Cutler Formation
Encyclopedia
The Cutler is a rock unit that is spread across the U.S. states of Arizona
, northwest New Mexico
, southeast Utah
and southwest Colorado
. It was laid down in the Early Permian
during the Wolfcampian stage. In Arizona and Utah it is often called the Cutler Group but the preferred USGS
name is Cutler Formation'. Its subunits, therefore, are variously called formations or members depending on the publication. This article will use the national standard set by the USGS. Members (oldest to youngest [age sorting needs to be checked]):
There is no designated type locality
for the Cutler.It was named by Cross and Howe in 1905 after Cutler Creek, which enters Uncompahgre River
about 4 miles north of Ouray, Colorado
. Baker and Reeside revised Cross and Howe's work in 1929 by dividing the formation into the Halgaito Tongue (base), Cedar Mesa Sandstone Member, Organ Rock Tongue, and White Rim Sandstone Member. Cutler's geographic extent was established by Wood and Northrop in 1946. In 1958 Wengerd and Matheny raised the formation to group rank, but the USGS does not recognize the suggested change.
Cutler outcrops are found in these geologic locations:
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, northwest New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, southeast Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
and southwest Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. It was laid down in the Early Permian
Permian
The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...
during the Wolfcampian stage. In Arizona and Utah it is often called the Cutler Group but the preferred USGS
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
name is Cutler Formation'. Its subunits, therefore, are variously called formations or members depending on the publication. This article will use the national standard set by the USGS. Members (oldest to youngest [age sorting needs to be checked]):
- Elephant Canyon (Utah)
- Halgaito (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah)
- Cedar Mesa SandstoneCedar Mesa SandstoneCedar Mesa Sandstone is a sandstone member of the Cutler Formation, found in southeast Utah, southwest Colorado, northwest New Mexico, and northeast Arizona. It is the remains of coastal sand dunes deposited about 245–286 million years ago, during the early Permian period...
(Arizona, Utah) - Organ Rock Shale (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah)
- White Rim Sandstone (Utah)
- De Chelly Sandstone (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah)
There is no designated type locality
Type locality (geology)
Type locality , also called type area or type locale, is the where a particular rock type, stratigraphic unit, fossil or mineral species is first identified....
for the Cutler.It was named by Cross and Howe in 1905 after Cutler Creek, which enters Uncompahgre River
Uncompahgre River
The Uncompahgre River is a tributary of the Gunnison River, approximately 75 mi long, in southwestern Colorado in the United States. Lake Como at 12,215 ft in northern San Juan County, in the Uncompahgre National Forest in the northwestern San Juan Mountains is the headwaters of the...
about 4 miles north of Ouray, Colorado
Ouray, Colorado
The historic City of Ouray is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Ouray County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 813 at the U.S. Census 2000 and 1,000 as of the U.S. Census 2010...
. Baker and Reeside revised Cross and Howe's work in 1929 by dividing the formation into the Halgaito Tongue (base), Cedar Mesa Sandstone Member, Organ Rock Tongue, and White Rim Sandstone Member. Cutler's geographic extent was established by Wood and Northrop in 1946. In 1958 Wengerd and Matheny raised the formation to group rank, but the USGS does not recognize the suggested change.
Cutler outcrops are found in these geologic locations:
- Black Mesa Basin
- Paradox BasinParadox BasinThe Paradox Basin is an asymmetric foreland basin located mostly in southeast Utah and southwest Colorado, but extending into northeast Arizona and northwest New Mexico. The basin is a large elongate northwest to southeast oriented depression formed during the late Paleozoic Era...
- Piceance BasinPiceance BasinThe Piceance Basin is a geologic structural basin in northwestern Colorado, in the United States. It includes geologic formations from Cambrian to Holocene in age, but the thickest section is made up of rocks from the Cretaceous Period...
- San Juan MountainsSan Juan MountainsThe San Juan Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado. The area is highly mineralized and figured in the gold and silver mining industry of early Colorado. Major towns, all old mining camps, include Creede, Lake City, Silverton, Ouray, and...
province - San Juan BasinSan Juan BasinThe San Juan Basin is a geologic structural basin in the Four Corners region of the Southwestern United States; its main portion covers around , encompassing much of northwestern New Mexico, southwest Colorado, and parts of Arizona and Utah....
- Uinta Basin
Works cited
- Cross, C.W. and Howe, Ernest, 1905, "Geography and general geology of the quadrangle, IN Description of the Silverton quadrangle [Colorado]", U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Atlas of the United States, Silverton folio, no. 120, 34 p.
- Baker, A.A. and Reeside, J.B., Jr., 1929, "Correlation of the Permian of southern Utah, northern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southwestern Colorado", American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 13, no. 11, p. 1413-1448
- Wood, G.H. and Northrop, S.A., 1946, "Geology of Nacimiento Mountains, San Pedro Mountain, and adjacent plateaus in parts of Sandoval and Rio Arriba Counties, New Mexico", U.S. Geological Survey Oil and Gas Investigations Map, OM-57, 1 sheet, scale 1:95,040
- Wengerd, S.A. and Matheny, M.L., 1958, "Pennsylvanian system of the Four Corners region", American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 42, no. 9, p. 2048-2106
- USGS GEOLEX database entry for 'Cutler' Accessed 18 March 2006 (public domain text)