Teepee Structures

Teepee structures are some of the most unusual AND prolific sedimentary structures around Carlsbad and the Guadalupe Mountains. Once you see one, you begin seeing them everywhere. They are abundant in the Yates and Tansill Formations (Permian). If you ever travel to Carlsbad Caverns National Park, keep an eye open for them the entire way to the visitor’s center!

Teepee structures form when a sheet of evaporites grows but runs out of room. Instead of being able to continue to expand outward, the lack of space around the perimeter forces the layer to buckle upward.

Interesting side note: During our field work measurements we noticed the rock layer where we found teepees was much more reactive to HCl, indicating a higher presence of calcium carbonate compared to the more dolomitic layers both immediately above and below. Without the presence of teepees, visually the layers would appear the same, but we chose to identify layer with the teepees as limestone due to how notably different it reacted to the acid test.