The Ringbone Formation is a Campanian geologic formation in southwestern New Mexico.[1][2]

Ringbone Formation
Stratigraphic range: Campanian
~84–71 Ma
TypeGeological formation
UnderliesHidalgo Formation
OverliesMojado Formation
Thickness7,500 feet (2,300 m)
Lithology
PrimaryMudstone
OtherSandstone
Location
Coordinates31°57′32″N 108°27′50″W / 31.959°N 108.464°W / 31.959; -108.464
Approximate paleocoordinates39°18′N 80°42′W / 39.3°N 80.7°W / 39.3; -80.7
RegionNew Mexico
Country United States
Type section
Named forRingbone Ranch
Named byS.G. Lasky
Year defined1938
Ringbone Formation is located in the United States
Ringbone Formation
Ringbone Formation (the United States)
Ringbone Formation is located in New Mexico
Ringbone Formation
Ringbone Formation (New Mexico)

Description

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The base of the formation is a conglomerate with boulders up to 2.5 feet (0.76 m) in diameter. The bulk of the formation is dark shale with minor sandstone and black limestone. The upper beds are tuffaceous sandstone with minor black limestone. A basalt flow and an andesite breccia are present in the upper beds.[1] The total thickness is about 7,500 feet (2,300 m). The formation interfingers with the underlying Mojado Formation and is overlain by the Hidalgo Formation.[3]

Fossils

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The formation contains fossils of the gastropod Physa,[2][4] the palm Sabal, and other fossils consistent with Campanian age.[3]

Dinosaur remains of tyrannosaurs and hadrosaurs are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.[5] These include possible remains of Albertosaurus[6] and a hadrosaur tail skin impression.[7]

History of investigation

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The formation was first named as the Ringbone Shale by Lasky in 1938 for outcrops near Ringbone Ranch in the Little Hatchet Mountains.[1] Zeller renamed the unit as the Ringbone Formation in 1970.[3]

See also

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References

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Bibliography

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  • Anderson, Brian G.; Lucas, Spencer G.; Barrick, Reese E.; Heckert, Andrew B.; Basabilvazo, George T. (28 December 1998). "Dinosaur skin impressions and associated skeletal remains from the upper Campanian of southwestern New Mexico: new data on the integument morphology of hadrosaurs". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 18 (4): 739–745. Bibcode:1998JVPal..18..739A. doi:10.1080/02724634.1998.10011102.
  • Basabilbazo, George (2000). "The Upper Cretaceous Ringbone Formation, Little Hatchet Mountains, southwestern New Mexico" (PDF). New Mexico Geological Society Field Conference Series. 51: 203–210. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  • Hayes, Philip Thayer (1970). "Cretaceous paleogeography of southeastern Arizona and adjacent areas". U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper. Professional Paper. 658-B. doi:10.3133/pp658B.
  • Lasky, Samuel G. (1938). "Newly Discovered Section of Trinity Age in Southwestern New Mexico". AAPG Bulletin. 22 (5): 524–540. doi:10.1306/3D932F80-16B1-11D7-8645000102C1865D. ISSN 0149-1423.
  • Lucas, Spencer G.; Basabilvazo, George; Lawton, Timothy F. (December 1990). "Late cretaceous dinosaurs from the ringbone formation, southwestern New Mexico, U.S.A.". Cretaceous Research. 11 (4): 343–349. Bibcode:1990CrRes..11..343L. doi:10.1016/S0195-6671(05)80045-X.
  • Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka, eds. (2004). The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
  • Zeller, R.A. Jr. (1970). "Geology of the Little Hatchet Mountains, Hidalgo and Grant Counties, New Mexico" (PDF). New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources Bulletin. 96. Retrieved 16 September 2020.