Applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to Exploration Studies in the San Juan Basin, New Mexico: ABSTRACT

Abstract

The US Geological Survey (USGS) is currently applying geographic information systems (GIS) technology to develop a geologic knowledge base that will provide the framework for an integrated basin analysis for the San Juan basin. GIS technology involves the integration of mapping and data-base functions that enable the user to integrate and manipulate spatial (coordinate) data with attribute (thematic) data in order to combine complex geographic, geologic, and geophysical data sets into resultant overlay and composite maps and to conduct multivariate exploratory data analysis and have access to a variety of options for analyzing these databases. The San Juan basin, a 13,500-mi{sup 2} Laramide structural basin in northwestern New Mexico, was chosen for the pilot project. The basin encompasses a maximum of over 15,000 ft of Paleozoic to Eocene sedimentary rock and contains economic deposits of natural gas, oil, coal, and uranium. Successful exploration in this basin requires an understanding of the complex stratigraphy and structural geology controlling the distribution of these resources. GIS technology applied to the San Juan basin includes both surface and subsurface data sets that establish a three-dimensional perspective of the basin's fundamental stratigraphic and structural framework and aid in the identification of its temporal and tectonicmore » relationships relative to origin and occurrence of its resources. Among the digital data bases used for surface mapping is the US GeoData system from the USGS's national mapping program, which includes digital elevation models (DEM) for terrain elevations: digital line graphs (DLG) for planimetric information on boundaries, transportation, hydrography, and the US Public Land Survey system; and land use and land cover (LULC) data. Additional data bases used for surface mapping include surficial geology, locations of oil and gas wells, well status, and oil and gas fields.« less