The Mesaverde Formation was first described byW.H.Holmes in 1877 during theHayden Survey. Holmes described the formation in the northernSan Juan Basin as consisting of three units, which were a "Lower Escarpment" consisting of 40 m of ledge- and cliff-forming massivesandstone; a "Middle Coal Group" consisting of up to 300 m of thick slope-forming sandstone,shale,marl, andlignite; and an "Upper Escarpment" consisting of 60 m of ledge- and cliff-forming sandstone.[1] A.J. Collier redesignated these units in 1919 as thePoint Lookout Sandstone, theMenefee Formation, and theCliff House Sandstone, and raised the Mesaverde Formation to group rank.[2]
TheMesaverde Group is aLate Cretaceous stratigraphicgroup found in areas ofColorado,New Mexico,Utah, andWyoming, in theWestern United States.The group is a singleregression-transgression sequence in its type location in theSan Juan Basin, dividing the older marineMancos Shale and youngerLewis Shale deposited in theWestern Interior Seaway. ThePoint Lookout Sandstone represents the regression, theMenefee Formation the subsequent fluvial delta deposits, and theCliff House Sandstone the return of the sea. In other locations, such as along the Book Cliffs, the picture is more complicated, with multiple regression-transgression sequences from tectonic activity along theSevier mountain front.[13] In the Cody area, the group is a simple regression sequence and remains at formation rank. Here the group is described as interbedded light gray sandstone and gray shale in the upper part; massive, light-buff, ledge-forming sandstone containing thin lenticular coal beds in the lower part.[14]
Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the group, although none have yet been referred to a specificgenus.[20]Deinosuchus has also been reported from Mesaverde outcrops in Wyoming.[21] In 2023,baenidturtle fossils tentatively assignable toNeurankylus sp. from the Mesaverde Formation were described.[22]
Fillmore, Robert (2011).Geological evolution of the Colorado Plateau of eastern Utah and western Colorado, including the San Juan River, Natural Bridges, Canyonlands, Arches, and the Book Cliffs. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. pp. 224,247–248.ISBN978-1-60781-004-9.
Fox, J.E. (1993). "Stratigraphic cross sections showing electric logs of Upper Cretaceous and older rocks, Powder River basin, southeastern Montana and northeastern Wyoming".U.S. Geological Survey Oil and Gas Investigations Chart. OC-135 to OC-138, Sections A-A' through F-F', G-G' through L-L', M-M' through R-R', S-S' through V-V'.doi:10.3133/oc135.
Holmes, W.H. (1877). "Report [on the San Juan District, Colorado]". In Hayden, F.V. (ed.).Ninth annual report of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, embracing Colorado and parts of adjacent territories, being a report of progress of the exploration for the year 1875; Part I, Geology. U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories (Hayden). pp. 237–276.
Spieker, E. M.; Reeside, J. B. (30 September 1925). "Cretaceous and Tertiary Formations of the Wasatch Plateau, Utah".Geological Society of America Bulletin.36 (3):435–454.Bibcode:1925GSAB...36..435S.doi:10.1130/GSAB-36-435.
Wahl, W.; Hogbin, J. (2003). "Deinosuchus material from the Mesaverde Formation of Wyoming: filling in a gap".Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.23: 107A.
Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka, eds. (2004).The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press.ISBN0-520-24209-2.
