MIDLAND, TEXAS TO Stone Canyon, GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS, via Salt Flat
Graben
MIDLAND BASIN - CENTRAL BASIN PLATFORM -DELAWARE BASIN NORTHWEST SHELF PRODUCING FIELDS
By Robert C. Trentham, Robert F. Lindsay, and Robert F. Ward
Interval
Mileage
Cumulative
Mileage
Description
0
0
Begin field trip at Burlington ClayDesta office.
0.7
0.7
Turn north on Big Spring.
0.6
1.3
Turn west onto Loop 250.
3.8
5.1
Exit Loop 250 at Midland Drive, turn west onto Northgate and
continue west.
4.15
9.25
Turn right onto Texas Highway 158 (Andrews Highway) and
proceed to the northwest. This highway was build on an old
Spanish trail.
To the southeast next to Texas Highway 158 David Fasken Sr.
built the 66 mile Midland and Northwestern Railroad. It
operated from 1916-20, carrying cattle, supplies and
passengers. The railroad connected Seminole, Florey and
Fasken with Midland and the Texas and Pacific Railroad. The
train had to stop for pasture gates to open. The crew shot
coyotes and rattlesnakes. Fasken received every other section
between Midland and Seminole, 66 miles, for building the
railroad.
4.45
13.7
Intersection of Texas Highway 158 and Farm Market 1788.
Continue straight ahead on Texas Highway 158.
6.75
16.0
Ector-Midland county line. 10 miles south is the Headlee
trend, which produces oil and gas from the Devonian and
Ellenburger.
3.1
19.1
On right is Circle Bun East field. The field produces from the
Pennsylvanian Atoka and Strawn, and from Permian
Wolfcamp debris flows.
4.1
23.2
Intersection of Texas Highway 158 and U. S. Highway 385.
Continue straight ahead over the overpass.
2.7
25.9
Eastern edge of North Cowden field. North Cowden produces
from the Permian Grayburg, upper San Andres and Holt
formations. The western side of the field produces from the
middle San Andres and Holt formations. The field is located
at the eastern edge of the Central Basin Platform. This is one
of several Grayburg fields producing along the eastern edge of
the Central Basin Platform from south to north the fields are
Yates, Crockett, McCamey, McElroy, Dune, Double H., South
Cowden, Foster, N. Cowden, Midland Farms and Means, a
distance of 125 miles.
2.2
28.1
Amoco refinery on the right, which serves North Cowden
field.
2.8
30.9
Goldsmith East Field. This field produces from the Permian
Holt and San Andres Formations. Gas is also produced from
the Grayburg Formation updip of North Cowden field. There
is also some Pennsylvanian Strawn production.
2.3
33.2
Chevron Goldsmith field office on left. This is the site of an
old Gulf oil camp. 250 houses use to be west of the field
office on a 98 acre plot.
0.7
33.9
Town of Goldsmith. It is named after C. A. Goldsmith, a
bankrupt rancher at the time the field was discovered.
0.4
34.3
Intersection of Texas Highway 158 and Schaurbauer avenue
(yellow warning lights). Turn north onto Schaurbauer. The
town of Goldsmith is located next to Goldsmith field. The
field, discovered in 1934, produces from several stratigraphic
horizons, which are: Permian Grayburg, San Andres,
McKnight, Holt, 5600-middle Clear Fork, Tubb,
Pennsylvanian
Strawn,
Devonian,
and
Ordovician
Ellenburger. The main productive intervals are the San
Andres, with 590 MM Bbls OOIP in the oil column and
additional potential in a large transition zone, and 5600-middle
Clear Fork, with 640 MM Bbls OOIP.
0.4
34.7
Road turns to northwest.
1.3
36.0
Passing Phillips Petroleum Goldsmith refinery.
0.7
36.7
Road turns to west.
2.1
38.8
T intersection with Farm Market Road 181. Turn north on FM
181. We are still in Goldsmith field.
6.0
44.8
Intersection of Farm Market Road 181 with oil field road on
left. Continue straight ahead on FM 181. Oil field road to the
west leads to the northern most extent of North Goldsmith
field. FM 181 is passing over the western flank of Andector
field. Andector produces from the Ordovician Ellenburger,
>100 MM Bbls oil have been produced. At Andector field the
Permian Wolfcampian rests unconformably on the Ordovician
Ellenburger.
3.2
48.0
Intersection of Farm Market Road 181 and oil field road to
west and east. Continue straight ahead on FM Road 181. Oil
field road to the east leads to Embar field, which is located
next to the road, and Emma field, which is further to the east.
Both are productive from the Ordovician Ellenburger Group.
The structural crest of Embar has Permian Wolfcampian
resting unconformably on Precambrian Granite.
0.6
48.6
Quaternary eolian sand dunes. These dunes were blown from
their source to the west, the Pecos River, to their present
position during the last interglacial episode when glaciers were
melting and streams were carrying a heavy suspension and
traction load. The dunes are now stabilized by vegetation.
4.7
53.3
Intersection of Farm Market Road 181 and Texas Highway
115. Turn left onto Texas Highway 115, heading southwest
toward Kermit. Pumping units north of the road are in Martin
field, which is productive from Permian San Andres Formation
and Ordovician Ellenburger Group. In this field the
Wolfcampian rests unconformably above middle Ordovician
Simpson Group.
3.8
57.1
Texas LPG storage (3-Bar terminal) is on the north side of the
highway. Gas is stored in the Permian Saliado Formation.
0.6
57.7
Road turns to south-southwest.
2.1
58.8
Intersection of Texas Highway 115 and Texas Highway 128 to
right. Turn right onto Texas Highway 128, heading toward Jal,
New Mexico.
3.4
63.2
Turn in road. Bedford field is to the north. It is productive
from a north-south oriented faulted fold from the Ordovician
Ellenburger, Silurian Fusselman, and Devonian.
0.6
63.8
To the south 15 miles is a large telecommunications tower on
top of the northern escarpment of the Cretaceous Fredricksburg
Limestone. On the left are active sand dunes. Small shinn
oaks have stabilized most sand dunes. Though they are only
18 inches high these miniature oak trees form one of the
largest hardwood oak forests in the United States, extending
north to Levelland, west to Hobbs, and south to Sand Hills.
5.0
68.2
Turn in road. Road heads straight west.
1.5
69.7
East Dollarhide field. The field is productive from the
Ordovician Ellenburger, Silurian Fusselman and Devonian. It
is localized on a south trending anticline with a west bounding
fault.
2.1
71.8
Dollarhide field. The field is productive from the Ordovician
Ellenburger, Devonian, and Permian Tubb. It is localized on a
large north-south anticline with a bounding fault on the east
side with a 2000 ft. throw. The structural crest of the field has
Permian Wolfcampian resting unconformably on the
Devonian. Dollarhide field has been subdivided into several
producing units.
1.9
73.7
Texas-New Mexico state line and intersection of Farm Market
Road 1218. Texas Highway 128 turns into New Mexico
Highway 128 across the state line. We have just left the
Central Standard Time (CST) zone and are now on Mountain
Standard Time (MST).
This portion of New Mexico was originally settled by five
large ranches, which covered all of present-day Lea County.
3.2
76.9
Justis received its name from Charles Justis, who moved into
the area in 1906 and established a mercantile store. On July 6,
1910 he opened a U. S. Post Office, naming it JAL. In 1916
the town moved six miles to the west, where it is currently
located.
2.4
79.3
Intersection with road on right to Jal airport. Continue straight
ahead on N. M. Highway 128.
0.6
79.9
Langlie-Maddix gas unit. The Permian Queen Formation
contains an oil leg in the unit. Upsection the Permian Yates
Formation produces gas.
1.0
80.3
Road turns to southwest.
0.1
80.4
Town of Jal, New Mexico, settled in 1916. Jal is named for
the old JAL Ranch, which was located in Monument Draw 6
miles to the east. JAL was the cattle brand of John A. Lynch
of east Texas. The cattle brand was brought to New Mexico
on a herd of cattle, purchased from Lynch, by the Cowden
Land and Cattle Co. Jal is literally surrounded and underlayen
by oil and gas fields, such as Jalmat, which produces gas from
the Permian Queen, Seven Rivers and Yates formations.
0.7
81.1
Intersection of N. M. Highway 128 and N. M. Highway 18, to
Kermit (south) and Eunice (north), in downtown Jal. Continue
straight ahead on N. M. Highway 128.
0.7
81.8
Leaving Jal, New Mexico.
0.4
82.2
Turn in road.
0.8
83.0
Turn in road.
1.1
84.1
Approximate edge of the Central Basin Platform and initial
edge of the Delaware Basin. During Permian San Andres to
Tansill deposition (Guadalupian) the Central Basin Platform
prograded basinward about 2.5 miles (»3 km).
2.8
86.9
At 9:00 is the Jal West field, which produces from Permian
Delaware Mountain Group siliciclastics.
0.6
87.5
Triassic Santa Rosa Formation red bed outcrops. These
outcrops are equivalent to the Triassic Chinle Formation.
5.2
92.7
Turn in road.
0.7
93.4
Turn in road.
0.7
94.1
Turn in road.
2.2
96.3
Turn in road to left. Next to Pitchfork Ranch gas field, which
produces from the Pennsylvanian Atoka and Strawn.
4.1
100.4
Intersection of N. M. Highway 128 and Lea County Road 21 to
Eunice on right. Continue straight ahead on N. M. Highway
128. To the north 3 miles is the Bell Lake field (Devonian). A
big structure that does not have closure.
1.1
101.5
Communication tower on left.
1.6
103.1
To the left is the Johnson Ranch gas field. It produces from
the Pennsylvanian Morrow.
2.2
103.7
Diamond & A Half ranch entrance on left. Continue straight
ahead on N. M. Highway 128.
4.5
108.2
Turn in road.
0.3
108.5
Cruz field, which produces oil from Bell Canyon Formation
siliciclastics. Also scattered throughout the area are
Pennsylvanian Morrow, Atoka and Strawn gas wells, which
are difficult to see.
0.5
108.7
Pumping units for oil field.
1.1
109.8
Intersection of N. M. Highway 128 and Lea County Road No.
1 on left. Continue straight ahead on N. M. Highway 128.
1.3
111.1
Turn in road. First glimpse of the Guadalupe Mountains at 10
o'clock.
1.9
113.0
Intersection of N. M. Highway 128 and Eddy County Road
786 on left. Continue straight ahead on N. M. Highway 128.
0.5
113.5
Lea-Eddy county line. We are next to Sand Dunes field. It
produces from Brushy Canyon Formation siliciclastics.
1.3
114.8
Intersection of N. M. Highway 128 and Eddy County Road
798. Continue straight ahead on N. M. Highway 128. At 10
o'clock is a good continuous view of the Guadalupe
Mountains.
0.7
115.5
Roadside picnic tables. Note several (15-20) oil wells to the
northwest. They are part of Engle Hills and Livingston Ridge
fields. They are new fields that produce from Brushy Canyon
Formation siliciclastics.
4.4
119.9
Intersection of N. M. Highway 128 and Twin Wells Road on
the left. Turn in road. Continue straight ahead on N. M.
Highway 128.
2.0
121.9
Turn in road.
0.2
122.1
Intersection of N. M. Highway 128 and entrance to the Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site on the right. Continue
straight ahead on N. M. Highway 128. The WIPP site is where
the U. S. Department of Energy has mined out Permian Salado
Formation rock salt (polyhalite) forming large storage rooms.
A thick halite bed is mined 7 feet above and 7 feet below a thin
marker bed, forming 14 foot high rooms. Low level, alpha and
beta, contaminated waste is to be stored in a series of rooms in
specially designed storage barrels. With time the halite section
will flow around the storage barrels, encapsulating them within
the halite like a series of large fluid inclusions.
0.1
122.2
Los Ninos field to right. It produces from the Permian Bone
Springs.
1.9
124.0
Spectacular view of the Guadalupe Mountains from 10 o'clock
to 12 o'clock.
1.1
125.1
Intersection of N. M. Highway 128 and Eddy County Road
795 on left site of Project Gnome.
0.4
125.5
Intersection of N. M. Highway 128 and Nash Draw to right.
Continue straight ahead on N. M. Highway 128. Several
potash mines are visible in the area. They mine potash from
the Permian Salado Formation.
1.8
127.3
Salt Lake. A large holding pond for the nearby potash mines.
Evaporite minerals precipitate as the water evaporates in the
dry and warm climate of southeast New Mexico.
0.8
128.1
Potash mine (IMC Fertilizer shaft no. 5) on left.
0.6
128.7
Another Salt Lake evaporite pond.
3.1
131.8
Caliche profile in road cut on the right.
0.6
132.4
T intersection of N. M. Highway 128 into N. M. Highway 31.
Turn left onto N. M. Highway 31.
0.4
132.8
Lagunas Salado North gas well on left. It is productive from
the Pennsylvanian Morrow.
1.3
133.7
USG Salt Corporation entrance on left.
1.2
134.9
Intersection N. M. Highway 31 and U. S. Refinery Road on
right and old potash mine on left. Continue straight ahead on
N. M. Highway 31.
Down the road approximately 1-1½ miles is Chevrons East
Herradura Bend field. It is productive from basin floor
turbidite fans in the basal part of the Permian Brushy Canyon,
producing from siliciclastics.
0.3
135.2
Intersection N. M. Highway 31 and Eddy County Road 741 on
left. Continue straight ahead on N. M. Highway 31.
0.7
135.9
Tank farm on right.
0.3
136.2
Railroad crossing.
0.2
136.4
Bridge crossing the Pecos River. The Pecos River is the
product of Tertiary headward erosion. Streams originally
flowed off of the Rio Grande rift from west to east. Later,
headward erosion from the south-southeast captured most of
these streams, forming the Pecos slope and river drainage
system. The river flowed with a swift current, 10 ft. deep and
100 ft. across. The Pecos could only be crossed in a few
places, such as, Horsehead crossing at Pecos, Texas. Another
crossing was immediately south of the New Mexico-Texas
state line, called Pope's crossing. The last crossing was near
Carlsbad, New Mexico.
Along the Pecos River ran the Goodnight-Loving Trail.
Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving drove herds of cattle
west from Weatherford, Texas to the Pecos River, then north
along the Pecos to Fort Summer in the 1860's and 1870's. The
trail continued on north to Las Vegas, Raton, Trinidad, Denver,
and Cheyenne.
In 1867 Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving were driving a
herd of cattle from Texas to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. They
were a few days behind schedule and decided to have Loving
and One-armed Bill Wilson ride ahead of the herd to contact
the Army and assure them the cattle would arrive safely. Once
they were a few days ahead of the herd, Loving and Wilson
were jumped by a large band of several hundred Mescalaro
Apache Indians. They raced four miles on horseback to the
Pecos River for cover, ending up behind a sand dune between
the foot of the bluff and the river. Loving was shot in the side
when trying to make peace with the Indians. In the evening,
One-armed Bill stripped down to his underwear and swam
down the Pecos in search of Goodnight and the cattle herd.
Though wounded, Loving held off the Indians for two days.
The Indians finally gave up on capturing or killing Loving.
Loving then crawled five miles upstream and passed out. He
was found by three mexicans and a German boy and
transported, for $250.00, to Fort Summer where he died of
gangrene on September 25, 1867. His last wish was to be
buried back in Texas. Goodnight honored his dying partners
request and transported his body 500 miles back to
Weatherford, Texas to be buried. The town of Loving, New
Mexico and Loving County, Texas were named in honor of
Oliver Loving.
0.2
136.6
Culebra Bluff oil field, productive from Permian Brushy
Canyon and Bell Canyon siliciclastics.
0.1
136.7
North Loving field. Delaware sands.
0.5
137.2
Railroad crossing.
1.8
139.0
Intersection N. M. Highway 31 and Eddy County Road 171
(Carter Road) on left. Continue straight ahead on N. M.
Highway 31.
1.2
140.2
Railroad crossing and intersection of N. M. Highway 31 and U.
S. Highway 285. Turn right onto U. S. Highway 285, heading
toward Carlsbad. Note that local farmers level their land and
irrigate with a system of irrigation ditches. They utilize water
from the Pecos River.
1.8
142.0
On right is Herradura Bend field. It is productive from a
different basin floor turbidite fan than East Herradura Bend
field in the basal part of the Permian Brushy Canyon.
0.8
142.8
Town of Otis, New Mexico. Established in 1893, the town is
named after T. E. Otis, director of AT&SF Railroad.
0.3
143.1
Intersection U. S. Highway 285 and Derrick Road. Continue
straight ahead on U. S. Highway 285.
0.3
143.4
Entering the Carlsbad field. It is productive from the
Pennsylvanian Morrow, Strawn, Canyon (mounds), and
Permian Wolfcamp and Bell Canyon.
1.2
144.6
Intersection U. S. Highway 285 and Smedley Road. Continue
straight ahead on U. S. Highway 285.
0.8
145.4
Intersection U. S. Highway 285 and Tidwell Road on right.
Continue straight ahead on U. S. Highway 285.
0.6
146.0
Intersection of U. S. Highway 285 and Ferguson Road.
Continue straight ahead on U. S. Highway 285.
0.8
146.8
Intersection of U. S. Highway 285 and Thomason Road.
Continue straight ahead on U. S. Highway 285.
0.7
147.5
Town of Carlsbad, New Mexico. Intersection of U. S.
Highway 285 and Calvami Road. Continue straight ahead on
U. S. Highway 285. The Carlsbad area was first settled by
Charles B. Eddy, whom Eddy County is named after, in the
early 1880's. He laid out the town in the fall of 1888 and
planted trees in the winter of 1889-90. The town was
originally named Eddy. The mineral content of a spring
northwest of town rivaled that of the Carlsbad Spring in
Bohemia, so the name of the town was changed from Eddy to
Carlsbad. An election on May 23, 1899 voted on the name
change and Governor W. B. Lindsey proclaimed the town
Carlsbad on March 25, 1918.
0.5
148.0
T intersection of U. S. Highway 285 and U. S. Highway
62-180. Turn left onto U. S. Highway 62-180.
1.6
149.6
Intersection of U. S. Highway 62-180 and Hidalgo Road on
right. Continue straight ahead on U.S. Highway 62-180.
0.7
150.3
Ocotillo Hills located on the northwest.
2.9
153.2
Carlsbad municipal airport on right. The Hackberry Hills to
the west are composed mainly of Tansill dolostones and upper
Yates dolostones and sandstones, both back-reef facies
equivalents of the upper part of the Capital reef. The back-reef
equivalents are exposed because of the gentle eastward dip of
the Gaudalupian strata in this area.
1.7
154.9
Carlsbad city limit.
1.8
156.7
In the foreground to the right are the Frontier Hills composed
of Ochoan Rustler Formation dolomite, red beds, fine-grained
sandstones, and minor gypsum. The Rustler overlies the
Salado Formation in the Delaware Basin, but lies directly on
the Capital Limestone in the ridge west of the Frontier Hills.
1.0
157.7
Junction U. S. Highway 62-180 and Dark Canyon Road on
right. The hills to the west are composed of Tansill Formation
near-back-reef limestones and dolostones.
3.3
161.0
Road cuts in Rustler Formation.
1.5
162.5
Junction with New Mexico Highway 396 on left. The hills to
the right are composed of Capitan reef limestone.
0.2
162.7
Bridge over Jurnigan Draw. Rustler Formation red beds can be
seen in middle distance on left.
5.0
167.7
White's City and junction with New Mexico Highway 7 to
Walnut Canyon and Carlsbad Caverns on right. At the mouth
of the canyon, just outside of Carlsbad Caverns National Park
boundary, we will view the massive Capitan Limestone reef
later today.
3.3
171.0
Quaternary gravel in road cut.
1.8
172.8
Highway on Castile Formation. The mouth of Slaughter
Canyon is visible at about 2 o'clock; the mouth of Rattlesnake
Canyon can be seen at about 3 o'clock. The northwestsouthwest trending Huapache Monocline crosses the Capitan
reef front between these two canyons.
0.3
173.1
Entrance road to Slaughter and Rattlesnake Canyons and
Slaughter Canyon Cave on right. Both Rattlesnake and
Slaughter Canyons have excellent exposures of the late
Guadalupian fore-reef, reef, and back-reef facies.
4.1
177.2
Zone of Quaternary rubble probably derived from dissolution
of upper Castile or Salado evaporites. Several thin, weathered,
basaltic igneous dikes cut the evaporite section in this area.
1.2
178.4
The valley to the right developed on the uppermost Bell
Canyon strata (Lamar and post-Lamar beds). The Capitan reef
escarpment can be seen plunging to the north beneath Ochoan
and younger sediments as a result of structural tilting. To the
south, the reef rises higher and higher on the skyline to the
point where it has been removed by erosion.
1.1
179.5
Note hummocky, solution-generated topography on top of the
Castile evaporite. These are the Yeso Hills. A small quarry on
the left was mined during World War II as a source of optical
grade gypsum. The famous Norden bomb sight optics utilized
gypsum from this quarry.
1.9
181.4
Exposure of the Castile Formation in deep road cuts.
0.5
181.9
Notice the difference in vegetation on the gravel surface on
which we are now driving versus that on the hills of Castile
gypsum and anhydrite which we just drove over.
1.6
183.5
Texas-New Mexico state line. Welcome to Texas.
0.1
183.6
Junction with Texas Ranch Road 652 on the left; continue
straight ahead.
1.4
185.0
We are driving on a surface of Quaternary gravels which lie on
the basal limestone and shale unit of the Castile and on the
Lamar Limestone.
7.9
192.9
Roadside rest area on left. Excellent exposures of reef and
fore-reef deposits can be seen to the southwest. The exposed
part of the reef becomes progressively older toward the south.
The crest of the reef at the southern end of its outcrop (near
Guadalupe Peak) is approximately 1,000 ft. lower
stratigraphically than the reef exposed at Walnut Canyon,
about 25 miles to the north of this location. This implies that
the face of the reef has been eroded back in the southern
Guadalupe Mountains region.
1.2
194.1
Black, laminated limestones and shales of basin-turbidite
deposits of the Lamar Limestone. The Larmar becomes darker
and more organic carbon-rich toward the basin center. It is the
youngest limestone unit in the Guadalupian part of the
Delaware Basin. As such, it is a lateral facies equivalent of the
uppermost part of the Capitan limestone on the shelf edge, and
the Tansill Formation in back-reef, shelf-interior areas. The
Lamar forms a resistant escarpment through this area.
1.1
195.2
Entrance to McKittrick Canyon area of Guadalupe Mountains
National park on the right. Within the park there is a geology
trail faintly visible on the upper portions of the escarpment,
which ascends from the Lamar, through the Capitan Reef, and
ends in back-reef facies. The trail follows a time line out of
the basin, up the slope and onto the shelf margin.
0.7
195.9
Well-sorted sandstones of the Bell Canyon Formation showing
remarkable uniformity of bedding and horizontal lamination.
0.6
196.5
A major submarine slide deposit at the base of the Rader
Member of the Bell Canyon Formation.
0.3
196.8
Road cut in Manzanita Limestone. The Manzanita is between
100 and 150 feet thick in this area.
1.0
197.8
The ridge we are descending is capped by the Rader Limestone
Member of the Bell Canyon Formation. We are again passing
through the upper part of the Cherry Canyon Formation.
1.0
198.8
Road cuts in Cherry Canyon Formation. The South Wells
Limestone at the top of the exposure consists of thin-bedded
sandstone and thin, lenticular, brachiopod-bearing limestones.
The intercalaction of thin limestones and sandstones tends to
lower the erosional resistance of this unit and therefore it does
not form a prominent scarp.
0.5
199.3
Quaternary fanglomerates in road cuts.
3.4
202.7
Crest of Guadalupe Pass (elevation 5,695 ft.). The cliff to the
right is composed of Guadalupian basinal facies in the lower
half of the slope, that is overlain by a thick zone of fore-reef
rubble which, in turn, is capped by a thin zone of preserved
reef limestone. The greenish outcrops in the slopes ahead and
to the left are intercalated bentonite beds and shales in the
Manzanita Limestone Member of the Cherry Canyon
Formation.
2.1
204.8
Thin-bedded Cherry Canyon Formation exposed on left.
0.4
205.2
Road cut in Tertiary-Quaternary alluvium.
0.4
205.6
Shales, siltstones, and sandstones of the Cherry Canyon
Formation show a number of interesting sedimentary features
including a large channel, graded beds, flame structures, ripple
marks, slump folds, and abundant horizontal lamination. The
Cherry Canyon is about 1,000 ft. thick in this area and thickens
to about 1,300 ft. in the subsurface to the east. Organic
carbon-rich shales and limestones within the Cherry Canyon
Formation may have acted as source rocks for a significant part
of the oil in the Permian strata of the Delaware Basin.
0.3
205.9
Brushy Canyon-Cherry contact exposed in this outcrop has
been explained as a fault contact, an erosion surface, or a large
and coherent slide mass. Note the abundant high-angle faults
in the outcrops. They generally have minor offsets and are part
of the Tertiary block fault system which marks the western
boundary of the Guadalupe and Delaware Mountains.
0.7
206.6
Road cuts sandstones and siltstones of the Brushy Canyon
Formation.
0.7
207.3
Roadside rest areas on left and right. Excellent views of El
Capitan and the Delaware Mountains escarpment. The bank-tobasin transitions of the Capitan Limestone and its equivalent
are well known.
0.5
207.8
Exposure of basinal Brushy Canyon Formation. Here we will
examine multi-generation cut and fill channels of deep water
sandstones.
1.6
209.4
Well-exposed, lenticular, sandstone channel deposits of the
Brushy Canyon Formation are visible in the distance on both
sides.
0.5
209.9
Road cut in Brushy Canyon sandstone.
0.4
210.3
Outcrop of Bone Spring Limestone basinal facies on left.
1.7
212.0
Junction with Texas Highway 54 to Van Horn. Keep right on
U. S. Highway 62-180.
0.5
212.5
Road cut in Cherry Canyon Formation exposing contact with
Brushy Canyon Formation at east end of outcrop.
0.6
213.1
Road cut in Cherry Canyon Formation. The Patterson Hills to
the right are capped by Capitan-age limestone.
0.8
213.9
Road cut in down faulted Bell Canyon Formation.
1.0
214.9
Road cut in Cherry Canyon Formation; note greenish bentonite
beds.
0.7
215.6
Road cuts in Bell Canyon Formation.
0.3
215.9
El Paso Natural Gas Co. Guadalupe Compressor station on
right. Most of the gas from this station heads westward to
California.
0.5
216.4
Beacon Hill on the right is composed of Capitan Limestone
with Rader Limestone at the base of the hill. This is the
southern end of the Patterson Hills which consist of complexity
faulted and folded upper Permian limestones. Farther north are
the Brokeoff Mountains.
1.2
217.6
Folded and down faulted blocks of upper Permian on right.
0.8
218.4
Eastern edge of Salt Flat Graben.
3.0
221.4
Center of playa area of Salt Flat and our overview stop of the
western edge of the Guadalupe and Delaware Mountains. This
major graben, the easternmost of the Basin-and-Rage Province,
formed in middle to late Tertiary time. The basin is about 60
miles long and 10 miles wide and has been the site of
continuous alluvial, fluvial, and lacustrine sedimentation since
the middle Tertiary. Basin margin sediments include course
gravels and sands alternating with clays derived from the
weathering of the adjacent mountains. All drainage is internal
and sediments become finer-grained toward the basin center.
Several important aquifers are present within the basin fill and
these are currently being exploited for irrigation in areas such
as Dell City to the northwest.
Modern saline playas occur in the Salt Flat areas of Texas and
the Crow Flat area of New Mexico and Texas. These playas
form in a region of low rainfall (about 9 or 10 in./year average)
and higher evaporation (about 80 in./year). Thus,
groundwater, which stands at a level near the playa surface, is
drawn upward and is evaporated, leading to gradually
increasing salinities. These high salinities greatly restrict
vegetation and allow eolian deflation of the rather fine-grained
playa precipitates.
Pits excavated in the playa sediments reveal firm, fine-grained,
laminated, lacustrine materials. Some forams have been
described in these deposits. Bird droppings may be
responsible for the forams in lacustrine deposits. Modern
gypsum and minor halite are the dominate evaporite minerals.
Eolian deflation has formed dunes along the margins of the
playa area.
Halite has been minded from the surface of the playa in areas
to the south of the road although halite is not preserved to any
extensive degree in buried sediments. This salt was a most
highly valued commodity in the 1880's and was used for food
preservation, final curing of hides, and other purposes. It was
such a valuable substance that it was hauled by mule- and oxdrawn vehicles for many hundreds of miles over the southwest
trail to Fort Quitman, then to San Elizaro, Franklin (now El
Paso), Paso del Norte (now Juarez), and on to Chihuahua City.
Disputes between Mexican and American mining interests in
the area led to the El Paso Salt War of 1877. The conflict
culminated in the battle of San Elizaro (then the county seat of
El Paso County).
To the northeast some 20 miles, we can see a magnificent
panorama of the Guadalupe Mountains which exposes rocks of
upper Permian (Leonard, Guadalupian, and Ochoan) (8,626
ft.), an unnamed spur off Shumard Peak (about 8,350 ft.),
Barlett Peak (8,513 ft.), and Bush Mountain (8,676 ft.).
Deposits exposed along the western escarpment represent two
major phases of basin-encroaching carbonate systems
separated by a time when the shelf-to-basin transition
regressed northward several miles and basin clastic facies were
deposited over the earlier carbonate bank and basin. The
Victoria Peak bank facies and Bone Spring basinal deposits,
both lower Permian (Leonardian) in age, form the lower,
southward-tapering wedge of darker cliffs and underlying
slope along the base of the major escarpment. This older shelfto-basin transition is typified by low angles of dip at the shelf
or basin margin; the shelf-to-basin transitions of the overlying
upper Permian (Guadalupian) units have higher angles of
repose of foreslope facies between the shelf and basin. A
major northward transgression of basinal shales, shaly
carbonates, and siltstones over the Leonardian basin, shelfmargin, and shelf deposits was caused by shelf-edge
subsidence or sea-level rise. The stage was then set for the
basinward advance of the Guadalupian reef strata of the Goat
Seep and Capitan formations.
The prominent light cliffs of the upper escarpment show the
basinward progradation of massive carbonates of the Goat
Seep and Capitan reefs and their associated shelf sediments.
Toward the north, an abrupt change can be seen from more
flat-lying shelf deposits to the massive and steeply dipping
foreslope strata. Erosion has removed some of the
Guadalupian strata once present along this shelf-margin crosssection. Massive fore slope strata of the Capitan extended
further south of the present erosional south face of El Capitan,
and only remnants remain of the once thicker back-reef
equivalents of the Capitan along the high peaks, such as the
ones forming the uppermost tip of Guadalupe Peak.
The shelf, shelf-margin, and basin deposits related to the
Capitan "Reef" are the focus of our field stops in the
Guadalupe Mountains area. Our route will take us further
around the northern rim of the Delaware Basin, moving down
and up the stratigraphic section.
4.2
225.6
Crossing northern extension of East Diablo fault with the Salt
Flat basin downthrown on the eastern side.
1.4
227.0
Junction with Texas Farm Road 1576 on right. Turn right,
heading north.
4.5
231.5
Road turn to west.
3.9
235.4
Road turns to north.
8.5
243.9
Junction with Texas Farm Road 2249 on left to Dell City.
Continue straight ahead on Texas Farm Road 1576.
3.0
246.9
Turn right on Texas Farm Road 1576.
1.0
247.9
Turn left on Texas Farm Road 1576.
3.3
251.2
Texas/New Mexico state line. Welcome to New Mexico
again. Continue north on New Mexico paved highway.
2.2
253.4
Turn east on paved road and then slowly turn to the north.
7.1
260.5
Turn east on paved road.
0.4
260.9
Turn north on paved road.
9.1
270.0
Turn east on gravel road.
1.0
271.0
Turn north on gravel road.
1.0
272.0
Turn east on gravel road.
1.0
273.0
Turn northeast on gravel road.
1.1
274.1
Turn east on gravel road.
4.2
278.3
Enter northern end of Big Dog Canyon.
3.6
281.9
ALTERNATE STOP. Review lower and middle San Andres
Formation shelf margin profiles and upper San Andres
prograditional wedges. View into Lawyer Canyon is the sight
of a detailed outcrop study of the San Andres by the Texas
Bureau of Economic Geology and Chevron.
14.8
296.7
Intersection with New Mexico Highway 137 at El Paso Gap.
Turn left onto New Mexico Highway 137 (paved road).
2.8
299.5
ALTERNATE STOP. Stone Canyon. Drive through Canyon
west side of Shattluck Valley ascend up to hair pin curve next
to Stone Canyon. Grayburg Formation dolostones crop out in
the canyon. Uppermost beds are basal Queen Formation.
The topography along the western margin of the Guadalupe
Mountains is typical of the Basin and Range province of the
western United States. Major depressions, such as Dog
Canyon and Shattuck Valley, originated as a result of highangle normal and listric faulting. The faults in this area strike
north to northwest and have throws of 1,500 ft. (450 meters) or
more. They can be traced for miles. King (1948) concluded
that the time of faulting was probably Miocene-Pliocene with
some rejuvenation in the Recent.
An overview talk will be conducted at Hair Pin curve, looking
into Stone Canyon and discussing the Grayburg Formation and
equivalent producing facies in the subsurface at Eunice
Monument South Unit (EMSU), Eunice Monument South Unit
Expansion Area B (EMSUB), Arrowhead Grayburg Unit
(AGU), and McElroy field.
We will back track to the east and enter Stone Canyon's eastern
mouth to study cyclic deposits of ooid grainstone on a few
ridges above the stream floor. Lateral hetergeneities in
reservoir potential will be studied at distances of
approximately 500 ft.
If time permits, we will walk 1,300 ft. up into Upper Stone
Canyon. Here we will walk out the unconformity separating
the Grayburg and Queen formations. We will also look at
potential flow units and compare them to EMSU, EMSUB, and
AGU.
Saturday Morning 11/21/98
0.0
0.0
Exit Stevens Motel parking lot. Turn right onto U. S. Highway
62-180-285.
0.8
0.8
Intersection of U. S. Highway 285 and U. S. Highway 62-180.
Turn left onto U. S. Highway 285. Retrace route toward
Midland.
22.9
23.7
Intersection of N. M. Highway 128 and Eddy County Road
795. Turn right on Eddy County Road 795, a dirt road,
crossing a cattleguard.
0.1
23.8
Drive through a series of curves on the dirt road.
0.35
24.15
End of curves on the dirt road.
0.15
24.3
Eddy County Road 795 turns to right. Continue straight ahead
on unmarked dirt road.
0.95
25.25
Cattleguard.
1.05
26.30
Cattleguard.
2.05
28.35
Cattleguard and chain link fence.
0.35
28.70
Turn left onto unimproved dirt road.
0.25
28.95
STOP 1. Project Gnome site. At this location on December
10, 1961 the first nuclear detonation in the plowshare program
was set off 1216 feet beneath this site. The explosion sent out
a surface wave that heaved the ground 4 ft., and was felt as far
away as Midland. Dr. Edward Teller, father of the hydrogen
bomb, was one of many dignitaries, from 19 nations, to
observe the detonation. This experiment was to develop
peaceful uses for nuclear explosives. The detonation was in
the Permian Salado Formation, a salt and potash-rich sequence
that filled the Delaware Basin. The Plowshare program was
named after the biblical quotation in Isaiah 2:4 "They shall
beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into
prunninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more."
5.25
34.20
Return to N. M. Highway 128. Turn right onto N. M.
Highway 128. Continue to Midland.