New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting — Abstracts

Paleocurrent analyses in conjunction with width to depth ratios of channel sandstones, relative abundance of different lithologies and their contact relationships, sedimentary structures and fossil content indicate the Abo Formation is composed of various facies (paleoenvironmental deposits) from the Zuni Mountains on the northwest, both sides of the Rio Grande Rift to Socorro, NM, and southeastward through Bingham, NM, to the Sacramento Mountains and their transition to Otero Mesa. These facies include alluvial fans, braided stream channels, meandering stream channels (with their flood plains, natural levees and crevasse splays) and sandy tidal flats.

The occurrence of these facies varies both stratigraphically within the Abo Formation and laterally due, in part, to syndepositional proximity of remaining highlands, which were probably tectonically formed during the Pennsylvanian Period, and/or marine basins.