Virgilian Reefs of the Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico

Abstract
Virgilian reefs of the Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico, are described in terms of their areal distribution, structure, petrography, and paleontology. The reefs parallel the mountain scarp and have an en echelon trend. They range in width from a few hundred feet to possibly 1 mile. The maximum reef thickness is approximately 200 feet. The reef lenses are encompassed in thin-bedded limestones, sandstones, and shales of the off-reef facies. The principal framework builder was the colonial alga Cryptozoon. Colonial corals were not found in the fossil assemblages. Physical and biological data are integrated to reconstruct the depositional environment of an ancient reef.

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