San Rafael Group

Type Locality:
Not designated. Named for exposures in the San Rafael Swell, Emery Co., UT (Gilluly and Reeside, 1928).

Subunits:
(alphabetical): Bell Ranch Formation (NM*), Bluff Sandstone (AZ,NM), Carmel Formation (AZ*,CO*,NM*,UT*,WY*), Cow Springs Sandstone (AZ), Curtis Formation (CO*,UT*), Entrada Sandstone (AZ*,CO*,NM*,UT*), Henrieville Sandstone (UT), Page Sandstone (AZ*,UT*,WY*), Romana Sandstone (AZ*,UT*), Summerville Formation (AZ,CO,NM,UT), Temple Cap Formation (UT) or Temple Cap Sandstone (UT*), Thoreau Formation (NM), Todilto Formation (AZ,CO,NM,UT) or Todilto Limestone (AZ,CO*,UT*), Wanakah Formation (AZ*,CO*,NM*,UT*).

Unit Name History:
Named and divided into (ascending): Carmel Formation, Entrada Sandstone (new), Curtis Formation (new), and Summerville Formation (new) (Gilluly and Reeside, 1928). Areal limits (Gregory and Moore, 1931). Revised, divided into Entrada, Todilto, and Thoreau (new) formations in San Juan basin (Smith, 1954). Revised, divided into Entrada and Bell Ranch (new) formations in Palo Duro basin and Sierra Grande uplift (Griggs and Read, 1959). Carmel-Navajo contact revised (Wright and others, 1962). Carmel-Entrada contact revised (Phoenix, 1963). Revised, Henrieville Sandstone named; Overview (Thompson and Stokes, 1970). Mapped 1:24k in Ouray Co, CO (Luedke, 1972). Revised; Areal limits (Green, 1974). Revised, assigned Temple Cap Sandstone and Page Sandstone (new); Overview (Peterson and Pipiringos, 1979). Revised, divided into Carmel, Entrada, and Wanakah formations in Paradox basin (O'Sullivan, 1980). Upper contact revised (O'Sullivan, 1984). Revised, divided into Page, Carmel, and Entrada formations in Black Mesa basin; divided into Page, Carmel, Entrada, and Romana (new) formations in Plateau sedimentary province; divided into Page, Carmel, Entrada, Curtis, and Summerville formations in Paradox basin (Peterson, 1988). Overview (Robertson, 1990). Revised in San Juan basin, divided into Entrada and Wanakah formations in southeastern area; divided into Entrada, Wanakah, and Cow Springs formations in south-central area; divided into Entrada and Cow Springs Sandstones in southwestern area; Zuni Sandstone represents entire group in Gallup sag area (Condon, 1989).

References

Gilluly, James and Reeside, J.B., Jr., 1928, Sedimentary rocks of the San Rafael Swell and some adjacent areas in eastern Utah, IN Shorter contributions to general geology, 1927: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, 150-D, p. D61-D110.

Gregory, H.E. and Moore, R.C., 1931, The Kaiparowits region, a geographic and geologic reconnaissance of parts of Utah and Arizona: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, 164, 161 p.

Smith, C.T., 1954, Geology of the Thoreau quadrangle, McKinley and Valencia Counties, New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources Bulletin, no. 31, 36 p.

Griggs, R.L. and Read, C.B., 1959, Revisions in stratigraphic nomenclature in Tucumcari-Sabinoso area, northeastern New Mexico: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 43, no. 8, p. 2003-2007.

Wright, J.C., Shawe, D.R. and Lohman, S.W., 1962, Definition of members of Jurassic Entrada Sandstone in east-central Utah and west-central Colorado: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 46, no. 11, p. 2057-2070.

Phoenix, D.A., 1963, Geology of the Lees Ferry area, Coconino County, Arizona: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin, 1137, 86 p.

Thompson, A.E. and Stokes, W.L., 1970, Stratigraphy of the San Rafael Group, southwest and south central Utah: Utah Geological and Mineral Survey Bulletin, no. 87, 53 p.

Luedke, R.G., 1972, Geologic map of the Wetterhorn Peak quadrangle, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map, GQ-1011, 1 sheet, scale 1:24,000.

Green, M.W., 1974, The Iyanbito Member (a new stratigraphic unit) of the Jurassic Entrada Sandstone, Gallup-Grants area, New Mexico, IN Contributions to stratigraphy: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin, 1395-D, p. D1-D12.

Peterson, Fred and Pipiringos, G.N., 1979, Stratigraphic relationships of the Navajo Sandstone to Middle Jurassic formations in parts of southern Utah and northern Arizona, IN Unconformities, correlations, and nomenclature of some Triassic and Jurassic rocks, Western Interior United States: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, 1035-B, p. B1-B43, Supersedes 1979, U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report, OF-79-281, 179 p.

O'Sullivan, R.B., 1980, Stratigraphic sections of Middle Jurassic San Rafael Group from Wilson arch to Bluff in southeastern Utah: U.S. Geological Survey Oil and Gas Investigations Chart, OC-102, 1 sheet.

O'Sullivan, R.B., 1984, The base of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation in east-central Utah: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin, 1561, 17 p.

Peterson, Fred, 1988, Stratigraphy and nomenclature of Middle and Upper Jurassic rocks, western Colorado Plateau, Utah and Arizona, IN Revisions to stratigraphic nomenclature of Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks of the Colorado Plateau: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin, 1633-B, p. B13-56.

Condon, S.M., 1989, Revisions of Middle Jurassic nomenclature in southeastern San Juan basin, New Mexico, IN Evolution of sedimentary basins, San Juan basin: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin, 1808-E, p. E1-E21.

Robertson, J.F., 1990, Geologic map of the Thoreau quadrangle, McKinley County, New Mexico: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map, GQ-1675, 1 sheet, scale 1:24,000.

O'Sullivan, Robert B., 2000, Correlation of Middle Jurassic San Rafael Group and related rocks from Bluff to Monticello in southeastern Utah: U.S. Geological Survey, Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2351, 1 sheet. <http://greenwood.cr.usgs.gov/pub/mf-maps/mf-2351/>

O'Sullivan, Robert B., 1998, Correlation of Jurassic San Rafael Group and related rocks from Blanding, Utah, to Dove Creek, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Investigations I-2667, 1 sheet. http://greenwood.cr.usgs.gov/pub/i-maps/i-2667/.

O'Sullivan, Robert B., 1997, Correlation of the Middle Jurassic San Rafael Group from Bluff, Utah, to Cortez, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Investigations Series I-2616, 1 sheet.

Lucas, Spencer G., and Anderson, Orin J., 1997, The Jurassic San Rafael Group, Four Corners region. In Mesozoic geology and paleontology of the Four Corners region: Anderson, Orin J., Kues, Barry S., and Lucas, Spencer G., editors, New Mexico Geological Society Guidebook, v. 48, p. 115-132.

O'Sullivan, R. B., 1996, Correlation of Jurassic San Rafael Group and associated rocks from Slick Rock to La Sal Creek in southwestern Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey, Oil and Gas Investigations Chart OC-0148, 1 sheet.

Anderson, Orin J., Lucas, Spencer G., 1995, Major redefinition of Morrison Formation and upper San Rafael Group on the Colorado Plateau: AAPG Bulletin, v. 79, no. 6, p. 914.

O'Sullivan, R. B., 1995, Correlation of Jurassic San Rafael Group, Junction Creek Sandstone, and related rocks from McElmo Canyon to Salter Canyon in southwestern Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey, Oil and Gas Investigations Chart OC-0145, 1 sheet.