Abstract

Evaluation of depositional processes associated with of the Brushy Canyon Formation can be aided by integration of stratigraphic and sedimentologic data. Current models for Brushy Canyon deposition include saline density currents derived from a flooded hypersaline lagoon and eolian-derived turbidites transported across an exposed shelf. The high-resolution sequence framework summarized here from Kerans et al. (1992) and Kerans and Fitchen (1995) illustrates that during deposition of the Brushy Canyon Formation, the San Andres carbonate platform surrounding the Delaware Basin was a minimum of 40 feet above sea-level. This relationship favors an eolian-sourced model for the Brushy Canyon Formation (cf. Fischer and Sarnthein, 1988; Gardner, 1992) and is inconsistent with the saline-density-current model (Harms, 1974) that requires a contemporaneous shallow evaporitic lagoon during deposition of the Brushy Canyon.

These relationships emphasize the importance of an accurate stratigraphic framework within which to carry out detailed sedimentologic analysis. Good sedimentology divorced from stratigraphic constraints cannot in most cases provide unique solutions to questions of paleoenvironmental or paleogeographic analysis.