Significant Cenozoic faulting, east margin of the Española Basin, Rio Grande rift, New Mexico

Vernon, James H.; Riecker, Robert E.

doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1989)017<0230:scfemo>2.3.co;2

Cited by 7 publications

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“…Thus, Precambrian rocks exposed along the east ern edge of the basin may lie to the west of major boundary faults. Vernon and Riecker [1989] recognized three normal faults <2 km east of the SAGE profile with a minimum vertical offset on each of 33-100 m during late Cenozoic movement. Based on the pres ence of faceted spurs east of the area stud ied by Vernon and Riecker [1989], we specu late that large fault offsets may occur within the Sangre de Cristo block.…”

Section: Eastern Boundary Of the Espanola Basinmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Vernon and Riecker [1989] recognized three normal faults <2 km east of the SAGE profile with a minimum vertical offset on each of 33-100 m during late Cenozoic movement. Based on the pres ence of faceted spurs east of the area stud ied by Vernon and Riecker [1989], we specu late that large fault offsets may occur within the Sangre de Cristo block. Thus, the eastern margin of the Espanola structural basin may consist of a major fault or zone of faults, with significant vertical offsets located within the exposed Precambrian east of the topo graphic basin (Figure 3).…”

Section: Eastern Boundary Of the Espanola Basinmentioning

confidence: 99%

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SAGE program explores the Rio Grande rift

Baldridge

Jiracek

1992

EoS Transactions

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Last June and July, for the ninth consecutive summer, geophysics students from universities across the United States and around the world converged on Santa Fe, N.Mex., to participate in a unique geophysical field program (Figure 1). Among a variety of activities, students surveyed, laid cables, buried electrodes, and gathered and interpreted a wealth of geophysical and geological data. They were part of a program called the Summer of Applied Geophysical Experience (SAGE), not to be confused with the Geological Society of America's Science Awareness Through Geoscience Education program. SAGE is sponsored by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) branch of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics of the University of California [Jiracek et al., 1991].

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Section: Eastern Boundary Of the Espanola Basinmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Eastern Boundary Of the Espanola Basinmentioning

confidence: 99%

SAGE program explores the Rio Grande rift

Baldridge

Jiracek

1992

EoS Transactions

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“…A considerable amount of seismic-reflection data is presented in Keller and Cather (1994), and these data and drilling results show that individual basins of the rift are typically asymmetrical. One or both sides are bounded by steeply dipping faults or by zones several kilometers wide, in which numerous steeply dipping faults are closely spaced (e.g., Vernon and Riecker, 1989). The main basins are complex in detail, and are commonly themselves divided by intrabasin horsts.…”

Section: Tectonics and Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Rio Grande rift: A geological and geophysical overview

Keller

Baldridge

1999

Rocky Mountain Geology

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The Rio Grande rift is a major structural element of the Southern Rocky Mountain region. During the last 20 years this feature has become widely recognized as a major Cenozoic continental rift zone. During this time we have learned much about the structure and evolution of the rift. However, many gaps in our knowledge remain that prevent us from fully understanding its evolution and the processes that formed it. The rift should not be studied in isolation, because the Laramide orogeny, uplift, complex magmatism, and extension that have occurred since the Late Cretaceous are all to some extent related.

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“…This possibility was partly addressed by Vernon and Riecker (1989), who recognized three normal faults <2 km east of the profile with a minimum vertical offset on each fault of 33-100 m during late Cenozoic movement. Based on the presence of faceted spurs east of the area studied by Vernon and Riecker (1989), we speculate that large fault offsets may occur within the Sangre de Cristo block.…”

Section: Seismic Reflectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The immediate goals of SAGE included identifying units in the subsurface, constraining the thicknesses and geometry of intrarift sedimentary units, and determining subsurface fault offsets. This work was of particular interest because of uncertainties regarding major faults bounding the eastern edge of the Espanola Basin (e.g., Baltz, 1978;Manley, 1979;Vernon and Riecker, 1989) and the possibility of major, low-angle thrust faults underlying Tertiary sediments of the basin (Black, 1984a). More broadly, the geometry of the basin and of intrarift units is an important constraint on models of the structural development of continental rift zones (e.g., Rosendahl, 1987).…”

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confidence: 99%

A geophysical model of the Española Basin, Rio Grande rift, New Mexico

et al. 1991

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A model of the subsurface structure of the eastern part of the Española Basin in the northern Rio Grande rift of New Mexico was constructed from geophysical data obtained since 1983 by the Summer of Applied Geophysical Experience (SAGE) field course. Approximately 742 new gravity observations, 1276 ground magnetic stations, 30 km of seismic refraction lines, 19 km of seismic reflection lines, 22 magnetotelluric stations, and several Schlumberger and dipole‐dipole resistivity lines were established. Our studies provide new information on one boundary of a major continental rift and on the depositional and structural style of an extensional basin within the rift. Integration of these data sets into a single transect indicates that the Española Basin is asymmetrical with approximately 2 to 3 km of sediments and sedimentary rocks near the center, thinning eastward to the Precambrian outcrop of the flanking Sangre de Cristo uplift. Several minor faults with throws of less than 200 m were found, but no major eastern bounding fault was observed. Thus, the Española Basin could be an asymmetrical, west‐dipping half‐graben. However, major fault offset, down toward the basin axis, may occur within Precambrian rocks of the Sangre de Cristo uplift. In either case, the geometry of the basin does not agree well with current models for the structural evolution of continental rifts, which emphasize low‐angle detachment faults which create asymmetrical, hinged half‐grabens. These models predict that major shoulder uplift should occur adjacent to the side of the graben bounded by a listric master fault rather than adjacent to the hinged side. In contrast, for the Española Basin major uplift occurred adjacent to the eastern side, which could be the hinged side of the basin. A thick wedge of older sedimentary rocks with high P‐wave velocity (4.4 km/s) and low electrical resistivity (5 Ω⋅m) was discovered under the younger Tertiary sediments and sedimentary rocks near the center of the basin. This wedge has maximum thickness of 1.2 km at the western end of the profile and thins eastward. The physical properties suggest this layer could be older Tertiary, or possibly a Mesozoic‐Paleozoic, section of rocks. If the latter, it has potential economic importance because of the possible presence of a Cretaceous section which is known to produce oil and gas in the Albuquerque Basin to the south and the San Luis Basin to the north. However, based on data from the Yates La Mesa no. 2 well, 10 km south of the transect, this wedge is likely middle Tertiary lacustrine deposits (NMOCD, 1986). The great thickness of lake deposits may represent a major lacustrine facies of the Eocene Galisteo and El Rito formations, exposed around the southern, southwestern, and northwestern margins of the basin. Magnetotelluric data suggest the crystalline basement underlying the central Española Basin may be more conductive than near the eastern margin. The entire Española Basin is also underlain by a highly conductive layer of about 1 Ω⋅m at a depth of 15 km. Both the shallow and deep low‐resistivity zones may result from hot, saline fluids. Such fluids deep within the crust may reduce the shear strength of the crust significantly and concentrate crustal extension on the west side of the rift.

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Significant Cenozoic faulting, east margin of the Española Basin, Rio Grande rift, New Mexico

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

SAGE program explores the Rio Grande rift

SAGE program explores the Rio Grande rift

The Rio Grande rift: A geological and geophysical overview

A geophysical model of the Española Basin, Rio Grande rift, New Mexico

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