More than 70 breccia pipes lie along northwesterly trends near Spanish valley in Grand and San Juan Counties, a few kilometers southeast of Moab, Utah. The structures generally are roughly oval in plan and only several tens of meters in diameter, but are inferred to extend downward about 1,000 m. The pipes contain a breccia that has been dropped as much as several hundreds of meters by solution collapse. Much sandstone in the breccia has been decemented and in places has flowed, as shown by foliation and sandstone dikes. Contacts of the breccia and country rock are sharp. The country rock is unaltered. The structures apparently formed in the Tertiary and may be contemporary with igneous intrusions of the nearby La Sal Mountains. The breccia pipes probably result from solution of deeply buried salts and carbonate rocks by migrating waters heated by the igneous intrusions, followed by upward stoping of younger strata. The breccia pipes of Spanish valley and environs are not known to be mineralized, but they resemble uranium-and copper-bearing breccia pipes elsewhere on the Colorado Plateau.
The purpose of the investigation is to determine the occurrence, availability, and quality of ground water in Morgan County.Data are being collected to provide basic information for the most efficient de¬ velopment of water supplies for agricultural, municipal, industrial, and domestic use.Uses of ground water in the county in 19 60 are chiefly domestic and agricultural.A single municipalily, Falkville, and a few light industries use ground water also.The following itemization describes the scope of the investigation:1. Inventory of wells and springs; records data on type of well, owner, driller, depth, diameter, water level, water "bearing formation, water use, and method of lift.2. Geologic mapping of the county on a scale of about 1 inch to 1 mile and determination of the relation of the geology to the occurrence and movement of ground water.3. Test drilling in areas where geologic and hydrologic data are needed. 4. Pumping tests to determine the hydraulic characteristics of the water-bearing formations and the quantity of water available. 5. Determination of pumpage, flow from springs, and quantity of ground water used. 6. Measurement of water levels and correlation with precipitation and pumpage. 7. Determination of the chemical quality of ground water and its relation to geologic formations and structures. 8. Preparation of a comprehensive report on the geology and groundwater resources of Morgan County.
Previous InvestigationsSeveral workers have included Morgan County as par e of regional studies.
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