View source for Beeman Formation

{{Short description|Geologic formation in New Mexico, US}}
{{Infobox rockunit
| name           = Beeman Formation
| image          =
| caption        =
| type           = [[Formation (stratigraphy)|Formation]]
| age            = {{Geological range|Kasimovian}}
| period         = Kasimovian
| prilithology   = [[Shale]]
| otherlithology = [[Limestone]], [[conglomerate (geology)|conglomerate]]
| namedfor       = Beeman Canyon
| namedby        = L.C. Pray
| year_ts        = 1954
| region         = [[New Mexico]]
| country        = [[United States]]
| coordinates    = {{coord|32.83|N|105.905|W|display=inline}}
| unitof         = 
| subunits       = 
| underlies      = [[Holder Formation]]
| overlies       = [[Gobbler Formation]]
| thickness      = {{convert|350-500|feet|meters|abbr=on}}
| extent         =
| area           =
| map            ={{Location map+ | United States#New Mexico
| relief = 1
| width   = 250
| float   = center
| places  =
  {{Location map~ | United States#New Mexico
  | lat_deg = 32.83
  | lon_deg = -105.905
  | mark = Green pog.svg
  | marksize = 12
  }}
}}
| map_caption    =
}}

The '''Beeman Formation''' is a [[Formation (geology)|geologic formation]] in the [[Sacramento Mountains (New Mexico)|Sacramento Mountains]] of [[New Mexico]].<ref name="pray-1954">{{cite journal |last1=Pray |first1=L.C. |year=1954 |title=Outline of the stratigraphy and structure of the Sacramento Mountain escarpment [Otero County, New Mexico] |journal=New Mexico Geological Society Field Conference Guidebook |volume=5 |pages=92–107 |url=https://nmgs.nmt.edu/publications/guidebooks/downloads/5/5_p0092_p0107.pdf |accessdate=29 July 2020}}</ref><ref name="kues-giles-2004">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Kues |first1=B.S. |last2=Giles |first2=K.A. |year=2004 |title=The late Paleozoic Ancestral Rocky Mountain system in New Mexico |editor1-last=Mack |editor1-first=G.H. |editor2-last=Giles |editor2-first=K.A. |encyclopedia=The geology of New Mexico. A geologic history: New Mexico Geological Society Special Volume 11 |pages=95–136 |isbn=9781585460106}}</ref> It preserves [[fossils]] dating back to the [[Kasimovian]] [[age (geology)|Age]] of the [[Pennsylvanian (geology)|Pennsylvanian]] [[period (geology)|Period]].<ref name="wahlman-berrick-2018">{{cite journal |last1=Wahlman |first1=G.P. |last2=Barrick |first2=J.E. |year=2018 |pages=83–91 |title= Fusulinid and Conodont biostratigraphy of the Beeman formation (Pennsylvanian), Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico |journal=New Mexico Geological Society Field Conference Series |volume=69 |url=https://nmgs.nmt.edu/publications/guidebooks/downloads/69/69_p0083_p0091.pdf |accessdate=21 September 2020}}</ref>

==Description==
The Beeman Formation consists of [[cyclothems|cyclic]]<ref name="raatz-simo-1998">{{cite journal |last1=Raatz |first1=William D. |last2=Simo |first2=J. A. |year=1998 |pages=161–176 |title=The Beeman Formation (Upper Pennsylvanian) of the Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico: Guide to the Dry Canyon area with discussion on shelf and basin responses to eustasy, tectonics, and climate |journal=New Mexico Geological Society Fall Field Conference Guidebook |volume=49 |url=https://nmgs.nmt.edu/publications/guidebooks/downloads/49/49_p0161_p0176.pdf |accessdate=18 September 2020}}</ref> [[shale]] and [[argillaceous]] [[limestone]] with some [[Conglomerate (geology)|conglomerate]]. The thickness is {{convert|350-500|feet|meters|abbr=on}}.<ref name="pray-1959"/> The formation overlies the [[Gobbler Formation]] and is overlain by the [[Holder Formation]].<ref name="pray-1954"/>

The formation is interpreted as [[Cyclothem|cyclic deposition]] on a [[continental shelf]] following rejuvenation of the Pedernal uplift of the [[Ancestral Rocky Mountains]].<ref name="raatz-simo-1998"/>

==Fossils==
The unit contains middle to upper Missourian (Kasimovian) [[fusulinid]]s<ref name="pray-1959"/> and [[conodont]]s, including several species of the fusulinid ''[[Triticites]]'' and the conodont ''[[Idiognathodus]] symmetricus'', related species, and species of ''[[Streptognathodus]]''. These species indicate that the Beeman Formation is entirely Kasimovian in age.<ref name="wahlman-berrick-2018"/> The formation has a diverse [[coprolite|coprofauna]].<ref name="hunt-etal-2012">{{cite journal |last1=Hunt |first1=Adrian P. |last2=Lucas |first2=Spencer G. |last3=Spielmann |first3=Justin A. |last4=Cantrell |first4=Amanda K. |last5=Suazo |first5=Thomas L. |title=A new marine coprofauna from the Beesman Formation (late Pennsylvanian:late Missourian), Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico, USA |journal=New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin |date=2012 |volume=57 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C_MoCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA193&dq=%22beeman+formation%22#q=%22beeman%20formation%22 |accessdate=18 September 2020}}</ref> The formation has also produced a [[lacustrine]] fauna from one of its shell beds, including the [[horseshoe crab]] ''[[Euproops]] danae''.<ref name="lucas-etal-2014">{{cite journal |last1=Lucas |first1=Spencer G. |last2=Lerner |first2=Allan J. |last3=Dimchele |first3=William A. |last4=Cantrell |first4=Amanda K. |last5=Suazo |first5=Thomas L. |last6=Chaney |first6=Dan S. |year=2014 |pages=311–314 |title=Xiphosurid fossils from the Pennsylvanian Beeman Formation, Otero County, New Mexico |journal=New Mexico Geological Society Field Conference Series |volume=65 |url=https://nmgs.nmt.edu/publications/guidebooks/downloads/65/65_p0311_p0314.pdf |accessdate=18 September 2020}}</ref>

==History of investigation==
The unit was first named by Lloyd C. Pray in 1954<ref name="pray-1954"/> and a type section was designated in 1959.<ref name="pray-1959">Pray, L.C., 1959, "Stratigraphic and structural features of the Sacramento Mountain Escarpment, New Mexico", IN Pray, L.C., leader, ''Guidebook for joint field conference in the Sacramento Mountains of Otero County, New Mexico'': Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Permian Basin Section, Field Trip Guidebook, Joint field conference of Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Permian Basin Section, and Roswell Geological Society, Alamogordo, NM, p. 86-130.</ref> Pray originally assigned the formation to the Magdalena Group, but the Magdalena Group has subsequently been abandoned.<ref name="pray-1961">{{cite journal |last1=Pray |first1=L.C. |year=1961 |title=Geology of the Sacramento Mountains Escarpment, Otero County, New Mexico |journal=New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources Bulletin |volume=35 |url=https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_90717.htm |accessdate=30 July 2020}}</ref><ref name="kues-giles-2004"/>

==See also==
{{Portal |Earth sciences|Paleontology}}
* [[List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in New Mexico]]
* [[Paleontology in New Mexico]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}


[[Category:Carboniferous formations of New Mexico]]
[[Category:Carboniferous southern paleotropical deposits]]