Geophysical Unit of Menlo Park, Calif
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
In Cooperation with the National Park Service Geophysical studies based on gravity and seismic data of Tule Desert, Meadow Valley Wash, and California Wash basins, southern Nevada By Daniel S. Scheirer, William R. Page, and John J. Miller Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government Open-File Report 2006-1396 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Contents Abstract .........................................................................................................................................................................1 Introduction and Geologic Setting.................................................................................................................................1 Gravity Observations.....................................................................................................................................................3 Gravity Analysis............................................................................................................................................................4 Rock Samples ................................................................................................................................................................6 Seismic Reflection Lines ...............................................................................................................................................6 Results ...........................................................................................................................................................................8 Tule Desert ................................................................................................................................................................8 Meadow Valley Wash .............................................................................................................................................10 California Wash.......................................................................................................................................................12 Implications for Groundwater Studies.........................................................................................................................13 Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................................................13 Literature Cited............................................................................................................................................................15 Appendix: Seismic Imaging Quality............................................................................................................................18 Figures Figure 1a.....................................................................................................................................................................19 Figure 1b.....................................................................................................................................................................20 Figure 1b (continued). ...............................................................................................................................................21 Figure 1c.....................................................................................................................................................................22 Figure 1d.....................................................................................................................................................................23 Figure 1e.....................................................................................................................................................................24 Figure 2a.....................................................................................................................................................................25 Figure 2b.....................................................................................................................................................................26 Figure 2c.....................................................................................................................................................................27 Figure 2d.....................................................................................................................................................................28 Figure 2e.....................................................................................................................................................................29 Figure 3a,b..................................................................................................................................................................30 Figure 3c,d..................................................................................................................................................................31 Figure 4a,b..................................................................................................................................................................32 Figure 5a,b..................................................................................................................................................................33 Figure 6a,b..................................................................................................................................................................34 Figure 7a,b..................................................................................................................................................................35 Tables Table 1. Cenozoic basin-fill density-depth functions..................................................................................................14 Table 2. Physical properties of rock samples grouped by lithology............................................................................14 Table A1. Principal facts for gravity stations collected in April 2002 and December 2002 in southern Nevada. ......36 Table A2. Physical property measurements of rock samples collected in April 2002 and December 2002. ..............42 Geophysical studies based on gravity and seismic data of Tule Desert, Meadow Valley Wash, and California Wash basins, southern Nevada By Daniel S. Scheirer, William R. Page, and John J. Miller Abstract Gravity and seismic data from Tule Desert, Meadow Valley Wash, and California Wash, Nevada, provide insight into the subsurface geometry of these three basins that lie adjacent to rapidly-developing areas of Clark County, Nevada. Each of the basins is the product of Tertiary extension accommodated with the general form of north-south oriented, asymmetrically-faulted half-grabens. Geophysical inversion of gravity observations indicates that Tule Desert and Meadow Valley Wash basins are segmented into subbasins by shallow, buried basement highs. In this study, “basement” refers to pre-Cenozoic bedrock units that underlie basins filled with Cenozoic sedimentary and volcanic units. In Tule Desert, a small, buried basement high inferred from gravity data appears to be a horst whose placement is consistent with seismic reflection and magnetotelluric observations. Meadow Valley Wash consists of three subbasins separated by basement highs at structural zones that accommodated different styles of extension of the adjacent subbasins, an interpretation consistent with geologic mapping of fault traces oblique to the predominant north-south fault orientation of Tertiary extension in this area. California Wash is a single structural basin. The three seismic reflection lines analyzed in this study image the sedimentary basin fill, and they allow identification of faults that offset basin deposits and underlying basement. The degree of faulting and folding of the basin-fill deposits increases with depth. Pre-Cenozoic units are observed in some of the seismic reflection lines, but their reflections are generally of poor quality or are absent. Factors that degrade seismic reflector quality in this area are rough land topography due to erosion, deformed sedimentary units at the land surface, rock layers that dip out of the plane of the seismic profile, and the presence of volcanic units that obscure underlying reflectors. Geophysical methods illustrate that basin geometry is more complicated than would be inferred from extrapolation of surface topography and geology, and these methods aid in defining a three-dimensional framework to understand groundwater storage and flow in southern Nevada. Introduction and Geologic Setting The geologic configuration of southern Nevada is complex, the result of multiple episodes of marine and non-marine sedimentation, igneous activity, and contractional, strike-slip, and extensional deformation from Precambrian time to the present. In recent decades, rapid urbanization in Clark County, Nev., has led to increased demand for surface water and groundwater resources in southern Nevada. Numerous studies have endeavored to understand the hydrogeologic framework that influences groundwater distribution and flow. The present study is a geophysical companion to a recent geologic map synthesis (Page and others, 2005) and a report of interpretive geologic cross-sections (Page and others, 2006) that focus on the lithologic and structural features that allow