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Research about New Mexico

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including New Mexico.

At least 433 records · Page 24Linked to original sources
USGS2000

Determination of infiltration and percolation rates along a reach of the Santa Fe River near La Bajada, New Mexico

Two methods, one a surface-water method and the second a ground-water method, were used to determine infiltration and percolation rates along a 2.5-kilometer reach of the Santa Fe River near La Bajada, New Mexico. The surface-water method uses streamflow measurements and their differences along a stream reach, streamflow-loss rates, stream surface area, and evaporation rates to determine infiltration rates. The ground-water method uses heat as a tracer to monitor percolation through shallow streambed sediments. Data collection began in October 1996 and continued through December 1997. During that period the stream reach was instrumented with three streamflow gages, and temperature profiles were monitored from the stream-sediment interface to about 3 meters below the streambed at four sites along the reach. Infiltration is the downward flow of water through the stream- sediment interface. Infiltration rates ranged from 92 to 267 millimeters per day for an intense measurement period during June 26- 28, 1997, and from 69 to 256 millimeters per day during September 27-October 6, 1997. Investigators calculated infiltration rates from streamflow loss, stream surface-area measurements, and evaporation-rate estimates. Infiltration rates may be affected by unmeasured irrigation-return flow in the study reach. Although the amount of irrigation-return flow was none to very small, it may result in underestimation of infiltration rates. The infiltration portion of streamflow loss was much greater than the evaporation portion. Infiltration accounted for about 92 to 98 percent of streamflow loss. Evaporation-rate estimates ranged from 3.4 to 7.6 millimeters per day based on pan-evaporation data collected at Cochiti Dam, New Mexico, and accounted for about 2 to 8 percent of streamflow loss. Percolation is the movement of water through saturated or unsaturated sediments below the stream-sediment interface. Percolation rates ranged from 40 to 109 millimeters per day during June 26-28, 1997. Percolation rates were not calculated for the September 27-October 6, 1997, period because a late summer flood removed the temperature sensors from the streambed. Investigators used a heat-and-water flow model, VS2DH (variably saturated, two- dimensional heat), to calculate near-surface streambed infiltration and percolation rates from temperatures measured in the stream and streambed. Near the stream-sediment interface, infiltration and percolation rates are comparable. Comparison of infiltration and percolation rates showed that infiltration rates were greater than percolation rates. The method used to calculate infiltration rates accounted for net loss or gain over the entire stream reach, whereas the method used to calculate percolation was dependent on point measurements and, as applied in this study, neglected the nonvertical component of heat and water fluxes. In general, using the ground-water method was less labor intensive than making a series of streamflow measurements and relied on temperature, an easily measured property. The ground-water method also eliminated the difficulty of measuring or estimating evaporation from the water surface and was therefore more direct. Both methods are difficult to use during periods of flood flow. The ground-water method has problems with the thermocouple-wire temperature sensors washing out during flood events. The surface- water method often cannot be used because of safety concerns for personnel making wading streamflow measurements.

New Mexico↗
USGS2000

Deposition and chemistry of bottom sediments in Cochiti Lake, north-central New Mexico

Bottom sediments were sampled at seven sites in Cochiti Lake in September 1996. Sediment cores penetrating the entire lacustrine sediment sequence were collected at one site near the dam. Surficial sediments were sampled at the near-dam site and six other sites located along the length of the reservoir. Analyses included grain size, major and trace elements, organochlorine compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's), and radionuclides. Concentrations of trace elements, organic compounds, and radionuclides are similar to those in other Rio Grande reservoirs and are low compared to published sediment-quality guidelines. Most elements and compounds that were detected did not show trends in the age estimated sediment cores with the exception of a decreasing trend in total DDT concentrations from about 1980 to 1992. The mixture of PAH's suggests that the increase is caused by inputs of fuel-related PAH and not combustion- related PAH.

New Mexico↗
USGS2000

Would ecological landscape restoration make the Bandelier Wilderness more or less of a wilderness?

Is it appropriate to intervene in designated wilderness areas that have been "untrammeled by man" and, as a result, no longer retain their "primeval character and influence" as called for in the 1964 Wilderness Act? We explore this wilderness management dilemma - whether we can or should actively manage wilderness conditions to restore and protect wilderness and other values - by asking a series of questions relating to a wilderness area that is no longer "natural." Debate on this issue is not new, but is intensifying, since most wilderness areas in the continental United States are not pristine and ecosystem research has shown that conditions in many are deteriorating. Our case-study is a proposed large-scale project to restore pinon-juniper woodlands in the Bandelier Wilderness, which comprises more than 23,000 acres in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico.

New Mexico↗
USGS2000

Would ecological landscape restoration make the Bandelier Wilderness more or less of a wilderness?

The purpose of this paper is to foster discussion on the basic issue of whether it is appropriate or not to intervene in designated wilderness areas that have been “trammeled by man” and, as a result, no longer retain their “primeval character and influence.” We explore this wilderness management dilemma (whether we can or should actively manage wilderness conditions to restore and protect wilderness and other values) by asking seven questions relating to a wilderness area that is no longer “natural.” (For the purposes of this discussion, “natural” is defined by words and phrases used in the 1964 Wilderness Act: “a community of life untrammeled by man”; “land retaining its primeval character and influence”; and or existing in an “unimpaired condition.”) Debate on this issue is not new, but is intensifying, since most wilderness areas in the continental United States are not pristine and ecosystem research has shown that conditions in many are deteriorating. To facilitate dialog on this wilderness management topic we focus on a case-study of a proposed large-scale project to restore piñon-juniper woodlands in the Bandelier Wilderness, New Mexico.

New Mexico↗
USGS2000

Evidence for Paleocene dinosaurs in the Ojo Alamo Sandstone, San Juan Basin, New Mexico

Dinosaur fossils from the Ojo Alamo Sandstone, San Juan Basin, New Mexico, have been a puzzle to geologists for decades because other stratigraphic and paleontologic evidence indicates that this formation is Paleocene in age. The Paleocene age of the Ojo Alamo is based on the following evidence: (1) the lowermost part of the Nacimiento Formation, which conformably overlies and intertongues with the Ojo Alamo Sandstone in the Ojo Alamo type area in the southern part of the basin, contains Paleocene (Puercan) mammalian fossils; (2) plant megafossils collected from the Ojo Alamo indicate a Tertiary age for this rock unit; (3) pollen-productive rock samples collected from the Ojo Alamo at several localities in the basin have, without exception, yielded Paleocene-age palynomorph assemblages, and conversely, no Cretaceous pollen has ever been reported from Ojo Alamo rock samples. We report here the first discovery of Paleocene palynomorphs from Ojo Alamo Sandstone outcrops in the northern San Juan Basin. The pollen-producing rock samples were collected from a coaly, carbonaceous shale bed 12-m above the base of the Ojo Alamo and 3-m below the level of a large hadrosaur femur (1310-mm long and weighing about 130 kg) collected from this site. The bone was recovered from a cobble-to-boulder conglomeratic sandstone but shows no evidence of abrasion by erosion indicating almost instant burial after death of the animal and early mineralization of the femur. It is our opinion that this bone was not reworked from underlying Cretaceous strata. The data from the San Juan River site indicate that dinosaurs did not die out at the end of the Cretaceous in the San Juan Basin, but lived on for as much as a few hundred thousand years into the Paleocene before finally becoming extinct.

New Mexico↗
USGS1999

Digital mining claim density map for federal lands in New Mexico: 1996

This report describes a digital map generated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to provide digital spatial mining claim density information for federal lands in New Mexico as of March 1997. Mining claim data is earth science information deemed to be relevant to the assessment of historic, current, and future ecological, economic, and social systems. There is no paper map included in this Open-File report. In accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA), all unpatented mining claims, mill, and tunnel sites must be recorded at the appropriate BLM State office. BLM maintains a cumulative computer listing of mining claims in the MCRS database with locations given by meridian, township, range, and section. A mining claim is considered closed when the claim is relinquished or a formal BLM decision declaring the mining claim null and void has been issued and the appeal period has expired. All other mining claims filed with BLM are considered to be open and actively held. The digital map (figure 1.) with the mining claim density database available in this report are suitable for geographic information system (GIS)-based regional assessments at a scale of 1:100,000 or smaller.

New Mexico↗
USGS1999

Water Resources Data, New Mexico, Water Year 1998. Volume 1. The Rio Grande Basin; the Mimbres River Basin; and the Tularosa Valley Basin

Water-resources data for the 1998 water year for New Mexico consist of records of discharge and water quality of streams; stage, contents, and water quality of lakes and reservoirs; and water levels and water quality in wells and springs. This report containsdischarge records for 158 gaging stations; stage and contents for 26 lakes and reservoirs; water quality for 34 gaging stations, 23 wells, and 41 partial-record stations and miscellaneous sites;and water levels at 122 observation wells. Also included are 36 crest-stage, partial-record stations. Additional water data were collected at various sites not involved in the systematic data- collection program, and are published as miscellaneous measurements. These data represent that part of the National Water Data System collected by the U.S. Geological Survey and cooperating Federal, State, and local agencies in New Mexico.

New Mexico↗
USGS1999

Water Resources Data, New Mexico, Water Year 1998. Volume 2. The Arkansas River Basin; the San Juan River Basin; the Gila River Basin; and Ground-Water Wells

Water-resources data for the 1998 water year for New Mexico consist of records of discharge and water quality of streams; stage, contents, and water quality of lakes and reservoirs; and water levels and water quality in wells and springs. This report contains discharge records for 158 gaging stations; stage and contents for 26 lakes and reservoirs; water quality for 34 gaging stations, 23 wells, and 41 partial-record stations and miscellaneous sites; and water levels at 122 observation wells. Also included are 36 crest- stage, partial-record stations. Additional water data were collected at various sites not involved in the systematic data-collection program, and are published as miscellaneous measurements. These data represent that part of the National Water Data System collected by the U.S. Geological Survey and cooperating Federal, State, and local agencies in New Mexico.

New Mexico↗
USGS1999

Numerical simulation of vertical ground-water flux of the Rio Grande from ground-water temperature profiles, central New Mexico

An important gap in the understanding of the hydrology of the Middle Rio Grande Basin, central New Mexico, is the rate at which water from the Rio Grande recharges the Santa Fe Group aquifer system. Several methodologies-including use of the Glover-Balmer equation, flood pulses, and channel permeameters- have been applied to this problem in the Middle Rio Grande Basin. In the work presented here, ground-water temperature profiles and ground-water levels beneath the Rio Grande were measured and numerically simulated at four sites. The direction and rate of vertical ground-water flux between the river and underlying aquifer was simulated and the effective vertical hydraulic conductivity of the sediments underlying the river was estimated through model calibration. Seven sets of nested piezometers were installed during July and August 1996 at four sites along the Rio Grande in the Albuquerque area, though only four of the piezometer nests were simulated. In downstream order, these four sites are (1) the Bernalillo site, upstream from the New Mexico State Highway 44 bridge in Bernalillo (piezometer nest BRN02); (2) the Corrales site, upstream from the Rio Rancho sewage treatment plant in Rio Rancho (COR01); (3) the Paseo del Norte site, upstream from the Paseo del Norte bridge in Albuquerque (PDN01); and (4) the Rio Bravo site, upstream from the Rio Bravo bridge in Albuquerque (RBR01). All piezometers were completed in the inner-valley alluvium of the Santa Fe Group aquifer system. Ground-water levels and temperatures were measured in the four piezometer nests a total of seven times in the 24-month period from September 1996 through August 1998. The flux between the surface- and ground-water systems at each of the field sites was quantified by one-dimensional numerical simulation of the water and heat exchange in the subsurface using the heat and water transport model VS2DH. Model calibration was aided by the use of PEST, a model-independent computer program that uses nonlinear parameter estimation. Mean vertical hydraulic conductivities were estimated by model calibration and range from 1.5x10 -5 to 5.8x10 -6 meters per second (m/s). Mean simulated vertical ground-water flux for the BRN02 piezometer nest is 3.30x10 -7 m/s; for the COR01 piezometer nest is 3.58x10 -7 m/s; for the PDN01 piezometer nest is 4.22x10 -7 m/s; and for the RBR01 piezometer nest is 2.05x10 -7 m/s. Comparison of the simulated vertical fluxes and vertical hydraulic conductivities derived from this study with values from other studies in the Middle Rio Grande Basin indicate agreement between 1 and 3.5 orders of magnitude for hydraulic conductivity and within 1 order of magnitude for vertical flux.

New Mexico↗
USGS1998

Preliminary lithostratigraphy, interpreted geophysical logs and hydrogeologic characteristics of the 98th Street core hole, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Core samples, cuttings, and numerous geophysical logs obtained from the 1560 ft (475.5 m) core hole drilled at 98th Street on the west side of Albuquerque provide key stratigraphic and hydraulicproperty information for the upper clastic sediments of the Santa Fe Group, which form the principal aquifer in the region. The core hole and an adjacent water-level monitoring well were drilled cooperatively by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the City of Albuquerque and investigated in collaboration with the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources and the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer to improve understanding of aquifer characteristics and controls on ground-water availability and quality. The 751.5 ft (229 m) of core samples recovered from the core hole are the only undisturbed samples of nonlithified sediments of the upper part of the Santa Fe Group that have been collected in this area. These samples have allowed us, for the first time, to directly observe and characterize the lithic and sedimentologic features of this part of the section, and to correlate the detailed geologic features with geophysical-log characteristics, magnetic susceptibility measurements, hydraulic variables, and trace-element geochemistry. The adjacent well was designed to be an areally representative ground-water level and water-quality monitoring well for the Santa Fe Group aquifer. This report chiefly addresses the lithologic, stratigraphic, and hydrogeologic features determined from the 98th Street core hole; other reports address related characteristics. Previous geologic studies predicted the stratigraphy at the site to be, from the land surface downward: 1) Quaternary alluvial and eolian valley-border sediments; 2) fluvial sand and gravel of the upper unit of the Santa Fe Group (Ceja Member of the Santa Fe Formation of Kelly, 1978; equivalent to the Sierra Ledrones Formation of Machette (1978a); 3) downward-fining basin-floor silty clay deposits and 4) fluvial sandy and silty facies of the middle unit of the Santa Fe Group (the Middle Red Member of Bryan and McCann, 1937, and Lambert, 1968). New geologic interpretations indicate that the drill site is in a fault block bounded by east-dipping normal faults and the oblique Atrisco-Rincon fault zone. Core-hole sampling recovered 760.6 ft (231.8 m) of core, in core segments 2.1-2.375 in. (5.3-6 cm) in diameter, and 0.2-10 ft (6.1 cm-3 m) long. The core hole was cased with centered 3-in. PVC casing, and is available for geophysical logging. The monitoring-well hole contains four piezometers at depths of 1544 ft (470.6 m), 1112 ft (338.9 m), 749 ft (228.3 m), and 458 ft (139.6 m). Sediments in the core are loose to weakly cemented gravel, sand, silt, and clay, and lithified sandstone. Laboratory analyses of particle-size distributions of 28 channel samples show that most silty sand samples are uniformly graded and poorly sorted; medium sand samples are moderately sorted. Six principal sediment types are used to describe the core; these sediment types are repeated in various combinations throughout the core and are used to define 22 lithologic units in the cored interval. The six principal sediment types contain sequences of beds having similar modal grain size and sedimentary structure, and are listed in decreasing abundance: 1) Silty fine sand, poorly sorted, containing a coarse silt matrix. Geophysical logs show highly variable baselines with deflections that are related to clay beds and sequences of silt, clay, and sorted fine sand. Density values of 2.12-2.25 g/cc and porosity values of 30-35 percent are typical. 2) Medium sand, moderately to poorly sorted. Geophysical logs show baselines of low variability with deflections that are related to clay beds and sequences of silt, clay, and sorted fine sand. Density values of 2.05-2.20 g/cc and porosity values of 30-35 percent are typical. 3) Clayey sandy silt, poorly sorted, locally microlaminated clay and silt, generally nonplastic. Geophysical logs show highly variable baselines with deflections that are related to sequences of clay and fine sand. Density values of 2.1-2.2 g/cc and porosity values of 30-40 percent are typical. 4) Silt and clay, characteristically red to reddish brown and medium to high plasticity, massive to indistinctly microlaminated. Geophysical logs show variable baselines with broad, high-amplitude compound spikes that are related to sequences of silt and fine sand. Density values of 2.12-2.25 g/cc and porosity values of >45 percent are typical. 5) Sand and gravel, poorly sorted. Geophysical logs show variable baselines with deflections that are related to sequences of silty and sorted fine sand. 6) Sandstone, fine-to-medium grained, poorly sorted, cemented chiefly by calcite, which fills the original pore space. Geophysical logs show density values >2.25 g/cc and porosity values <30 percent. The 22 lithologic units are correlated with recognized basin-floor fluvial lithofacies (Hawley, 1996), which include sand and gravel (lithofacies I), sand with lenses of pebbly sand, silt, and silty clay (lithofacies II), and interbedded sand, silt, and silty clay (modified lithofacies III, IV, IX). The sediments in the core hole are correlated with three informal lithostratigraphic units. The top unit, 0-19 ft (0-5.8 m) depth, consists of Quaternary eolian sand and valley-border alluvium. Coarsegrained deposits in the 19-97 ft (5.8-29.6 m) interval are correlated with the upper unit of the Santa Fe Group. The fine-grained section in the 97-787 ft (29.6-239.9 m) interval is correlated tentatively with the middle unit of the Santa Fe Group. This section contains thick sequences of laminated red and olivebrown clay and silt overbank deposits (441-787 ft) in the distinctive Atrisco member of Connell and others (1998). The Atrisco is correlated with fine-grained zones in numerous wells throughout the central Albuquerque metropolitan area, and is recognized as a zone that separates the upper Santa Fe aquifer from underlying middle Santa Fe deposits. The lower section of the middle unit of the Santa Fe, 787-1500 ft (239.9-457.2 m) depth, includes an upper sequence of moderately sorted channel-fill medium sand, and a lower sequence of sand, silt, and clay overbank deposits. The age of the cored interval is not known precisely. The upper Santa Fe gravel is related regionally to a through-flowing river system that was established in the Rio Grande rift valleys in Early Pliocene time, >4.5 MA. The middle Santa Fe unit is dated tentatively by correlation with a fossiliferous section, in which sandy beds that directly underlie the upper Santa Fe are Late Miocene (Hemphellian), 4.6- 8.9 MA. Further, the middle Santa Fe unit, with dominantly normal magnetic polarity, may have been deposited during closely spaced normal magnetic chrons 5.9-8.3 Ma. Four hydrostratigraphic units summarize the hydrogeologic framework for the 98th Street site: 1) Quaternary valley-border deposits, 2) upper Santa Fe sand and gravel deposits, 3) middle Santa Fe overbank deposits, and 4) middle Santa Fe channel-sand deposits. Empirical values of horizontal hydraulic conductivity estimated from core samples reveal a previously unknown contrast in hydraulic conductivity in the lowest two hydrostratigraphic units. Correlations among numerous wells show that the distinctively fine-grained Atrisco member, with estimated hydraulic conductivities (K) of <0.02-17 ft/day, is a laterally extensive barrier to vertical ground-water flow. The underlying unit that contains moderately sorted medium sand is a potential aquifer production zone that should be investigated further. Laboratory determination of vertical hydraulic conductivity values for fine-grained core samples range from 10 -2 to 10 -7 ft/day; recompacted sandy samples have K values of 1 to 10 -2 ft/day. Results of tests conducted with increasing effective stress show that K values of all samples decrease with decreasing porosity. Comparison of K values from laboratory, empirical, and calculated geophysical values shows discrepancies of 1-3 orders of magnitude (ft/day), indicating that additional analyses of core samples and geophysical data are necessary for future characterization of the Santa Fe Group aquifer.

New Mexico↗
USGS1998

Geology and mineral resources of the Lake Valley area, Sierra County, New Mexico

At the request of the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Geological Survey assessed the Lake Valley Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), which includes the historic Lake Valley townsite and silver-manganese mining district, for undiscovered mineral resources. The Lake Valley ACEC is along the southeastern margin of the Black Range of western Sierra County, New Mexico. The Black Range contains eleven mining districts from which silver, lead, zinc, manganese, copper, gold, and tin have been recovered. As part of the study, an area of over 75 square mi (195 square km) in the area of the Lake Valley ACEC was mapped to understand ore controls and to assess mineral-resource potential. Lake Valley mining district is in Mississippian Lake Valley Formation carbonate rocks, but much of the surrounding terrane consists of volcanic rocks on the southeastern edge of the Emory cauldron which formed about 34.9 Ma. Volcanic rocks are part of the Mogollon-Datil volcanic province which include flows, breccias, ash-flow tuffs, and intrusive rhyolites. The Lake Valley mining district is located about 20 mi (32 km) south of the Late Cretaceous Laramide copper-gold porphyry intrusion at Hillsboro. It is also located at the western boundary of the Rio Grande rift basin.The Lake Valey fault is the major structural feature of the study area. Geological and geophysical data suggest the fault is composed of two segments: a southern, northwest-striking segment that may have a pre-Tertiary history and a northerly-striking segment that is part of the Emory cauldron ring fracture. The mining district is bounded by the southern, northwest-striking segment of the fault which may have up to 800 ft (240m) of normal offset. Deposit types identified in the Black Range, and for which we assess mineral potential, are Laramide porphyry, Laramide skarns, Laramide veins, gold placer, carbonate-hosted, volcanic-epithermal, and rhyolite tin; no Rio Grande Rift baritefluorite-galena deposits are known, but they are included in the assessment. The most likely deposits to be discovered in the Lake Valley district are carbonate-hosted silver-manganese deposits. These deposits could be deposited by hydrothermal fluids or be related to intrusion of Oligocene rhyolite or Laramide porphyry. An aeromagnetic high south of the district probably reflects a small felsic intrusion of unknown age. We assess the Lake Valley ACEC as having low to moderate potential for undiscovered carbonate-hosted deposits associated with volcanic rocks or Laramide porphyry plutons, and low potential for gold placer and rhyolite tin deposits.

New Mexico↗
USGS1998

Map and data for Quaternary faults and folds in New Mexico

The "World Map of Major Active Faults" Task Group is compiling a series of digital maps for the United States and other countries in the Western Hemisphere that show the locations, ages, and activity rates of major earthquake-related features such as faults and fault-related folds; the companion database includes published information on these seismogenic features. The Western Hemisphere effort is sponsored by International Lithosphere Program (ILP) Task Group H-2, whereas the effort to compile a new map and database for the United States is funded by the Earthquake Reduction Program (ERP) through the U.S. Geological Survey. The maps and accompanying databases represent a key contribution to the new Global Seismic Hazards Assessment Program (ILP Task Group II-O) for the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. This compilation, which describes evidence for surface faulting and folding in New Mexico, is the third of many similar State and regional compilations that are planned for the U.S. The compilation for West Texas is available as U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 96-002 (Collins and others, 1996 #993) and the compilation for Montana will be released as a Montana Bureau of Mines product (Haller and others, in press #1750).

New Mexico↗