MDE - Mississippian, Devonian, and Cambrian Sedimentary Rocks

(Includes Redwall Limestone, Martin Formation, and Tapeats Sandstone)

Redwall Limestone

Approximate Thickness

0-300 feet.

Lithologic Description

Limestone, aphanitic to coarsely crystalline, white to bluish- or yellowish-gray and light-gray, thin- to thick-bedded; contains chert along some bedding planes and some beds are highly fractured and contain solution channels and caverns.

Water-Bearing Characteristics

Yields water to wells in the Sedona area; well yields are controlled by solution activity, fracturing, and faulting; well yields range from a few gallons per minute to several hundred gallons per minute, and can be as much as 1,000 gallons per minute; the water is of acceptable chemical quality.

Martin Formation

Approximate Thickness

0-500 feet.

Lithologic Description

Limestone, dolomitic, aphanitic to medium-grained, white to light- and dark-gray and brownish-gray; contains chert nodules or lenses in the lower part of the unit, purple and red mottling at the top due to intercalated shaley mudstones and platy siltstones.

Water-Bearing Characteristics

Yields water to wells in the Sedona area and northern part of the Black Hills; well yields are controlled by solution activity, fracturing, and faulting; well yields range from a few gallons per minute to several hundred gallons per minute; major source of springs along the east flank of the Black Hills; the water is of acceptable chemical quality.

Tapeats Sandstone

Approximate Thickness

0-150 feet.

Lithologic Description

Sandstone, siltstone, and mudstone. Sandstone, medium- to very coarse grained, dusky-red to dark-reddish-brown, crossbedded; contains lenses of conglomerate. Siltstone, shaley, and mudstone, limy to dolomitic, yellowish-gray to pale-olive and dusky-yellow. Moderately to well cemented.

Water-Bearing Characteristics

Probably yields small amounts of water to wells and springs.

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