Coronado Sandstone


The Coronado Sandstone is a geologic formation that is exposed in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico. It is Cambrian in age based on its position in the stratigraphic column.

Description

The formation consists of dark-weathering sandstone, whose grains are usually cemented by quartz but in some locations by carbonate minerals. The lower beds are arkosic.
The formation is low in porosity, giving it poor potential as a petroleum reservoir.

History of investigation

The formation was first as the Coronado Quartzite named by Waldemar Lindgren in 1905 for outcrops near Coronado Mountain in southeastern Arizona. P.T. Hayes renamed the unit as the Coronado Sandstone in 1972.