Sequence Stratigraphy of Ramp-Setting Strand Plain Successions: The Gallup Sandstone, New Mexico

Chapter 9
Sequence Stratigraphy of Ramp-Setting

Strand Plain Successions: The Gallup
Sandstone, New Mexico
Dag Nummedal
Department of Geology and Geophysics
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.A.
C. M. Molenaar*
U.S. Geological Survey
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
ABSTRACT
The Gallup Sandstone of northwestern New Mexico is a northeastwardprograding clastic wedge of late Turonian to earliest Coniacian (Late
Cretaceous) age that pinches out about in the middle of the San Juan basin.
Paleoenvironmental and sequence stratigraphic studies indicate that the
Gallup is dominated by strand plain successions (tongues) that prograded
across a gently dipping ramp during repeated episodes of relative sea level
fall. These episodes were superimposed on a long-term (about 1.2 m.y.)
phase of relative sea level rise that controlled the overall forestepping and
aggradational stacking pattern of the tongues. The total stratigraphic rise of
all six Gallup tongues is about 120 m.
The Gallup is divided into chronostratigraphically significant packages
that are bounded by mappable surfaces of erosion and their downdip conformities. Outcrop studies present incontrovertible evidence, for at least
three of the Gallup tongues, that two concurrent erosional surfaces formed
during sea level falls in this ramp setting. The lower erosion surface forms a
sharp base of the shoreface and is referred to as a regressive surface of marine
erosion. This erosion surface generally correlates with conformities both
updip and downdip. The upper surface commonly juxtaposes estuarine and
fluvial sandstone on truncated shoreface successions and is referred to as a
regressive surface of subaerial erosion. We consider this upper surface to be the
sequence boundary. The strata between these two erosion surfaces belong to
the falling stage systems tract. The sequence boundary climbs stratigraphic
section (relative to the base of overlying shale) from landward to seaward
and becomes a conformity near the position of the lowstand shoreline.
* Deceased
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Nummedal and Molenaar
There is no mappable, erosional sequence boundary seaward of the

shoreface sandstones. Transgressions (floodings) were associated with deposition of thick coastal plain strata of the Crevasse Canyon Formation, partial
truncation of these strata by marine ravinement, and formation of a finingupward succession of offshore marine deposits. The ravinement surface
climbs stratigraphic section from seaward to landward.
The Gallup sequence architecture indicates that periods of relative sea
level fall were associated with progradation of shoreface sandstones, aggradation of offshore mudstones, and erosion on the coastal plain forming a
sequence boundary. Conversely, during (most of) the phase of relative sea
level rise, there was deposition on the coastal plain, erosion on the ravinement surface (transgression), and some deposition offshore. We believe that
this reciprocal style of sedimentation during sea level fall and rise is characteristic of many Western Interior Cretaceous sequences, even those that
form during very short intervals of time.
INTRODUCTION
Sequences in Ramp Settings
One of the basic tenets of sequence stratigraphy is
that stratal surfaces and most seismic reflectors are time
lines. These surfaces can provide better temporal resolution than biostratigraphic or radiometric data alone
(Vail, 1992). Moreover, sequence stratigraphy differs
from conventional stratigraphic approaches by explicitly recognizing that erosional surfaces in one part of the
basin correlate with sedimentary deposits elsewhere
(Frazier, 1974). In order to correctly apply sequence
stratigraphic correlation methods, therefore, it is essential that the genetic relationship between erosional surfaces, which are areas of sediment source or bypass, and
their correlative deposits are well understood.
Most of the early sequence stratigraphic models
(Vail, 1987; Posamentier et al., 1988; Vail et al., 1991)
were developed for the bathymetric profile of a continental margin where the bulk of the lowstand deposits
(basin-floor fans, etc.) are spatially separated from
most highstand strata by a bypass surface across the
continental shelf. In contrast, Cretaceous shallow
marine strata in the U.S. Western Interior were laid
down on gently sloping sea floors (ramps), where lowstand deposition generally was contiguous with the
preceding highstand. In such settings, the stratigraphic succession simply records one continuous
regression during highstand, fall, and the subsequent
lowstand. The evidence for relative sea level falls,
which are commonly associated with such regressions,
may be hard to discern. The first objective of this paper
is to identify the sedimentological and stratigraphic
signatures of such relative sea level falls.
An extensive body of literature on Cretaceous strata
of the Western Interior has produced the widely
accepted model that nearly all coastal plain and marine
sedimentation is regressive, and that transgressive

episodes are reflected in the stratigraphic column only
in the form of flooding surfaces. The sequence stratigraphic principles enunciated above would make us
question such interpretations. A model more consistent
with those principles would be the following one. Periods of relative sea level fall are associated with progradation of shoreface sandstones, aggradation of offshore
mudstones, and erosion on the coastal plain. Conversely, during most of the phase of relative sea level
rise, there is deposition on the coastal plain including
estuaries, as described by Devine (1991), erosion on the
ravinement surface (transgression), and some deposition offshore. The second objective of this paper is to
test whether this reciprocal style of sedimentation
during sea level fall and rise is consistent with
observed stratigraphic architecture.
Notable progress in understanding ramp-setting
sequence architecture has been made by Van Wagoner
et al. (1990), Plint and Norris (1991), Posamentier et al.
(1992), Posamentier and Allen (1993), and Vail et al.
(1991). This paper builds on these earlier studies, as
well as Nummedal (1992) and Nummedal et al. (1993),
in which the genetic relations between ramp deposits
and surfaces were addressed from the perspective of a
forward model. This model, which incorporates the
two sequence stratigraphic principles set forth at the
beginning, is tested here against sedimentological and
stratigraphic data on the Gallup Sandstone, a succession of strand plain and estuarine sandstones in northwestern New Mexico.
The Gallup Sandstone
The Late Cretaceous Gallup Sandstone of northwestern New Mexico and the northeastern corner of
Arizona is a northeastward-prograding sandstone
wedge within the thick marine Mancos Shale. It is
Sequence Stratigraphy of Ramp-Setting Strand Plain Successions: The Gallup Sandstone, New Mexico
279
Figure 1. Stratigraphic cross section showing Upper Cretaceous rocks across the San Juan basin, New Mexico
and Colorado. Control for section is based on detailed well-log correlations and, at the southern end, measured outcrop sections. Data on the Zuni uplift is projected from outcrops to the northwest. Lenticularity of
Tocito Sandstone Lentil is diagrammatic. Cen. = Cenomanian, Turon. = Turonian, Con. = Coniacian, San. =
Santonian, and Maastricht. = Maastrichtian. Modified from Molenaar and Baird (1991).
one of four such major Cretaceous sandstone wedges

within the San Juan basin of New Mexico and ranges
in thickness from 71 m (as per our revisionto be
discussed) at the Gallup principal reference section
(Molenaar, 1983) to a pinch-out edge across the central part of the basin (Figure 1). An almost continuous
belt of Gallup Sandstone crops out along the western,
southern, and southeastern margins of the San Juan

basin; augmented by well control within the basin, it
provides excellent data for stratigraphic and sedimentological study.
Over the years, more has been published on the
Gallup Sandstone than most other Cretaceous units of
the Western Interior. In the 1920s and 1930s, the
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Gallup was of interest because of its association with

coal deposits in the southern part of the San Juan
basin. In the 1950s and 1960s, and continuing to the
present, there was much interest in the Gallup by the
petroleum industry because of the many oil fields that
were discovered in the San Juan basin in what was
then considered to be the Gallup Sandstone (now the
Tocito Sandstone Lentil). Much of the earlier work
dealt with lithostratigraphy and correlations of the
Gallup and related strata (e.g., Sears, 1925, 1934; Pike,
1947; Beaumont, 1957; Dane et al., 1957; Molenaar,
1973, 1974, 1983). More recently, the Gallup has been
studied in terms of depositional systems and stratigraphy (McCubbin, 1982; Nummedal and Swift, 1987;
Nummedal, 1990; Flores et al., 1991; Jones et al., 1991),
thus becoming an ideal candidate for testing of highresolution sequence stratigraphic models. Although
this paper deals exclusively with the Gallup Sandstone, our regional experience in Cretaceous stratigraphy makes us believe that the Gallup is representative
of a broad class of Western Interior ramp deposits.
REGIONAL SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY

Revisions of Nomenclature
In addition to the emphasis on sequence stratigraphy, we propose in this paper that some of the lithostratigraphic terminology be revised. These proposed
changes will simplify the overall nomenclature, highlight lithologic differences, and clarify the genetic relationships between the marine and nonmarine parts of
this wedge. Several workers have commented on the
need for a revision of the nomenclature as a result of
detailed geologic mapping and investigations of depositional environments. Because of the regional scope of
this paper, we were encouraged to formalize these
revisions. Figure 2 shows the stratigraphic relationships and the proposed new nomenclature. A review
of the previous nomenclature and the reasons for
change are included in Appendix 1.
Database
The regional cross sections that form the foundation
for this study of the Gallup Sandstone are based on
more than 70 measured sections in the outcrop belts
along the margins of the San Juan basin and the
Acoma sag (Figure 3). With a few modifications, these
cross sections (Figures 46) are similar to those shown
as stick-form cross sections by Molenaar (1973, 1974,
1983). The 1983 sections included a correlation revision south of the San Juan basin from the 1973 and
1974 versions. One additional revision is included in
the current cross sections in the complex area west of
Gallup (Figure 5). Sequence boundaries and ravinement surfaces were not included on the older lithostratigraphic cross sections.
Most of the sections were originally measured in
1968 by Molenaar and colleagues while working for
Shell Oil Company, and some were measured as early
as 1957 by other Shell personnel. During recent years,
some of the sections have been remeasured, new ones

were added, and nearly all the original ones were visited by the authors and their co-workers. In order to
avoid confusion in the numbering system, the same
numbers used to designate individual measured sections in the previous papers by Molenaar (1973, 1974,
1983) are retained here. Where sections are added,
they are designated B, C, etc., with the number
referring to the nearest original section. For the
detailed cross sections to be discussed later, we also
made a number of observations between measured
sections; these are designated with the prefix S for
secondary sections. A complete list of all section locations, dates of measurements, and names of the
responsible parties is included in Appendix 2.
In measuring the Gallup sections, attempts were
made to locate them where they could be tied to the
base of the overlying Mulatto Tongue of the Mancos
Shale and the underlying Juana Lopez Member of the
Mancos Shale for correlation or datum purposes.
Where these datum planes were absent in the outcrop,
correlations to adjacent sections follow the regionally
flat tops of the major marine sand bodies. In constructing the cross sections, the base of the Tocito Sandstone
Lentil or the Mulatto Tongue was generally used as a
datum. In cross section AA (Figure 4) along the west
side of the basin and in cross section CC (Figure 6)
along the southeast side, this datum was tilted slightly
(1:5000) to represent the gentle seaward slope on the
marine transgressive surface (ravinement surface).
North of section 11B in cross section AA, no particular datum was used because of the differential tectonism that is thought to have affected that area
(Molenaar, 1973; Jennette et al., 1991; Nummedal and
Riley, 1991). Along the southern side of the San Juan
basin (cross section BB, Figure 5), the base of the
Mulatto Tongue is inferred to rise stratigraphically
where the Borrego Pass Lentil of the Crevasse Canyon
Formation is present. This rise is indicated by subsurface correlations (Figure 1; Molenaar, 1973, 1983;
Molenaar and Baird, 1992).
Figure 3 also shows the trends of the landward
pinch-outs of the individual Gallup Sandstone
tongues based on both surface and subsurface investigations. The landward pinch-outs, which essentially
parallel seaward pinch-outs, are easier to precisely
locate than the seaward ones. Sections AA and CC
are dip-oriented with respect to the Gallup shorelines,
and BB is an oblique strike section. Outcrops along
the updip parts of section CC are too widely spaced
for detailed sequence analysis.
Age of the Gallup Sandstone
New megafossil collections in the field, combined
with an improved Cretaceous time scale (Obradovich,
1993), permit the establishment of a refined Gallup
chronostratigraphy (Figure 7). The oldest Gallup fossil
is Inoceramus dimidius recovered from the F tongue in
the Zuni basin (Figure 3). The F tongue in the San Juan
basin proper falls in the late Turonian Scaphites whitfieldi ammonite zone. The top of the Juana Lopez
Figure 2. Schematic lithostratigraphic cross section of the Gallup Sandstone and associated units, using the revised nomenclature proposed in
this paper. The revisions lie in the use of the term Dilco Member and in making the Torrivio a member of the Crevasse Canyon Formation.
Note interfingering relationship between the Dilco and Torrivio members.
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Figure 3. Locations of principal measured sections superimposed on a map of the Gallup Sandstone outcrop belt along the margins of the San Juan basin. See Appendix 2 for precise locations. Regional cross sections consist of two dip-oriented sections (AA along the western side of the basin; CC along the
southeastern side) and one oblique strike section (BB along the southern basin margin). The detailed
cross sections, on which most of the sequence stratigraphic interpretations are based, are highlighted and
referenced with the appropriate figure number. The landward terminations of Gallup tongues A through F
are indicated. On the seaward side all tongues merge gradually with the Mancos Shale.
Figure 4. Regional, oblique dip-oriented cross section A-A of the Gallup Sandstone and
associated units based on measured outcrop sections along the western margin of the San
Juan basin. See Figure 3 for location of cross section and text for discussion.
Figure 5. Regional, oblique strike-oriented cross section B-B of the Gallup Sandstone and
associated units based on measured outcrop sections along the southern margin of the San
Juan basin. See Figure 3 for location of cross section.
Figure 6. Regional, dip-oriented cross section C-C of the Gallup Sandstone

and associated units based on measured outcrop sections along the southeastern margin of the San Juan basin. See Figure 3 for location of cross section.
E
Figure 11. Photographs of facies and surfaces of the Gallup Sandstone in the Nose Rock cliffs cross
section. Designated locations refer to sections of Figure 10. (A) Mosaic of the cliffs east of Nose Rock
Point. The view covers about 1.2 km in a dip direction (northeast is to the right). A very prominent
ravinement surface bisects the C tongue in this area. The C sequence boundary is a prominent break at
the top of the main cliff; the D sequence boundary is an unconformity to the west, but becomes a conformable surface a short distance east of this cliff. (B) Sandy channel fill deeply incised into shoreface
strata at the C sequence boundary. The Torrivio sequence boundary is visible a little higher in the cliff.
This stratigraphic succession is depicted in section S38D. (C) Geometry of the C sequence boundary a
few hundred meters northeast of photograph (B). Tidal channel(?) fill overlies the boundary. (D)
Close-up of sequence boundary in photograph (C). Note vertical channel walls and sandstone clasts in
the channel fill. (E) Exposure of the Gallup Sandstone at sections S38F to 38G. In the middle of the
cliff (section S38F, arrow), the C sequence boundary is deeply incised into the shoreface and overlain
by carbonaceous shale and accretion-bedded sandstone. Also, note large-scale accretion surfaces in the
Torrivio Sandstone in this cliff. Section 38G is measured at the east (right) end of this cliff. (F) The C
sequence boundary near the base of the C tongue at section 40B (the Pinedale oil seep). Very fine
grained, shoreface sandstone is erosionally overlain by 500 mm sandstone containing abundant carbonaceous fragments. R.W. Tillman for scale. (G) Burrowed sandstone bed in Yazzi sandstone above
the (D) sequence boundary at section S38E. (H) The Pinedale oil seep at the Torrivio sequence boundary in section 40B. R.W. Tillman for scale.
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Figure 7. Chronostratigraphic relationships of the Gallup Sandstone and associated strata showing biostratigraphic and radiometric age control. Fossil identification and zonation by W. A. Cobban; radiometric dates
by Obradovich (1993). Note magnitude of error bars.
Member of the Mancos Shale in locations distal to the
Gallup shoreline also contains S. whitfieldi. This suggests that progradation of the updip Gallup Sandstone
commenced while Juana Lopez facies were still accumulating in basinward locations.
Several collections of Prionocyclus germari document
that the major phase of Gallup progradation (C
tongue) occurred in this zone, the youngest of the late
Turonian ammonite zones (Cobban, 1984; Obradovich,
1993). Fossil collections immediately below the B
tongue of the Gallup Sandstone near its pinch-out on
the Four Corners platform (e.g., between sections 9

and 8, Figure 4) yield a late Turonian age. The early
Coniacian Inoceramus erectus has been identified in the
A tongue near Shiprock Wash on the southern Four
Corners platform (Figure 4, section 11B) and from several Gallup outcrops in the southeastern areas of the
basin (such as Maxwell et al., 1989, p. 4), some of
which may be the B tongue. Therefore, an early Coniacian age is assigned to the youngest Gallup Sandstone
(Figure 7). In light of Obradovichs (1993) radiometric
time scale, which is calibrated with 39Ar40Ar dates
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from early late Turonian and middle Coniacian bentonites (Figure 7, left column), the biozones spanned
by the Gallup Sandstone probably represent a total
duration of about 1.2 m.y.
Stacking Patterns
The Gallup Sandstone represents the progradation
of broad strand plains, and probably associated deltas,
toward the northeast (Molenaar, 1973, 1974; McCubbin, 1982). The overall progradation is associated with
a total stratigraphic rise of about 120 m. This rise
occurs in the form of six tongues of Gallup Sandstone,
most of which are separated by tongues of Mancos
Shale (Figures 2 and 4). In descending order, these
Gallup Sandstone tongues have been designated A
through F (Molenaar, 1973, 1974, 1983). These tongues
grade seaward into marine mudstones of the Mancos
Shale and intertongue landward with nonmarine
coastal plain and fluvial sandstone deposits of the
Dilco Member of the Crevasse Canyon Formation (Figure 2). They overlie the lower part of the Mancos Shale
and, at their northeast margin, are overlain by the
upper part of the Mancos Shale, including estuarine
and offshore sand-ridge deposits of the Tocito Sandstone Lentil of the Mancos Shale (Riley, 1993).
Because the stratigraphic rise of the Gallup Sandstone and associated coastal plain deposits of the Dilco
is about 120 m (Figures 4 and 6), and all Gallup
tongues contain facies deposited within a few meters
of sea level, the net relative sea level rise during the 1.2
m.y. of Gallup deposition must have been more than
120 m, accounting for compaction. As documented by
the overall stacking pattern of the six Gallup Sandstone tongues, this relative sea level rise was anything
but smooth and continuous. The pattern is one of general aggradation of tongues F, E, and D, major progradation of tongues C and B, and aggradation again in
the position of tongue A relative to B (Figures 2, 4, and
6). This suggests that long-term relative sea level,
which provides the first-order control on accommodation for nearshore and shallow marine deposits, rose
rapidly during deposition of tongues F, E, and D, such
that these strand plains were confined to the southwestern basin margin (Figure 3) and separated by relatively thick tongues of marine Mancos Shale (Figures 2
and 4). Tongues C and B may have been deposited
during short-term falls within a long-term phase of
slow rise or stillstand, and tongue A represents a
renewed phase of faster long-term rise.
Although the Gallup Sandstone and Dilco interval,
as a whole, represents a major relative sea level rise, it
is a central theme in our paper that the detailed
sequence architecture reflects individual short-term
sea level fluctuations associated with each tongue.
These short-term fluctuations were superimposed on
the long-term trends inferred from the stacking patterns. Each short-term sea level cycle probably lasted a
couple of hundred thousand years. Based on analysis
presented in Nummedal et al. (1993), we hypothesize
that individual prograding Gallup Sandstone tongues
formed during short-term episodes of sea level fall or
stillstand, and rocks associated with short-term

episodes of sea level rise and transgression consist of
the estuarine sandstones, fine-grained mudrocks, and
coals of the Dilco Member of the Crevasse Canyon
Formation. Data in general support of this hypothesis
are presented below.
As corollaries of this hypothesis that accommodation is controlled by composite long-term and shortterm sea level fluctuations, we would also predict that
the stratigraphic signature of relative sea level falls,
that is, regional sequence boundaries, should be best
developed in those tongues in which the falls are associated with an overall slow long-term rise. In contrast,
during phases of rapid long-term rise, it seems much
less likely that a superimposed signal of short-term fall
would produce enough of a relative fall to register in
the stratigraphic record as a major unconformity
(Mitchum and Van Wagoner, 1991). The corollary hypothesis, therefore, is that sequence-bounding unconformities are best developed in the C and B tongues,
and that the boundaries in the F, E, and D tongues
would be very subtle unconformities, or correlative
conformities.
The testing of these hypotheses requires that all
erosional surfaces and deposits be precisely identified in terms of their genesis. Therefore, a brief
overview of the depositional systems of the Gallup
Sandstone and Crevasse Canyon Formation is in
order before the high-resolution sequence stratigraphic analysis is presented.
DEPOSITIONAL SYSTEMS
For detailed analysis of the depositional systems in
the Gallup Sandstone and related units the reader is
referred to papers by Molenaar (1973), McCubbin
(1982), and Flores et al. (1991). What follows is a brief
summary of the key distinguishing characteristics
emphasizing physical and biogenic structures, vertical
and lateral textural trends, and contact relationships.
Illustrations of the facies are included in discussions of
the individual, detailed cross sections below. The systems are grouped into open marine (influenced by
oceanic waves), coastal (influenced by salt water but
no large waves), and continental.
Open Marine Systems
Offshore
Bioturbated or laminated mudstones and minor
amounts of interbedded, rippled, very fine grained
sandstones characterize offshore strata of the Mancos
Shale. Successions may be coarsening- or finingupward on a scale of several meters. They contain a
suite of shallow marine trace fossils including Chondrites, Terebellina, and Planolites, as well as rare to
locally common body fossils of ammonites, inoceramids, and oysters. The contact between offshore and
overlying shoreface strata may be sharp or gradational.
Where sharp, the contact is commonly associated with
gutter casts, narrow channels, and mudstone intra-
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clasts, all inferred to be products of storm erosion on

the shelf (Myrow, 1992), and probably associated with
a phase of relative sea level fall (Plint, 1988; Walker and
Plint, 1992). The sharp surface is referred to as a regressive surface of marine erosion. Where gradational, the
contact with the shoreface is referred to as an offshoretransition zone and consists of interbedded, hummocky cross-stratified fine-grained sandstone and
mudstone, similar to those documented at a water
depth of 25 m or less on the inner Texas shelf by Snedden and Nummedal (1991). Offshore and transition
zone beds range in thickness from one centimeter to
several decimeters and are commonly laterally continuous on scales of several 10s to 100s of meters.
high-energy systems and generally limited to broken

fragments of inoceramids and small pelecypods.
Shoreface
Estuaries
All estuaries are marine-dominated near their
mouth, fluvial-dominated at their head, and of mixed
marinefluvial influence in the middle. This threefold
division of subenvironments gives rise to a finingthen coarsening-upward vertical facies succession in
most estuarine deposits. The sandy deposits at the seaward end of wave-dominated estuaries are referred to
as an estuary-mouth sand plug by Dalrymple et al.
(1992). Such sand plugs are common in the Gallup
Sandstone and are characterized by multiple sets of
double mud drapes, herringbone cross-stratification,
and generally bidirectional paleocurrent indicators.
The coarsest beds may be at the base or near the top of
the estuarine succession.
Most of the estuary-mouth sand plug deposits are
heavily burrowed by Ophiomorpha and Thalassinoides
and contain Gyrochorte traces on rippled bedding
planes. One particular estuarine deposit, the Yazzi
sandstone (to be defined below), contains particularly well-developed, 1 to 2 cm thick, cylindrical borings of Teredolites clavatus (Bromley et al., 1984)
forming a continuous layer in a xylic (woodground)
substrate. We believe that these woodgrounds formed
by transportation and breakup of decaying trees from
the shores of a transgressive estuary, a mechanism
recently advocated by Savrda et al. (1993).
Overlying these coarse strata there may be laminated or bioturbated mudstones having great lateral
continuity, no distinct vertical textural trends, and
abundant small wave ripples. These are central estuary mud deposits. Heterolithic strata containing flaser
and lenticular bedding interbedded with intensely
burrowed mudstone intervals are interpreted as
mixed tidal flats or mud flats. The relative scarcity of
this latter facies suggests that tidal flats were a minor
component of the Gallup coastal plain environment.
The landward end of estuaries contain bay-head
deltas (in wave-dominated estuaries), or upper flow
regime sand flats and tidal-fluvial channels (in tidedominated estuaries; Dalrymple et al., 1992). Gallup
facies interpreted as bay-head deltas generally form
coarsening-upward successions above mudstone
intervals; they may be heavily burrowed, but do not
contain the saltwater ichnogenera listed above. Tidalfluvial channel deposits (1) fine upward, (2) contain
drapes of mud, mica, and disseminated carbonaceous
Shoreface successions consist of amalgamated

sandstone units characterized by an upward-coarsening textural trend. Sedimentary structures change
upward from hummocks through horizontal laminae
or swales into trough cross-bedding. Troughs occur
only where the mean grain size exceeds 175 m. The
lower shoreface is easily recognized by a distinct alternation of hummocky cross-stratified and heavily burrowed beds. The laminated beds reflect discrete storm
deposits (Snedden and Nummedal, 1991), and the bioturbated interbeds are inferred to represent time periods of few severe storms (Howard and Reineck, 1981).
The upper shoreface is equivalent to the surf zone in
coastal dynamics, and the trough cross-sets are a product of longshore and rip currents. Tabular sets, formed
by onshore migration of bars during storm recovery
phases (Clifton, 1981), are also locally encountered in
the upper Gallup shoreface.
Foreshore
Beach deposits are relatively rare in the Gallup
Sandstone, probably because they are easily truncated
by the ravinement surface during transgressions and
by channel-base diastems during regressions. Where
present, beach deposits are dominated by subhorizontal cross-beds having gentle seaward dips arranged in
wedge-shaped sets. Locally, these sets are interbedded
with small trough cross-sets. The laminae are inversely graded. Rusty patches, indicative of weathered
heavy mineral placers, are widespread. Locally, the
Gallup beach deposits contain accumulations of heavy
mineral placers (McCubbin, 1982).
The bed thickness of shoreface and beach strata
ranges from decimeters to several meters. Beds are laterally continuous over 100s to 1000s of meters and
generally of constant thickness. Shoreface successions
may locally be intensely contorted by soft-sediment
deformation, suggestive of very rapid shoreline progradation.
Shoreface strata contain a suite of trace fossils including Ophiomorpha, Thalassinoides, Asterosoma, Rhizocorallium, Chondrites, and Planolites. Beach deposits generally
contain no burrows, but Macaronichnus segregatis
(Clifton and Thompson, 1978) is locally encountered in
a narrow stratigraphic interval inferred to be the beachto-shoreface transition. Body fossils are rare in these
Coastal Systems
Classification
The classification of coastal systems used throughout this paper is the one proposed by Boyd et al. (1992)
and Dalrymple et al. (1992). The coastal environment
includes estuaries, lagoons, barriers, tidal flats, and
delta plains. Although a strand plain as a morphological entity clearly is part of the coastal zone, the primary
depositional surface is the associated shoreface, which
is here considered an open marine environment.
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fragments, (3) sometimes have bidirectional paleocurrent directions, and (4) differ from tidal channel
deposits at the seaward end of the estuary in that they
are never burrowed. Clearly, the limit of physical
action of the tides on the Gallup coastal plain was
landward of the zone of saltwater influence.
Updip Gallup C Tongue

Cross SectionsDescriptions
Database
Hogback to Hardground Canyon

A nearly continuous, 9 km long, dip-oriented section of the Gallup C and D tongue interval in the southwest part of the San Juan basin (Figure 3) was
constructed from five measured sections and numerous observations (Figure 8). The Gallup E and F
tongues also are present in this area (Figure 9A) but are
not continuously exposed. The upper boundary of the
interval of interest in this study is the erosional
sequence boundary at the base of the fluvial Torrivio
Sandstone Member of the Crevasse Canyon Formation.
The D tongue in this area is entirely a lower
shoreface consisting of alternating 20 to 50 cm thick
bioturbated and hummocky cross-stratified beds. An
erosional surface with several meters of local relief
separates this shoreface from overlying estuarine
deposits (Figures 9B and 9C). For ease of subsequent
reference, this estuarine sand body will be informally
referred to as the Yazzi sandstone, after the Yazzi
family, who hold grazing rights to the surrounding
lands. The estuarine sand body is overlain by finegrained, carbonaceous mud rocks of the Dilco Member of the Crevasse Canyon Formation. The mud
rocks increase in thickness at the expense of the Yazzi
sandstone in a paleo-landward direction. Abruptly
overlying the Yazzi sandstone in sections 29E and
38A is a fine-grained, sharp-based, mostly bioturbated tabular sandstone, interpreted as a shoreface
(Figure 9D and E).
Internal accretion beds, channel-base diastems and
bipolar paleocurrent trends, locally with a dominant
southwestward mode (paleo-landward; section S29D)
demonstrate that the Yazzi sandstone is a tidal complex, probably a subfacies of Dalrymple et al. (1992)
estuary-mouth sand plug. In their model, the estuarymouth sand plug overlies the central estuary muds. In
contrast, the Yazzi sandstone is overlain by mudstone
facies (the lower Dilco Member). This opposite vertical
succession is documented for the Delaware coastal
plain by Demarest and Kraft (1987, p. 227), who also
state that tidal flat, estuarine/lagoon, and tidal shoal
or channel . . . can occur in any vertical order and commonly repeat vertically. The Yazzi sandstone is truncated by a ravinement surface at the base of the C
tongue shoreface (Figure 9E). The shoreface deposit at
section 29E (Figures 8 and 9D) is the farthest updip
location of the C tongue shoreface; from here it can be
followed continuously for about 60 km to its downdip
pinch-out. At the top of the C tongue in section 38B,
there is another small channel scour (Figure 9F), the
significance of which will become clear after the presentation of the next detailed cross section (Figure 10).
This analysis of high-resolution sequence stratigraphy is based on four detailed outcrop sections depicting windows in the regional cross sections already
presented. The stratigraphic analysis is based on documentation and interpretation of all depositional systems and lateral tracing (walking-out) of key
bounding surfaces.
Nose Rock Cliffs

East of Nose Rock Point, a prominent topographic
feature 1.9 km southeast of section 38A (Figure 3),
there is continuous, dip-oriented exposure of the
Gallup Sandstone and the overlying Dilco and Torrivio Sandstone members for a distance of several kilo-
Flood-Tidal Deltas
Although flood-tidal deltas are part of the estuarymouth sand plug of Dalrymple et al. (1992), they can
often be separated as a distinct facies. Convincing
flood-tidal delta deposits show distal interfingering
with lagoonal mudstones, coarsening- and thickeningupward cross-bed sets (Israel et al., 1987; Boothroyd,
1989), a dominant mode of landward-directed paleocurrent indicators, and bioturbated abandonment
surfaces related to delta lobe switching. Also, some
flood-tidal delta deposits show low-angle accretion
bedding into the mudstones of the central estuary fill.
Washover Fans
Washover fan deposits have a large-scale sedimentary architecture similar to small flood-tidal deltas, but
they lack internal evidence of tides. The internal bedding is often deformed, indicative of very rapid deposition, and horizontal laminae or current ripples are
the dominant sedimentary structures.
Tidal Channels
Channel-form sand bodies with thicknesses
between 1 and 20 m, lateral accretion sets of heterolithic strata, bipolar or multidirectional paleocurrent trends, herringbone cross-bedding, double mud
drapes, and a saltwater ichnofossil assemblage are
interpreted as tidal channel deposits. Generally, but
not always, the channel sand bodies fine upward.
Continental Systems
A detailed analysis of fluvial channel sandstones,
levees, crevasse splays, and peat-forming flood-plain
and delta-plain environments in the Crevasse Canyon
Formation has been presented in Kirk and Zech (1984),
Flores et al. (1991), and Miall (1992). For this stratigraphic study, it is sufficient to differentiate this suite
of continental deposits from those of marine affinity.
The latter are characterized by the assemblages of fossils, trace fossils, and physical sedimentary structures
described above.
HIGH-RESOLUTION
SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY
meters. Figure 10 is a detailed cross section along 4.2

km of these exposures showing the critical stratigraphic relationships in the updip part of the C
tongue. From Nose Rock Point to the northeast (an
area informally termed Nose Rock cliffs), this section
is nearly parallel to the section in Figure 8, but offset a
few kilometers to the east (Figure 3).
The D tongue of the Gallup Sandstone is a prominent, sharp-based shoreface succession at Nose Rock
Point (section 38C). It pinches out into Mancos Shale a
few kilometers farther to the east, between sections 38
and 39 (Figure 5). The D tongue is truncated by the
erosional surface at the base of the Yazzi sandstone.
This surface can be traced along the base of the Yazzi
sandstone through the Nose Rock cliffs to the east of
section S38E, where outcrop control is lost. Near its
seaward truncation, the Yazzi sandstone is a 1 m thick,
estuarine storm(?) bed, intensely burrowed at the top
(Figure 11G). Farther landward, the Yazzi facies in
these cliffs are similar to those described with reference to Figure 8, except for the presence of a thin, estuarine Teredolites-bored woodground and shale bed
below the prominent channel-base diastem in section
38C (top unit 12; see Nummedal and Remy, 1989, their
figure 4-30D). Measured section 38C through the
Yazzi sandstone (Figure 10) is nearly identical to the
Dalrymple et al. (1992, their Figure 13) model section
through an estuary-mouth sand plug, including the
erosional base, basal mud-clast lag, and vertical trends
in texture and sedimentary structures. It should be
noted that although the Yazzi sandstone is truncated
at the base of the C tongue shoreface (see below), it is
still considered part of the C tongue.
The Yazzi estuarine sand body is gradually truncated toward the east by a prominent, seaward-dipping erosional surface interpreted as a ravinement.
The Yazzi is completely removed east of section S38E.
This is a parallel exposure of the same ravinement surface traced in Figure 8. A photomosaic of the western
1.2 km of this cliff documents the distinctive ravinement surface (Figure 11A). Overlying the ravinement
is the shoreface of the Gallup C tongue. This surface
represents the final, most landward, equilibrium
shoreface profile attained during the transgression
after D tongue deposition. Relative to the horizontal
top of the C tongue shoreface, this surface has an offshore slope of 1:250. This corresponds well to presentday shoreface slopes along the northwest Gulf of
Mexico (Nummedal et al., 1993).
These two updip cross sections, Figures 8 and 10,
document the facies association at the landward turnaround of the shoreline between D and C tongue
progradation. It should be emphasized that the facies
association observed here appears typical of such
turnaround positions; the same patterns were
observed in mid-Pleistocene strata of the Delaware
coastal plain by Demarest and Kraft (1987, their Figure
5), and in the Cretaceous Point Lookout Sandstone of
the San Juan basin by Devine (1991, his Figure 17).
The top of the Gallup C tongue shoreface in the
Nose Rock cliffs area is incised by deeply scoured
channels, some more than 10 m deep. In section S38D,
287
the channel is filled with massive, fine- to mediumgrained sandstone (Figure 11B) changing eastward
into thin-bedded sandstone and shale (Figure 11C) of
fluvial origin. Close-up views reveal that many channels had vertical or overhanging walls and were filled
with rounded clasts of the underlying shoreface sandstone (Figure 11D). These observations strongly suggest that the shoreface of the Gallup C tongue was
already lithified at the time of incision. This surface of
incision at the top of the C tongue can be traced far
downdip. There is another deep incision at section
38F, where the channel is filled by dark, carbonaceous
mudstone and fine-grained sandstone (arrow in Figure 11E). At section 40B (Figure 5, below the Pinedale
oil seep of Molenaar, 1977) there is a third deeply
incised channel filled with coarse-grained, carbonaceous sandstone, again of probable fluvial origin (Figure 11F). These fluvial channel fills are all overlain by
carbonaceous mudrocks of the Dilco Member. Palynomorphs from these facies at section 40B demonstrate a brackish-water depositional environment (R.
Witmer, 1992, personal communication).
The Torrivio Sandstone Member forms a continuous body of medium- to coarse-grained, fluvial channel sandstone throughout these cliffs. Molenaar (1977)
has demonstrated, however, that on a broader scale,
the Torrivio forms a series of closely spaced, but discontinuous, channel sand bodies. Our observations,
and those by Wood (1992), indicate that a sharp, continuous surface separates the Torrivio from the underlying Dilco Member along the Nose Rock cliffs. Thick
sets of lateral accretion surfaces characterize the Torrivio in this region (Figure 11E; Miall, 1992). The bestknown oil seep in the San Juan basin is located at the
base of the Torrivio Sandstone Member on the east
side of Ram Mesa (Figure 5, section 40B; Figure 11H;
and Molenaar, 1977).
Sequence Stratigraphy
Interpretations
The facies architecture documented by the cross
sections in Figures 8 and 10 presents an excellent case
in support of the sequence stratigraphic principle of
reciprocal sedimentation referred to in the introduction. The regressive deposits are the Gallup D and C
tongue shorefaces and correlative offshore facies of the
Mancos Shale. The sharp base of the D tongue in section 38C (and sharp base of the C tongue at more distal
locations, see below) suggests a relative sea level fall
during at least part of these two regressive episodes.
The subaerial unconformities, reflecting coastal plain
bypass of sediment during these regressions, lie at the
contact between the D tongue shoreface and the Yazzi,
and the C tongue shoreface and overlying incised valley fills, respectively.
The truncation of an estuary-mouth sand plug by a
ravinement surface is clear evidence of transgression.
Therefore, the landward end of the Gallup C tongue
(the Yazzi sandstone) is a transgressive deposit,
whereas the downdip, and much more extensive, C
tongue shoreface is regressive. The basal mudstone
Figure 8. Detailed cross section of the Gallup Sandstone between the Hogback and Hardground Canyon (between sections 29C and 39). See Figures 3
and 5 for location. This cross section is based on five measured (and observed) sections and nearly continuous tracing of all contacts between those sections (about 80% outcrop coverage). See text for designation of the depositional systems and choice of sequence boundaries.
290
Torrivio
D-SB
Yazzi ss
Yazzi ss
D Tongue
D-SB
E Tongue
F Tongue
D Tongue
Yazzi ss
Yazzi ss
D-SB
D-SB
D Shoreface
D Shoreface
C Shoreface
Ravinement
Yazzi ss
D-SB
C-SB
C Shoreface
Figure 9. Photographs of facies, sequence boundaries (SB), and other surfaces of the Gallup
Sandstone in the Hogback to Hardground Canyon cross section. Designated locations refer to
sections on Figure 8. (A) Incised channel on the D sequence boundary in section 29C. Tidal
channel fill (informal Yazzi sandstone) erosionally overlies lower shoreface of the D tongue.
The Torrivio Sandstone Member caps the section. The term Yazzi sandstone refers to an
informal unit within the C tongue of the Gallup. (B) Close-up photograph of the D sequence
boundary in section 29C. Trough cross-bedded, 250 m, tidal channel sandstone erosionally
overlies bioturbated, 125 m, lower shoreface strata. (C) The D sequence boundary lies directly above the two geologists heads in this photograph of the exposure at section 29E.
Estuarine facies (Yazzi sandstone) erosionally overlie lower shoreface. (D) General stratigraphy on the north side of Yazzi canyon east of section 29E. Note prominent base of the C
shoreface and the distinct surface at its base (ravinement). The D sequence boundary is present, but difficult to see, in this fresh exposure. (E) Measured section 38B. The D sequence
boundary and the ravinement surface are both very distinctive. (F) The C sequence boundary
in section 38B. The facies contrast across this boundary is the same as at the D sequence
boundary in the same area; a tidal channel fill erosionally overlies a shoreface.
Figure 10. Detailed cross section of the Gallup Sandstone along Nose Rock cliffs (between sections 38A and 38G). See Figures 3 and 5 for location
and Figure 8 for symbols legend. This cross section is based on six measured and observed sections over a distance of only 4.2 km and continuous
tracing of all contacts between those sections (nearly 100% outcrop coverage). See text for discussion.
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292
facies of the Dilco Member may also be transgressive,

but there are no direct sedimentological criteria that
allow differentiating these deposits from the overlying
mudstones associated with the onset of the next
regression. The seaward thinning of the Dilco mudstones above the Yazzi sandstone suggests deposition
during an early regressive phase in which a bay-head
delta, to the left of the cross section in Figure 8, gradually filled the transgressive estuary and caused abandonment of the tidal channels at its mouth. Redfield
(1972), Roy et al. (1980), and Thomas (1990) have documented such evolutionary patterns in Holocene estuaries. The fluvial fill of the deeply incised channels at
the top of the C tongue is probably related to the earliest phase of rising relative sea level before commencement of the next transgression.
The internal differences between the transgressive
facies above the D and C tongue reflect the forestepping nature of these two tongues (Figures 2 and 4). At
the time of maximum flooding above the D tongue, the
shoreline was near Nose Rock Point. The ravinement
surface that extends from this point seaward within
the C tongue depicts the precise location of the
shoreface at the time of turnaround. The associated
transgressive deposits behind the shoreline would be
expected to represent the most seaward, marine-dominated estuarine facies: the estuary-mouth sand plug.
At the time of maximum flooding above the C tongue,
the shoreline turned around about 40 km farther seaward (Figure 3). The associated transgressive deposits
in the Nose Rock cliffs area, therefore, represent more
landward estuarine and fluvial facies. The incised
channel fill and overlying, brackish Dilco mud rocks
are inferred to represent the alluvial channel and central estuary facies.
Terminology
The major subaerial erosion surfaces documented
in these cross sections are sequence boundaries because:
(1) they are regional unconformities that become conformable downdip (see below), (2) they are associated
with a significant seaward shift in facies (abrupt shoaling), (3) they represent breaks in the succession of
related facies, or an interruption of the continuity
implied by Walthers Law, and (4) they recur in the
same relative stratigraphic position in all Gallup Sandstone tongues that we have examined. They are
labeled the D and C sequence boundaries and are
associated with episodes of relative sea level fall and
progradation of their respective shorefaces. This
choice of sequence boundaries corresponds to that in
Van Wagoner et al. (1990, 1991), Hunt and Tucker
(1992), Nummedal (1992), and Nummedal et al. (1993).
The principal transgressive erosion surface is the
ravinement. The term flooding surface is not used
here because flooding (sudden water deepening)
occurs both at the time of initial formation of a transgressive estuary (bay or initial flooding surface;
Nummedal et al., 1993) and at the time of shoreface
ravinement.
The sedimentological evidence for lithification of
the C shoreface prior to its erosion suggests a greater
lacuna on the sequence boundary in the C tongue than

at any other boundary we have traced in the entire
Gallup succession. The fact that most sediments
directly above the C sequence boundary appear to be
fluvial rather than tidal also demonstrates a greater
seaward displacement of facies across this boundary.
This may be due to a greater, and longer-lasting, relative sea level fall during progradation of the C tongue
than that associated with any of the other tongues.
Updip Gallup B Tongue Cross Sections
Descriptions
Orientation Relative to the Shoreline
The cross sections of the updip margin of the
Gallup B tongue are located north of Grants, which lies
about midway between the updip parts of the Gallup
outcrop belt (Nose Rock Point) and the Gallup pinchout into Mancos Shale (Figure 3). The alignment of
these cliffs relative to the trend of the Gallup shoreline
is such that section 50, at Mulatto Canyon, is the farthest seaward outcrop (Figure 3). In Figure 5, the measured sections are arranged successively along the
outcrop belt with numbers increasing from west to
east. Consequently, sections 48 to 50 record progressively more seaward settings (Figure 12). Sections 50
to 52B, in contrast, record a landward progression. For
easier comparison, the order is turned around in Figure 13 such that this high-resolution cross section has
the same depositional dip direction (to the right) as
does Figure 12.
Ambrosia Lake Area
The high-resolution cross section (Figure 12) of the
Gallup Sandstone in the Ambrosia Lake area extends
for 14.2 km between sections 48 and 50. It documents
the sequence geometry at the landward termination of
the B tongue and the abrupt thinning (near seaward
termination) of the underlying C tongue. Correlations
are difficult in the western parts of this section
(between sections 48 and S48B) because of faulting and
discontinuous outcrops. Farther east (seaward), the
outcrops are nearly continuous.
The Gallup C tongue is mostly a sharp-based
shoreface in this distal position (Figure 14A). The
sharp base is attributed to erosion in the offshore
zone in response to relative sea level fall during
regression (Plint, 1988). Steeply tilted beds consisting
of nonburrowed, rippled, micaceous sandstone
locally underlie the Gallup C tongue shoreface at section 48 (Figure 14B). No other nearby section contains
these. We speculate, but cannot prove, that these represent lateral accretion surfaces of a tidal-fluvial
channel deposit stratigraphically equivalent to the
Yazzi sandstone.
From section 49A to the seaward end of the cross
section, the C tongue is truncated by a ravinement
surface. Landward of section 49A, the top of the C
tongue is incised by channels, some of which are
filled by estuarine mudstone (e.g., at S48B). This erosional surface can be traced discontinuously back to
the base of the deeply incised channels in the Nose
Figure 12. Detailed cross section of the Gallup Sandstone in the cliffs west, north, and east of Ambrosia Lake (sections 48A to 50). See Figures 3
and 5 for location and Figure 8 for symbols legend. This cross section is based on six measured and observed sections and tracing of all contacts
between those sections (about 70% outcrop coverage). See text for discussion.
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294
Rock cliffs (Figure 5); this surface, therefore, is the C

sequence boundary.
The transgressive deposits related to the ravinement surface include estuary-mouth sand plug facies
overlying central estuary mudstones and, in part, the
landward-thinning wedge of Mancos Shale in section
50 (Figures 12 and 14E). The sand plug facies in section
S48B (unit 3b) (1) has an abrupt, nonerosional base
with large load casts, (2) contains herringbone crossstratification, marine burrows, and organic-rich mud
drapes, and (3) is dominated by southwestward paleocurrent indicators. It probably represents a floodtidal delta lobe loaded abruptly onto central estuarine
muds. This flood-tidal delta thins rapidly landward.
The flood-tidal delta constitutes the landward termination of the Gallup B tongue. The tidal delta
changes seaward into a major channel system with a
distinct erosional base (Figure 12, section 49A; Figure
14C and D). The channel truncates lower shoreface
strata; the fill is dominated by seaward-directed paleocurrent indicators but contains herringbone crossstratification in the upper part. Mud clasts and drapes
are common. Rare, centimeter-sized lithic clasts occur
along the channel base. The channel disappears seaward, and correlative strata constitute the well-developed shoreface of the Gallup B tongue between
sections S49B and 50. This is clearly a tidal channel,
possibly the main ebb channel of an ebb-tidal delta
(Hayes, 1980). The lateral facies change from section
49A to S49B corresponds directly to that documented
for a proximal to distal transect of the ebb-tidal delta at
North Edisto Inlet in South Carolina (Imperato et al.,
1988). It is difficult, however, to differentiate distal
ebb-tidal delta facies from those of the adjacent strand
plain shoreface.
Marquez Ranch
The Marquez Ranch cross section (Figure 13) also
documents the landward termination of the B tongue
and the seaward thinning of the C tongue. Internally,
however, the C tongue in this area consists mainly of
fluvial and tidal channel fill, suggesting the presence of
a major incised valley (trunk drainage?). At the farthest
landward location (section 52B), there are no shoreface
or offshore transition facies in the C tongue. Instead, a
coarsening-upward succession of estuarine mudstone,
bay-head delta and fluvial channel deposits rests
directly on an erosion surface that was cut deeply into
the Mancos Shale (Figure 15A). Note that this section
(at Grants Canyon) is separated from the others by 18
km because of the Mt. Taylor volcanic cover; all the
other sections are fairly closely spaced on the Marquez
Ranch. At section 51C, the C tongue is also deeply
incised into the offshore Mancos Shale (Figures 15B
and 15C). The base of the valley fill is a distinct channel
facies (fluvial-tidal in the terminology of Dalrymple et
al., 1992); this is overlain by thick, horizontally bedded,
upper flow regime sand-flat facies. This incised valley
was at least 20 m deep and probably some 20 km wide
(Figure 13). Farther north the incised valley fill of the C
tongue gradually climbs stratigraphic section, such
that a progressively thicker C tongue shoreface is preserved beneath the sequence boundary. At section 51B,
more than 3 m of the lower shoreface is preserved (Figure 15D). The shoreface is sharp based, and lateral
accretion surfaces characterize the overlying sandy
channel fill (Figure 15D). Locally, medium-grained
sandstones with mud draped cross-beds directly overlie the erosion surface (Figure 15E). Between sections
S50A and 50 the channel fill abruptly thins and disappears. This margin probably represents the original
channel bank. The upper parts of the channel fill were
also truncated by the ravinement surface (Figure 15F).
The ravinement surface truncating the C tongue
valley fill in this cross section is the same as the one
traced in the Ambrosia Lake cross section (Figure 12).
The ravinement loses its identity landward of sections
49A and S51B, suggesting that a line connecting these
two sections (see Figure 3) defines the position of the
shoreline at the time of maximum flooding between C
and B tongue progradation.
The B tongue has an abrupt landward termination
in this cross section. There are no tidal delta deposits
of the kind documented in the Ambrosia Lake section.
Landward of the shoreline turnaround, at the left end
of the ravinement surface, there are mostly carbonaceous mudstones of estuarine origin (sections 52B and
51C). In the broad estuaries that probably characterized the Gallup coastal plain at the time of maximum
flooding, the tidal deltas would only occupy a small
part, and would probably be positioned against one of
the margins of the estuary mouth.
The last phase of development of the Gallup Sandstone in the Grants to Mulatto Canyon cross section is
recorded in the regressive shoreface of the B tongue.
This shoreface developed great thickness over a very
short distance directly seaward of its landward beginning. This suggests that relative sea level continued to
rise fairly rapidly after maximum flooding, thereby
creating accommodation space near the highstand
turnaround shoreline. In order to document the farther downdip character of the B tongue, one needs to
examine the outcrop belt on the northwest side of the
San Juan basin, specifically in the region around
Sanostee (Figure 3).
Sanostee Area
This area is discussed with reference to Figure 4,
because all the sections that were measured are
included in the regional cross section. The part of the
cross section discussed extends along the northwest
margin of the San Juan basin for a total distance of 23.6
km from section 15B to 11B (Figure 3). The parallel cross
section along Rock Ridge, a few kilometers to the east
(lower insert in Figure 4), documents a similar stratigraphy but is not explicitly included in the discussion.
The Gallup C tongue pinches out seaward of section 13A. This pinch-out is on strike with the observed
C tongue pinch-out at Mulatto Canyon (section 50).
The C tongue shoreface near Sanostee has a fairly
abrupt but nonerosional base, followed by an upward
succession of beds that first thicken and then thin over
Figure 13. Detailed cross section of the Gallup Sandstone between Grants Canyon (section 52B only) and the Marquez Ranch (sections 51C to 50).
See Figures 3 and 5 for location and Figure 8 for symbols legend. This cross section is based on eight measured and observed sections and several
checks between (about 70% outcrop coverage on the ranch, but no control between sections 51C and 52B). See text for discussion.
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296
B-SB
B-SB
C Tongue
RSME
C Shoreface
Ravinement
Yazzi ss ?
B Channel Fill
B-SB
B-SB
B Shoreface
Ravinement
C Shoreface
B Tongue
Mancos Shale
C Tongue
Figure 14. Photographs of facies and surfaces of the Gallup Sandstone in the Ambrosia Lake
cross section. Designated locations refer to measured sections on Figure 12. (A) The Gallup
Sandstone C tongue near section S48B. Note the sharp base, interpreted as a regressive surface
of marine erosion. The B sequence boundary is visible at the top of the cliff. (B) Gallup
Sandstone at section 48. Lower shoreface of the C tongue abruptly overlies a set of steeply
inclined accretion surfaces interpreted as incised valley fill. Although this lower unit cannot
be physically correlated to the Yazzi sandstone in the Nose Rock cliffs, it is believed to be the
equivalent. (C) Prominent expression of the B sequence boundary east of NM Highway 509
and Hijinio Draw (SW1/4, Sec. 31, T15N, R9W). (D) Close-up of the Gallup B tongue sequence
boundary in photograph (C). The sequence boundary is associated with about 3 m of local
relief, and pebbles and mudstone clasts. The overlying sandstone is interpreted as a tidal
(inlet?) channel fill. (E) Mosaic of the northwest wall of Mulatto Canyon (section 50) showing a
thick B tongue shoreface, abrupt landward (to the left) pinch-out of the Mancos Shale between
the C and B tongues, and rapid seaward thinning of the C tongue (mostly covered).
C Incised Valley Fill

C-SB
C-SB
C Channel Fill
C-SB
C Shoreface
C-SB
RSME
Ravi
nem
ent
B Sho
reface
C-SB
C Channel
C Shoreface/Transition
-S
C Shoreface
Figure 15. Photographs of facies and surfaces of the Gallup Sandstone in the Marquez
Ranch cross section. Designated locations refer to measured sections on Figure 13. (A)
Gallup C tongue at Grants Canyon (section 52B). Molenaar (to the left of label C-SB)
stands on the C sequence boundary in the Mancos Shale. The incised valley of the C
tongue has truncated the entire shoreface at this location. Note local fault. (B) Location
of measured section 51C. The sequence boundary here forms the sharp base of the C
tongue. It is overlain by multiple channel fills of inferred tidal-fluvial origin.
(C) Close-up of two channel fills at the base of the C tongue in section 51C. Molenaar
points to the second channel from the bottom. (D) Gallup C tongue in cliffs at section
NE1/4, SW1/4, Sec. 7, T13N, R8W. Note the sharp base of the C tongue (regressive surface of marine erosion), the C sequence boundary truncating most of the shoreface, and
accretion surfaces in the C channel fill. (This photo location is about halfway between
sections S51B and 51B). (E) The C sequence boundary in section 51B is expressed as an
erosional surface separating tidal, incised valley fill above from truncated lower
shoreface/transition below. (F) Cliff exposure near the northwest margin of the incised
valley in the C tongue at the entrance to Mulatto Canyon (at SW1/4, SW1/4, Sec. 23,
T14N, R9W; between sections S50A and 50). Note erosional channel base and distinct
ravinement surface. Lower shoreface facies of the B tongue caps the cliff.
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298
an interval of several meters. There is no abrupt flooding surface on top of the C tongue, just gradually
upward thinning beds of a shoreface to offshore transition zone (Figure 16B).
The dominant Gallup sand body in the Sanostee
area is the B tongue. At its landward end (sections 15C
and 15B, which are along depositional strike), it consists of a tidal sand body similar to that described in
detail in the Ambrosia Lake cross section (Figure 12).
Regionally, the B tongue shoreface has a sharp base
with steep-walled channels and gutter casts (Figures
16C and 16D). The facies below and above this sharp
surface can be assigned relative water depths based on
data from the south Texas shelf reported by Snedden
and Nummedal (1991, their Figure 12). Immediately
below this surface the sandstone:mudstone ratio is
about 1:2, which, on the Texas shelf, occurs in a water
depth of about 30 m. The overlying, amalgamated
sandstone corresponds to the south Texas shoreface, at
a water depth of less than 15 m. The wave climate of
the Western Interior Seaway and the present-day Gulf
of Mexico were probably sufficiently similar to argue
that identical facies correspond to essentially the same
water depths. The implication is that the sharp surface
at the base of the Gallup B tongue in the Sanostee
region corresponds to a decrease in water depth of
about 15 m. Such an abrupt decrease in recorded water
depth across a surface can only be explained by an
equivalent relative sea level fall.
The top of the B tongue shoreface in this region is
commonly truncated by incised channels. Some channels are as much as 10 m deep and 100 m wide, and
truncate down to the lower shoreface. The incised channel at section 15B (Figure 16A) can be traced through
adjacent canyon walls and is part of a continuous southwest-to-northeasttrending channel. At section 14B, 5.4
km farther north, this channel still forms a distinctive
part of the Gallup B tongue (Figure 16E). The mostly
sandy channel fill contains distinct lateral accretion surfaces (Figure 16A), fining-upward trends in texture and
sedimentary structures, and marine burrows (including
Ophiomorpha). In section 15B, this channel fill is separated from the underlying B tongue shoreface by about
0.5 m of burrowed, estuarine mudstones. From Sanostee and northward, the B tongue commonly contains
ball-and-pillow structures (flow rolls) and related softsediment deformation features (Jones et al., 1991, their
Figure 6-27). Jones et al. also illustrate the presence of
gutter casts in the Gallup Sandstone about 3 m below
the layer of ball-and-pillow structures. Such structures
suggest rapid shoreface advance and frequent instabilities in response to progradation during falling sea level.
Estuarine mudstones containing abundant arenaceous foraminifera overlie the Gallup B tongue in the
Sanostee area (D. G. McCubbin, 1991, personal communication). The top surface of the B tongue shoreface
(or, locally, the channel fill) is intensely burrowed (Figure 16F). These observations suggest that the Gallup
coastal plain was flooded by marine water following B
tongue progradation. The intensely burrowed bed is a
bay or initial flooding surface. The burrowed, thin
sandstone interbeds a few meters higher in the Dilco
(e.g., section 14B) are probably washover fans, formed

behind the transgressive barrier during this flooding.
This bay flooding surface is easy to trace, but its equivalent seaward ravinement surface is truncated by the
erosional base of the Gallup A tongue (Figure 4, sections 13A to 11B). The internal complexities of the A
tongue are such that further work is needed for proper
definition of its stratigraphic architecture.
The relationship between the Torrivio Sandstone
Member and the Gallup Sandstone along the northwest margin of the San Juan basin remains contentious. Molenaar (1973) argued that the Torrivio is
the feeder system for the Gallup Sandstone shoreface
tongues. Nummedal and Swift (1987), in contrast,
argued in favor of a regional sequence boundary at the
base of the Torrivio. This view is supported by
detailed stratigraphic field work near Sanostee, as
reported by Jones et al. (1991). The seaward stratigraphic climb of the Torrivio and its apparent interfingering with the adjacent Dilco Member would suggest
that the Torrivio streams were the Gallup feeders. For
example, the stratigraphic relation between the Torrivio in sections 46 and 47 and the downdip Gallup B
tongue (Figure 5) suggests such a genetic relationship.
On the other hand, the fact that no Torrivio has ever
been found below a tongue of Gallup shoreface, nor
truncated by a Gallup ravinement surface, suggests
that the Torrivio is in its entirety younger than the
Gallup and correlates with a younger marine deposit,
probably the Tocito Sandstone Lentil (Riley, 1993). A
third situation is possible: perhaps some of the Torrivio does represent the deposit of Gallup feeder
streams, and that the youngest Torrivio overlies a
regional erosion surface.
Interpretation
The three cross sections discussed above (Figures
12, 13, and 4) all cover stratigraphic windows at the
landward termination of the Gallup B tongue and near
the seaward termination of the Gallup C tongue. The
detailed facies patterns vary a great deal, but a common stratigraphic architecture is clearly present. The C
tongue shoreface is incised by valleys, which locally
are very shallow and at other locations cut entirely
through the associated shoreface to depths of about
20 m. Along the western side of the basin, no valley
incision into the C tongue was observed. At some locations, the base of the C shoreface is very sharp,
whereas at other, generally more distal locations, the
base is gradational. This stratigraphic pattern is consistent with the hypothesis that the C tongue prograded during a phase of relative sea level fall. This
fall is also inferred to have caused the deeply incised
channels observed at the top of the C tongue in the
updip exposures near Nose Rock Point (Figure 10).
The ravinement surface on top of the C tongue provides strong evidence for a subsequent sea level rise
and transgression. Maximum flooding is recorded in
both Figures 12 and 13 by the shoreline position at the
landward termination of the ravinement surface. Dur-
B Channel Fill
B-SB
B-SB
B Shoreface
C Tongue
B Tongue
B Tongue
MFS
RSME
B Tongue
C Tongue
RSME
B Shoreface
B-SB
Figure 16. Photographs of facies and surfaces of the Gallup Sandstone in the Beautiful
Mountain area of cross section AA. Designated locations refer to the measured sections
on Figure 4. (A) Mosaic of outcrop at location of section 15B. Note large-scale accretion
bedding in the tidal channels above the B sequence boundary, and the deep incision on
this boundary toward the right side of the photo. (B) The top of the C tongue at section
14B shows a distinct thinning-upward series of beds, interpreted as transgressive offshore strata, bounded below by the ravinement (at Molenaars hand) and at the top by a
maximum flooding surface. (C) Sharp base of the B tongue shoreface at section 14B. This
surface is remarkably sharp throughout the Beautiful Mountain area and is interpreted
as a regional regressive surface of marine erosion. (D) Close-up of the regressive surface
of marine erosion seen in photograph (C). Note channel (broad gutter cast), filled with
hummocky cross-stratified very fine grained sandstone. (E) The B sequence boundary at
section 14B is expressed as a series of broadly incised, fluvial and distributary(?) channels at the top of the B shoreface. (F) Intensely burrowed bay flooding surface on top of
the B shoreface in section 14B.
299
300
ing the creation of this ravinement, transgressive

deposits accumulated on the coastal plain in the form
of sandy estuary-mouth plugs and central estuary
mudstone, and in the offshore zone in the form of a
thinning- and fining-upward succession of interbedded sandstone and mudstone (Figure 16B). In a location such as that shown in Figure 16B, the maximum
flooding surface lies on top of the fining-upward succession and the ravinement is at its base. In positions
such as Mulatto Canyon (section 50), where there are
no transgressive marine deposits, the maximum flooding surface and the ravinement surface coincide.
The abrupt seaward thickening of the B tongue in
the Ambrosia Lake area provides evidence that sea
level continued to rise for a while in the early phase of
the next regression. Most of the B tongue progradation, however, clearly was associated with sea level
fall, as demonstrated by the dramatic facies contrast
across the sharp base of the B shoreface in the Sanostee
area. A phase of renewed sea level rise and transgression was associated with deposition of the A tongue
and its landward estuarine facies above the B tongue
shoreface.
Terminology
Because relative sea level fell during both C tongue
and B tongue progradation, these deposits represent
an erosional regression (Curray, 1964) or forced
regression (Posamentier et al., 1992). Two erosional
surfaces bracket the marine deposits of a forced
regression. The one at the base of the shoreface is due
to decreasing depth of water in the offshore zone and
is referred to as a regressive surface of marine erosion
(RSME). The surface at the base of the incised channels
is due to fluvial, or subaerial, erosion. This is a regressive surface of subaerial erosion. As discussed above, this
is the surface that we consider the sequence boundary.
Distal Cross SectionDescription
Excellent exposures of the distal Gallup C and B
tongues occur on the southeast side of the San Juan
basin (Figures 3 and 6). The inferred stratigraphic rise
in the Gallup Sandstone between Seboyeta and Marquez (Figure 6, between sections 63 and 64) is on
regional strike with the landward termination of the B,
both at the Ambrosia Lake and Sanostee areas. Both
the C and the B tongues are present at Marquez,
accounting for the exceptional thickness of the Gallup
Sandstone in the area.
At section 63 (Seboyeta), the base of the Gallup C
tongue is sharp and is overlain by an amalgamated
succession of shoreface sandstone (Figure 17A). The
top of the succession consists of tidal deposits (Figure 17B), which probably represent another estuarymouth plug. Farther downdip, between sections 63
and 64, the base of the shoreface is gradational, and
the top of the cliff consists of both foreshore and
backshore facies (Figures 17C and 17D). In most
places farther updip, the Gallup shoreface is truncated at the stratigraphic level of an upper or middle
shoreface.
The observations near the distal end of cross section
CC (Figure 6) confirm that both the marine and subaerial regressive surfaces of erosion become conformable toward the downdip pinch-out of the
shoreface tongues. We have never observed, nor have
others reported, evidence for erosional sequence
boundaries within or seaward of the distal exposures
of Gallup Sandstone tongues F through B. The
sequence boundary believed to separate the Gallup A
tongue and the overlying fluvial Torrivio Sandstone
Member, discussed earlier in this paper, is of tectonic
origin (Nummedal and Riley, 1991; Riley, 1993) and
therefore unrelated to the issues of sequence stratigraphic architecture addressed in this paper.
The gradational base, lack of subaerial erosion and
consequent preservation of beach facies, great
shoreface thickness, and forestepping stacking pattern
all suggest that the distal part of the Gallup C and B
tongues in the Marquez area were deposited during a
regime of gradual, but slow rise in relative sea level.
GENERALIZED SEQUENCE
ARCHITECTURE
Model Building
Approach
As expressed by Walker (1992), generalized models of lithofacies or stratigraphic architecture must
emphasize the common features and distill away
local variability. This part of the paper highlights those
stratigraphic features that were documented for all the
individual tongues in the preceding discussion. The
model thus constructed represents the common elements of observed Gallup sequence stratigraphic
architecture.
To be scientifically useful, a model must also have
predictive capabilities. In stratigraphic models, predictive value occurs at two levels: (1) prediction of the
relationships between regional erosion surfaces and
their correlative deposits, and (2) prediction of the
internal distribution of lithofacies within the sequence.
The Gallup Sequence Model
The individual Gallup Sandstone tongues are dominated by extensive shoreface successions bounded by
updip-tapering wedges of Mancos Shale. Traced landward, the tongues generally also contain estuarine
and, locally, fluvial deposits. The contact between the
fluvial/estuarine facies and the shoreface is invariably
erosional. The surface is associated with a significant
seaward shift in facies and is the sequence boundary
(SB). The sequence boundary climbs stratigraphic section in a seaward direction and becomes a conformity
in the distal shoreface (Figure 18).
Contacts between the Gallup Sandstone tongues and
the Mancos Shale may be sharp or gradational. The base
of the shoreface is erosional over wide areas; this is considered a RSME. This is also a surface across which
301
C Tongue
Estuary
mouth plug
RSME
Shoreface
B Tongue
Foreshore
Figure 17. Photographs of facies and boundaries in the downdip area of tongues B and C near Seboyeta and
Marquez. (A) Outcrop of the C tongue at Seboyeta, at section 63. A regressive surface of marine erosion lies at
the base of cliff. (B) Close-up photograph of the top of the C tongue in photograph (A). A shoreface succession
is abruptly overlain by an inferred estuary-mouth plug facies. (C) Exposure of the B tongue about 1 mi south of
Marquez (to the left of section 64 in Figure 6). (D) Close-up of foreshore facies of the B tongue exposure in (C).
there is a seaward shift in facies and demonstrable shallowing. The RSME correlates with a conformity in the
Mancos Shale downdip; it may also have a correlative
conformity in the updip Gallup shoreface, unless this
part of the shoreface system is truncated by the
sequence boundary. At the distal end of each Gallup
tongue the base appears gradational.
The upper contact of the shoreface may also be
sharp or gradational. The sharp contact is the erosional
ravinement surface (R), which extends between the
positions of the seaward and landward shoreline turnaround. Landward of the ravinement there is a bay, or
initial, flooding surface (BFS) that separates fluvial
deposits below from estuarine above. Seaward of the
lowstand shoreline, there is no ravinement surface
but, instead, a correlative conformity. Commonly, the
distal portions of the ravinement surface and its correlative conformity are overlain by a deepening-upward
succession of nearshore to offshore strata. This succession is capped by a maximum flooding surface (MFS).
The model in Figure 18 is simply an objective distillation of the data presented in this paper. An attempt
to explain it clearly involves more subjective reasoning. The explanation offered below relies on the evidence for relative sea level fall and rise presented
above, and on the principle that erosional surfaces correlate with deposits. The explanation is also influenced
by the findings of the simple forward model presented
in Nummedal et al. (1993).
The Origin of a Gallup Sequence
Falling Stage
During regressions associated with relative sea
level fall, the coastal plain becomes a surface of incision and sediment bypass. The resulting subaerial
unconformity is the sequence boundary. Reduced
water depth in offshore regions in response to such a
fall would be expected to produce a widespread surface of erosion (Plint, 1988). Concurrently, relative sea
302
Figure 18. Generalized sequence stratigraphy for two stacked, forward-stepping Gallup sequences. See text
for discussion.
level fall almost invariably will cause shoreline regression. Curray (1964) referred to this as erosional
regression and Posamentier et al. (1992) called it
forced regression. The resulting regressive shoreface
(or delta front) deposits must downlap onto the associated surface of marine erosion. Thus, the base of a
shoreface that progrades during sea level fall will commonly be sharp. The zone of active erosion probably
extends from the base of the shoreface to some
(unknown) distance offshore. The regressive surface of
marine erosion is a time-transgressive surface. Gutter
casts and related steep-walled channels are easily cut
into the firm, muddy substrate that is excavated by
this erosion, providing the surface with a set of diagnostic sedimentological signatures.
Existing sequence stratigraphic nomenclature for
the sedimentary body deposited on a ramp during a
relative sea level fall is confusing. One approach is to
consider such deposits a highstand systems tract
because they are regressive and overlain by the subaerial erosion surface, the sequence boundary (Van
Wagoner et al., 1990). We consider this choice inappropriate, however, because late Pleistocene shelf-edge
deltas, deposited by rivers graded to a sea level more
than 100 m below the present some 18,000 years ago
(Suter and Berryhill, 1985), by this definition were
deposited in a highstand systems tract.
As an alternative, one may choose as the sequence
boundary a surface below the one associated with subaerial erosion. Posamentier et al. (1992) chose the
regressive surface of marine erosion as their sequence
boundary. This way, the ramp-setting strata associated with relative fall become part of the lowstand sys-
tems tract. Vail et al. (1991) refer to these deposits as

the lower lowstand prograding complex. We consider this lower surface to be an unsuitable sequence
boundary because there is not always an erosional surface at the base of a falling stage shoreface, nor would
such a surface be expected to have chronostratigraphic
significance.
In an attempt to solve this terminological dilemma,
Nummedal (1992) suggested that all strata deposited
in a ramp setting during relative sea level fall be
referred to as a falling stage systems tract (FSST). Theoretically, the FSST begins at the onset of relative sea
level fall, but as a mappable unit the beginning may be
chosen at that bedding plane where the base of the
shoreface changes from gradational to erosive.
Lowstand
Shoreface progradation continues during relative
sea level lowstand (stillstand and slow rise), forming
a distal shoreface succession with a gradational base.
Initial fluvial (and tidal?) backfill of the incised valleys probably also occurs in this stage. This is the
lowstand systems tract. The contact between the
falling and lowstand systems tract is the sequence
boundary. The updip sequence boundary is a mappable unconformity, but downdip it becomes a correlative conformity within or on top of the distal
shoreface depositional system (dashed undulating
line in Figure 18).
Transgression
An increase in the rate of relative sea level rise will
create coastal-plain accommodation space at an increas-
ing rate. At some time during this rise, sediments will

no longer reach the open ocean. Transgression begins
and the river mouth suddenly shifts to the head of an
estuary. During transgression, the landward-moving
shoreface cuts a ravinement surface that effectively truncates the top of the lowstand shoreface and incised valley fill. During the transgression, sediments are
deposited in two separate depositional systems: a backbarrier wedge between the top of the lowstand valley fill
(the bay flooding surface) and the ravinement, and a
back-stepping shelf wedge above the ravinement (terminology from Thorne and Swift, 1991). The back-barrier
wedge consists of marsh, tidal flat, and estuarine
deposits. The back-stepping shelf wedge consists of a
fining-upward succession of shelf sandstones and mudstones that onlap the ravinement surface. If the dynamics and grain size are right, the transgressive offshore
deposits may take the form of shelf sand ridges (Swift et
al., 1991). The back-stepping shelf wedge is capped by
the maximum flooding surface.
Highstand
Highstand conditions are established when shoreline transgression comes to an end. Continued (slow)
relative sea level rise creates accommodation space on
the coastal plain, yet the shoreline has stabilized; thus
the stage is set for deposition of thick estuary-mouth
sand plugs. These tidal sand bodies may overlie central
estuary muds and fluvial deposits in the incised valleys
below. The ravinement surface only truncates the seaward margin of these early highstand tidal sand bodies
because the shoreline is no longer transgressive. The
equilibrium shoreface profile, which is the most landward part of the ravinement surface, forms the contact
between preserved highstand tidal facies and the
younger, regressive shoreface deposits farther seaward. Continued progradation of this new shoreface
marks the main phase of the highstand systems tract. The
highstand systems tract changes to a falling stage systems tract once relative sea level again begins to fall.
CONCLUSIONS
1. The D, C, and B tongues of the Gallup Sandstone
were deposited during phases of relative sea
level fall. Two concurrent regional erosion surfaces were generated during these falls. One was
the regressive surface of marine erosion at their
base. This surface is characterized by deeply
scoured gutter casts and steep-walled channels,
and the overlying and underlying facies demonstrate abrupt shallowing (up to 20 m). Typically,
soft-sediment deformation features indicate very
rapid progradation of the overlying shoreface
deposits. Sea level fall also created a subaerial
erosion surface, the surface we choose as the
sequence boundary. Evidence of sea level fall
associated with this surface includes large and
deeply incised channels and valleys locally lined
at the base with a lag of sandstone clasts from the
truncated, underlying shoreface.
303
2. The existence of a 120 m net stratigraphic rise in

the Gallup Sandstone succession clearly implies a
relative sea level rise of even greater magnitude
(because of compaction). The depositional systems associated with phases of relative sea level
rise include the fluvial and estuarine fill of the
incised valleys, thick successions of coastal plain
strata of the Dilco Member, and fining-upward
accumulations of offshore sandstones and mudstones. Transgressions, which occurred during
times of rapid relative sea level rise, left behind
ravinement surfaces, bay flooding surfaces, thick
estuary-mouth sand plugs, and central estuary
mudstones.
3. This reciprocal style of sedimentation during
sea level fall and rise, which is so well demonstrated in the Gallup Sandstone and Dilco Member, we believe to be characteristic of many
Western Interior Cretaceous successions. This conclusion differs from many earlier studies that have
argued that transgressions are only recorded as
surfaces in the stratigraphic record.
4. The shoreface sand body and correlative offshore
mudstones that were deposited during relative
sea level fall belong to the falling stage systems
tract. The falling stage systems tract is bounded
above by the sequence boundary and below by
the landward end of the regressive surface of
marine erosion and its correlative offshore conformity.
5. Progradation probably also continued after relative sea level had ceased to fall, building a lowstand systems tract. The conformable part of the
sequence boundary forms the downdip boundary between the falling and lowstand systems
tracts. There is no mappable, erosional sequence
boundary seaward of the pinch-out of the
shoreface sandstone bodies.
6. Each lithostratigraphic unit (tongue) is dissected
by two major, regional surfaces: a sequence
boundary that climbs stratigraphic section (relative to base of overlying shale) from landward to
seaward, and a ravinement surface that climbs
stratigraphic section from seaward to landward.
7. The sequence boundary is believed to be
chronostratigraphically significant, that is, all
rocks below are older than all those above. Such
is not the case for the ravinement surface, nor for
the regressive surface of marine erosion.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We gratefully acknowledge the Navajo Nation for
permission to conduct field work on Navajo Indian
Reservation land, which includes the entire outcrop
belt of the Gallup Sandstone on the west side of the
San Juan basin. Any person wishing to conduct geological
investigations on the Navajo Reservation must first obtain
written permission from the Navajo Nation Minerals
Department, P.O. Box 146, Window Rock, AZ 86515. Shell
Oil Company gave us permission to use outcrop sec-
304
tions measured by Molenaar and other personnel formerly employed by Shell. These sections were invaluable in resolving the regional stratigraphy. Financial
support was provided by several oil companies,
including Unocal, Mobil, BP, and Amoco. Completion
of the project was supported by NSF grant no. EAR9205811 (to D.N.). We greatly appreciate W.A. Cobbans help in fossil collecting and identification. Orin
Anderson, Rex Cole, Trevor Elliott, Rob Gawthorpe,
Rob Zech, and Don Owen acted as reviewers for the
USGS and the AAPG. We greatly appreciate their
thoughtful comments, but take full responsibility for
any errors of omission or interpretation that may still
remain.
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SEPM Theme Meeting, Ft. Collins, CO, p. 50.
APPENDIX 1
Revisions of Gallup Sandstone and Crevasse
Canyon Formation Nomenclature
In addition to our emphasis on sequence stratigraphy, we are proposing in this paper that some of the
stratigraphic terminology be revised. These proposed
changes will simplify the overall stratigraphy, highlight lithologic differences, and clarify the genetic relationships between the marine and nonmarine parts of
this clastic wedge. Several workers have commented
on the need for a revision of the nomenclature as a
result of detailed geologic mapping and the investigations of depositional environments. Because of the
regional scope of this paper, we were encouraged to
initiate these revisions. Figure 2 shows the stratigraphic relationships and the nomenclature we are
proposing. A review of the previous nomenclature
and our reasons for the changes follow.
The name Gallup Sandstone Member of the
Mesaverde Formation was first applied by Sears
(1925, p. 17) to a mappable succession of rocks near
Gallup, New Mexico. Later, the Gallup terminology
was extended throughout northwest and west-central
New Mexico. Beaumont et al. (1956) raised the Gallup
from member to formation rank. Sears described the
Gallup as consisting of three prominent sandstone
beds interbedded with shale and coal that are present
in the Gallup area. Although Sears did not designate a
type section, he stated that the Gallup is well exposed
along the hogback east of the town of Gallup. Because
of this, Molenaar (1983) designated a principal reference section for the Gallup Sandstone along The Hogback on the north side of the water gap directly east
of Gallup (Figure 5, section 29A). In addition, Molenaar included in the Gallup an underlying 12 m thick
sandstone bed that is mostly obscured by cover in that
part of the hogback. He also named the upper pink,
medium- to coarse-grained, fluvial sandstone bed at
the top of the Gallup, the Torrivio Member.
Although the Torrivio Member is a prominent unit in
the Gallup area, tracing and mapping the Gallup along
the margins of the San Juan basin have shown that the
Torrivio Member is discontinuous along the south side
and is entirely absent on the southeast side of the basin
(Kirk et al., 1978; Molenaar, 1973, 1983). The Torrivio,
which is a fluvial sandstone body, is genetically and
lithologically very different from the underlying
tongues of the Gallup, which are of coastal and marine
origin. The Torrivio is a channel-based, irregularly bedded sandstone unit of variable grain size. In the lower
part, the unit is characteristically medium to coarse
grained and contains granules. In contrast, the tongues
of the Gallup Sandstone are generally fine to lower
medium grained, very well sorted, and much more uniform in lateral extent. Kirk et al. (1978) reviewed the history and problems attendant with the usage of the
Gallup Sandstone as it was originally defined throughout the area. Because of these problems and the recom-
307
mendations of the many geologists who have mapped

along the southern and western margins of the basin
(Kirk et al., 1978; Kirk and Zech, 1984; Condon, 1986;
Anderson, 1989, 1990a., 1991; Robertson, 1990), we
herein propose that the top of the Gallup be placed at
the top of the uppermost continuous, generally fine- to
lower medium-grained coastal or marine sandstone
bed. This bed is usually a sharp-topped, prominent, and
cliff-forming unit. The principal reference section for
the Gallup would remain as described by Molenaar
(1983, p. 33 and his Figure 12) except that the top of the
Gallup Sandstone would be placed at the top of unit 9 of
that description (or the D sandstone tongue at that location). The total thickness of the Gallup Sandstone at the
principal reference section, including tongues of the
Mancos Shale, is now 71 m.
By excluding the Torrivio Member and the intervening coastal-plain part of the section from the Gallup
Sandstone, we also propose that the Torrivio be designated the Torrivio Sandstone Member of the Crevasse
Canyon Formation. The Crevasse Canyon Formation
was named by Allen and Balk (1954, p. 91) for all strata
between the Gallup Sandstone and the Point Lookout
Sandstone in an area in the southwestern part of the San
Juan basin where the upper part of the Mancos Shale
had pinched out (Figure 1). With the exception of the
Dalton Sandstone and Borrego Pass members, these
strata are all nonmarine. Again, except for this change
in designation of the Torrivio, the principal reference
section for the Torrivio remains the same as that designated by Molenaar (1983, p. 33 and his Figure 12).
The Dilco Coal Member (after Direct Line Coal Company) was named by Sears (1925, p. 17) for about 80 m of
coal-bearing strata overlying the Gallup Sandstone
Member of Sears. Both units were defined as members
of the Meseverde Formation, and later, Beaumont et al.
(1956) raised the Gallup to formation rank, and Allen
and Balk (1954) reassigned the Dilco as a member of the
Crevasse Canyon Formation. Because coal is such a
minor component of the total lithology of the member
and, in many areas to the east coal is entirely absent, we
suggest that the member simply be called the Dilco
Member without the coal designation. The fine-grained,
carbonaceous coastal plain deposits between the Torrivio Sandstone Member and Gallup Sandstone, which
were included in the Gallup by Sears (1925), were
mapped as tongues of the Dilco Coal Member of the
Crevasse Canyon Formation by many of the geologists
who more recently mapped in the area (e.g., Kirk and
Zech, 1984; Condon, 1986; Robertson, 1990). We concur
with this designation except that we delete the term
coal in the name. South and southwest of Gallup, the
coastal plain deposits between the uppermost sandstone
tongue of the Gallup Sandstone and the Torrivio Sandstone Member (as we define them) are much thicker
than to the north (Figure 1) and have been mapped as
the informal Ramah unit (Anderson, 1989, 1990a, 1991).
Although a formal name for this unit is not currently
recognized, Anderson (1990b) proposed (in an abstract)
that it be called the Ramah Member of the Crevasse
Canyon Formation. However, until this is formally presented, the Ramah unit is considered in this report as an
informal unit of the Crevasse Canyon Formation.
308
APPENDIX 2
Location of control points used in study
Locations are estimated where surveys are incomplete; WDBW.D. Bacheller, WACW.A. Cobban, RCR.
Cole, RWDR. Wright-Dunbar, JHEJ.H. Elison, TDFT.D. Fouch, SCHS.C. Hook, RKR. Kadwell, JCLJ.C.
Lawther, CMMC.M. Molenaar, DND. Nummedal, RLSR.L. Squires, DSD. Swift, RWTR.W. Tillman,
ATA. Trevina, NWN. Wolter.
Location
Control
Point
Section
County
State
Measured
by
Year
Measured
Surface Control
1
2A
2B
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11A
11B
11D
12A
12B
12C
12D
13A
13B
14A
14B
15B
15C
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28A
29A
29B
29C
29E
NW/4 25 to
NE/4 26
S/2 S/2 17
NE/4 25
NW/4 6
NE/4 30
N/2 5
E/2 20
SW/4 7
SE/4 26
SW/4 7 to
NW/4 18
SE/4 25 to
SW/4 30
NW/4 17
NE/4 13
SE/4 21
SE/4 33
NE/4 1
N/2 16 to SW/4 10
SE/4 SE/4 21
SE/4 SE/4 18
NW/4 32
SW/4 SW/4 31
NW/4 7
NW/4 NW/4 30
N/2 NW/4 4
SW/4 SW/4 12
SE/4 31
NW/4 16
NW/4 34
SE/4 24 to
SW/4 19
NE/4 17
NE/4 12
NW/4 36
SE/4 30
SE/4 12
SE/4 24 to
NW/4 19
SE/4 31
NE/4 29 to
SE/4 20
SE/4 NE/4 13
NW/4 NE/4 1
NE/4 24
SW/4 NW/4 10
34N
19W
Montezuma
CO
CMM, JCL
1968
32N
32N
31N
31N
30N
30N
29N
29N
28N
19W
20W
19W
19W
19W
19W
19W
20W
19W
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
CMM
JHE, WDB
JHE, WDB
JHE, WDB
JHE, WDB
JHE, WDB, CMM
JHE, WDB, CMM
JHE, WDB, CMM
JHE, WDB
1968
1957
1957
1957
1957
1957, 72
1957, 72
1957
1957
28N
28N
27N
27N
27N
27N
26N
26N
26N
26N
26N
26N
25N
25N
24N
24N
24N
23N
23N
20N
20N
18N
17N
17N
26N
25N
24N
24N
15N
15N
20W
19W
19W
20W
19W
19W
20W
19W
19W
19W
19W
19W
19W
19W
19W
20W
19W
19W
19W
20W
19W
20W
21W
21W
31E
30E
30E
31E
20W
19W
San Juan
NM
JHE, WDB
1957
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
San Juan
McKinley
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
CMM, JCL
CMM, RLS, JCL
CMM, JCL
CMM, JCL
DN, CMM
CMM, RLS, JCL
CMM, RLS, JCL
DN, CMM
CMM, RLS, JCL
CMM, RLS
DN, CMM
DN, CMM
CMM, RLS
CMM, RLS
CMM, RLS
CMM, JCL
CMM, JCL
CMM, JCL
1968
1968
1968
1968
1992
1968
1968
1992
1968
1968
1992
1992
1968
1968
1968
1968
1968
1968
McKinley
McKinley
McKinley
Apache
Apache
Apache
NM
NM
NM
AZ
AZ
AZ
CMM
CMM
CMM, JCL
CMM
CMM
CMM
1969
1969
1968
1972
1969
1969
McKinley
McKinley
NM
NM
CMM, TDF
CMM
1969
1969
15N
15N
16N
16N
18W
18W
18W
17W
McKinley
McKinley
McKinley
McKinley
NM
NM
NM
NM
CMM, RLS
SCH, WAC
CMM
DN, RC, AT
1968
1980
1991
1991
Location
Control
Point
Section
County
State
Measured
by
Year
Measured
Surface Control
38A
38B
38C
38G
39A
39B
40A
40B
41
42
43
44B
45
46
47
48
49A
49B
50
51B
51C
52A
52B
53A
53B
56
60B
61B
62
63
64
65
66
67
68B
69
NW/4 15 to
NW/4 10
W/2 NW/4 11
SW/4 SW/4 14
W/2 NE/4 13
NW/4 7
NW/4 NW/4/SE/4 8
SE/4 10 to
NW/4 11
NE/4 11
NE/4 21 to
NW/4 22
NE/4 10 to C 3
NE/4 15 and
SW/4 11
SE/4 32 to
SW/4 33
NW/4 SW/4 9
E/2 7 to S/2 6
NE/4 36 to SE/4 25
E/2 4
NE/4 7 to E/2 6 to
W/2 31
E/2 9
W/2 23 to SW/4 14
SW/4 18 to SW/4 6
SW/4 NW/4 20
NE/4 SW/4 28
NE/4 15
N/2 NE/4 2 to
S/2 SE/4 35
SW/4 SW/4 4
SE/4 17 to NW/4 21
SW/4 11 to NW/4 14
SW/4 29 to NE/4 31
SE/4 19
NW/4 5
NW/4 30
NE/4 4
SW/4 SW/4 7
SW/4 27
E/2 11
NW/4 NW/4 36
16N
17W
McKinley
NM
CMM
1972
16N
16N
16N
16N
16N
16N
17W
17W
17W
16W
16W
16W
McKinley
McKinley
McKinley
McKinley
Mckinley
McKinley
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
DN, CMM
DN, RWT, DS
DN, RWT
CMM
CMM
CMM, RLS
1992
1987
1988
1990
1970
1968
16N
16N
16W
15W
McKinley
McKinley
NM
NM
CMM, RLS
CMM
1968
1969
16N
16N
15W
14W
McKinley
McKinley
NM
NM
CMM
CMM
1969
1990
16N
13W
McKinley
NM
CMM, SCH
1978
15N
15N
15N
14N
14N
15N
14N
14N
13N
13N
12N
11N
10N
11N
10N
6N
7N
9N
11N
11N
13N
13N
14N
15N
15N
16N
12W
11W
11W
10W
9W
9W
9W
9W
8W
8W
8W
9W
8W
8W
7W
10W
10W
8W
6W
5W
4W
4W
3W
3W
3W
2W
McKinley
McKinley
McKinley
McKinley
McKinley
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
CMM, RLS
CMM
CMM
CMM
CMM
1968
1989
1989
1991
1989
McKinley
McKinley
McKinley
Cibola
Cibola
Cibola
Cibola
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
DN, NW
CMM
CMM
DN, CMM
CMM, RLS
CMM, DN
CMM, RLS
1985
1989
1990
1992
1968
1972, 92
1968
Cibola
Cibola
Cibola
Cibola
Cibola
Cibola
Sandoval
Sandoval
Sandoval
Sandoval
Sandoval
Sandoval
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
CMM, SCH
CMM
CMM, SCH
CMM, SCH
CMM, RLS
JHE, RK
JHE, RK
CMM, TDF
CMM, RLS
JHE, RK
DN, NW
JHE, RK
1980
1969
1980
1979
1968
1958
1958
1968
1968
1958
1985
1958
Secondary Surface Control*

S29D
S38D
S38E
S38F
S48B
S49B
S49C
NW/4 NW/4 17
SW/4 NE/4 14
C NE/4 14
SE/4 NW/4 13
NW/4 1
C7
NW/4 NE/4 16
16N
16N
16N
16N
14N
14N
14N
17W
17W
17W
17W
10W
9W
9W
McKinley
McKinley
McKinley
McKinley
McKinley
McKinley
McKinley
* Outcrop section in which pertinent observations were made, but not measured in detail.
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
NM
DN, CMM
DN, CMM
DN, CMM
DM, CMM
DN
DN, CMM
DN, CMM
309
310
Location
Control
Point
Section
County
State
Measured
by
Secondary Surface Control

S50A
S50B
S50C
S51B
SE/4 SE/4 35
SW/4 SW/4 6
SE/4 NW/4 7
SE/4 SW/4 7
14N
13N
13N
13N
9W
8W
8W
8W
McKinley
McKinley
McKinley
McKinley
NM
NM
NM
NM
Subsurface Control
101
H.P. Doty Water Well 11

Sec. 20,
15N
18W
McKinley
NM
DN, CMM
DN, CMM
DN, CMM
DN, CMM
Year
Measured

Sequence Stratigraphy of Ramp-Setting Strand Plain Successions: The Gallup Sandstone, New Mexico

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Sequence Stratigraphy of Ramp-Setting Strand Plain Successions: The Gallup Sandstone, New Mexico

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Chapter 9

Sequence Stratigraphy of Ramp-Setting

Nummedal and Molenaar

There is no mappable, erosional sequence boundary seaward of the

sedimentation is regressive, and that transgressive

one of four such major Cretaceous sandstone wedges

southern, and southeastern margins of the San Juan

Nummedal and Molenaar

Gallup was of interest because of its association with

REGIONAL SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY

some of the sections have been remeasured, new ones

Nummedal and Molenaar

Figure 6. Regional, dip-oriented cross section C-C of the Gallup Sandstone

the Four Corners platform (e.g., between sections 9

Nummedal and Molenaar

stillstand, and rocks associated with short-term

clasts, all inferred to be products of storm erosion on

high-energy systems and generally limited to broken

Shoreface successions consist of amalgamated

Nummedal and Molenaar

Updip Gallup C Tongue

Hogback to Hardground Canyon

Nose Rock Cliffs

meters. Figure 10 is a detailed cross section along 4.2

Nummedal and Molenaar

Nummedal and Molenaar

facies of the Dilco Member may also be transgressive,

lacuna on the sequence boundary in the C tongue than

Nummedal and Molenaar

Rock cliffs (Figure 5); this surface, therefore, is the C

Nummedal and Molenaar

C Incised Valley Fill

C Incised Valley Fill

Nummedal and Molenaar

(e.g., section 14B) are probably washover fans, formed

Nummedal and Molenaar

ing the creation of this ravinement, transgressive

Nummedal and Molenaar

tems tract. Vail et al. (1991) refer to these deposits as

ing rate. At some time during this rise, sediments will

2. The existence of a 120 m net stratigraphic rise in

Nummedal and Molenaar

delta, San Luis Pass, Texas: Journal of Sedimentary

in C.T. Siemers, ed., New Mexico Geological Society

Nummedal and Molenaar

geometry of storm-deposited sand beds in modern

Mexico (abs.), in Mesozoic of the Western Interior:

mendations of the many geologists who have mapped

Nummedal and Molenaar

Secondary Surface Control*

Nummedal and Molenaar

Secondary Surface Control

H.P. Doty Water Well 11

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