Hall Lake Formation

{{Infobox rockunit

| name = Hall Lake Formation

| image =

| imagesize =

| caption =

| type = Geological formation

| age = Late Cretaceous, Campanian–Maastrichtian
~{{fossil range|83.5|66.0}}

| period = Campanian–Maastrichtian

| prilithology = Mudstone, "shale", sandstone

| namedfor =

| namedby =

| year_ts =

| region = New Mexico

| country = United States

| coordinates = {{coord|33.2|N|107.1|W|display=inline,title}}

| paleocoordinates = {{coord|40.5|N|81.1|W|display=inline}}

| unitof = McRae Group

| underlies = Jose Creek Member{{Cite journal |last1=Amato |first1=Jeffrey M. |last2=Mack |first2=Greg H. |last3=Jonell |first3=Tara N. |last4=Seager |first4=William R. |last5=Upchurch |first5=Garland R. |date=2017-05-11 |title=Onset of the Laramide orogeny and associated magmatism in southern New Mexico based on U-Pb geochronology |url=http://gsabulletin.gsapubs.org/lookup/doi/10.1130/B31629.1 |journal=Geological Society of America Bulletin |language=en |pages=B31629.1 |doi=10.1130/B31629.1 |issn=0016-7606|url-access=subscription }}

| overlies = "Quaternary-Tertiary basalt flows and alluvium"

| thickness =

| area =

| map = {{Location map+ | United States#New Mexico

| relief = 1

| width = 250

| float = center

| places =

{{Location map~ | United States#New Mexico

| lat_deg = 33.2

| lon_deg = -107.1

| mark = Green-orange pog.svg

| marksize = 8

}}

{{Location map~ | United States#New Mexico

| lat_deg = 33.2

| lon_deg = -107.2

| mark = Green-orange pog.svg

| marksize = 8

}}

| map_caption =

}}

The Hall Lake Formation, formerly called the Hall Lake Member, is a geological formation in Sierra County, New Mexico preserving Lancian fauna, most notably dinosaurs. It is regarded as a member of the McRae Group, including the Elephant Butte and Staton-LaPoint locales.[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displaySearchStrataResults?group_formation_member=Hall%20Lake Vigla Formation] at Paleobiodb.org

Description

While most estimates place it firmly within the Lancian fauna, specifically using taxa such as Compsemys as index fossils to recover a Campanian-Maastrichtian age,{{Cite journal |last1=Lucas |first1=Spencer G. |last2=Dalman |first2=Sebastian |last3=Lichtig |first3=Asher J. |last4=Elrick |first4=Scott |last5=Nelson |first5=W. John |last6=Krainer |first6=Karl |date=2017 |title=Stratigraphy and Age of the Dinosaur-Dominated Fossil Assemblage of the Upper Cretaceous Hall Lake Member of the Mcrae Formation, Sierra County, New Mexico |url=https://nmgs.nmt.edu/meeting/abstracts/view.cfm?aid=479 |journal=New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting |series=New Mexico Geological Society, 2017 Annual Spring Meeting, Proceedings Volume, Theme: "Uranium in New Mexico: The Resource and the Legacy" |doi=10.56577/SM-2017.479 |doi-access=free}} Lozinsky et al. (1984) note the presence of basalt flows and alluvium dating to the Quaternary-Tertiary.

It overlooks the Jose Creek Member and is composed of purple and maroon shales. When they meet, it is marked by a basal conglomerate or a color distinction where conglomerate is absent. Various Cenozoic units overly the formation. Where some choose to classify these layers as a member of the McRae Formation,{{Cite journal |last1=Lozinsky |first1=Richard P. |last2=Hunt |first2=Adrian P. |last3=Wolberg |first3=Donald L. |last4=Lucas |first4=Spencer G. |date=1984 |title=Late Cretaceous (Lancian) dinosaurs from the McRae Formation, Sierra County, New Mexico |url=https://geoinfo.nmt.edu/publications/periodicals/nmg/details.cfml?id=26016 |journal=New Mexico Geology |language=en |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=72–77 |doi=10.58799/NMG-v6n4.72 |s2cid=237011797 |issn=2837-6420|url-access=subscription }} others classify it as a distinct formation in a group of formations.{{Cite journal |last1=Dalman |first1=Sebastian G. |last2=Lucas |first2=Spencer G. |last3=Jasinski |first3=Steven E. |last4=Longrich |first4=Nicholas R. |date=2022 |title=Sierraceratops turneri, a new chasmosaurine ceratopsid from the Hall Lake Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of south-central New Mexico |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0195667121002822 |journal=Cretaceous Research |language=en |volume=130 |pages=105034 |bibcode=2022CrRes.13005034D |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2021.105034 |s2cid=244210664|url-access=subscription }}

Fossil content

= Dinosaurs =

== Saurischians ==

class="wikitable"

!Genus

!Species

!Locality

!Material

!Notes

!Images

Tyrannosauridae

|indet.

| Staton-LaPoint

TKM001, dorsal vertebral centrum

|Lozinsky et al. (1984) call it indeterminate

Tyrannosaurus{{Cite journal |last1=Dalman |first1=Sebastian G. |last2=Loewen |first2=Mark A. |last3=Pyron |first3=R. Alexander |last4=Jasinski |first4=Steven E. |last5=Malinzak |first5=D. Edward |last6=Lucas |first6=Spencer G. |last7=Fiorillo |first7=Anthony R. |last8=Currie |first8=Philip J. |last9=Longrich |first9=Nicholas R. |date=2024-01-11 |title=A giant tyrannosaur from the Campanian–Maastrichtian of southern North America and the evolution of tyrannosaurid gigantism |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=13 |issue=1 |page=22124 |doi=10.1038/s41598-023-47011-0 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=10784284 |pmid=38212342 |doi-access=free}}

|T. mcraeensis

|Elephant Butte (upper)

NMMNH P-3698, a partial skull, lower jaw bones, teeth, and chevrons

|thumb

Alamosaurus

|sp.

|upper

TKM007, a damaged humerus

|Tentative referral

Sauropoda"[https://www.mindat.org/paleo_strat.php?id=11010 McRae, Sierra County, New Mexico, USA]" at mindat.org

| rowspan="2" |Possibly from the Jose Creek Member

Theropoda

== Ornithischians ==

class="wikitable"

!Taxon

!Locality

!Material

!Notes

!Images

Triceratops sp.

|2 miles south of Elephant Butte

USNM 243, dorsal vertebral centrum

|This genus, Torosaurus or a novel taxon

|File:202007 Triceratops horridus.svg

Sierraceratops turneri

|Elephant Butte (lower)

Partial skeleton with skull

|File:Sierraceratops.jpg

rowspan="2" |Ceratopsidae

|Elephant Butte (upper)

| rowspan="2" |

TKM002, a coranoid
TKM020, crest fragment

|A new genus similar to Torosaurus is said to exist above the base of the formation

Elephant Butte (lower)

|Indeterminate, in abundance

style="background:#ffdcdc;" |Torosaurus sp.

| style="background:#ffdcdc;" |Elephant Butte (upper)?

| style="background:#ffdcdc;" |

Hadrosauridae

|cannot be determined

|Indeterminate and of unknown origins due to faulting or Quaternary cover

Ankylosauria

TKM011, pyramidal bone fragment

|Possibly from the Jose Creek Member, near identical from UNM-FKK-001P of the Kirtland Formation

= Reptiles =

class="wikitable"

!Taxon

!Locality

!Material

!Notes

Testudinata

| rowspan="2" |Elephant Butte (upper)

Crocodylia

Compsemys

| rowspan="2" |Index fossils suggesting a Lancian age

Bothremydidae

= Plants =

class="wikitable"

!Genus

!Species

!Locality

!Material

!Notes

Araucarites

|A. sp.

Cinnamomum

|C. sp.

Exnelumbites{{Cite journal |last1=Estrada-Ruiz |first1=Emilio |last2=Upchurch |first2=G. R. |last3=Wolfe |first3=J. A. |last4=Cevallos-Ferriz |first4=S. R. S. |date=2011-06-01 |title=Comparative Morphology of Fossil and Extant Leaves of Nelumbonaceae, Including a New Genus from the Late Cretaceous of Western North America |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232684760 |journal=Systematic Botany |language=en |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=337–351 |doi=10.1600/036364411X569525 |bibcode=2011SysBo..36..337E |issn=0363-6445}}

|E. morphotype 2

|Leaves

|A member of Nelumbonaceae

Ficus

|F. sp.

Phyllites

|P. sp.

Sabal

|S. sp.

Sabalites

|S. sp.

Salix