Geology of the Bent Dome, Otero County, New Mexico
— Eugene E. Foord and Michael L. Moore
Abstract:
The Bent dome, located just south of NM-70 and 8 km (5 mi) west of Mescalero, New Mexico, is composed of a core of Precambrian diorite and granite overlain by Cambro-Ordovician Bliss Sandstone and younger Paleozoic sedimentary strata. The Bliss Sandstone is composed of basal glauconitic sandstone overlain by clean sandstone. Hydrothermal alteration of the diorite has taken place in the area of the Virginia mine and copper mineralization there consists of djurleite and chalcocite in quartz-barite-carbonate veins. Secondary malachite is present in the Precambrian igneous rocks as well as in the overlying Bliss Sandstone. The age of the doming is not known; it could be pre-Permian, eroded in Early Permian and covered by Permian sediments, then exhumed by recent erosion. A Permian or younger age for the doming is also possible.
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Recommended Citation:
- Foord, Eugene E.; Moore, Michael L., 1991, Geology of the Bent Dome, Otero County, New Mexico, in: Geology of the Sierra Blanca, Sacramento and Capitan Ranges, New Mexico, Barker, James M.; Kues, Barry S.; Austin, George S.; Lucas, Spencer, G., New Mexico Geological Society, Guidebook, 42nd Field Conference, pp. 171-174. https://doi.org/10.56577/FFC-42.171