A deep water turbidity origin for the Altuda Formation (Capitanian, Permian), Northwest Glass Mountains, Texas

The Altuda Formation (Capitanian) in the northwestern Glass Mountains is comprised of thin, even bedded limestones, dolostones, mixed clastic-carbonates, and silt/sandstones interbedded with basin-ward dipping wedge-shaped clinoforms of the Captian Limestone. The formation is characterized by graded bedding, planar laminations, flame structures, contorted/convolute bedding, horizontal branching burrows, and shelf-derived normal marine fauna. A detailed study of the Altuda Formation north of Old Blue Mountain, Glass Mountains, reveals that the formation in this area was deposited by turbidity currents in slope to basinal settings.