Summary

The Apache Canyon Formation forms part of the syntectonic fill of the Mesozoic Bisbee Basin of southeastern Arizona and northern Mexico. The Bisbee Basin is interpreted as the northern terminus of the extensional Chihuahua Trough stretching northwest through Mexico. Facies of the Apache Canyon Formation record deposition in a variety of environments, ranging from deep-water anoxic deposits, to shoal-water clastic and carbonate deposits, to subaerial fluvial and palustrine deposits. Stratigraphic analysis suggest that the facies stacking patterns in the Apache Canyon Formation record both temporal and spatial changes in tectonism of the basin. Stratigraphic and preliminary isotopic data indicate that the tectonic controls are overprinted by a higher-frequency alternation of facies responding to climatically-driven fluctuations in lake level.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90937©1998 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, Salt Lake City, Utah