Geologic Unit: Prairie Canyon

Usage:

Prairie Canyon Member of Mancos Shale (CO,UT)

Geologic age:

Late Cretaceous (possibly latest Santonian to early late Campanian)

Type section, locality, area and/or origin of name:

Type area: 23 mi (37 km) northwest of Grand Junction, CO, in West Salt Creek, Prairie Canyon, and Badger Wash drainages, westernmost corner Mesa Co., CO. Western edge approx. 1 mi east of Grand Co., UT - Mesa Co., CO border. Northern edge approx. 0.25 mi south of Garfield Co.,CO - Mesa Co., CO border. Much of type area overlaps Bar X gas field. [Named from Prairie Canyon] (Cole and others, 1997).
Type section is composite of 10 measured sections within type area (Cole and others, 1997):
lower interval: section 8, in NE/4 sec. 7, T. 9 S., R. 103 W., and section 9, in NE/4 sec. 3, T. 9 S., R. 103 W.;
middle interval in T. 8 S., R. 104 W. (sections 1 to 7): (1) S/2 NW/4 SE/4 sec. 30, (2) center E/2 SW/4 sec. 29, (3) center W/2 SE/4 SE/4 sec. 29, (4) center S/2 NW/4 sec. 28, (5) SW/4 NE/4 sec. 28, (6) near east edge sec. 21, and (7) from SE/4 sec. 22 to NE/4 sec. 27;
upper interval: section 10, from NW corner sec. 29, through W/2 sec. 20, to center SW/4 sec. 17, T. 8 S., R. 104 W.
Reference section (subsurface): Tenneco Brunel "E" 28-10 well, approx. 18 mi (29 km) north-northeast of type area, in NW/4 SE/4 sec. 28, T. 4 S., R. 102 W., Rio Blanco Co., CO (Cole and others, 1997).

AAPG geologic province:

Piceance basin
Uinta basin