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Regional stratigraphic cross sections of Cretaceous rocks from east-central Arizona to the Oklahoma Panhandle

February 1, 2002

Sedimentary rocks of Cretaceous age along Transect DD'' in eastern Arizona, northern New Mexico, southern Colorado, and western Oklahoma consist mainly of sandstone, siltstone, shale, limestone, and bentonite. They accumulated as sediments in continental, nearshore marine, and offshore marine environments on the west side of a north-trending epicontinental sea. The rocks record intermittent deposition and erosion as well as regional and local subsidence and uplift possibly beginning in Aptian time (about 121-112 Ma) and occurring in Albian through Maastrichtian time (about 112-65.4 Ma). Most of the Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian through Aptian, 142-112 Ma) in this transect is represented by a basal unconformity. The Cretaceous rocks and unconformities along the transect are depicted on the attached lithostratigraphic cross sections (sheets 1 and 2); one extending from the Mogollon Rim in eastern Arizona to Pagosa Springs in southwestern Colorado and the other from Pagosa Springs, Colorado, to Kenton in western Oklahoma. The same rocks and unconformities are also represented on the attached chronostratigraphic profile (sheet 3), which was prepared mainly from surface and subsurface data shown on the lithostratigraphic cross sections.

Publication Year 2002
Title Regional stratigraphic cross sections of Cretaceous rocks from east-central Arizona to the Oklahoma Panhandle
DOI 10.3133/mf2382
Authors C. M. Molenaar, W. A. Cobban, E. A. Merewether, C. L. Pillmore, D.G. Wolfe, J.M. Holbrook
Publication Type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Series Title Miscellaneous Field Studies Map
Series Number 2382
Index ID mf2382
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse