Lithology of Basin-Fill Deposits in the Albuquerque-Belen Basin, New Mexico
Kaehler CA. 1990. Lithology of Basin-Fill Deposits in the Albuquerque-Belen Basin, New Mexico. US Geological Survey Report 89-4162. United States Geological Survey. Albuquerque, NM
Sedimentary deposits that fill the Albuquerque-Belen Basin in central New Mexico comprise an aquifer that supplies water to approximately one-third the population of the State. This study was undertaken to summarize the grainsize distribution of the deposits using drillers' and borehole-geophysical logs. Analyses of these logs indicate that fine-grained deposits generally underlie the west-central part of the basin. Coarse-grained deposits are concentrated primarily along the axis of the north-central part of the basin. Mixed lithologic textures are present in the rest of the basin and are especially pronounced in the east-central part. The thickest clayey-sand zone, generally greater than 200 feet, is in the west-central part of the basin. Hydrogeologic sections indicate that considerable faulting of the basinfill deposits has occurred. These faults, however, apparently have little effect on the movement of ground water through the basin-fill deposits.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Kaehler, Charles
- Date of Issue
- 1990
- Publisher
- United States Geological Survey
- Units
- PETR
- Keywords
- Albuquerque NM, Geology, Grain Size, Sediment, Wells