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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database

West Texas Geological Society

Abstract


West Texas Geological Society Bulletin
Vol. 30 (1990), No. 3. (November), Pages 5-11

Stratigraphy and Geomorphic Evolution of the Southern Hueco Bolson, West Texas and Chihuahua, Mexico

Thomas C. Gustavson

Abstract

The Tertiary Fort Hancock Formation and the Tertiary- Quaternary Camp Previous HitRiceNext Hit Formation compose most of the sedimentary fill of the Hueco Bolson. Fort Hancock lithofacies include gravel and sand deposited as proximal to distal alluvial fans near the basin margin and clay and sandy clay deposited in ephemeral lakes and saline playas near the basin center. The Fort Hancock Formation is separated from the overlying Camp Previous HitRiceNext Hit Formation by a regional unconformity. The unconformity records a period of extensive erosion that marks the integration of the ancestral southern and northern segments of the Rio Grande approximately 2.25 Ma ago. Camp Previous HitRiceTop Formation lithofacies include sand and gravel deposited by the ancestral through- flowing Rio Grande and its tributaries, sand deposited as a dune complex, sand and silt deposited as loess, and clay, sandy clay, and gypsum deposited in ephemeral lakes.

Paleoclimatic conditions can be inferred from both buried soils and from depositional environments. Calcic soils and the widespread development of ephemeral lakes suggest a semi-arid environment during the late Tertiary and Quaternary.


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