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Research about New Mexico, Texas

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including New Mexico, Texas.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
USGS1993

Geohydrology of the Mesilla ground-water basin, Dona Ana County, New Mexico, and El Paso County, Texas

The aquifer system of the Mesilla ground-water basin is the Quaternary flood-plain alluvium and the Quaternary and Tertiary Santa Fe Group. The hydraulic gradient in the shallow flood-plain alluvium within the Mesilla Valley is generally between 4 and 6 feet per mile. The hydraulic gradient in the Santa Fe Group ranges from 100 feet per mile in the northwestern part of the study area to less than 2 feet per mile in the southwestern part of the study area. Ground-water levels in nearby observation wells correspond to increases in river stage and indicate significant recharge to the aquifer at the Rio Grande. Water in storage within the Rio Grande flood-plain alluvium/Santa Fe Group aquifer system occurs under unconfined and semi- confined conditions. Horizontal permeability usually exceeds vertical permeability by several orders of magnitude. The thickness and extent of finer grained, less permeable material increase with depth and horizontally toward the southern end of the basin. Seasonal trends in the shallow water table generally correspond to recharge during the irrigation season. Freshwater zones are overlain by zones of slightly saline to saline water in the Mesilla Valley. Geohydrologic data indicate that the thickness of the freshwater zone is significantly less than previously estimated in the vicinity of the proposed West Mesa well field. Lithologic data, borehole-geophysical logs, water-quality data, and potentiometric contours of ground-water in the upper Santa Fe Group indicate a hydraulic connection between the Mesilla Valley and West Mesa.

New Mexico, Texas↗
USGS1989

Fusarium mycotoxins from peanuts suspected as a cause of sandhill crane mortality

An estimated 9,500 sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) died in Gaines County, Texas and Roosevelt County, New Mexico between 1982 and 1987. The predominant clinical sign observed in sick cranes was their inability to hold their heads erect, both while standing and flying. Multiple muscle hemorrhages and submandibular edema were the most common lesions seen at necropsy. Mycotoxins produced by Fusarium sp. growing during cold, wet weather on peanuts left in the field after harvest, the predominant foods of the dead cranes at the time of these mortality events, were identified as the most likely cause of this mortality. Rendering moldy peanuts inaccessible to the cranes by conventional tillage resulted in reduced crane mortality in these areas.

New Mexico, Texas↗
USGS1986

Wildlife in some areas of New Mexico and Texas accumulate elevated DDE residues, 1983

Over the last decade, data gathered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's National Contaminant Biomonitoring Program have identified an area of elevated DDE contamination in portions of New Mexico and Texas. Extensive wildlife sampling in 1983 confirmed that DDE, the major metabolite of the insecticide DDT, was present at high concentrations in wildlife at selected sites in the Rio Grande and Pecos River drainages. DDE in carcasses ranged up to 47 ppm (wet weight) in western kingbirds ( Tyrannus verticalis ), 35 ppm in house sparrows ( Passer domesticus ), 46 ppm in Brazilian free-tailed bats ( Tadarida brasiliensis ), and 104 ppm in whiptail lizards ( Cnemidophorus spp.). DDE was also detected in gut contents from western kingbirds at some of the highest concentrations ever reported, ranging up to 21 ppm in proventricular samples. An average of 40% of the eggs of black-crowned night-herons ( Nycticorax nycticorax ) from two sites along the Pecos River in New Mexico had DDE levels (≥8 ppm) that have been associated in other studies with impaired reproduction. In contrast, wintering mallards ( Anas platyrhynchos ) and American coots ( Fulica americana ) from the study area did not accumulate elevated DDE levels. DDE in wildlife samples at control sites (nonagricultural areas) was either absent or averaged less than 0.35 ppm. Collectively, these data provide evidence that there is major DDE contamination of several vertebrate species in portions of the Rio Grande and Pecos River drainages, but whether the contamination is recent or residual was not determined. Apparently, the source was not DDE contamination present in dicofol (4-chloro- a -(4-chlorophenyl)- a -(trichloromethyl) benzenemethanol); neither dicofol nor its metabolite, p,p' -dichlorobenzophenone, were detected in wildlife carcasses (0.1 ppm detection limit) or proventricular contents (0.01 ppm detection limit) of western kingbirds.

New Mexico, Texas↗
USGS1986

The origin of fluids in the salt beds of the Delaware Basin, New Mexico and Texas

Oxygen and hydrogen isotope analyses have been made of (1) brines from several wells in the salt deposits of the Delaware Basin, (2) inclusion fluids in halite crystals from the ERDA No. 9 site, and (3) local ground waters of meteoric origin. The isotopic compositions indicate that the brines are genetically related and that they probably originated from the evaporation of paleo-ocean waters. Although highly variable in solute contents, the brines have rather uniform isotopic compositions. The stable isotope compositions of brine from the ERDA No. 6 site (826.3 m depth) and fluid inclusions from the ERDA No. 9 site are variable but remarkably regular and show that (1) mixing with old or modern meteoric waters has occurred, the extent of mixing apparently decreasing with depth, and (2) water in the ERDA No. 6 brine may have originated from the dehydration of gypsum. Alternatively, the data may reflect simple evaporation of meteoric water on a previously dry marine flat. Stable isotope compositions of all the waters analyzed indicate that there has been fairly extensive mixing with ground water throughout the area, but that no significant circulation has occurred. The conclusions bear importantly on the suitability of these salt beds and others as repositories for nuclear waste.

New Mexico, Texas↗
USGS1984

Studies of geology and hydrology in the Basin and Range Province, Southwestern United States, for isolation of high-level radioactive waste; characterization of the Rio Grande region, New Mexico and Texas

The Rio Grande region, New Mexico and Texas, includes most of the area east of the Rio Grande to the Sacramento Mountains. The Legion encompasses two large basins, the Jornada del Muerto and Tularosa basins, and the intervening San Andres Mountains. The altitude of the valley surfaces generally are from 600 to 1.500 meters. The mountain ranges generally have altitudes from 1,500 to 2,400 meters. About one-half the area is underlain by basin fill. Outcropping sedimentary rocks in the Rio Grande region range in age from Precambrian to Holocene. The oldest Precambrian rocks are metamorphosed and intruded by plutons. Paleozoic rocks are primarily carbonate rocks, with argillaceous beds, in the older Paleozoic units. Clastic and gypsum are in greater abundance in younger Paleozoic units of Pennsylvanian and Permian age. The Mesozoic rocks primarily are clastic rocks with some limestone. Cenozoic rocks consist of sequences of conglomerate, sandstone, mudstone, and siltstone derived from adjacent mountain masses, interbedded with basalt and andesite flows, and silicic tuffs. Volcanic activity continued into the Quaternary. Early to middle Tertiary volcanic and tectonic processes resulted in the implacement of plutonic bodies. Media considered to have potential for isolation of high-level radioactive waste include intrusive rocks, ash-flow tuff, and basaltic lava flows. Laharic and mudflow breccia and argillaceous beds also may be prospective host rocks. These and other rocks may be prospective media in areas where the unsaturated zone is thick. Quaternary faults are more common in the southern one-half of the region than in the northern one-half. Range-bounding faults with evidence of Quaternary movement extend northward into the central part of the region. Volcanic activity in the northern part of the region includes basalt flows of Quaternary age. Historical crustal uplift and seismicity have occurred in the vicinity of Socorro, New Mexico. The region is bordered on the west by an area with heat flow greater than 2.5 heat-flow units. A few measurements of this magnitude have been made within the region. Recharge to ground water in the Rio Grande region occurs in the higher altitudes where precipitation is greater, that is, in the San Andres and Sacramento Mountains and on the Chupadera Mesa. Ground-water flow from units west of the San Andres Mountains discharge to the Rio Grande. The ground-water flow unit of the Tularosa basin ultimately discharges to the Rio Grande or to wells in the vicinity of El Paso. Intermediate discharge points in the Tularosa basin include seepage to streams, springs, and evaporation to playas in the central part of the basin. Dissolved-solids concentations in ground water in the region generally are more than 1,000 milligrams per liter. The dissolved-solids concentrations in ground water in the recharge areas generally are less than 1,000 milligrams per liter. Dissolved-solids of concentrations ranging from 3,000 to 25,000 milligrams per liter are found in the ground water underlying the playa area in the central part of the Tularosa basin. The more than 43 mining districts in the region contain base metals and to a lesser extent, precious metals, in vein and replacement deposits. Four coal fields are located in the region.

New Mexico, Texas↗
USGS1984

Preliminary study of the aquifers of the lower Mesilla Valley in Texas and New Mexico by model simulation

The aquifers in the lower Mesilla Valley of Texas and New Mexico provide water for irrigation, industrial use, and municipal supply. At present (1984), the shallow aquifer is used principally for irrigation. The medium-depth aquifer (the top of which is about 160 to 260 feet below land surface) and deep aquifer (about 460 to 680 feet below land surface) are used almost exclusively by the city of El Paso to provide about 28 percent of the city's ground-water withdrawal of about 82,000 acre-feet in 1980; however, a small percentage of the pumpage is from the shallow aquifer. The potential use of the medium-depth and deep aquifers for irrigation, together with a planned increase in pumping by the city, is causing concern on the part of El Paso water planners over the impact of this development on the limited supply from the two aquifers. A three-dimensional digital model of the aquifers was developed to evaluate the responses of water levels to various plans of development, with particular emphasis on the medium-depth and deep aquifers in and near the Canutillo well field. Simulations also were made to show the effect of eliminating seepage from the Rio Grande to the aquifer system. The model simulations indicate that if pumpage by the city of El Paso during 1^76-80 increases to 10,000 acre-feet, per year from the medium-depth aquifer and to 20,000 acre-feet per year from the deep aquifer, and elsewhere in the study area pumping was held constant at the 1975 rate, then additional lowering of water levels in representative observation wells would be as much as 24 feet in the medium-depth aquifer and as much as 52 feet in the deep aquifer. The water levels would decline sharply during the first few months, after which the levels would become nearly stable because the leakage between the aquifers probably is enough to balance the increased pumpage. The model also indicated that lining of the channel of the Rio Grande would result in an additional lowering of water levels in representative observation wells by 10 feet in the medium-depth aquifer and 8 feet in the deep aquifer. The accuracy of water levels simulated by a model is dependent on the accuracy and distribution of input data and how well model boundary conditions approximate actual boundary conditions. Because of a lack of hydro!ogic data (especial ly water-1 evel information) everywhere except the Canutillo wellfield area, because the simulated cone of depression reached two boundaries, and because the model contained an error and several deficiencies as explained in the "Discussion" section, the simulated results need to be interpreted carefully. The authors believe that the simulated results could be used best as a preliminary and conceptual evaluation of the pumping effects at the Canutillo well field, not as a quantitative interpretation. Although the patterns of simulated hydrographs of water-level change in observation wells in the Canutillo field generally may be correct, the amount of change simulated probably is not correct. Because the salinity of water in all three aquifers south of Canutillo is greater than elsewhere in the study area, there is potential for movement of this water northward toward the Canutillo well field if the cone of depression reaches that part of the aquifer system. This potential should be evaluated in future geohydrologic studies of the lower Mesilla Valley.

New Mexico, Texas↗
USGS1982

Continuous subaqueous deposition of the Permian Castile evaporites, Delaware Basin, Texas and New Mexico

Structures that are common in the Castile Formation (Ochoan) of the Delaware Basin, Texas and New Mexico (Fig. 1) include fine planar laminations, breccias, microfolded laminae, and nodular anhydrite. These structures, particularly the laminae, have been used to demonstrate the subaqueous depositional history of the Castile (Anderson and Kirkland, 1966; Anderson et al., 1972; Dean et al., 1975; Dean and Anderson, 1978). Kirkland and Anderson (1970) showed that the microfolds in the Castile are related to larger folds generated by tectonic compression. Breccia beds and chimneys and their relations to vertical and lateral salt dissolution in the Delaware Basin were discussed by Anderson et al. (1972), Anderson (1978), Anderson et al. (1978), and Anderson and Kirkland (1980). In this workshop we will describe and illustrate these structures and summarize how they have been used to understand the depositional and postdepositional history of a major evaporite deposit for which there is no modern analog.

New Mexico, Texas↗