WICHITA AND ANCESTRAL ROCKIES SYSTEMS AND THE TEXAS FORELAND 



249 



Delaware Basin 



Central 



Basin 



Platform 



Miolano 



Basin 



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Eastern Platform 



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Croyburg 



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Clear Fork - Wich/to 

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PfNNSYLVANIAN -------^ 



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SITE OF PECOS RANGE, ELEVATED IN EARLY AND 

 IN LATE rENNSTLVANIAN 



.Scale 



Fig. 15.12. Principal stratigraphic units and structural features of the South Permian basin of New Mexico 

 and Texas. Line of cross section shown on map, Fig. 14.1. Taken from Plate 2, King ef a/., 1942. 



many of the oil fields are located, and various faults. Some were formed 

 in pre-Wolfcamp time, but most of them were formed during the 

 Permian. Some suffered movement again in the Cenozoic. They may be 

 grouped into four systems, viz., northwest trending, northeast trending, 

 north-northwest trending, and east-west trending; but much yet remains 

 to be learned regarding the systems because those mentioned may not 

 be natural units and may include some unrelated features. The systems 

 apparently include features of several different ages, as well as features 

 that were formed during several periods of movement. 



ANCESTRAL ROCKIES SYSTEM 



Major Structural Features 



A group of imposing uplifts in Colorado and New Mexico of Penn- 

 sylvanian age, the Ancestral Rockies, has long been known. Considering 



the far greater length and breadth of the modern Cordillera known as 

 the Rocky Mountains, the Ancestral Rockies only partially deserve their 

 name. Deep basins are associated with the uplifts, and collectively repre- 

 sent a rather important orogenic system in the foreland. The Ancestral 

 Rockies are separated from the Wichita system and the Texas foreland 

 chiefly for purposes of discussion, but probably are continuous with and 

 intimately related to them. 



By reference to the map of Fig. 6.7 the several uplifts of the Ancestral 

 Rockies and the adjacent basins may be seen. Two of these, the Un- 

 compahgre and Colorado, were particularly bold and high. The Colorado 

 Range is frequently referred to as the Front Range highland. The 

 Pedernal uplift is not yet very well defined, but seems to be an emergent 

 area in east-central New Mexico which connects southward with the 

 Diablo uplift. The Zuni uplift, like the Pedernal, seems to have been wide 

 and not particularly high. 



