Stratigraphic Response Across a Structurally Dynamic Shelf: The Latest Guadalupian Composite Sequence at Walnut Canyon, New Mexico, U.S.A.

A structurally dynamic carbonate platform margin, exposed along Walnut Canyon in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico, exhibited significant depositional relief and mechanical failure during the Late Permian. The study reveals that shelf-crest aggradation primarily controlled the shelf profile, but this was temporarily disrupted by syndepositional brittle failure, down-to-the-basin tilting, and mass wasting, creating up to 22 meters of depositional relief. Detailed facies mapping and a refined fusulinid biostratigraphic framework were used to document these processes, including the identification of a paleoescarpment formed by catastrophic margin failure. The research highlights the complex interplay between sedimentary processes and structural dynamics in shaping carbonate platforms.

Rush, J., & Kerans, C. (2010). Stratigraphic Response Across a Structurally Dynamic Shelf: The Latest Guadalupian Composite Sequence at Walnut Canyon, New Mexico, U.S.A. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 80(9), 808–828. https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2010.073