Abstract

A comprehensive survey of faults, breccias, and fractures in and flanking the eastern Española Basin, Rio Grande rift, New Mexico

Highlights

  • The eastern Española rift basin and flank in northern New Mexico have recorded myriad geologic processes in the tectonic evolution of the Neogene Rio Grande rift (Fig. 1)

  • The data in these plots are organized by fault type and whether the fault slip surfaces are (1) principal slip surfaces (PSS) on major faults that bound fault cores or (2) minor slip surfaces (MSS) associated with major fault damage zones or single, isolated faults

  • It is important to note that retro-deformation of the FAULT ZONE COMPONENTS IN ROCK (FiR) data set to remove possible rotations from folding is not feasible because the data were collected in metaigneous and other ­metamorphic

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Summary

Introduction

The eastern Española rift basin and flank in northern New Mexico have recorded myriad geologic processes in the tectonic evolution of the Neogene Rio Grande rift (Fig. 1). The Española Basin represents only the latest of large geological features resulting from of a series of major regional tectonic events that have affected northern New Mexico since Proterozoic time, all of which have left an imprint on the Precambrian basement rocks that compose the uplifted and exhumed rift flank (Fig. 2). Sediments within the basin shed from the rift flanks in the recent geologic past are important aquifers for the suburban and agricultural populations along the Rio Grande. Breccias, fractures, and other structures formed in the brittle regime of the Earth’s upper crust record past tectonic events in the Española Basin and adjacent rift flank. Study of brittle structures in both geologic environments—the basin and the rift flank—provides a way to decipher tectonic history comprehensively, compare and contrast diverse structures, and examine their potential impacts on water resources

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