The Columbus courier. [volume] (Columbus, Luna County, N.M.) 1911-1920, 1918-04-05
COULTER REPORTS FAVOR
ABLE INDICATIONS ron on

miles west Of " pnso, Tex, on the
line Of the NJ Paso a Southwestern
Railway and crossing the railway
very near the town 0f Columbus.
extending twelve 10 fifteen miles to
the northwest Of this place.
The Florida range Of mountains
attaining an altitude Of 1900 feet,
lies fifteen miles north. and the
Tres Hcrinanas range. with an alti-
tuude ~ 1850 feet, twelve miles 10
the nct,hwest. while the BARREL
range In Old Mexico, across the In
iernational border. forms the south
eastern limit Of the great bolsom in
which this new and favorable geo
logical horizon Ia located.
The drainage Is somewhat irregu-
lar, hut mostly into closed basins or
domes and invariably In a southerly
or southwcstcrly course The MIN
hres river Is the principal stream.
running southwest of the Mimbres
range Of mountains. aud crosses the
international line near Columbus.
which. during food water, emplies
In the basins 1T palomas lakes In
Mexico. but fH the major part Of
the year III, prars IN the sandy
aud gravel dclrilus which consti-
tules the bolson north uf the Florida
range.
The scdimenlary mctamorphic
and igneous types are all present.
The superficial deiritus laid upon
the -Camhrain sea floor consti-
tute the sedimcniary series by a
process Of cumulative deposition
aud water action. IN this connec-
tion II Is we'll Ia mention n series
of enusiyes. or flow rocks. which
occur quite persistently throughout
this region. and may lead In a de
cidcd mental uncertainty with the
average oil prospector. However,
they are but local In character, and
carry no significance In so far as
interference with the underlying
petrolinc strata may be concerned
These igneOus effuusives are found
sometimes as siutr-sa -ihe latter
pleistocene. but mostly tertiary, and
range IN variation from porphyrites
10 n hasaltic malpais-hut not true
malpais. In thickness they are from
four inches To a. much as Go0 feet
Notably the former, within ten feet
oi the surface m a water well
belonging to Mr. Dixon, on the
Columbus Deming road and midway
between the Florida and Tres Her
manas ranges. where a cOnglomerah
ciTusiVe Is encountered containing
iron sand and aguiie In granular
srystals: the latter may be found h
the OIL well Of the Valley OH Com
peny, six miles east of Columbus
where We find $50 feet NJ deirilu'
uvcrlying Gn0 feet Of an lrneou'
ELUSIVE and under which We find q
rcnformable series Of sedimenlnr,
shalcs. sandstone. lines and gypsum
The core Of the three ranges
previously mentioned are pre-Cam'
brain. In which gray and reddisl
gneisses and pegmatite dikes form
the basal complex. Schists, marhl'
aud quartz are also present Ih'
palcozoic series are largely lime
stone overlying the pre- -CambriaI
GRANTEES which are exposed In tn
Floridas aud Tres Hermanas ranges
The two most favorable pelrolin'
horizons are IN the Colorado shat
formation Of the upper cretaceou
series The next below In the lowe
cretaceous. Comanche-which com
prises two distinct formations
above. the Serien sandstone, partl
uuarlzitic. and 800 feet In thickness
everything limestone Of the Conan
che age, followed then by AN uncon
formily over the Lobo formation
varying from NJ to 500 feet In thick
! ness and consisting of reddish dis
shale with impure limeston" an
conglomeralc, which is classed q
Jura-Trias. II is right here tina
, we may expect third petrolill
stratum in the prrmian. " IN
d, proper, aud always necessary ~
ccptarlc or oil reservoir has Ice
by nature provided
The existence Of certain mine
K folds Is evident ranging from u
4 Mexican boundary line, through u
Q lownsite Of Columbus and exten'
ing 10 the northwest, as beiol
- stated and although the detrit'
Il comprising the bolson Is general
10 so thick that surface outcrop
scsul. lime formation two. mil
or less across the International I'm
as also an accurate log Of the Va