Basin In New Mexico Research Articles

Sedimentary History of San Juan Basin of New Mexico and Colorado: ABSTRACT

The San Juan basin is an ovoid-shaped intermontane basin located in northwestern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado. It is the southeastern part of the Colorado Plateau and as defined in this paper it encompasses about 7,600 square miles within the Point Lookout (Cretaceous) outcrop. Except for the Ordovician and Silurian and possibly Lower Cretaceous which are not present, all rocks of the geological time scale can be penetrated in 15,000 feet or less. Marine conditions prevailed during early Paleozoic time. At the end of Pennsylvanian time, sedimentation of clastics increased from neighboring highlands and a period of transition from marine to continental deposition extended into Permian time. Primarily, continental conditions continued through Triassic and Jurassic time. After a hiatus at the end of Jurassic time, the Cretaceous was deposited in a varied but mainly marine environment. Local movement due to the Laramide Orogeny, caused subsidence of the basin and rising of the surrounding mountains. Large quantities of detrital material filled the basin with Paleocene and Eocene sediments. Most of the basin has not been drilled below the Dakota Formation. Only 19 wells have penetrated the Paleozoics within the Point Lookout outcrop. The density of Paleozoic tests is one well per 400 square miles and most of these tests are near the periphery of the basin. Because of this exiguous well control, most of the deeper sediments of the basin are relatively unknown. None of the deeper tests have been commercial producers. Economic importance of the rocks in the basin is very diverse with oil, natural gas and coal being the main economic resources. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1874------------

Subsidized Irrigation: The Value of Water in Alternative Uses . With special application to water use in the San Juan and Rio Grande basins of New Mexico. Nathaniel Wollman, Ralph L. Edgel, Marshall E. Farris, H. Ralph Stucky, and Alvin J. Thompson. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1962. xxii + 426 pp. Illus. $10.

Subsidized Irrigation: <i>The Value of Water in Alternative Uses</i> . With special application to water use in the San Juan and Rio Grande basins of New Mexico. Nathaniel Wollman, Ralph L. Edgel, Marshall E. Farris, H. Ralph Stucky, and Alvin J. Thompson. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1962. xxii + 426 pp. Illus. $10.

Subsidized Irrigation: The Value of Water in Alternative Uses . With special application to water use in the San Juan and Rio Grande basins of New Mexico. Nathaniel Wollman, Ralph L. Edgel, Marshall E. Farris, H. Ralph Stucky, and Alvin J. Thompson. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1962. xxii + 426 pp. Illus. $10.

Subsidized Irrigation: <i>The Value of Water in Alternative Uses</i> . With special application to water use in the San Juan and Rio Grande basins of New Mexico. Nathaniel Wollman, Ralph L. Edgel, Marshall E. Farris, H. Ralph Stucky, and Alvin J. Thompson. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1962. xxii + 426 pp. Illus. $10.

The Value of Water in Alternative Uses. With special application to water use in the San Juan and Rio Grande basins of New Mexico. Nathaniel Wollman, Ralph L. Edgel, Marshall E. Farris, H. Ralph Stucky, and Alvin J. Thompson. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1962. xxii + 426 pp. Illus. $10

The Value of Water in Alternative Uses. With special application to water use in the San Juan and Rio Grande basins of New Mexico. Nathaniel Wollman, Ralph L. Edgel, Marshall E. Farris, H. Ralph Stucky, and Alvin J. Thompson. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1962. xxii + 426 pp. Illus. $10

STRUCTURE, CLIMATE, AND BASIN LAND FORMS IN ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO1

THE geomorphic history of structural basins in Arizona and New Mexico has been studied mainly by Kirk Bryan, his co-workers and students. In 1926 Bryan published his preliminary findings on the San Pedro Valley in Arizona as an abstract.2 Though a short paper and without illustrations, it is important because it contains ideas on geomorphic history that found further and more precise expression in later work on structural basins in New Mexico. Bryan, in his study of the San Pedro Valley, regarded the differential movements that depressed the trough and elevated the bordering mountain blocks as having ended with the post-Gila deformation at the close of the Pliocene period. Subsequent stability allowed the development of a broad erosional surface on the basin fill. Renewed incision by streams and the establishment of successively lower base levels led to the formation of lower erosional surfaces. Bryan did not publish a map or diagram of these erosional levels, and his paper is important chiefly because its suggestion of a correlatable tier of terraces and erosion platforms was used extensively as the fundamental explanation of the geomorphology of basins in New Mexico. Since Bryan's paper, the San Pedro Valley has received little attention from geomorphologists; but in New Mexico the geomorphic history of several basins has been examined

Permian System of Colorado Plateau

The Permian System of the Colorado Plateau contains a variety of marine and continental sedimentary rocks deposited during Wolfcampian and Leonardian time. In southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah the system is largely arkosic redbeds which become finer-grained and segregated into distinctive units southwestward from the source area of the Uncompahgre uplift. The redbeds were deposited on arid coastal plains closely related to shallow marine environments along the southern and western margins of the province. The removal of clastics from the source area was almost complete by the close of Wolfcamp time, for Leonardian deposits consist of eolian sandstones of wide lateral extent in the Four Corners region and marine sandstones, carbonates, and evaporites along the so thern and western plateau. Continuous sedimentation probably occurred across the Pennsylvanian-Permian temporal boundary along the margin of the Uncompahgre source area and in the San Juan and Black Mesa basins of New Mexico and Arizona. Many local areas were positive during Pennsylvanian time, but were buried by early Permian or slightly older sedimentation. Most of southeastern Utah was subjected to late Pennsylvanian or early Permian erosion that was related to intense bevelling of the Emery and Defiance uplifts where the Pennsylvanian was entirely removed. A previously used term Rico formation is abandoned because it is neither useful nor mappable. Coarse clastics of the undifferentiated Cutler Group were derived entirely from the Uncompahgre uplift, and grade laterally into the finer-grained lower Cutler in the Four Corners area, the Abo Formation of central New Mexico, and the Supai Formation of northern Arizona. The lower Cutler redbeds grade westward into the lower Halgaito redbeds, and interfinger with the overlying near-shore marine Cedar Mesa Sandstone. The lower Cutler and Halgaito clastics interfinger with marine carbonates toward the northwest. The Wolfcampian carbonates are designated the Elephant Canyon Formation in this report. The Supai Formation of the Grand Canyon represents the Halgaito and Cedar Mesa Formations, but the two-fold distinction in the Supai (restricted) of east-central Arizona is not apparent. The quivalent Supai and Abo Formations interfinger with marine carbonates toward the south and west. Lateral equivalents of the upper Cutler are the Organ Rock-Hermit redbeds, and the overlying eolian to marine De Chelly Sandstone. The Organ Rock-Hermit Shales are restricted to the Four Corners-Monument Valley-Grand Canyon areas. The De Chelly Sandstone, the youngest Permian deposits of the central Colorado Plateau are eolian over most of the province, but grade to marine sandstones along the southern extremes of the plateau. It is recommended that equivalent sandstones in east-central Arizona (formerly the upper Supai Formation) and central New Mexico (formerly the Meseta Blanca Member of the Yeso Formation) be referred to the De Chelly Sandstone of Leonardian(?) age. Post-Cutler (post-De Chelly) sedimentation was restricted to the southern and western margins of the plateau. The oldest of these deposits, the Yeso Formation (restricted) is a mixed marine association of carbonates, evaporites, and clastics that extends across the southern part of the Colorado Plateau. The overlying Coconino-Glorieta sandstone is a shallow marine deposit in central New Mexico (Glorieta) that grades westward into thick eolian deposits (Coconino). The youngest Permian deposits on the plateau End_Page 149------------------------------ are the San Andres Formation of central New Mexico, and the equivalent Kaibab-Toroweap Formations of northern Arizona and the western margin of the province in Utah. These sediments are largely shallow marine carbonates and clastics, with local occurrences of evaporites. An epeirogenic uplift occurred sometime during late Permian or early Triassic time, but the amount and time of uplift was not great for only relatively minor erosional features are known. The time lapse represented by the disconformity is the upper half of the Permian and the lowermost Triassic, but erosion took place late enough to allow thorough lithification of Permian sediments. The climate of the province was arid or semi-arid during Permian time, as shown by the preservation of redbeds and fresh feldspar detritus, and the presence of vast dune deserts and extensive evaporite deposits throughout the system.

Aquifer Tests on Partially Penetrating Wells

Theory of nonsteady flow toward artesian wells partially penetrating infinite nonleaky aquifers is used to outline methods for determination of formation coefficients as well as thickness of water bearing formation; applications of these methods are illustrated by analyzing data from ground water basins in New Mexico.

Aquifer Tests on Partially Penetrating Wells

Theory of nonsteady flow toward artesian wells partially penetrating infinite nonleaky aquifers is used to outline methods for determination of formation coefficients as well as thickness of water bearing formation; applications of these methods are illustrated by analyzing data from ground water basins in New Mexico.

Some Features Common to Sand Bars on Modern Coasts and in Geologic Column: ABSTRACT

Sand bars which have features and distribution similar to sand bars on modern coast lines are being recognized as oil reservoirs in many parts of the geologic column, and their occurrence is in many widely spaced areas. A knowledge of modern sand bars, therefore, should aid the discovery and development of oil fields in ancient sand bars. Systems of sand bars are common features of many coasts of the world. They are particularly well developed on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. Except for an attachment, commonly at one end, the bars are separated from the mainland by lagoons or marshes, many of which range from ½ to 5 miles in width. The width of some lagoons, however, is 30 miles or more. The length of many bars on the Atlantic Coast ranges from 4 to 8 miles, others from 15 to 30 miles, and on the Gulf Coast from a few to more than 100 miles. The individual bars are separated by narrow water channels called tidal inlets, which connect the ocean with the lagoons. The inlets are kept open by tidal currents which surge in and out through the inlets twice daily. Longshore currents, which are produced by waves striking the coast at an angle, operate on the seaward side of the bars. They transport sand along the shore, and lengthen the bars at one end. At the same time the tidal currents at the inlets tend to limit the extension of the bars. The result is that the end of an individual bar is extended along shore beyond the end of the next bar on the coast, but slightly seaward of it; thus producing an en echelon arrangement of the bars. Offset features are particularly well developed on the south shore of Long Island, where a westward longshore current has extended the western end of each bar westward beyond the adjacent bar. Many bars on the Atlantic Coast are characterized by ridges of sand that trend parallel with the shore; the ridges commonly are capped by dunes and are separated by long marsh strips or slashes. These are growth ridges and are produced by addition of sand to the seaward side of the bars. Growth End_Page 210------------------------------ ridges are prominent at Cape Henry, Virginia, Bogue Island, Parramore Island, and elsewhere on the Atlantic Coast and at many places on the Gulf Coast. Beach sands on modern coasts are well sorted within individual beds or laminae. On the other hand, there is considerable range in grain size from laminae to laminae. The beach sands are composed chiefly of grains of quartz but contain minor amounts of a great variety of minerals. Beach sands on modern coasts are transitory features that are modified by every storm. It is truly remarkable that many similar sand bodies of the geologic past have been so perfectly preserved in the geologic column. A few examples include the so-called shoestring oil sands in the Cherokee shale of Pennsylvanian age in Kansas and Oklahoma. These sand bodies have many features of the modern coastal sands. The length of one system of these sands is 150 miles. Some of the sand bodies in the Cretaceous system in the Denver basin of Colorado and Nebraska, and in the Powder River basin of Wyoming and the somewhat younger Cretaceous sands in the San Juan basin in New Mexico appear to have had a similar origin. End_of_Article - Last_Page 211------------

Nature of Rocky Mountain Stratigraphic Fields

In recent years the number of stratigraphic fields discovered in the Rocky Mountain region has increased markedly. A classification of these fields according to lithology and the origin of porosity in their reservoir rocks reveals some patterns regarded as useful in guiding additional exploration. Among the fields with carbonate reservoirs, those producing from fragmental rocks are most numerous. North Westhope field in North Dakota is an example. Most common of the siliceous reservoir rocks are those deposited in nearshore environment. Sand River field in eastern Colorado is characteristic of fields so classed. Statistically it appears that the best of Rocky Mountain stratigraphic fields are those with Cretaceous sandstone reservoirs of beach-bar type such as Bisti field in the San Juan basin in New Mexico.

Analysis of data from pumping tests in leaky aquifers

Graphical methods are outlined for determining the coefficients of transmissibility storage, and leakage of an effectively infinite leaky artesian aquifer. The procedure is based on the theory, developed by Hantush and Jacob, of the nonsteady flow toward a steadily discharging well from an infinite leaky aquifer. Applications of these methods are illustrated by treating data from the Roswell artesian basin in New Mexico.

Fossil Maize from the Valley of Mexico

Within the past decade studies on the origin, antiquity and evolution of maize have received new stimulus from archaeological and palynological discoveries in the southwestern United States and Mexico (Deevey, 1944; Mangelsdorf and Smith, 1949). It now appears well established that a maize culture developed and flourished in the presently semi-arid basins of New Mexico during a period ranging from approximately 3600 B. C. , or earlier (Libby, 1951), to approximately 1000 A.D. The morphologically primitive structure of this prehistoric corn, in contrast to its surprisingly recent geologic age, is strong presumptive evidence, though not necessarily proof, that maize originated in the New World and was here developed from its wild state by aboriginal migrants into the American subtropics. Recently, additional paleontological evidence has been obtained from the Valley of Mexico which indicates a far greater antiquity for the existence of maize in the New World than has yet been revealed by archaeologi-

Developments in Arizona, Western New Mexico, and Northern New Mexico in 1950

One hundred and nine wells were drilled in 1950 in western and northern New Mexico compared with 43 wells in 1949. Thirty-two wildcat wells were drilled in 1950 in western and northern New Mexico as compared with 11 wildcat wells in 1949. Seven wells, all of which were wildcats, were drilled in 1950 in Arizona compared with 4 wells in 1949. None was commercially productive. Eighteen wildcat wells were drilled in the San Juan basin in New Mexico in 1950, 10 of which were commercially productive.

Dark Coloration in the Reptiles of the Tularosa Malpais, New Mexico

IN 1932 Bradt described the mammals of the black lava Malpais of the Tularosa Basin in New Mexico and noted the close approximation between the colors of the animals and of the surrounding rocks. In the same year Benson described several new dark colored rodents from the lava, and Dice and Blossom in 1939 summarized the relationships between soil and pelage colors in the mammals of this and numerous other areas of the desert southwest. The latter authors demonstrated the general rule that dark colored forms were correlated with dark soils, while pale forms were correlated with light soils. In the Malpais, they found five species of mammals that tended toward dark coloration. In the contiguous snow-white gypsum dunes of the White Sands National Monument, they noted three species of mammals with pallid pelage tones. In less distinctively colored areas, mammals tended to approach the reds, yellows, buffs, and browns of their native substratum. Smith (1943) has described the pale lizards of the White Sands (Uta stansburiana stejnegeri Schmidt, Sceloporus undulatus consobrinus Baird and Girard, Holbrookia maculata ruthveni Smith, and Cnemidophorus perplexus Baird). Color notes on the reptiles from adjacent normal colored regions are readily available. The reptiles of the Malpais have not been studied, and in order to examine their colorations, three collecting trips were made across various portions of the lava in 1948. Color notes were made in the field. Comparative studies were made, largely, from preserved material. The Malpais of the Tularosa Basin consists of about 120 square miles of recent vesicular dull black lava extending north and south in a narrow irregular strip about 44 miles in length. It is bordered by arid plains and hills which determined the shape of the flow and which now bear the flora and fauna of the Chihuahuan biotic province. The lava is exceedingly rough and almost impassable. In places it is 50 or more feet in thickness. The surface displays such features as secondary terraces, collapsed bubbles and flow channels, pressure domes, knife-like ridges, extensive crevasses, crumpled and up-thrust extrusions, pahoehoe formations, cinder cones, and at the northern end a low crater. The surface is weathered but little. Enough glassy edges remain to damage even the heaviest boots. The violent winds of this part of the continent have buried the northern toe of the beds in drifted sand and loess. They have also carried into the lava sufficient pockets of soil to support a sparse growth of desert plants. In the northern portions (elevation about 5300 feet) ephydra and small junipers dominate. Farther south the more prominent large plants are mesquite, cholla, prickly pear, sotol, lecheguilla, atriplex, and near Malpais Spring (4150 feet) at the southern end of the beds, large Allenrolfia shrubs.

Solution‐phenomena in the Pecos basin in New Mexico

The drainage‐basin of the Pecos River in New Mexico is a broad asymmetric trough extending from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains southward into Texas (see Fig. 1). It is bounded on the east by the westward facing escarpment of the High Plains and on the west by the crests of the Guadalupe, Sacramento and Sierra Blanca mountains, and a poorly defined divide extending northward through Gallinas Mountain and Pedernal Mountain to Glorieta Mesa. Most of the basin is formed by extensive upland erosion‐surfaces that slope gently toward the river. The valley proper, through much of its length, is relatively narrow and is bounded by steep marginal bluffs, but in some sections, notably between Acme and Lakewood (the Roswell artesian basin) and between Carlsbad and Black River, it is considerably expanded and the lowlands adjoining the river extend from 3 to 16 miles back from the river.

Role of physical chemistry in stratigraphic problems

Stratigraphy is concerned mainly with the genesis and interpretation of stratified rocks, which include some of wide extent and of great scientific as well as economic interest that are largely of chemical rather than of detrital origin. Chemical agencies have been recognized to some extent in genetic studies of these rocks, but little work has been done approaching in maturity the type of study now given to the genesis of igneous rocks and of ores, in which physical chemistry plays so important a part.A plea is presented to geologists with training in physical chemistry to interest themselves in stratigraphic problems that involve the use of this science. Examples cited are the phosphate beds and bedded cherts of the Phosphoria formation in Idaho and adjacent States and the potash-bearing Salado halite of the Permian basin in New Mexico and Texas. The interplay of ions in the solutions from which these formations were derived must have been controlled by such conditions as temperature, pressure, degree of concentration, and the like. Possibly laboratory study would enable us to reproduce these conditions and results and thus better interpret the geologic history of the times when these formations were built.