Depositional environments and transgression-regression cycles in the Mural Limestone, central Sonora, Mexico

Abstract

Results of analytical studies in the Mural Limestone of the Bisbee Group exposed in northwest Mexico, carried out to determine the paleo-bathymetry of the marine depositional environment, reveal that deposition occurred in a restricted carbonate platform environment, varying from inner-neritic to shelf margin with the development of lagoon, shoal and biohermal conditions, reflecting minor transgression-regression cycles. Furthermore, the fossiliferous content and lithological characteristics support the interpretation that the studied section corresponds to the transition between Cerro La Puerta and Cerro La Espina members of the Mural Limestone.