View source for Rock Point Formation

{{Short description|Geologic formation in the United States}}
{{Infobox rockunit
| name           = Rock Point Formation
| image          = Rock point formation.jpg
| caption        = Rock Point Formation capped by Entrada Formation, near Youngsville, New Mexico
| type           = [[Formation (stratigraphy)|Formation]]
| age            =  {{Geological range|late Triassic}}
| period         = late Triassic
| prilithology   = [[Siltstone]]
| otherlithology = Fine [[sandstone]]
| namedfor       = Rock Point School, [[Apache County, Arizona]]
| namedby        = Harshbarger, J.W., [[Charles Repenning|Repenning, C.A.]], and Irwin, J.H., 1957
| region         = [[Utah]], [[Arizona]], [[New Mexico]]
| country        = [[United States]]
| coordinates    = {{coord|36.5247221|N|109.5560845|W|display:inline}}
| unitof         = [[Chinle Group]]
| subunits       =
| underlies      = [[Wingate Sandstone]]
| overlies       = [[Petrified Forest Formation]]
| thickness      = 70 m
| extent         =
| area           =
| map            = {{Location map+ | United States#Arizona
| relief = 1
| width   = 250
| float   = center
| places  =
{{Location map~ | United States#Arizona
| lat_deg = 36.524
| lon_deg = -109.556
| mark = Purple pog.svg
| marksize = 12
}}
}}
| map_caption    =
}}
The '''Rock Point Formation''' is a [[Formation (geology)|geologic formation]] in [[New Mexico]], [[Arizona]], and [[Utah]]. It preserves [[fossils]] dating back to the [[late Triassic]].
==Description==
The formation is up to 70 m thick and is mostly reddish-brown and grayish-red massive [[siltstone]] and fine [[sandstone]] beds. It is the uppermost portion of the [[Chinle Group]] wherever it is exposed. In the Chama basin, its base is placed at the first persistent sandstone bed above the mudstones of the [[Petrified Forest Formation]]. Its contact with the overlying [[Entrada Sandstone]] is sharp.{{sfn|Lucas|Zeigler|Heckert|Hunt|2005|p=176}}
==Fossils==
The Whitaker quarry of [[Ghost Ranch]], New Mexico is believed to be located in the Rock Point Formation, although these beds have also controversially been assigned to the [[Owl Rock Member|Owl Rock Formation]].{{sfn|Lucas|Zeigler|Heckert|Hunt|2005|p=176}} This quarry has also been referred to as the ''[[Coelophysis]]'' quarry due to preserving a large number of specimens of the early [[Theropoda|theropod]] [[dinosaur]] ''Coelophysis bauri''.{{sfn|Rinehart|Lucas|Heckert|Spielmann|2009}}
==History of investigation==
The unit was first named by J.W. Harshbarger, [[Charles Repenning|C.A. Repenning]], and J.H. Irwin in 1957, who assigned [[Herbert E. Gregory]]'s (1917) "A" division of the [[Chinle Formation]] to the [[Wingate Formation]] as the Rock Point Member. It was named for Rock Point School, located near the type exposures at Little Round Rock.{{sfn|Harshbarger|Repenning|Irwin|1957}} J.H. Stewart and coinvestigators argued in 1972 that the unit has more affinity with the Chinle,{{sfn|Stewart|Poole|Wilson|1972}} and R.F. Dubiel assigned the Rock Point to the Chinle in 1989.{{sfn|Dubiel|1989}} The unit has created an unusual amount of controversy, but [[Spencer G. Lucas]] and coinvestigators raised it to formation rank within the Chinle Group in 2005.{{sfn|Lucas|Zeigler|Heckert|Hunt|2005|p=176}}
<gallery>
File:Rock point concretions.jpg|Bed of concretions in the Rock Point Formation near Youngsville, New Mexico
File:Redondasaurus bermani skull.jpg|left|Fossil from Rock Point Formation
</gallery>
==See also==
{{Portal|Earth sciences|Utah|Paleontology}}
* [[List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Utah]]
* [[Paleontology in Utah]]
==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}
==References==
* {{cite journal|last1=Dubiel |first1=R.F. |year=1989 |title=Sedimentology and revised nomenclature of the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation and the Lower Jurassic Wingate Sandstone, northwestern New Mexico and northeastern Arizona |journal=New Mexico Geological Society Field Conference Series |volume=40  |pages=213–223 |url=https://nmgs.nmt.edu/publications/guidebooks/downloads/40/40_p0213_p0223.pdf |access-date=25 May 2020}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Harshbarger |first1=J.W. |last2=Repenning |first2=C.A. |last3=Irwin |first3=J.H. |year=1957 |title=Stratigraphy of the uppermost Triassic and the Jurassic rocks of the Navajo country |journal=U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper |volume=291 |url=https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp291 |access-date=25 May 2020}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Lucas |first1=Spencer G. |author-link1=Spencer G. Lucas |last2=Zeigler |first2=Kate E. |last3=Heckert |first3=Andrew B. |last4=Hunt |first4=Adrian P. |title=Review of Upper Triassic stratigraphy and biostratigraphy in the Chama Basin, northern New Mexico |journal=New Mexico Geological Society Field Conference Series |date=2005 |volume=56 |pages=170–181 |url=https://nmgs.nmt.edu/publications/guidebooks/downloads/56/56_p0170_p0181.pdf |access-date=29 April 2020}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Rinehart |first1=L.F. |last2=Lucas |first2=S.G. |author-link2=Spencer G. Lucas |last3=Heckert |first3=A.B. |last4=Spielmann |first4=J.A. |last5=Celesky |first5=M.D.|year=2009|title=The paleobiology of ''Coelophysis bauri'' (Cope) from the Upper Triassic (Apachean) Whitaker quarry, New Mexico, with detailed analysis of a single quarry block|url=https://econtent.unm.edu/cdm/ref/collection/bulletins/id/1285|journal=New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, A Division of the Department of Cultural Affairs Bulletin|volume=45|pages=260}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Stewart |first1=J.H. |last2=Poole |first2=F.G. |last3=Wilson |first3=R.F. |year=1972 |title=Stratigraphy and origin of the Chinle Formation and related Upper Triassic strata in the Colorado Plateau region, with sections on sedimentary petrology by R.A. Cadigan and conglomerate studies by William Thordarson and H.F. Albee |journal=U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper |volume=690 |doi=10.3133/pp690|doi-access=free }}
[[Category:Triassic Arizona]]
[[Category:Triassic geology of Utah]]
[[Category:Triassic formations of New Mexico]]