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At least 1,117 records · Page 62Linked to original sources
USGS2018

Geologic and hydrologic concerns about pupfish divergence during the last glacial maximum

Martin et al. 's [ 1 ] double-digest, restriction-site-associated DNA sequencing of Death Valley pupfish species ( Cyprinodon ) and new time-calibrated phylogenetic analysis provide estimated divergence ages for North American pupfish at two scales. On the larger temporal and spatial scale, Martin et al. conclude that the Death Valley pupfish shared common ancestry with: Cyprinodon albivelis Rio Yaqui, Mexico, which drains into the northern Gulf of California, at ca 10 kyr; C. veronicae and C. alvarezi from isolated springs in Nuevo León, Guzmán Basin, northeastern Mexico [ 2 ], at ca 17 kyr; and Atlantic coastal pupfish including those from the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, and the Bahamas ( C. artifrons, C. maya and others) at ca 25 kyr. Martin et al . supported these genetic divergences and temporal estimates in their phylogenetic tree with these statements: ‘these ages are consistent with increased population mixing expected from the formation of large pluvial lakes throughout North America during the most recent glacial period 12–25 thousand years (kya).’ and it ‘is not apparent how low-lying desert populations could have remained isolated within large inland seas … ’ On the smaller scale, Martin et al. also conclude that introgression among pupfish species and subspecies of the 300 km-long Amargosa River of Death Valley occurred in the last 150 years.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sci↗
USGS2009

VII.—On Hindeastraea, a New Generic Form of Cretaceous Astraeidae

The little Coral here described was discovered in Kaufman County, Texas, in strata of the Kipley Group, by Dr. R. H. Loughridge, and presented by him to me, together with a few characteristic molluscan species of that group which he found associated with it. The Ripley Group is the uppermost division of the Cretaceous series in the States which border upon the Gulf of Mexico; and probably represents approximately the Upper Chalk of England. Regarding it as a new generic form I herewith give a diagnosis and figures of it; and being the only species known to me, the diagnosis is necessarily based upon this alone.

Texas↗
USGS2019

Insights into post-Miocene uplift of the western margin of the Colorado Plateau from the stratigraphic record of the lower Colorado River

The spatial and temporal distribution of Pliocene to Holocene Colorado River deposits (southwestern USA and northwestern Mexico) form a primary data set that records the evolution of a continental-scale river system and helps to delineate and quantify the magnitude of regional deformation. We focus in particular on the age and distribution of ancestral Colorado River deposits from field observations, geologic mapping, and subsurface studies in the area downstream from Grand Canyon (Arizona, USA). A new 4.73 ± 0.17 Ma age is reported for a basalt that flowed down Grand Wash to near its confluence with the Colorado River at the eastern end of what is now Lake Mead (Arizona and Nevada). That basalt flow, which caps tributary gravels, another previously dated 4.49 ± 0.46 Ma basalt flow that caps Colorado River gravel nearby, and previously dated speleothems (2.17 ± 0.34 and 3.87 ± 0.1 Ma) in western Grand Canyon allow for the calculation of long-term incision rates. Those rates are ~90 m/Ma in western Grand Canyon and ~18–64 m/Ma in the eastern Lake Mead area. In western Lake Mead and downstream, the base of 4.5–3.5 Ma ancestral Colorado River deposits, called the Bullhead Alluvium, is generally preserved below river level, suggesting little if any bedrock incision since deposition. Paleoprofiles reconstructed using ancestral river deposits indicate that the lower Colorado River established a smooth profile that has been graded to near sea level since ca. 4.5 Ma. Steady incision rates in western Grand Canyon over the past 0.6–4 Ma also suggest that the lower Colorado River has remained in a quasi–steady state for millions of years with respect to bedrock incision. Differential incision between the lower Colorado River corridor and western Grand Canyon is best explained by differential uplift across the Lake Mead region, as the overall 4.5 Ma profile of the Colorado River remains graded to Pliocene sea level, suggesting little regional subsidence or uplift. Cumulative estimates of ca. 4 Ma offsets across faults in the Lake Mead region are similar in magnitude to the differential incision across the area during the same approximate time frame. This suggests that in the past ~4 Ma, vertical deformation in the Lake Mead area has been localized along faults, which may be a surficial response to more deep-seated processes. Together these data sets suggest ~140–370m of uplift in the past 2–4 Ma across the Lake Mead region.

Arizona, California, Nevada↗
USGS2018

Rio Grande transboundary integrated hydrologic model and water-availability analysis, New Mexico and Texas, United States, and Northern Chihuahua, Mexico

Errata **September 28, 2018: The purpose of a USGS Open-file report (OFR) is dissemination of information that must be released immediately to fill a public need or information that is not sufficiently refined to warrant publication in one of the other USGS series. As part of that refinement process, an error was discovered in one of the input data sets of the Rio Grande Transboundary Integrated Hydrologic Model (RGTIHM) that this OFR was based upon. The error involved the assignment of storage properties to “phantom cells.” Phantom cells are required for most variants of MODFLOW that use a structured finite-difference grid when individual stratigraphic layers are represented as separate layers. Using phantom cells is a common practice that allows separate model layers to be maintained without having to combine stratigraphic layers into equivalent model layers or to use an unstructured grid. Typically, phantom cell horizontal hydraulic conductivities and storage properties are set to a small number and vertical hydraulic conductivities are set to a number large enough to allow vertical flow between the vertically adjacent layers. In the RGTIHM, the specific storage properties of the phantom cells for the upper (RGTIHM layers 3 and 4), middle (RGTIHM layers 5 and 6), and lower (RGTIHM layers 7 and 8) members of the Santa Fe Group were inadvertently assigned a value of 1 feet -1 . The revision of these specific storage values to a small number (1.0 x 10 -09 feet -1 ) required additional trial-and-error model calibration and a new sensitivity analysis. After calibration, the overall model fit remained similar to the fit described in the OFR, but the fit for many individual features such as project water available for diversions at the American Canal and Acequia Madre improved due to the reduction in flow coming from lower layers. Overall, there is still an average net depletion of groundwater flow, and the conclusions of the report are not changed. The revised average annual groundwater flow depletion simulated for the period 1953-2014 is -1,480 acre-feet/year for the entire model region, and -3,660 acre-feet/year for the portion of the model in the United States. The final version of the model will be the basis of the USGS Scientific Investigations Report that will supersede this OFR. An updated Model Archive of RGTIHM is available upon request to the USGS California Water Science Center. The corrected version of the model WAS the basis for the USGS Scientific Investigations Report that SUPERSEDED this Open-File Report.** Abstract Changes in population, agricultural development and practices (including shifts to more water-intensive crops), and climate variability are increasing demands on available water resources, particularly groundwater, in one of the most productive agricultural regions in the Southwest—the Rincon and Mesilla Valley parts of Rio Grande Valley, Doña Ana and Sierra Counties, New Mexico, and El Paso County, Texas. The goal of this study was to produce an integrated hydrological simulation model to help evaluate water-management strategies, including conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater for historical conditions, and to support long-term planning for the Rio Grande Project. This report describes model construction and applications by the U.S. Geological Survey, working in cooperation and collaboration with the Bureau of Reclamation. This model, the Rio Grande Transboundary Integrated Hydrologic Model, simulates the most important natural and human components of the hydrologic system, including selected components related to variations in climate, thereby providing a reliable assessment of surface-water and groundwater conditions and processes that can inform water users and help improve planning for future conditions and sustained operations of the Rio Grande Project (RGP) by the Bureau of Reclamation. Model development included a revision of the conceptual model of the flow system, construction of a Transboundary Rio Grande Watershed Model (TRGWM) water-balance model using the Basin Characterization Model (BCM), and construction of an integrated hydrologic flow model with MODFLOW-One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model (referred to as One Water). The hydrologic models were developed for and calibrated to historical conditions of water and land use, and parameters were adjusted so that simulated values closely matched available measurements (calibration). The calibrated model was then used to assess the use and movement of water in the Rincon Valley, Mesilla Basin, and northern part of the Conejos-Médanos Basin, with the entire region referred to as the “Transboundary Rio Grande” or TRG. These tools provide a means to understand hydrologic system response to the evolution of water use in the region, its availability, and potential operational constraints of the RGP. The conceptual model identified surface-water and groundwater inflows and outflows that included the movement and use of water both in natural and in anthropogenic systems. The groundwater-flow system is characterized by a layered geologic sedimentary sequence combined with the effects of groundwater pumping, operation of the RGP, natural runoff and recharge, and the application of irrigation water at the land surface that is captured and reused in an extensive network of canals and drains as part of the conjunctive use of water in the region. Historical groundwater-level fluctuations followed a cyclic pattern that were aligned with climate cycles, which collectively resulted in alternating periods of wet or dry years. Periods of drought that persisted for one or more years are associated with low surface-water availability that resulted in higher rates of groundwater-level decline. Rates of groundwater-level decline also increased during periods of agricultural intensification, which necessitated increasing use of groundwater as a source of irrigation water. Agriculture in the area was initially dominated by alfalfa and cotton, but since 1970 more water-intensive pecan orchards and vegetable production have become more common. Groundwater levels substantially declined in subregions where drier climate combined with increased demand, resulting in periods of reduced streamflows. Most of the groundwater was recharged in the Rio Grande Valley floor, and most of the pumpage and aquifer storage depletion was in Mesilla Basin agricultural subregions. A cyclic imbalance between inflows and outflows resulted in the modeled cyclic depletion (groundwater withdrawals in excess of natural recharge) of the groundwater basin during the 75-year simulation period of 1940–2014. Changes in groundwater storage can vary considerably from year to year, depending on land use, pumpage, and climate conditions. Climatic drivers of wet and dry years can greatly affect all inflows, outflows, and water use. Although streamflow and, to a minor extent, precipitation during inter-decadal wet-year periods replenished the groundwater historically, contemporary water use and storage depletion could have reduced the effects of these major recharge events. The average net groundwater flow-rate deficit for 1953–2014 was estimated to be about 8,990 acre-feet per year.

New Mexico, Northern Chihuahua, Texas↗
USGS2007

Questa baseline and pre-mining ground-water quality investigation. 19. Leaching characteristics of composited materials from mine waste-rock piles and naturally altered areas near Questa, New Mexico

The goal of this study is to compare and contrast the leachability of metals and the acidity from individual mine waste-rock piles and natural erosional scars in the study area near Questa, New Mexico. Surficial multi-increment (composite) samples less than 2 millimeters in diameter from five waste-rock piles, nine erosional-scar areas, a less-altered site, and a tailings slurry-pipe sample were analyzed for bulk chemistry and mineralogy and subjected to two back-to-back leaching procedures. The first leaching procedure, the U.S. Geological Survey Field Leach Test (FLT), is a short-duration leach (5-minute shaking and 10-minute settling) and is intended to leach readily soluble materials. The FLT was immediately followed by an 18-hour, end-over-end rotation leaching procedure. Comparison of results from the back-to-back leaching procedures can provide information about reactions that may take place upon migration of leachates through changing geochemical conditions (for example, pH changes), both within the waste-rock and scar materials and away from the source materials. For the scar leachates, the concentrations of leachable metals varied substantially between the scar areas sampled. The scar leachates have low pH (pH 3.2-4.1). Under these low-pH conditions, cationic metals are solubilized and mobile, but anionic species, such as molybdenum, are less soluble and less mobile. Generally, metal concentrations in the waste-rock leachates did not exceed the upper range of those metal concentrations in the erosional-scar leachates. One exception is molybdenum, which is notably higher in the waste-rock leachates compared with the scar leachates. Most of the waste-rock leachates were at least mildly acidic (pH 3.0-6.2). The pH values in the waste-rock leachates span a large pH range that includes some pH-dependent solubility and metal-attenuation reactions. An increase in pH with leaching time and agitation indicates that there is pH-buffering capacity in some of the waste-rock piles. As pH increased in the waste-pile leachates, concentrations of several metals decreased with increasing time and agitation. Similar pH-dependent reactions may take place upon migration of the leachates in the waste-rock piles. Bulk chemistry, mineralogy, and leachate sulfur-isotope data indicate that the Capulin and Sugar Shack West waste-rock piles are compositionally different from the younger Sugar Shack South, Sugar Shack Middle, and Old Sulphur Gulch piles. The Capulin and Sugar Shack West piles have the lowest-pH leachates (pH 3.0-4.1) of the waste-pile samples, and the source material for the Capulin and Sugar Shack West piles appears to be similar to the source material for the erosional-scar areas. Calcite dissolution, in addition to gypsum dissolution, appears to produce the calcium and sulfate concentrations in leachates from the Sugar Shack South, Sugar Shack Middle, and Old Sulphur Gulch piles.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS2015

A water-budget approach to estimating potential groundwater recharge from two domestic sewage disposal fields in eastern Bernalillo County, New Mexico, 2011-12

Eastern Bernalillo County, New Mexico, is a historically rural area that in recent years has experienced an increase in population and in the construction of new housing units, most of which are not connected to a centralized wastewater treatment system. Increasing water use has raised concerns about the effect of development on the available groundwater resources in the area. During 2011–12, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Bernalillo County Public Works Natural Resource Services, used a water-budget approach to quantify the amount of potential groundwater recharge occurring from the domestic sewage (effluent) dosed to the sewage disposal field at two locations—sites A and B—in eastern Bernalillo County, N. Mex. The amount of effluent that is potentially available for groundwater recharge was determined as the mean daily volume of effluent dosed to the disposal field in excess of the mean daily volume of effluent loss from evapotranspiration from the disposal field. During this study, the disposal fields at sites A and B received a measured volume of effluent from two-person domestic residences equipped with an onsite low-pressure dosing system. A combined evapotranspiration measurement and modeling technique was used to estimate the amount of evapotranspirative loss from the disposal field and from the surrounding terrain. A portable hemispherical flux chamber was used to measure evapotranspiration at fixed locations on the disposal fields and on the surrounding terrain at sites A and B. Data from hemispherical flux chamber measurements were used to calibrate a Penman-Monteith modeled evapotranspiration rate on the disposal field and on the surrounding terrain at site A from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2011, and from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2012, and at site B from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2011. Micrometeorological and soil data from instrumentation on the disposal fields and on the surrounding terrain at sites A and B were used as input data into the Penman-Monteith equation. The mean potential recharge from disposal field effluent during 2011–12 at sites A and B was 63 percent of the volume of effluent dosed to the disposal field.

New Mexico↗
USGS2020

Rio Grande transboundary integrated hydrologic model and water-availability analysis, New Mexico and Texas, United States, and northern Chihuahua, Mexico

Changes in population, agricultural development and practices (including shifts to more water-intensive crops), and climate variability are increasing demands on available water resources, particularly groundwater, in one of the most productive agricultural regions in the Southwest—the Rincon and Mesilla Valley parts of Rio Grande Valley, Doña Ana and Sierra Counties, New Mexico, and El Paso County, Texas. The goal of this study was to produce an integrated hydrological simulation model to help evaluate water-management strategies, including conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater for historical conditions, and to support long-term planning for the Rio Grande Project. This report describes model construction and applications by the U.S. Geological Survey, working in cooperation and collaboration with the Bureau of Reclamation. This model, the Rio Grande Transboundary Integrated Hydrologic Model, simulates the most important natural and human components of the hydrologic system, including selected components related to variations in climate, thereby providing a reliable assessment of surface-water and groundwater conditions and processes that can inform water users and help improve planning for future conditions and sustained operations of the Rio Grande Project (RGP) by the Bureau of Reclamation. Model development included a revision of the conceptual model of the flow system, construction of a Transboundary Rio Grande Watershed Model (TRGWM) water-balance model using the Basin Characterization Model, and construction of an integrated hydrologic flow model with MODFLOW-One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model version 2 (referred to as MF-OWHM2). The hydrologic models were developed for and calibrated to historical conditions of water and land use, and parameters were adjusted so that simulated values closely matched available measurements (calibration). The calibrated model was then used to assess the use and movement of water in the Rincon Valley, Mesilla Basin, and northern part of the Conejos-Médanos Basin, with the entire region referred to as the “Transboundary Rio Grande” or TRG. These tools provide a means to understand hydrologic system response to the evolution of water use in the region, its availability, and potential operational constraints of the RGP. The conceptual model identified surface-water and groundwater inflows and outflows that included the movement and use of water both in natural and in anthropogenic systems. The groundwater-flow system is characterized by a layered geologic sedimentary sequence combined with the effects of groundwater pumping, operation of the RGP, natural runoff and recharge, and the application of irrigation water at the land surface that is captured and reused in an extensive network of canals and drains as part of the conjunctive use of water in the region. Historical groundwater-level fluctuations followed a cyclic pattern that were aligned with climate cycles, which collectively resulted in alternating periods of wet or dry years. Periods of drought that persisted for one or more years are associated with low surface-water availability that resulted in higher rates of groundwater-level decline. Rates of groundwater-level decline also increased during periods of agricultural intensification, which necessitated increasing use of groundwater as a source of irrigation water. Agriculture in the area was initially dominated by alfalfa and cotton, but since 1970 more water-intensive pecan orchards and vegetable production have become more common. Groundwater levels substantially declined in subregions where drier climate combined with increased demand, resulting in periods of reduced streamflows. Most of the groundwater was recharged in the Rio Grande Valley floor, and most of the pumpage and aquifer storage depletion was in Mesilla Basin agricultural subregions. A cyclic imbalance between inflows and outflows resulted in the modeled cyclic depletion (groundwater withdrawals in excess of natural recharge) of the groundwater basin during the 75-year simulation period of 1940–2014. Changes in groundwater storage can vary considerably from year to year, depending on land use, pumpage, and climate conditions. Climatic drivers of wet and dry years can greatly affect all inflows, outflows, and water use. Although streamflow and, to a minor extent, precipitation during inter-decadal wet-year periods replenished the groundwater historically, contemporary water use and storage depletion could have reduced the effects of these major recharge events. The average net groundwater flow-rate deficit for 1953–2014 was estimated to be about 1,090 acre-feet per year.

Chihuahua, New Mexico, Texas↗
USGS1997

Water-quality assessment of the Rio Grande Valley, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas: Ground-water quality in the Rio Grande flood plain, Cochiti Lake, New Mexico, to El Paso, Texas, 1995

From March to May of 1995, water samples were collected from 30 wells located in the flood plain of the Rio Grande between Cochiti Lake, New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas. These samples were analyzed for a broad host of constituents, including field parameters, major constituents, nutrients, dissolved organic carbon, trace elements, radiochemicals, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds. The main purpose of this study was to observe the quality of ground water in this part of the Rio Grande Valley study unit of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment program. The sampling effort was limited to the basin- fill aquifer beneath the above-defined reach of the Rio Grande flood plain because of the relative homogeneity of the hydrogeology, the large amount of ground-water use for public supply, and the potential for land-use activities to affect the quality of ground water. Most of the wells sampled for the study are used for domestic purposes, including drinking water. Depths to the tops of the sampling intervals in the 30 wells ranged from 10 to 345 feet below land surface, and the median was 161.5 feet; the sampling intervals in most of the wells spanned about 10 feet or less. Quality-control data were collected at three of the wells. A significant amount of variation was found in the chemical composition of ground water sampled throughout the study area, but the water generally was found to be of suitable chemical quality for use as drinking water, according to current enforceable standards established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Nutrients generally were measured at concentrations near or below their method reporting limits. The most dominant nutrient species was nitrite plus nitrate, at a maximum concentration of 1.9 milligrams per liter (as N). Only eight of the trace elements analyzed for had median concentrations greater than their respective minimum reporting levels. Water from one well exceeded the lifetime health advisory established by the EPA for molybdenum; water from a different well exceeded the proposed EPA maximum contaminant level for uranium. Gross alpha and gross beta particle activities generally appeared to strongly correlate with quantities of uranium and potassium, respectively, detected in ground water. However, water from one well exceeded the EPA maximum contaminant level for gross alpha particle activity and may exceed the EPA maximum contaminant level for beta particle and photon activity, although current data on gross beta particle activities are not conclusive on this point. Radon concentrations did not appear to directly correlate with uranium concentrations. The herbicide prometon was the only synthetic organic compound detected in ground water in the study area, and was detected in only one well, at a concentration of 0.038 microgram per liter. This well is shallow and is not used for drinking water. With the exception of the one detection of prometon, no strong evidence was found of effects on ground-water quality from human activities. Therefore, most of the water sampled probably recharged at the margins of the alluvial basins or recharged through the flood plain before human development began. With respect to major constituents, the concentrations of dissolved solids ranged from 209 to 3,380 milligrams per liter, and the median concentration was 409.5 milligrams per liter. There is evidence that the overall chemical composition of ground water in the study area may be affected by several processes, including cation exchange, feldspar weathering, calcite dissolution and precipitation, dissolution of volcanic glass, and microbial activity. Several chemical constituents in ground water showed relatively distinct spatial patterns that appear to be related to one or more of these processes.

Texas↗
USGS2002

Effects of wildfire on the hydrology of Frijoles and Capulin canyons in and near Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico

In June 1977, the La Mesa wildfire burned 15,270 acres in and near Frijoles Canyon in Bandelier National Monument (BNM) and the adjacent Santa Fe National Forest, New Mexico. In April 1996, the Dome wildfire in BNM burned 16,516 acres in and near Capulin Canyon and the surrounding Dome Wilderness area. Both Frijoles and Capulin Canyon watersheds are characterized by archeological artifacts that could be affected by increased runoff and accelerated rates of erosion, which typically occur after a fire. In response to this concern, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Park Service, conducted a study to monitor and document the wildfire effects on streamflow after the 1996 Dome fire.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2004

Rainfall, runoff, and water-quality data for the urban storm-water program in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, metropolitan area, water year 2002

Urbanization has dramatically increased precipitation runoff to the system of drainage channels and natural stream channels in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, metropolitan area. Rainfall and runoff data are important for planning and designing future storm-water conveyance channels in newly developing areas. Storm-water quality also is monitored in accordance with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority, the City of Albuquerque, and the U.S. Geological Survey began a cooperative program to collect hydrologic data to help assess the quality and quantity of surface-water resources in the Albuquerque area. This report presents water-quality, streamflow, and rainfall data collected from October 1, 2001, to September 30, 2002 (water year 2002). Also provided is a station analysis for each of the 20 streamflow-gaging sites and 41 rainfall-gaging sites, which includes a description of monitoring equipment, problems associated with data collection during the year, and other information used to compute streamflow discharges or rainfall records. A hydrographic comparison shows the effects that the largest drainage channel in the metropolitan area, the North Floodway Channel, has on total flow in the Rio Grande.

New Mexico↗
USGS2006

Rainfall, runoff, and water-quality data for the urban storm-water program in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, metropolitan area, water year 2004

Urbanization has dramatically increased precipitation runoff to the system of drainage channels and natural stream channels in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, metropolitan area. Rainfall and runoff data are important for planning and designing future storm-water conveyance channels in newly developing areas. Storm-water quality also is monitored in accordance with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority, the City of Albuquerque, and the U.S. Geological Survey began a cooperative program to collect hydrologic data to assist in assessing the quality and quantity of surface-water resources in the Albuquerque area. This report presents water-quality, streamflow, and rainfall data collected from October 1, 2003, to September 30, 2004 (water year 2004). Also provided is a station analysis for each of the 18 streamflow-gaging sites and 39 rainfall-gaging sites, which includes a description of monitoring equipment, problems associated with data collection during the year, and other information used to compute streamflow discharges or rainfall records. A hydrographic comparison shows the effects that the largest drainage channel in the metropolitan area, the North Floodway Channel, has on total flow in the Rio Grande.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1984

Aquifer-test data and borehole flow test results from monitoring well 16P52 at the South Trend development area number 1, McKinley County, New Mexico

Mobil Oil Corporation personnel have designated at least four sandstone intervals, A-D (top to bottom), on the single-point resistivity logs of wells drilled in the South Trend Development Area. This report presents time-drawdown data reported by Mobil Oil Corporation from singly (A or B or C or D sandstone interval) and multiply (A, B, C, and D sandstone Intervals) completed wells for the August 16-17, 1982 aquifer test at the South Trend Development Area Site 1. This report also describes the results of flowmeter and brine-injection tests by the U.S. Geological Survey in monitoring well 16P52. Well 16P52 is open to sandstone intervals A, B, C, and D. On July 26, 1982, water was injected at a rate of 1.43 cubic feet per minute above the A sandstone interval in well 16P52. Based on flowmeter data, the calculated rates of flow were 1.23 cubic feet per minute between the A and B sandstone intervals, 0.63 cubic foot per minute between the B and C sandstone intervals, and less than 0.17 cubic foot per minute between the C and D sandstone intervals. Based upon brine-slug-injection tests conducted during August 1982, the calculated flow rates between sandstone intervals A and B are as follows: 0.01 cubic foot per minute upward flow (B to A) about 5 hours after pumping began for the aquifer test; 0.004 cubic foot per minute upward flow (B to A) about 21 hours after pumping began; and 0.0 cubic foot per minute about 46 hours after the pump was turned off. All other brine-slug-injection tests measured no flow.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2006

Questa baseline and pre-mining ground-water quality investigation. 20. Water chemistry of the Red River and selected seeps, tributaries, and precipitation, Taos County, New Mexico, 2000-2004

As part of a multi-year project to infer the pre-mining ground-water quality at Molycorp's Questa mine site, surface-water samples of the Red River, some of its tributaries, seeps, and snow samples were collected for analysis of inorganic solutes and of water and sulfate stable isotopes in selected samples. The primary aim of this study was to document diel, storm event, and seasonal variations in water chemistry for the Red River and similar variations in water chemistry for Straight Creek, a natural analog site similar in topography, hydrology, and geology to the mine site for inferring pre-mining water-quality conditions. Red River water samples collected between 2000 and 2004 show that the largest variations in water chemistry occur during late summer rainstorms, often monsoonal in nature. Within hours, discharge of the Red River increased from 8 to 102 cubic feet per second and pH decreased from 7.80 to 4.83. The highest concentrations of metals (iron, aluminum, zinc, manganese) and sulfate also occur during such events. Low-pH and high-solute concentrations during rainstorm runoff are derived primarily from alteration 'scar' areas of naturally high mineralization combined with steep topography that exposes continually altered rock because erosion is too rapid for vegetative growth. The year 2002 was one of the driest on record, and Red River discharge reflected the low seasonal snow pack. No snowmelt peak appeared in the hydrograph record, and a late summer storm produced the highest flow for the year. Snowmelt was closer to normal during 2003 and demonstrated the dilution effect of snowmelt on water chemistry. Two diel sampling events were conducted for the Red River, one during low flow and the other during high flow, at two locations, at the Red River gaging station and just upstream from Molycorp's mill site. No discernible diel trends were observed except for dissolved zinc and manganese at the upstream site during low flow. Straight Creek drainage water was sampled periodically from 2001 to 2004 at the down stream end of surface drainage near the point at which it disappeared into the debris fan. This water has a minimal range in pH (2.7 to 3.2) but a substantial concentration range in many solutes; for example, sulfate concentrations varied from 525 to 2,660 mg/L. Many elements covary with sulfate suggesting that dilution is the primary control of the range in solute concentrations. A transect of water samples higher in the scar area were collected in October of 2003. They had a lower range in pH (2.44 to 3.05) and higher solute concentrations than those collected periodically from lower in the catchment. Water isotopes for the upper transect samples indicated slight evaporation, and in part, may account for the higher solute concentrations. Drainage waters also were collected from Hottentot, Junebug, Hansen, Little Hansen, and Goat Hill Gulch drainages. Most constituents from other scar drainage waters showed ranges of concentration similar to those of the Straight Creek waters. An exception was water collected from Goat Hill Gulch, which has some of the highest concentrations of any surface-water sample collected but also contained waste-rock leachates.

New Mexico↗
USGS2001

Historical water-quality data for the High Plains Regional Ground-Water Study Area in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming, 1930-98

The High Plains aquifer underlies 174,000 square miles in parts of eight States and includes eight primary hydrogeologic units, including the well-known Ogallala Formation. The High Plains aquifer is an important resource, providing water for 27 percent of the Nation?s irrigated agricultural lands in an otherwise dry landscape. Since the 1980?s there has been concern over the sustainability of the aquifer due to water-level declines caused by substantial pumping. Water quality of the aquifer is a more recent concern. As part of the U.S. Geological Survey?s National Water-Quality Assessment Program, historical water-quality data have been gathered for the High Plains Regional Ground-Water Study Area into a retrospective data base, which can be used to evaluate the occurrence and distribution of water-quality constituents of concern.Data from the retrospective data base verify that nitrate, pesticides, and dissolved solids (salinity) are important water-quality concerns in the High Plains study area. Sixteen percent of all measured nitrate concentrations were larger than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency drinking-water standard of 10 milligrams per liter. In about 70 percent of the counties within the High Plains study area, nitrate concentrations for 1980-98 were significantly larger than for 1930-69. While nitrate concentrations are largest where depth to water is shallow, concentrations also have increased in the Ogallala Formation where depth to water is large. Pesticide data primarily are available only in the northern half of the study area. About 50 pesticides were detected in the High Plains study area, but only four pesticides (atrazine, alachlor, cyanazine, and simazine) had concentrations exceeding a drinking-water standard. The occasional detection of pesticides in deeper parts of the Ogallala Formation indicates that contamination pathways exist. Dissolved solids, which are a direct measure of salinity, had 29 percent of measured concentrations in excess of the secondary drinking-water standard of 500 milligrams per liter. Comparison of dissolved-solids concentrations prior to 1980 to concentrations after 1980 indicates dissolved-solids concentrations have increased in the alluvial valleys of the Platte, the Republican, and the Arkansas Rivers, as well as in the Ogallala Formation?South hydrogeologic unit.Water-quality results indicate that human activities are affecting the water of the High Plains aquifer. Because there is a potential for water quality to become impaired relative to the historical uses of the aquifer, water quality needs to be considered when evaluating the sustainability of the High Plains aquifer. Data collected as part of the High Plains Regional Ground-Water Study will help to fill in gaps in water-quality information and provide additional information for understanding the factors that govern ambient water quality.

Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, ↗
USGS1986

Hydrologic characteristics of soils in parts of Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas

Certain physical characteristics of soils, including permeability, available water capacity, thickness, and topographic position, have a definite effect on the hydrology of an area. They control the rate at which precipitation infiltrates or is transmitted through the soil, and thus they have a significant role in determining the rates both of ground-water recharge and surface runoff. In studies of ground-water hydrology, it commonly is useful to differentiate soils areally according to their physical characteristics and to assign values indicating the hydrologic responses of soils in the different areas. In 1980 the U.S. Geologic Surey began a study termed the “Central Midwest Region Aquifer System Analysis,” Jorgensen and Signor, 1981). The regional aquifer system is defined as including all aquifers of Cretaceous age or older in all or parts of nine States included in this report. For part of this analysis, use of a soil-moisture model is planned to obtain estimates of actual evapotranspiraion and recharge to the regional aquifer system. Data for the hydrologic characteristics of the soils in the study area are required as input to this soil-moisture model.

Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Ne↗
USGS2007

CHIPS: A New Way to Monitor Colonias Along the United States-Mexico Border

Colonias, which are unincorporated border settlements in the United States, have emerged in rural areas without the governance and services normally provided by local government. Colonia residents live in poverty and lack adequate health care, potable water, and sanitation systems. These conditions create substantial health risks for colonias and surrounding communities. By 2001, more than 1,400 colonias were identified in Texas. Cooperation with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Offices of the Texas Attorney General, Secretary of State, and the Texas Water Development Board has allowed the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to improve colonia Geographic Information System (GIS) boundaries and develop the Colonia Health, Infrastructure, and Platting Status tool (CHIPS). Together, the GIS boundaries and CHIPS aid the Texas government in prioritizing the limited funds that are available for infrastructure improvement. CHIPS's report generator can be tailored to the needs of the user, providing either broad or specific output. For example, a congressman could use CHIPS to list colonias with wastewater issues in a specific county, whereas a health researcher could list all colonias without clinical access. To help cities along the United States-Mexico border manage issues related to colonias growth, CHIPS will become publicly available in an Internet-enabled GIS as part of a cooperative study between the USGS, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Mexican Instituto Nacional de Estadistica Geografia e Informatica.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2013

New perspectives on the geometry of the Albuquerque Basin, Rio Grande rift, New Mexico: Insights from geophysical models of rift-fill thickness

Discrepancies among previous models of the geometry of the Albuquerque Basin motivated us to develop a new model using a comprehensive approach. Capitalizing on a natural separation between the densities of mainly Neogene basin fill (Santa Fe Group) and those of older rocks, we developed a three-dimensional (3D) geophysical model of syn-rift basin-fill thickness that incorporates well data, seismic-reflection data, geologic cross sections, and other geophysical data in a constrained gravity inversion. Although the resulting model does not show structures directly, it elucidates important aspects of basin geometry. The main features are three, 3–5-km-deep, interconnected structural depressions, which increase in size, complexity, and segmentation from north to south: the Santo Domingo, Calabacillas, and Belen subbasins. The increase in segmentation and complexity may reflect a transition of the Rio Grande rift from well-defined structural depressions in the north to multiple, segmented basins within a broader region of crustal extension to the south. The modeled geometry of the subbasins and their connections differs from a widely accepted structural model based primarily on seismic-reflection interpretations. Key elements of the previous model are an east-tilted half-graben block on the north separated from a west-tilted half-graben block on the south by a southwest-trending, scissor-like transfer zone. Instead, we find multiple subbasins with predominantly easterly tilts for much of the Albuquerque Basin, a restricted region of westward tilting in the southwestern part of the basin, and a northwesterly trending antiform dividing subbasins in the center of the basin instead of a major scissor-like transfer zone. The overall eastward tilt indicated by the 3D geophysical model generally conforms to stratal tilts observed for the syn-rift succession, implying a prolonged eastward tilting of the basin during Miocene time. An extensive north-south synform in the central part of the Belen subbasin suggests a possible path for the ancestral Rio Grande during late Miocene or early Pliocene time. Variations in rift-fill thickness correspond to pre-rift structures in several places, suggesting that a better understanding of pre-rift history may shed light on debates about structural inheritance within the rift.

Special Paper of the Geological Society of America↗
USGS1983

Geochemical maps of Bunk Robinson Peak and Whitmire Canyon Roadless Areas, Hidalgo County, New Mexico, and Cochise County, Arizona

Geochemical sampling of the Bunk Robinson Peak and Whitmire Canyon Roadless Areas was completed in the spring of 1980. The purpose of the geochemical sampling was to determine if certain metals, and "pathfinder" elements in heavy-mineral concentrates and stream sediments are enriched beyond normal black-ground amounts. The enrighment of elemental contents above background amounts in these samples can be importatn clue to the presence of a potential mineral deposit. These geochemical investigations are of part of an intergrated mineral resource investigation of the Bunk Robinson Peak and Whitmire Canyon Roadless Areas that also include geologic mapping (Hayes, 1982) and an evaluation of mineral resource potential (Hayes and others, in press).

Arizona, New Mexico↗