Base flow sources in the upper reaches of Rito de los Frijoles Bandelier National Monument
Christensen P. 1980. Base flow sources in the upper reaches of Rito de los Frijoles Bandelier National Monument. Water Resources Report No. 80-5. United States. National Park Service. Southwest Regional Office. Santa Fe
The Rito de los Frijoles is a small perennial stream located in the northern portion of Bandelier National Monument. The stream originates in the Sierra de los Valles of the Jemez Mountains in north-central New Mexico and dissects the east flank of the Valles Caldera. The Sierra de los Valles separates the Valle Grande, a wide valley in the Jemez Mountains, and the drainage of the Rito de los Frijoles physiographically. The Valle Grande is underlain by a thick artesian aquifer of pumiceous sand and gravel. The rocks of the Sierra de los Valles and the east flank of the Valles Caldera are Pliocene to Pleistocene volcanic flows, domes, and tuffs. Springs which supply base flow for the upper reaches at Frijoles Creek are derived from small perched water tables in fractured and jointed zones or basal pumice units of the volcanics. The Valle Grande aquifer does not appear to supply water to these springs. Water chemistry yield no significant clues.