NPS Photo by Phil Varela 
NPS Photo by Tom Lyttle The Lewis Shale is an olive-gray marine shale thinly interbedded with claystone, siltstone and sandstone as well as scattered beds of limestone. It overlies the Cliff House Sandstone and is exposed only near the northern boundary of the park. This unit was deposited at water depths greater than the Cliff House Sandstone and represents the last significant transgression of the Western Interior Seaway into northwestern New Mexico. Few fossils have been found in the Lewis Shale unit within the park. |
Last updated: February 24, 2015