Availability of fresh and slightly saline ground water in the basins of westernmost Texas

Geochemistry analysis and evolution of a bolson aquifer, basin and range province in the southwestern united states

“…Carbon-14 data suggest that groundwater in the PRB Aquifer possesses apparent ages of up to 18,000 years (Chowdhury et al 2005). As groundwater flows from recharge areas at the basin margin to the bolson center and discharges to the Rio Grande (Gates et al 1980), it dissolves significant quantities of Na, Cl, and SO 4 . The notable decrease in calcium content (Table 1), with exception of well PR6, suggests cation exchange of Ca by Na as asserted by Chowdhury et al (2008).…”

“…Below the confluence of the Rio Conchos with the Rio Grande, about 5 km above (north of) Presidio, the stream becomes a perennial or gaining river (Gates et al 1980). Chowdhury et al (2008) conclude that the Rio Grande is mainly a losing (ephemeral) stream in the PRB.…”

“…The geologic-hydrogeologic setting of the PRB is described in significant detail in Groat (1972), Gates et al (1980), and Chowdhury et al (2008). A standard page-size map depicting the aquifers of Texas (Bureau of Economic Geology 2004) shows the PRB as the Bolson (Hueco-Mesilla and West Texas) aquifer (map abbreviation Bn).…”

Regional groundwater flow paths in Trans-Pecos, Texas inferred from oxygen, hydrogen, and strontium isotopes

“…Cretaceous limestones in the Toyah Basin are overlain by a thick sequence of Cenozoic alluvium that is up to 470 m thick in the center of the basin (Ashworth, 1990). Tertiary and Quaternary alluvial sediments also occur in the Salt Basin graben at thickness of over 750 m (Gates et al, 1980). Radial plots of length-weighted fracture orientations (Fig.…”

Summary of hydrologic information in the El Paso, Texas, area, with emphasis on ground-water studies, 1903-80

“…The following discussion on the geology and water-bearing characteristics of the Hueco bolson is condensed from the Gates (1978) The primary water-bearing material of the Hueco bolson and the Rio Grande alluvium is the unconsolidated basin fill (Knowles and Kennedy, 1958, p. 19-20;and Alvarpz and Buckner, 1974). In the northern part of the bolson, Davis and Leggat (1 §67) reported that the thickest section of basin fill occurs as a trough-shaped body adjacent and parallel to the Franklin Mountains.…”