Mesaverde Group

{{Full citations needed|date=February 2024}} {{Short description|Group of geologic formations in the western United States}} {{Infobox rockunit | name = Mesaverde Group | image = BookCliffsHelper.jpg | caption = Mesaverde Group beds in the Book Cliffs near Helper, Utah. | type = Group | age = {{Geological range|Late Cretaceous}} | period = Late Cretaceous | prilithology = sandstone and shale | otherlithology = coal | namedfor = Mesa Verde, Colorado | namedby = W.H.Holmes (1877) | region = | country = | coordinates = {{coord|37.316|N|108.419|W|display=inline}} | unitof = | subunits = See text | underlies = Lewis Shale, Meeteetse Formation, Datil Group (regionally) | overlies = Cody Shale, Mancos Shale | thickness = {{convert|200|-|400|m|ft}} | extent = New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming | area = | map ={{Location map+ | United States#Colorado | relief = 1 | width = 250 | float = center | places = {{Location map~ | United States#Colorado | lat_deg = 37.316 | lon_deg = -108.419 | mark = Lightgreen pog.svg | marksize = 12 }} }} | map_caption = }} The '''Mesaverde Group''' is a Late Cretaceous stratigraphic group found in areas of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, in the Western United States.

==History== The Mesaverde Formation was first described by W.H.Holmes in 1877 during the Hayden Survey. Holmes described the formation in the northern San Juan Basin as consisting of three units, which were a "Lower Escarpment" consisting of 40 m of ledge- and cliff-forming massive sandstone; a "Middle Coal Group" consisting of up to 300 m of thick slope-forming sandstone, shale, marl, and lignite; and an "Upper Escarpment" consisting of 60 m of ledge- and cliff-forming sandstone.{{sfn|Holmes|1877}} A.J. Collier redesignated these units in 1919 as the Point Lookout Sandstone, the Menefee Formation, and the Cliff House Sandstone, and raised the Mesaverde Formation to group rank.{{sfn|Collier |1919}}

The group was later traced to the greater Green River Basin,{{sfn|Fenneman | Gale| 1906}} the Uintah and Piceance Basins,{{sfn|Lee |1909}} the Bighorn Basin,{{sfn|Lupton |1916}} the Front Range,{{sfn|Ball |1924}} the Zuni Basin,{{sfn|Sears |1925}} the Wasatch Plateau,{{sfn|Spieker | Reeside |1925}} Wind River Basin,{{sfn|Barwin |1959}} Washakie Basin,{{sfn|Hale |1961}} and the Powder River Basin.{{sfn|Fox|1993}} It is spectacularly exposed along the Book Cliffs of eastern Utah and western Colorado.{{sfn|Fillmore |2011|p=224}} With the recognition of the vast extent of the group, the group has been divided into formations by region, with the original Point Lookout Sandstone, Menefee Formation, and Cliff House Sandstone being restricted largely to the San Juan Basin and the Madrid, New Mexico area.

==Geology== [[File:Uinta Piceance Basin stratigraphic column.gif|thumb|upright=1.2|Stratigraphic column showing the relationship of the Mesaverde Group]] The '''Mesaverde Group''' is a Late Cretaceous stratigraphic group found in areas of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, in the Western United States. The group is a single regression-transgression sequence in its type location in the San Juan Basin, dividing the older marine Mancos Shale and younger Lewis Shale deposited in the Western Interior Seaway. The Point Lookout Sandstone represents the regression, the Menefee Formation the subsequent fluvial delta deposits, and the Cliff House Sandstone the return of the sea. In other locations, such as along the Book Cliffs, the picture is more complicated, with multiple regression-transgression sequences from tectonic activity along the Sevier mountain front.{{sfn|Fillmore |2011|pages=240 ''et seq.''}} In the Cody area, the group is a simple regression sequence and remains at formation rank. Here the group is described as interbedded light gray sandstone and gray shale in the upper part; massive, light-buff, ledge-forming sandstone containing thin lenticular coal beds in the lower part.{{sfn|Pierce |1997}}

===Formations=== thumb|Mesaverde Gas Fields within the Uinta Basin and Piceance Basin {{div col|colwidth=25em}} *Northern Piceance Basin:{{sfn|Johnson |1989}} **Williams Fork Formation **Iles Formation *southwestern Piceance Basin:{{sfn|Johnson |1989}} **Hunter Canyon Formation **Mount Garfield Formation *Powder River Basin:{{sfn|Fox|1993}} **Teapot Sandstone **Parkman Sandstone *Northern San Juan Basin:{{sfn|Collier|1919}} **Point Lookout Sandstone **Menefee Formation **Cliff House Sandstone *Southern San Juan Basin and southern New Mexico:{{sfn|Molenaar|1983}}{{sfn|Nummedal|Molenaar|1995}} **Point Lookout Sandstone **Crevasse Canyon Formation **Gallup Sandstone *Uintah Basin:{{sfn|Fouch|Nuccio|Osmond|MacMillan|1992}} **Tuscher Formation **Farrer Formation **Neslen Formation **Sego Sandstone **Price River Formation **Castlegate Sandstone **Blackhawk Formation **Star Point Sandstone *Washakie Basin:{{sfn|Roehler |1987}} **Almond Formation **Ericson Sandstone **Rock Springs Formation **Blair Formation {{div col end}} === Fossils === Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the group, although none have yet been referred to a specific genus.{{sfn|Weishampel|Dodson|Osmólska|2004|loc="Dinosaur distribution"|pp=517-607}} ''Deinosuchus'' has also been reported from Mesaverde outcrops in Wyoming.{{sfn|Wahl|Hogbin|2003}} In 2023, baenid turtle fossils tentatively assignable to ''Neurankylus'' sp. from the Mesaverde Formation were described.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jarne |first1=Philippe |last2=Lozano del Campo |first2=Ana |last3=Lamy |first3=Thomas |last4=Chapuis |first4=Elodie |last5=Dubart |first5=Maxime |last6=Segard |first6=Adeline |last7=Canard |first7=Elsa |last8=Pointier |first8=Jean-Pierre |last9=David |first9=Patrice |date=2021-11-25 |title=Connectivity and selfing drives population genetic structure in a patchy landscape: a comparative approach of four co-occurring freshwater snail species |url=https://peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10.24072/pcjournal.29/ |journal=Peer Community Journal |language=en |volume=1 |doi=10.24072/pcjournal.29 |s2cid=244705430 |issn=2804-3871|hdl=20.500.12210/58455 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

==Footnotes== {{Reflist}}

===References=== * {{cite journal |last1=Ball |first1=M.W. |title=Gas near Fort Collins, Colorado: GEOLOGICAL NOTES |journal=AAPG Bulletin |date=1924 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=79–87 |doi=10.1306/3D932659-16B1-11D7-8645000102C1865D}} * {{cite journal |last1=Barwin |first1=J.R. |title=Facies of Mesaverde Formation, East-Central Wyoming: ABSTRACT |journal=AAPG Bulletin |date=1959 |volume=43 |doi=10.1306/0BDA5D20-16BD-11D7-8645000102C1865D|doi-access=free }} * {{cite journal |last1=Collier |first1=A.J. |year=1919 |title=Coal south of Mancos, Montezuma County, Colorado |journal=U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin |volume=691-K |pages=K293–K310 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/0691k/report.pdf |accessdate=15 September 2020}} * {{cite journal |last1=Fenneman |first1=N.M. |last2=Gale |first2=H.S. |title=The Yampa coal field, Routt county, Colorado |journal=U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin |date=1906 |volume=297 |pages=7–81 |doi=10.3133/b297|hdl=2346/65003 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free }} * {{cite book |last1=Fillmore |first1=Robert |title=Geological evolution of the Colorado Plateau of eastern Utah and western Colorado, including the San Juan River, Natural Bridges, Canyonlands, Arches, and the Book Cliffs |date=2011 |publisher=University of Utah Press |location=Salt Lake City |isbn=978-1-60781-004-9 |pages=224, 247–248}} * {{cite journal |last1=Fox |first1=J.E. |year=1993 |title=Stratigraphic cross sections showing electric logs of Upper Cretaceous and older rocks, Powder River basin, southeastern Montana and northeastern Wyoming |journal=U.S. Geological Survey Oil and Gas Investigations Chart |volume=OC-135 to OC-138, Sections A-A' through F-F'; G-G' through L-L'; M-M' through R-R'; S-S' through V-V' |doi=10.3133/oc135 }} * {{cite journal |last1=Fouch |first1=T.D. |last2=Nuccio |first2=V.F. |last3=Osmond |first3=J.C. |last4=MacMillan |first4=Logan |last5=Cashion |first5=W.B. |last6=Wandrey |first6=C.J. |year=1992 |title=Oil and gas in uppermost Cretaceous and Tertiary rock, Uinta basin, Utah |journal=Utah Geological Association Guidebook |volume=20 |pages=9–48 |url=https://archives.datapages.com/data/uga/data/062/062001/9_ugs620009.htm |access-date=31 August 2021}} * {{cite journal |last1=Hale |first1=L.A. |year=1961 |title=Late Cretaceous (Montanan) stratigraphy eastern Washakie basin, Carbon County, Wyoming |journal=Wyoming Geological Association Field Conference Guidebook |volume=16 |pages=129–137 |url=https://archives.datapages.com/data/wga/data/018/018001/129_wga0180129.htm |access-date=31 August 2021}} * {{cite book |last1=Holmes |first1=W.H. |year=1877 |chapter=Report [on the San Juan District, Colorado] |editor-last1=Hayden |editor-first1=F.V. |title=Ninth annual report of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, embracing Colorado and parts of adjacent territories, being a report of progress of the exploration for the year 1875; Part I, Geology |publisher=U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories (Hayden) |pages=237–276}} * {{cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=R.C. |title=Geologic history and hydrocarbon potential of Late Cretaceous-age, low-permeability reservoirs, Piceance Basin, western Colorado |journal=U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin |date=1989 |volume=1787-E |pages=E1–E51 |doi=10.3133/b1787E|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc304447/ |doi-access=free }} * {{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=W.T. |year=1909 |title=The Grand Mesa coal field, Colorado |journal=U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin |volume=341 |pages=316–334 |doi=10.3133/b341 |doi-access=free }} * {{cite journal |last1=Lupton |first1=C.T. |title=Contributions to economic geology, 1915, Part II, Mineral fuels--Oil and gas near Basin, Big Horn County, Wyoming |journal=U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin |date=1916 |volume=621-L |pages=L157–L190 |doi=10.3133/b621L|doi-access=free }} * {{cite journal |last1=Molenaar |first1=C.M. |year=1983 |title=A principal reference section and correlation of the Gallup Sandstone, northwestern New Mexico |journal=New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources Circular |volume=185 |pages=29–40 |url=https://geoinfo.nmt.edu/publications/monographs/circulars/downloads/185/Circular-185.pdf |accessdate=11 September 2020}} * {{cite journal |last1=Nummedal |first1=Dag |last2=Molenaar |first2=C.M. |year=1995 |title=Sequence stratigraphy of ramp-setting strand plain successions; the Gallup Sandstone, New Mexico |journal=American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir |volume=64 |pages=277–310 |url=http://archives.datapages.com/data/specpubs/memoir64/ch09/0277.htm |accessdate=11 September 2020}} * {{cite journal |last1=Pierce |first1=W.G. |year=1997 |title=Geologic map of the Cody 1 degree x 2 degrees quadrangle, northwestern Wyoming |journal=U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Geologic Investigations Map |volume=I-2500 |url=https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_13047.htm |access-date=31 August 2021}} * {{cite journal |last1=Roehler |first1=H.W. |title=Surface-subsurface correlations of the Mesaverde Group and associated upper Cretaceous formations, Rock Springs, Wyoming, to Mount Harris, Colorado |journal=U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map |date=1987 |volume=MF-1937 |doi=10.3133/mf1937|doi-access=free }} * {{cite journal |last1=Sears |first1=J.D. |year=1925 |title=Geology and coal resources of the Gallup-Zuni basin, New Mexico |journal=U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin |number=767 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KqkPAAAAIAAJ&q=Geology+and+coal+resources+of+the+Gallup+Zuni+basin%2C+New+Mexico&pg=PA1 |accessdate=11 September 2020}} * {{cite journal |last1=Spieker |first1=E. M. |last2=Reeside |first2=J. B. |title=Cretaceous and Tertiary Formations of the Wasatch Plateau, Utah |journal=Geological Society of America Bulletin |date=30 September 1925 |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=435–454 |doi=10.1130/GSAB-36-435|bibcode=1925GSAB...36..435S }} * {{cite journal |last1=Wahl |first1=W. |last2=Hogbin |first2=J. |year=2003 |title=Deinosuchus material from the Mesaverde Formation of Wyoming: filling in a gap |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=23 |page=107A}} * {{cite book |editor-last1=Weishampel |editor-first1=David B. |editor-last2=Dodson |editor-first2=Peter |editor-last3=Osmólska |editor-first3=Halszka |year=2004 |title=The Dinosauria |edition=2nd |location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-24209-2}}

Category:Cretaceous formations of New Mexico Category:Cretaceous geology of Utah Category:Cretaceous geology of Wyoming Category:Geologic groups of New Mexico Category:Upper Cretaceous Series of North America Category:Sandstone groups of the United States Category:Shale groups of the United States Category:Coal groups