The Victorio Peak, Cutoff and Cherry Canyon Formations in the Apache Mountains: after fifty years, a new look

Abstract

The Apache Mountains represent an extensively faulted and uplifted platform along the southern margin of the Delaware Basin. Equivalent outcrops in the Guadalupe Mountains have been extensively studied, but modern analyses of the Apache Mountains have been largely lacking. Our study area is located on the northwestern-most portion of the range, and is known to contain outcrops of the Victorio Peak, Cutoff, and Cherry Canyon Formations. The area has been studied previously (Wood, 1965), but the methods used have fallen out of favor over time, especially by the petroleum industry. The southern platform margin of the Delaware Basin has become a focus for unconventional resources, making it essential that the study area be reworked and integrated into the modern stratigraphic approach to shelf-to-basin evaluation.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90292 © 2017 AAPG Southwest Section, Midland, Texas, April 29 - May 2, 2017