block diagram illustrating various facies environments and representative lithostratigraphic units in the Mississippian of southern New Mexico and southeastern 

Arizona. 
112° 111° 110° 107" 106° 

• • 0 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ~!. . . ~ . . . . . . . . . . 0 0 ooooooo 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00:, 0 000 0 00 0 0 0 00 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 000 00 0 010 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0' 

37' :::·:·:~::-::i;:~~:-:~:••::•:••:A~~r::•-r,::::lt::;~Q;.:.. .. ':·•:~•••·:-o-:· ~:~/--·-·-- .... ·--0-·-· 

3 

34 

•.•• :. :. :. :: ••••••.•.•.• : •••••.•. : •. ; •.. : ..••.• : •. t:::.:: :::::::: :: ::::: :·:. 

Precambrian! 

i (-

0 50 100 150 200 KILOMETERS 

D 

Precambrian 

terrane 

EXPLANATION 

Lower Paleozoic 

rocks 

(mostly carbonates) 

Pre-zone 12 

Mississippian 

carbonate rocks 

Basin carbonates. 

Rancheria Formation 

Shelf carbonates 

Zones 12-15 

(Meramecian) 

carbonate rocks 

Figure 14. Western New Mexico and eastern Arizona, showing isopachs (in feet) of Late Mississipian (Meramecian) 

zones 12 though 15 and facies relation of the basinal Rancheria Formation in the Sacramento, San Andres, Franklin, 

and Florida Mountains to shallow-water encrinite of the Hachita Formation in the Klondike Hills and Big Hatchet 

Mountains. Triangles, locations of outcrop sections used in this report. See figure 15 for cross-sectional views 

along line B-8 '. 

Mississippian Carbonate Facies and Paleotectonics 27 
Huddle, J.W., and Dobrovolny, Ernest, 1952, Devonian and Mississippian rocks of central Arizona: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 233-D, p. 67-112. 

James, N.P., 1984, Shallowing-upward sequences in carbonates, in 

Walker, R.G., ed., Facies models (2d ed.): Toronto, Ontario, 

Geological Association of Canada (Geoscience Canada Reprint 

Series, no. 1), p. 213-228. 

Kottlowski, F.E., 1960, Summary of Pennsylvanian section in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona: New Mexico 

Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources Bulletin 66, 187 p. 

--1963, Paleozoic and Mesozoic strata of southwestern and southcentral New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources Bulletin 79, 100 p. 

--1970, Paleozoic geologic history of southwestern New Mexico 

and northwest Chihuahua, in Seewald, Ken, and Sundeen, Dan, 

eds., The geologic framework of the Chihuahua tectonic belt: 

Midland, West Texas Geological Society, p. 25-38. 

-- 1975, Mississippian strata of the San Andres Mountains, in 

Pray, L.C., ed., A guidebook to the Mississippian shelf-edge and 

basin facies carbonates, Sacramento Mountains and southern 

WEST 

B 

I, 

BEND IN 

SECTION 

WEST 

B 

B 

/Pre-Pennsylvanian erosional surface 

I 

I 4 

BEND IN 

SECTION 

14 

New Mexico region: Dallas, Tex., Dallas Geological Society, 

p. 119-123. 

Kurkowski, S.T., 1988, Interim report on the conodont biostratigraphy of the Kelly Limestone (Mississippian), central New 

Mexico [abs.]: New Mexico Geology, v. 10, no. 2, p. 39. 

Kues,B.S., 1986, Paleontology of the Caballero and Lake Valley Formations (Lower Mississippian) west of the Rio Grande, southcentral New Mexico, in Clemons, R.E., King, W.E., and Mack, 

G.H., eds., Truth or Consequences region: New Mexico Geological Society Field Conference, 37th, Guidebook, p. 203-214. 

Lane, H.R., 1974, The Mississippian of southeastern New Mexico 

and West Texas-a wedge-on-wedge relation: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 58, no. 2, p. 269-

282. 

-- 1975, Correlation of the Mississippian rocks of southern New 

Mexico and west Texas using conodonts, a wedge-on-wedge 

relation, in Pray, L.C., ed., A guidebook to the Mississippian 

shelf edge and basin facies carbonate, Sacramento Mountains 

and southern New Mexico region: Dallas, Tex., Dallas Geological Society, p. 87-98. 

BEND IN 

SECTION 

's 

BEND IN 

SECTION 

•s 

BEND IN 

SECTION 

17 

BEND IN 

SECTION 

Is 

Pte-Meramecian erosion removed older Mississippian carbonates -------.4 

Is 

Chesterian Paradise Formation 

BEND IN 

SECTION 

17 

BEND IN 

SECTION 

•a 

Figure 15. Cross sections along section line 8-B ',illustrating Mississippian carbonate facies, regional relations, and unconformities from the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico, across the Rancheria and Pedregosa Basins, westward to 

the Escabrosa Limestone of southeastern Arizona. See figure 1 for locations of outcrops (numbered). A, Possible regional 

extent of Kinderhookian and Osagean carbonates (dashed lines), and area of suggested pre-Meramecian uplift, erosion, 

28 Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) Biostratigraphy, Facies, and Microfossils, Pedregosa Basin, Arizona and New Mexico 
Laudon, L.R., and Bowsher, A.L., 1941,Mississippianformations of 

Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico: American Association of 

Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 25, no. 12, p. 2107-2160. 

-- 1949, Mississippian formations of southwestern New Mexco: 

Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 60, no. 1, p. 1-87. 

Mamet, B.L., 1976, An atlas of Carboniferous carbonates in the 

Canadian Cordillera: Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 

255, 131 p. 

-- 1984, Carboniferous small foraminifers and stratigraphy, in 

Sutherland, P.K., and Manger, W.L., eds., Biostratigraphy, v. 2 

of Neuvieme Congres International de Stratigraphie et de 

Geologie du Carbonif'ere, Washington, 1979, Compte Rendu: 

Carbondale, Southern illinois University Press, p. 3-18. 

Mamet, B.L., Bamber, E.W., and Macqueen, R.W., 1986, Microfacies of the Lower Carboniferous Banff Formation and Rundle 

Group, Monkman Pass Map area, Northwest British Columbia: 

Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 353, 93 p. 

Mcllreath, I.A., and James, N.P., 1984, Carbonate slope, in Walker, 

R.G. ed., Facies models (2d ed.): Toronto, Ontario, Geological 

Association of Canada (Geoscience Canada Reprint Series, no. 

1 ), p. 245-257. 

McKee, E.D., 1951, Sedimentary basins of Arizona and adjoining 

areas: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 62, no. 5, p. 

481-505. 

McKee, E.D., and Gutschick, R.C., 1969, History of the Redwall 

Limestone of northern Arizona: Geological Society of America 

Memoir 114, 726 p. 

Meyer, R.F., 1966, Geology of Pennsylvanian and Wolfcampian 

rocks in southeast New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Mines 

and Mineral Resources, Memoir 17, 123 p. 

Meyers, W.J., 1974, Carbonate cement stratigraphy of the Lake Valley Formation (Mississippian), Sacramento Mountains, New 

Mexico: Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, v. 44, no. 3, p. 837-

861. 

BEND IN 

SECTION 

BEND IN 

SECTION 

NORTH 

BEND B' IN 

SECTION 

lg 

Zone 9 

Hueco Mountatns, 

Texas 1 11 

Sacramento Mountains, 

New Mexico 

1

12 113 114 

------------------------------------------------------------1 

Zone 8 

Zone 7 

- -----pre:ziinef -----------,:-.:_ ::._-..... ~--~~ ~-~~~~~--~-- --

-;::;:;:--- ~- '\" P;;;:·M--;;;i;a-:e~sional surface 

'\Pte-Merarnectan 

erosional surface 

erosional surface 

Pte-Meramecian erosion removed all Mtssissippian rocks and extended into 

Devonian sedimentary rocks 

------+oPte-Merameciani 

erosion of 

Mississippian 

carbonates 

BEND IN 

SECTION 

'9 

r-- Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico ---J BEND IN I SECTION 

1 

Escondtdo, 

BEND IN sec. 27, T. 18 S, 

SECTION Nigger Ed R 10 E 

I Rancheria Peak. Canyon \ · Dog Canyon, lsec. 18·, T. 1 S., sec 10, T 18 S., Hueco Mountains, 

I sec 7, Blk. 9, R 11 E "'i R ~ E. 

11 El Paso County, Texas 12 13 14 Meramecian 

erosional surface 

Devonian 

200 

NORTH 

B' 

METERS 300 

FEET 

1500 

200 1000 

100 500 

150 100 50 

=e~K~IL~O~M~E~TE~R~S~==~O 

15~0=======1~0=0~~~=5xO======~o o 

MILES 

conformity. Datum is top of zone 9. B, Suggested facies and correlation at the end of Meramecian time, showing development of 

euxinic facies of the Rancheria Formation over Devonian carbonates. Early Meramecian unconformity is projected at base of the 

Hachita Formation in the Pedregosa Basin. 

References Cited 29 
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the Mississippian shelf-edge and basin facies carbonates, 

Sacramento Mountains and southern New Mexico region: Dallas, Tex., Dallas Geological Society, p. 45-66. 

Meyers, W.J., and James, A.T., 1978, Stable isotopes of cherts and 

carbonate cements in the Lake Valley Formation (Mississippian), Sacramento Mts, New Mexico: Sedimentology, v. 25, no. 

1, p. 105-124. 

Moore, Darrell, and Barrick, I.E., 1988, Upper Devonian-Lower Mississippian conodont biostratigraphy and depositional patterns, 

southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona: New 

Mexico Geology, v. 10, no. 2, p. 25-32. 

Mullins, H.T., 1986, Periplatform carbonates, carbonate depositional environments, modem and ancient: Colorado School of 

Mines Quarterly, v. 81, no. 2, 63 p. 

Poole, F.G., and Sandberg, C.A., 1977, Mississippian paleogeography and tectonic of the western United States, in Stewart, J.H., 

Stevens, C.H., and Fritsche, A.E., eds., Paleozoic paleogeography of the western United States: Pacific Coast Paleogeographic Symposium 1: Los Angeles, Society of Economic 

Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Pacific Section, p. 39-65. 

Pray, L.C., 1958, Fenestrate bryozoan core facies, Mississippian 

bioherms, southwestern United States: Journal of Sedimentary 

Petrology, v. 28, no. 3, p. 261-273. 

Purser, B.H., and Evans, Graham, 1973, Regional sedimentation 

along the Trucial Coast, southeast Persian Gulf, in Purser, B .H., 

ed., The Persian Gulf: Holocene carbonate sedimentation and 

diagenesis in a shallow epicontinental sea: New York, SpringerVerlag, p. 211-231. 

Ransome, F.L., 1904, The geology and ore deposits of the Bisbee 

quadrangle, Arizona: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 21, 168 p. 

Sabins, F.F., Jr., 1957, Stratigraphic relations in Chiricahua and Dos 

Cabezas Mountains, Arizona: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 41, no. 3 p. 466-510. 

Sandberg, C.A., and Poole, F.G., 1977, Conodont biostratigraphy and 

depositional complexes of Upper Devonian cratonic-platform 

and continental-shelf rocks in the western United States, in M urphy, M.A., Berry, W.B.N., and Sandberg, C.A., eds., Western 

North America: Devonian: Riverside, University of California, 

Campus Museum Contribution 4, p. 144-182. 

Sando, W .J., and Bamber, E. W., 1985, Coral zonation of the Mississippian System in the Western Interior Province of North America: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1334, 61 p. 

Sando, W.J., Mamet, B.L., and Dutro, J.T., Jr., 1969, Carboniferous 

megafossil and microfossil zonation in the northern Cordillera 

of the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 

613-E, p E1-E29. 

Schumacher, Dietmar, 1978, Devonian stratigraphy and correlations 

in southeastern Arizona, in Callender, J.P., Wilt, J.C., and Clemons, R.E., ed., Land of Cochise: Southeastern Arizona: New 

Mexico Geological Society Field Conference, 29th, Guidebook, 

p. 175- 181. 

Shinn, E.A., 1973, Carbonate coastal accretion in an areaoflongshore 

transport, northeast Qatar, Persian Gulf, in Purser, B .H., ed., The 

Persian Gulf: Holocene carbonate sedimentation and diagenesis 

in a shallow epicontinental sea: New York, Springer-Verlag, p. 

180-191. 

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American Naturalist, v.15, p. 671. 

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water" lime mudstones, in Friedman, G.M., ed., Depositional 

environments in carbonate rocks: A symposium: Society of 

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Springer-Verlag, 471 p. 

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New Mexico and Chihuahua, in Pray, L.C., ed., A guidebook to 

the Mississippian shelf -edge and basin facies carbonates, Sacramento Mountains and southern New Mexico region: Dallas, 

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Formations (Mississippian) of south-central New Mexico and 

west Texas: Madison, University ofWisconsin. M.S. thesis, 249 

p. 

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New Mexico and west Texas--the Rancheria Formation, in 

Cook, H.E., and Enos, Paul, eds., Deep-water carbonate environments: Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists 

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Resources Memoir 16, 128 p. 

SUPPLEMENTARY DATA: DETAILED 

BIOSTRATIGRAPHY 

Numbers refer to the locations of sections shown in figure 

4. 

1. Vekol Mountains 

55-67m 

Asphaltinella sp., abundant 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Columbiapora sp. 

Earlandia sp. 

Eotuberitina sp. 

lssinella sp. 

Kamaena sp. 

Latiendothyra latispiralis (Lipina) 

Palaeoberesella sp. 

Palaeospiroplectammina sp. 

Parathurammina sp. 

Proninella sp. 

Pseudoissinella sp. 

Septabrunsiina sp. 

Septaglomospiranella prima eva (Chemysheva) 

30 Mississippian (lower Carboniferous) Biostratigraphy, Facies, and Microfossils, Pedregosa Basin, Arizona and New Mexico 
Age: zone 7, middle Toumaisian; "Asphaltinella biofacies" 

99-104m 

Asphaltinella sp., abundant 

Kamaena sp. 

M itchelckania sp. 

Palaeospiroplectammina chernyshinensis (Lip ina) 

Proninella sp. 

Septabrunsiina sp. 

Septaglomospiranella sp. 

Age: at least zone 7 (or slightly younger, zone 8), middle to late Tournaisian; "Asphaltinella biofacies" 

155-163 m 

Apterrinellids 

Archaeolithophyllum sp. 

Asteroarchaediscus sp. 

Biseriella sp. 

Calcitornella sp. 

Calcivertella sp. 

Eostaffella sp. 

cf. Globivalvu/ina sp. 

Neoarchaediscus sp. 

Osagia sp. 

Planospirodiscus sp. 

Pseudoendothyra sp. 

Pseudoglomospira sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 20, Morrowan age equivalent, Bashkirian 

2. Waterman Mountains 

I 2-20m 

Asphaltinella sp. 

Calcisphaera laevis Williamson 

Earlandia sp. 

Chernyshinella sp. 

Septaglomospiranella primaeva (Chemysheva) 

Age: zone 7, middle Toumaisian 

45-65m 

Asphaltinella sp. 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Earlandia sp. 

Kamaena sp. 

Latiendothyra sp. 

Ortonella sp. 

Parathurammina sp. 

Proninella sp. 

Septag/omospiranella sp. 

Septatournayella sp. 

Spinotournayella sp. 

Tuberendothyra tubercu/ata (Chemysheva) 

Age: zone 8, late Toumaisian; "Asphaltine//a biofacies" 

78m 

Biseriella sp. 

Ca/cisphaera sp. 

Ear/andia sp. 

G/obiva/vu/ina? sp. 

cf. Pseudostaffella sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: at least zone 20, Morrowan or Atokan age equivalent, Bashkirian 

3. Whetstone Mountains 

62.5m 

Aspha/tinella sp. 

Calcisphaera laevis Williamson 

Ear/andia sp. 

Kamaena sp. 

Latiendothyra sp. 

M itchelckania sp. 

Palaeoberesella lahuseni (von Moller) 

Palaeospiroplectammina tchernyshinensis (Lipina) 

Parathurammina sp. 

Septabrunsiina sp. 

Septag lomospiranella primaeva (Chemysheva) 

Age: zone 7, middle Toumaisian; "Aspha/tinella biofacies" 

71-87m 

Asphaltinella sp. 

Calcisphaera laevis Williamson 

Columbiapora sp. 

Earlandia clavatu/a (Howchin) 

lssinella sp. 

Latiendothyra sp. 

M itchelckania dis tans (Conil and Lys) 

Ortonella sp. 

Palaeoberesella sp. 

Parathurammina sp. 

Pekiskopora sp. 

Proninella sp. 

Pseudoissinella sp. 

Radiosphaerina sp. 

Septabrunsiina sp. 

Septaglomospiranella sp. 

Septatournayella sp. 

Spinoendothyra sp., primitive 

T uberendothyra safonovae Skipp 

tubercula/a (Chemysheva) 

Age: zone 8,late Toumaisian; "Asphaltinella-Columbiapora biofacies" 

172m 

Calcisphaera laevis Williamson 

Earlandia clavatu/a (Howchin) 

Kamaena sp. 

Priscella sp. 

Septatournayella pseudocamerata Lipina in Lebedeva 

Age: zone 9,latest Toumaisian 

209m 

Earlandia vulgaris (Rauzer-Chemoussova and Reitlinger) 

Globoendothyra sp. 

Priscella sp. 

T etrataxis sp. 

Age: zone 10, early Visean 

Supplementary Data: Detailed Biostratigraphy 31 
229m 

Asteroarchaediscus sp. 

Biseriella sp. 

Cuneiphycus sp. 

cf. Donezella sp. 

Globivalvulina sp., primitive 

Monotaxinoides sp. 

Neoarchaediscus sp. 

Planospirodiscus sp. 

Stacheoides sp. 

Tuberitina sp. 

Age: zone 20, Morrowan age equivalent, Bashkirian 

4. Ajax Hills 

83-114m 

Asphaltinella sp. 

Columbiapora sp. 

Earlandia moderate (Malakhova) 

l.Atiendothyra sp. 

Palaeospiroplectammina tchernyshinensis (Lipina) 

Parachaetetes? sp. 

Parathurammina sp. 

Rectoseptaglomospiranella sp. 

Septabrunsiina sp. 

Septaglomospiranella primaeva (Chemysheva) 

Age: zone 7, middle Toumaisian; "Asphaltinella-Columbiapora 

biofacies" 

274-283 m 

Archaediscus sp. 

Asphaltina cordillerensis Mamet 

Brunsia sp., abundant 

Earlandia sp. 

Pseudoglomospira sp. 

Age: zone 14-15, late Visean; "Brunsia biofacies" 

303m 

Archaeolithophyllum sp. 

Asteroarchaediscus sp. 

Biseriella sp. 

Climacammina sp. 

Endot hyra sp. 

Eostaffella sp. 

Millerella sp. 

Neoarchaediscus sp. 

Pseudoendothyra sp. 

Pseudoglomospira sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 20, Morrowan age equivalent, Bashkirian 

5. Mule Mountains 

7-15m 

Asphaltinella sp., abundant 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Columbiapora johnsoni Mamet 

Earlandia sp. 

lssinella sp. 

l.Atiendothyra sp. 

Palaeospiroplectammina sp. 

Proninella sp. 

Pseudoissinella sp. 

Septabrunsiina sp. 

Septaglomospiranella sp. 

primaeva (Chemysheva) 

Toumayellids 

Age: high zone 7, middle Toumaisian; "Asphaltinella-Columbiapora 

biofacies" 

18m 

Asphaltinella sp., abundant 

Bisphaera sp. 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Columbiapora sp. 

Earlandia sp. 

lssinella sp. 

l.Atiendothyra sp. 

Palaeospiroplectammina sp. 

Proninella sp. 

Pseudoissinella sp. 

Septabrunsiina sp. 

Septaglomospiranella sp. 

cf. Tuberendothyra? sp. 

Age: high zone 7, middle Toumaisian (or slightly younger?); "Asphaltinella-Columbiapora biofacies" 

30-41 m 

Asphaltinella, abundant 

Bisphaera sp. 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Columbiapora sp. 

Earlandia sp. 

l.Atiendothyra sp. 

Ortonella sp. 

Palaeospiroplectammina sp. 

Parathurammina sp. 

Pseudoissinella sp. 

Radiosphaerina sp. 

Septabrunsiina sp. 

Septaglomospiranella sp. 

primaeva (Chemysheva) 

Solenoporid algae 

Tuberendothyra sp. 

Age: zone 8, early late Toumaisian; "Asphaltinella-Columbiapora 

biofacies" 

123-131 m 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Earlandia sp. 

lssinella sp. 

Kamaena sp. 

Septabrunsiina sp. 

Septatournayella pseudocamerata Lipina in Lebedeva 

Spinoendothyrids 

T ournayella sp. 

Age: zone 9, latest Toumaisian 

134-140m 

First occurrence of Visean foraminifers (post-zone 10) 

Calcisphaera pachysphaerica (Pronina) 

32 Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) Biostratigraphy, Facies, and Microfossils, Pedregosa Basin, Arizona and New Mexico 
Dainella sp. 

Earlandia sp. 

Eblanaia sp. 

Globoendothyra sp. 

143-152m 

Calcisphaera laevis Williamson 

pachysphaerica (Pronina) 

Earlandia vulgaris (Rauzer-Chemoussova and Reitlinger) 

Endothyra sp. 

Eoforschia sp. 

Epistacheoides nephroformis Petryk and Mamet 

Globoendothyra bridgensis Skipp 

lssinella sp. 

Palaeoberesella lahuseni (von Moller) 

Stacheoides sp. 

Age: undetermined lower to middle Visean (at least zone 11) 

184-200m 

Asphaltina cordillerensis Mamet 

Brunsia sp. 

Calcisphaera laevis Williamson 

pachysphaerica (Pronina) 

Earlandia vulgaris (Rauzer-Chemoussova and Reitlinger), abundant 

Endothyra simi/is Rauzer-Chemoussova and Reitlinger 

Globoendothyra tomiliensis (Lebedeva) 

Mametella skimoensis (Mamet and Rudloff) 

Palaeoberesella sp. 

Priscella sp. 

Tetrataxis angusta Vissarionova 

Age: zone 13-14, early late Visean 

2~206m 

Aoujgalia sp. 

Archaediscus sp. 

Calcisphaera pachysphaerica (Pronina) 

Earlandia clavatula (Howchin) 

elegans (Rauzer-Chemoussova and Reitlinger) 

vulgaris (Rauzer-Chemoussova and Reitlinger) 

Endothyra sp. 

simi/is Rauzer-Chemoussova and Reitlinger 

Eoendothyranopsis of the group E. ermakiensis (Lebedeva) 

macra (Zeller) 

cf. E. prodigiosa (Armstrong) 

scitula (foomey) 

Epistacheoides nephroformis Mamet and Petryk 

Globoendothyra cf. G. tomiliensis (Lebedeva) 

paula (Vissarionova) 

Koninckopora inflata (de Koninck) 

tenuiramosa Wood 

Mametella sp. 

Skippella sp. 

Priscella sp. 

Stacheoides meandriformis Mamet and Rudloff 

tenuis Petryk and Mamet 

Tetrataxis sp. 

Age: zone 14, early late Visean 

206-209m 

Brunsia sp. (abundant) 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Earlandia sp. 

P/anoarchaediscus sp. 

Age: zone 14-15, late Visean; "Brunsia biofacies" 

220-233m 

Apterrinellids 

Archaediscus sp. 

Archaeolithophyllum sp. 

Asteroarchaediscus sp. 

Biseriella sp. 

Climacammina sp. 

Cuneiphycus sp. 

Donezella sp. 

Earlandia sp. 

Endothyra sp. 

Eostaffella sp. 

M illerella marblensis Thompson 

Neoarchaediscus sp. 

Planospirodiscus sp. 

Pseudoendothyra sp. 

Tetrataxis sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 20, Morrowan age equivalent, Bashkirian 

6. Pedregosa Mountains 

49-52m 

Earlandia minima (Birina) 

Latiendothyra sp. 

Septaglomospiranella granulosa (Zeller) 

Age: pre-zone 7, middle Toumaisian 

104-122m 

Earlandia elegans (Rauzer-Chemoussova and Reitlinger) 

minima (Birina) 

Kamaena itkillikensis Mamet 

Latiendothyra sp. 

Palaeoberesella sp. 

Palaeospiroplectammina tchernyshinensis (Lipina) 

Radiosphaerina sp. 

Rectoseptaglomospiranella sp. 

Septaglomospiranella sp. 

primaeva (Chemysheva) 

Age: zone 7, middle Toumaisian 

242-260m 

Asphaltina sp. 

Brunsia sp., very abundant 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Earlandia sp. 

Epistacheoides sp. 

Planoarchaediscus sp. 

Pseudoammodiscus sp. 

Pseudoglomospira sp. 

Pseudotaxis sp. 

Age: zone 14-15, late Visean; "Brunsia biofacies" 

No diagnostic foraminifers at the base of the Paradise Formation; some 

calcispheres, endothyrids (Priscella), and stacheeins. 

422-425m 

Supplementary Data: Detailed Biostratigraphy 33 
Archaediscus sp. 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Earlandia sp. 

Endothyra sp. 

Eostaffella sp. 

Globoendothyra sp. 

Koskinotextularia sp. 

Neoarchaediscus sp. 

Planospirodiscus sp. 

Priscella sp. 

Pseudoendothyra sp. 

Stacheoides sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 16sup, latest Visean (or slightly younger) 

433-450m 

Archaediscus sp. 

Asteroarchaediscus sp. 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Climacammina sp. 

Earlandia sp. 

Endothyra sp. 

Eostaffella sp. 

Eotuberitina sp. 

Koskinobigenerina? sp. 

Neoarchaediscus sp. 

Planoendothyra? sp. 

Planospirodiscus sp. 

Priscella sp. 

Pseudoammodiscus sp. 

Pseudoendothyra sp. 

Pseudoglomospira sp. 

Stacheoides sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 17, earliest Namurian 

465-473m 

Apterrinellids 

Archaediscus sp. 

Asteroarchaediscus sp. 

Biseriella sp. 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Climacammina sp. 

Consobrinella sp. 

Cuneiphycus sp. 

Endothyra sp. 

Endothyranopsis sphaerica (Rauzer-Chemoussova and Reitlinger) 

Eostaffella sp. 

Epistacheoides nephroformis Petryk and Mamet 

Neoarchaediscus sp. 

Planoendothyra sp. 

Planospirodiscus sp. 

Priscella sp. 

Pseudoendothyra sp. 

Stacheoides sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 18, early Namurian 

483-512m 

Aoujgalia sp. 

Apterrinellids 

Archaediscus sp. 

Asteroarchaediscus sp. 

Biseriella sp. 

Climacammina sp. 

Endothyra sp. 

Eostaffella sp. 

cf. Globivalvulina sp. 

Glomospiroides sp. 

Miller ella sp. 

Neoarchaediscus sp. 

Planoendothyra sp. 

Planospirodiscus sp. 

Priscella sp. 

Pseudoammodiscus sp. 

Pseudoendothyra sp. 

Pseudoglomospira sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 20, Morrowan age equivalent, Bashkirian 

7. Big Hatchet Mountains 

40-55m 

Calcisphaera laevis Williamson 

Earlandia elegans (Rauzer-Chemoussova and Reitlinger) 

Kamaena sp. 

Latiendothyra sp. 

Septaglomospiranella granulosa (Zeller) 

Age: pre-zone 7, middle Toumaisian 

137-170m 

Calcisphaera laevis Williamson 

Earlandia clavatula (How chin) 

Latiendothyra sp. 

Palaeospiroplectammina sp. 

Septaglomospiranella primaeva (Chemysheva) 

Age: zone 7, middle Toumaisian 

265-269m 

Archaediscus sp. 

Asphaltina sp. 

Brunsia sp., abundant 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Endothyra sp. 

Planoarchaediscus sp. 

Pseudoammodiscus sp. 

Age: zone 14-15, late Visean; "Brunsia biofacies" 

28Cr291 m 

Archaediscus sp. 

Asphaltina sp. 

Brunsia sp. 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Endothyra sp. 

Eostaffella sp. 

Eotuberitina sp. 

Neoarchaediscus sp., primitive 

Priscella sp. 

Pseudoammodiscus sp. 

Pseudoglomospira sp. 

Stacheoides sp. 

T etrataxis sp. 

34 Mississippian (lower Carboniferous) Biostratigraphy, Facies, and Microfossils, Pedregosa Basin, Arizona and New Mexico 
Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 16inf, late Visean 

309-312m 

Archaediscus sp. 

Brunsia sp. 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Endothyra sp. 

Eostaffella sp. 

Eotuberitina sp. 

Neoarchaediscus sp., primitive 

Priscella sp. 

Pseudoammodiscus sp. 

Pseudoglomospira sp. 

Stacheoides sp. 

T etrataxis sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 16inf, late Visean 

319-363 m 

Aoujgalia sp. 

Archaediscus sp. 

Asphaltina sp. 

Asteroarchaediscus sp. 

Atractyliopsis sp. 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Climacammina sp. 

Endot hyra sp. 

Epistacheoides sp. 

Neoarchaediscus sp. 

Priscella sp. 

Pseudoen.dothyra sp. 

Pseudoglomospira sp. 

Pseudotaxis sp. 

Stacheoides sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 17, earliest Namurian 

365-387m 

Aoujgalia sp. 

Apterrinellids 

Archaediscus sp. 

Asphaltina sp. 

Asteroarchaediscus sp. 

Biseriella sp. 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Climacammina sp. 

Endothyra sp. 

Eostaffella sp. 

Neoarchaediscus sp. 

Planospirodiscus sp. 

Priscella sp. 

Pseudoammodiscus sp. 

Pseudoen.dothyra sp. 

Pseudoglomospira sp. 

Stacheoides sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 18, early Namurian 

389-397m 

Apterrinellids 

Archaediscus sp. 

Asteroarchaediscus sp. 

Biseriella sp. 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Climacammina sp. 

Eostaffella sp. 

Neoarchaediscus sp. 

Planospirodiscus sp. 

taimyricus Sossipatrova 

Priscella sp. 

Pseudoammodiscus sp. 

Pseudoen.dothyra sp. 

Pseudoglomospira sp. 

Pseudotaxis sp. 

Quasiarchaediscus sp. 

Stacheoides sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 19, early Namurian 

402-411 m 

Apterrinellids 

Asteroarchaediscus sp. 

Biseriella sp. 

Endothyra sp. 

Eostaffella sp. 

Fourstofll!lla sp. 

Glomospiroides sp. 

Millerella marblensis Thompson 

pressa Thompson 

Planoendothyra sp. 

Pseudoen.dothyra sp. 

Pseudoglomospira sp. 

Stacheoides sp. 

Volvotextularia sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 20, Morrowan age equivalent, Bashkirian 

8. Klondike Hills 

24-30m 

Calcisphaera laevis Williamson 

Earlandia minima (Birina) 

sp. 

Latiendothyra sp. 

Septaglomospiranella granulosa (Zeller) 

Age: pre-zone 7, middle Toumaisian 

79-82m 

Asphaltina sp. 

Brunsia sp., abundant 

Nanopora sp. 

Planoarchaediscus sp. 

Age: zone 14-15, late Visean; "Brunsia biofacies," similarto the base 

of the Paradise Formation in the Big Hatchet section 

88-91 m 

Archaediscus koktjubensis Rauzer-Chemoussova 

krestovnikovi Rauzer-Chemoussova 

Asphalt ina cordillerensis Mamet 

Brunsia sp. 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Supplementary Data: Detailed Biostratigraphy 35 
Earlandia sp. 

Endothyra sp. 

Eostaffella sp. 

Stacheoides sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 16inf,late Visean 

102-105m 

Archaediscus cf. A. chernoussovensis Mamet 

Archaediscus cf. A. krestovnikovi Rauzer-Chemoussova 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Earlandia sp. 

Endothyra sp. 

Eostaffella sp. 

Neoarchaediscus sp. 

Priscella sp. 

Stacheoides sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 16in(,late Visean 

112-118 m 

Archaediscus cf. A. krestovnikovi Rauzer-Chemoussova 

Asphaltina sp. 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Cuneiphycus sp. 

Earlandia sp. 

Endothyra sp. 

Eostaffella sp. 

Neoarchaediscus sp. 

Nostocites sp. 

Planospirodiscus sp. 

Stacheoides sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 16sup,latest Visean 

123-135 m 

Archaediscus sp. 

Asphaltina sp. 

Asteroarchaediscus sp. 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Cuneiphycus sp. 

Earlandia sp. 

Endothyra sp. 

Eostaffella sp. 

Girvanella sp. 

Globoendothyra sp. 

Mitcheldeania sp. 

Neoarchaediscus incertus (Grozdilova and Lebedeva) 

Planospirodiscus sp. 

Priscella sp. 

Sphinctoporella sp. 

Stacheoides meandriformis Petryk and Mamet 

T etrataxis sp. 

Volvotextularia sp. 

Zellerinella discoidea (Girty) 

Age: zone 17, earliest Namurian 

137-142m 

Archaediscus sp. 

Asphaltina sp. 

Asteroarchaediscus sp. 

Biseriella sp. 

Climacammina sp. 

Cuneiphycus sp. 

Endothyra sp. 

Eostaffella sp. 

Koskinobigenerina sp. 

Koskinotextularia sp. 

Neoarchaediscus sp. 

Planospirodiscus sp. 

Priscella sp. 

Stacheoides sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 18, early Namurian 

150-155 m 

Archaediscus sp. 

Asteroarchaediscus sp. 

Earlandia sp. 

M illerella sp. 

Neoarchaediscus sp. 

Priscella sp. 

Pseudoendothyra sp. 

Stacheoides sp. 

T etrataxis sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 20, Morrowan age equivalent, Bashkirian 

9. Florida Mountains 

20-36m 

Brunsia sp., abundant 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Earlandia sp. 

Eotuberitina sp. 

Palaeoberesella sp. 

Age: zone 14-15,late Visean; "Brunsia biofacies" 

52-58m 

Apterrinellids 

Epimastopora sp. 

Eugonophylum sp. 

Globivalvulina sp. 

Protonodosaria sp. 

T etrataxis sp. 

Tubiphytes sp. 

Age: Early Permian 

10. Vinton Canyon 

23-29m 

Archaediscus sp. 

Brunsia sp. (abundant). 

Calcisphaera laevis Williamson 

Pseudoammodiscus sp. 

Age: zone 14-15,late Visean; "Brunsia biofacies" 

36 Mississippian (lower Carboniferous) Biostratigraphy, Facies, and Microfossils, Pedregosa Basin, Arizona and New Mexico 
61~m 

Archaediscus sp. 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Neoarchaedidcus sp., primitive 

Priscella sp. 

Pseudoammodiscus sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 16i, late Visean 

91-93m 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Neoarchaediscus sp. 

Planospirodiscus sp. 

Priscella sp. 

Age: zone 16s, latest Visean 

103-114m 

Archaediscus sp. 

Asteroarchaediscus sp. 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Neoarchaediscus sp. 

Priscella sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 17, earliest Namurian 

167-176m 

cf. Aoujgalia sp. 

Apterrinellids 

Asphalt ina cordillerensis Mamet 

Biseriella sp. 

Calcisphaera sp. 

Cuneiphycus sp. 

Earlandia sp. 

Endothyra sp. 

Eostaffella sp. 

Eotuberitina sp. 

Epistacheoides sp. 

Fasciella sp. 

Globivalvulina sp., primitive 

Masloviporidium sp. 

M illerella sp. 

Palaeoberesella sp. 

Priscella sp. 

Pseudoglomospira sp. 

Stacheoi.des sp. 

T etrataxis sp. 

Volvotextularia sp. 

Zellerinella sp. 

Age: zone 20, Morrowan age equivalent, Bashkirian 

Supplementary Data: Detailed Biostratigraphy 37 

Acrocyathus? shimeri, 8 

Adetognathus, 15 

gigantus, 14 

lautus, 14 

A 

Ajax Hills, Ariz., 8, 16, 17, 18,24 

Alaska, 13 

Algae, 1, 18 

Bugle Member, Keating Formation, 9, 17 

Escabrosa Group, 17 

Escabrosa Limestone, 8, 16, 18 

Hachita Formation, 11, 18 

Helms Formation, 18 

Las Cruces Formation, 18 

Paradise Formation, 14 

americanus, Gon.iatites, 13 

Amplexizaphrentis spp., 13 

Analyses, 1, 5, 16 

Andrecito Member, Lake Valley Formation, 10 

Anhydrite, 17 

Antler orogen, 19 

Archaeolithophyllum, 19 

Archimedes, 14 

Asphaltinella, 8, 17, 18 

"Asphaltinella biofacies," Escabrosa Limestone, 18 

Asteroarchaediscus, 19 

B 

bassleri, Gnathodus bassleri, 14 

bassleri bassleri, Gnathodus, 17 

symmetricus, Gnathodus, 14 

Big Hatchet Mountains, N.Mex., 3, 5, 8, 9, 11, 13, 

14, 18, 19 

bilineatus, Gnathodus, 14, 17 

Bioherms, Lake Valley Formation, 16 

Biostratigraphic correlations, 18, 24 

Bird's-eyes, 9, 10 

Bisbee, Ariz., 2, 16 

Biseriella, 19 

Bispathodus stabilis, 13 

Bispathodus? spp., 13 

Blue Mountain, N.Mex., 3, 8, 11, 13, 14 

Boss Ranch, see Escabrosa Group 

Box Member, Percha Shale, 8, 18 

Brachiopods, 1 

Escabrosa Limestone, 16 

Hachita Formation, 11, 13, 17 

Paradise Formation, 13, 17 

Witch Member, Keating Formation, 10 

Brachycycloceras spp., 13 

Brachythyris subcardiiformis, 13 

BrUliSia, 19 

"B run.sia biofacies," 19, 24 

Escabrosa Limestone, 18 

Hachita Formation, 13 

Paradise Formation, 14 

Rancheria Formation, 16 

Bryozoans, 1 

Escabrosa Limestone, 16 

Hachita Formation, 11, 13, 17 

Paradise Formation, 13, 17 

Witch Member, Keating Formation, 10 

Bugle Member, Keating Formation, 3, 8, 9, 17, 18, 

19 

INDEX 

[Italic page IlUIIlben indicate principal references] 

c 

Caballero Formation, 2, 8, 10, 16 

Calcite, 11, 16, 17 

Carbonates, 1, 8, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 24 

Cathodoluminescence, 16 

Cavities, see Erosion 

Cavusgnathus, 14 

un.icornis, 14 

spp., 17 

Cephalopods, Paradise Formation, 13 

Chernysheva, 18 

Chernyshinella, 18 

Chert, 8, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18 

Chihuahua, Mexico, 13 

Chiricahua Mountains, Ariz.-N.Mex., 2, 3, 8, 9, 11, 

13, 15 

Clastic rocks, 13, 16, 24 

Clay, 8, 15 

Climate, 19 

Cochise County, Ariz., 2 

Columbiapora, 8, 17, 18 

communis, Polygnathus, 13, 17 

Polygnathus communis, 13 

communis communis, Polygnathus, 13 

commutatus, Gnathodus, 15 

Confusion Range, Utah, 13 

Conglomerate, 8, 14, 24 

Conodont-alteration index (CAl), 13 

Conodonts, 8 

Hachita Formation, 13 

Helms Formation, 16 

Horquilla Limestone, 14 

Lake Valley Limestone, 16 

Paradise Formation, 15 

Rancheria Formation, 16 

Corals, 1 

Bugle Member, Keating Formation, 9, 17, 18 

Escabrosa Limestone, 8 

Hachita Formation, 13 

Horquilla Limestone, 14 

Paradise Formation, 17 

Cordillera, 13, 18 

Crinoids, 1, 18, 22 

Bugle Member, Keating Formation, 17 

Escabrosa Limestone, 16 

Hachita Formation, 11, 13, 17 

Paradise Formation, 14 

cristulus, Spathognathodus, 17 

D 

Declinognathodus noduliferus, 14 

Diagenesis, 1, 16 

Disconformities, 8, 9, 18, 19, 24 

Dolomite, 9,10,16,17,18,19, 22 

Donezella, 19 

Dos Cabezas, Ariz., 13 

E 

Earlandiids, 18 

Echinoderms, Bugle Member, Keating Formation, 9 

Escabrosa Limestone, 16 

Hachita Formation, 11 

Tierra Blanca Member, Lake Valley Formation, 13 

Echinoderms--Continued 

Witch Member, Keating Formation, 10 

El Paso, Tex., 5 

Encrinite, 8, 13, 17 

Endothyranopsids, 19 

Endothyrids, 18, 19 

Eoendothyranopsids, 19 

Eoen.dothyranopsis, 19 

macra, 19 

Eoforschia, 19 

Eosigmoilinids, 19 

Eostaffella, 19 

Erosion, 2, 8, 16, 17, 18, 19 

Escabrosa Cliffs, Ariz., 2 

Escabrosa Group, 9, 16 

Boss Ranch section, 17 

Hachita Formation, 11 

Keating Formation, 9 

Esca brosa Limestone, 2, 9 

Central facies, 17 

Eastern facies, 18 

Western facies, 8, 13, 15 

Eumorphoceras, 14, 15 

Evaporites, 9 

F 

Florida Mountains, N.Mex., 5, 8, 16, 17, 19, 22,24 

Florida uplift, 8, 22 

Foraminifers, 1, 18 

Bugle Member, Keating Formation, 18 

Hachita Formation, 11, 17 

Horquilla Limestone, 14 

Martin Formation, 18 

Paradise Formation, 13, 15 

Rancheria Formation, 16 

Witch Member, Keating Formation, 17 

forbesi, 1mbrexia, 10 

Franklin Mountains, Tex., 1, 2, 5, 8, 16, 19, 22, 24 

Fusulinids, 8, 24 

G 

Gastrioceras, 14 

gigantus, Adetognathus, 14 

girtyi simplex, Gnathodus, 14 

Girtyoceras spp., 13 

Girvanellids, 18 

Globivalvulina, 19 

Globoen.dothyra, 18 

Glomospiroides spp., 19 

Gnathodus bassleri bassleri, 14 

bassleri symmetricus, 14 

bilineatus, 14, 17 

commutatus, 15 

girtyi simplex, 14 

texanus, 15, 17 

spp., 17 

Goniatites, 14, 15 

Gon.iatites americanus, 13 

spp., 13 

Gordon, MacKenzie, Jr., quoted, 13 

Grainstone, 9, 11, 13, 14, 17, 18 

granulosa, Septaglomospiranella, 18 

Gunnison Hills, N.Mex., 8, 16 

Index 39 
H 

Hachita Formation, 3, 8,11, 14, 17, 18, 19, 22,24 

Hehns Formation, 2, 8, 16, 17, 18, 22 

Hematite, 14 

Hibbardella milleri, 15 

Hibbardelliform, 17 

Hindeodelliform, 17 

Horquilla Limestone, 14 

Hueco Formation, 8 

Hueco Mountains, Tex., 2, 22 

I,K 

Igonodiniform, 13 

Imbrexi.aforbesi, 10 

Keating Formation, 3, 8, 9, 13, 17, 18 

Bugle Member, 3, 8, 9, 17, 18, 19 

Witch Member, 3, 8, 9, 10, 17, 19 

Kelly Limestone, 2 

keokuk, Werriea, 13 

Klondike Hills, N.Mex., 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 18, 

19 

L 

Lake Valley, N.Mex., 1, 2 

Lake Valley Formation, 1, 8, 16 

Andrecito Member, 10 

Tierra Blanca Member, 13 

Lake Valley Limestone, 16 

Lambdagnathus, 14 

LasCiucesFormation,2, 8,18,24 

lautus, Adetognathus, 14 

Lepidodendron, 14 

obovatum, 14 

Ligonodiniform, 17 

Limestone, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 24 

Lithofacies, 19 

lochmanae, Stelechophyllum, 9 

Lonchodiniform, 17 

loxus, Neoprioniodus, 15 

M 

macra, Eoendothyranopsis, 19 

Magdalena Group, 8 

Magdalena mining district, N.Mex., 2 

Martin Formation, 8, 16, 18 

Masloviporidium, 19 

Mexico, 13 

Michelinoceras? spp., 13 

Microfacies, 1, 5, 16 

Micropaleontology, 1 

microstylum, Stelechophyllum, 9, 18 

Millerella, 19 

milleri, Hibbardella, 15 

Miogeosyncline, 13 

Mississippi Valley, 14 

Mitorthoceras perfilosum, 13 

Mogollon Rim, Ariz., 15 

Mollusks, Paradise Formation, 15 

Montana, 18 

Mudstone, 10, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 22, 24 

Mule Mountains, Ariz.-N.Mex., 8, 13, 16, 17, 18, 

19,24 

Nautiloids, 13 

Neoarchaediscus, 19 

N 

Neoprioniodiform, 17 

Neoprioniodus, 14 

loxus, 15 

Nodular chert, 10, 14 

noduliferus, Declinognathodus, 14 

0 

obovatum, Lepidodendron, 14 

Onchodiniform, 13 

Ooids, 22 

Escabrosa Limestone, 16 

1-Iorquilla Limestone, 14 

Paradise Formation, 13 

Oolites,&, 18,22,24 

Bugle Member, Keating Formation, 9 

Escabrosa Limestone, 16 

Hachita Formation, 17 

Paradise Formation, 17 

Orogrande Basin, N.Mex., 22 

Osagia, 19 

Ozarkodiniform, 17 

p 

Packstone, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22 

Palaeospiroplectammina, 18 

Paleotectonics, 1, 3, 19 

Papago Indian Reservation, Ariz., 8 

Paraconformities, 17, 18, 24 

Paradise, Ariz., 3, 13 

Paradise Formation, 2, 3, 8, /3, 17, 19, 22, 24 

parvus, Streptognathodus, 14 

Pedregosa Mountains, Ariz.-N.Mex., 8, 9, 10, 11, 

14, 17, 19 

Pe/aslwpora, 18 

Peloids, 18, 19, 22 

Bugle Member, Keating Formation, 17 

Escabrosa Limestone, 16 

Paradise Formation, 13 

Witch Member, Keating Formation, 10, 17 

Peloncillo Mountains, N.Mex., 8, 13 

Percha Shale, 9 

Box Member, 8, 18 

perfilosum, Mitorthoceras, 13 

Petrography, see Analyses 

Planoarchaediscus, 19 

Planopirodiscus, 19 

Plants, 14 

Polygnathus communis, 13, 17 

communis, 13 

Priscella, 18 

Pseudomorphs, 9, 17 

Q,R 

Quartz, 8, 10, 14, 15, 17,18,24 

Quasiarchaediscus spp., 14 

Rancheria Formation, 2, 8, 16, 22 

Read, C.B., quoted, 14 

Rectoseptaglomospiranella, 18 

Repetski, J.E., quoted, 13, 17 

Reticycloceras spp., 13 

Rhachistognathus, 14, 15 

Rio Grande, 2 

Rylstonia cf. R. teres, 9 

s 

Sacramento Mountains, N.Mex., 2, 16, 17, 19, 22 

safonovae, Tuberendothyra, 18 

St. Louis Limestone, 14 

Ste. Genevieve Limestone, 14 

San Andres Mountains, N.Mex., 2, 16, 17, 19, 22 

San Juan Basin, 19 

Sandstone, 8, 13, 18 

Sedimentary structures, 8 

Escabrosa Limestone, 16, 17 

Keating Formation, Bugle Member, 9 

Witch Member, 10 

Septaglomospiranella granulosa, 18 

Shale, 8, 9, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18,24 

shimeri, Acrocyathus?, 8 

Silica, 10 

Siltstone, 13, 17 

simplex, Gnathodus girtyi, 14 

Spathognathodontiform, 13 

Spathognathodus cf. S. cristulus, 17 

spp., 17 

Spinoendothyrids, 18 

stabilis, Bispathodus, 13 

Stacheeins, 18 

Stelechophyllum lochmanae, 9 

microstylum, 9, 18 

Stratigraphy, 4 

Streptognathodus, 14 

parvus, 14 

Stromatolites, 19 

Escabrosa Limestone, 16 

subcardiiformis, Brachythyris, 13 

subcuspidatus, Syringothyris, 13 

Superior, Ariz., 16 

symmetricus, Gnathodus bassleri, 14 

S ynprioniodiniform, 17 

Syringopora, 17 

Syringothyris subcuspidatus, 13 

T 

teres, Rylstonia, 9 

"Terra Rossa" shale, 8 

texanus, Gnathodus, 15, 17 

Tierra Blanca Member, Lake Valley Formation, 13 

Tombstone, Ariz., 24 

Tombstone Hills, Ariz.-N.Mex. 8, 13, 17, 18 

Toumayellids, 18 

Transgressions, 8, 16, 19, 22 

Trucial Coast, Persian Gulf, 19 

tuberculata, Tuberendothyra, 18 

Tuberendothyra, 18 

safonovae, 18 

tuberculata, 18 

Unconformities, 16 

u.v 

unicornis, Cavusgnathus, 14 

U.S. National Museum, Wash., 1 

Vekol Mountains, Ariz.-N.Mex., 8, 15, 16, 17, 18 

Vinton Canyon, Tex., 5 

w.z 

Wackestone, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18,22 

Waterman Mountains, Ariz.-N.Mex., 8, 16, 17, 18 

Werriea keokuk, 13 

Whetstone Mountains, Ariz.-N.Mex., 8, 13, 16, 17, 

18 

Witch Member, Keating Formation, 3, 8, 9, 17, 19 

Wyoming, 18 

Zellerinella, 19 

Zuni-Defiance uplift, 22 

40 Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) Biostratigraphy, Facies, and Microfossils, Pedregosa Basin, Arizona and New Mexico 

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