The Hydrology and Mineralogy of Deep Springs Lake Inyo County, California
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The Hydrology and Mineralogy of Deep Springs Lake Inyo County, California GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 502-A The Hydrology and Mineralogy of Deep Springs Lake Inyo County, California By BLAIR F. JONES CLOSED-BASIN INVESTIGATIONS GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 502-A A study of the relation between hydrologic factors and .saline mineralogy for a small playa in the western Great Basin UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1965 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 CONTENTS Page Page Abstract _______ ---_-----·-____ --_-- __ ------_-_-- ___ _ A1 Hydrochemistry-Continued Sampling _____________________________________ _ Introduction--------------~------------------------ 2 A25 Acknowledgments ___ .. _________________________ _ 2 pH and alkalinitY------------------------------- 26 Geography __________ .. _________________________ _ 3 Major-element analysis ____ ---------------------- 27 Sulfide _______________________________________ _ Bedrock geology of the Deep Springs Valley ______ _ 6 27 Quaternary geology_--·----- ____________________ _ Presentation and interpretation of data ___________ _ 27 8 Inflow ________________________________________ _ Hydrology ______________ .. _________________________ _ 9 32 Lake area _____________________________________ _ Precipitation ________ .. _________________________ _ 9 40 Evaporation _______ --·---- _____________________ _ 12 Closed sag pond _________ -- __ ---- --------------- 42 Hydrography of the Deep Springs Valley __________ _ 12 Calculation of salinity from hydrographic data ___ -- 43 Streams and drainage of the mountain areas ______ _ 13 Mineralogy _______________________________________ _ 43 Springs north of Deep Springs Lake ______________ _ 15 Carbonate and saline mineralogy ________________ _ 43 Springs east of Deep Springs Lake _______________ _ 15 Areal distribution in the lacustrine deposits __ ------ 44 Sag ponds __________ -·---- _____________________ _ 17 Saline crusts ____________ ----------------------- 45 Ground water _________________________________ _ 17 Efflorescent crusts ________ --_--_-- __ ------_----- 48 Comparison of discharge from streams and springs __ 20 Summary of carbonate and saline mineralogy ________ - _ 48 Hydrography of the lake-------------------~---- 20 Silicate mineralogy __________________ - __ - ___ --_-- 49 Hydrochemistry ___________________________________ _ 25 49 ReferencesGeochemistrY-------------------------------------- ________________________________________ _ Analytical methods ____________________________ _ 25 53 ILLUSTRATIONS [Plates are in pocket] PLATE 1. Generalized geologic map of Deep Springs Valley. Page 2. Topography of the bed of Deep Springs Lake. FIGURE 1. Index map of the Deep Springs Valley and vicinity, California________________________________________ A3 2. Index map of the Deep Springs Lake area ______________________________________ --_--_------------- 4 3. Aerial photograph of the Deep Springs Lake area _______________________________________ ------------ 5 4. View of fault scarps east of Deep Springs Lake ______________________________________ --------------- 6 5. Map showing stratigraphy of surficial deposits at Deep Springs Lake ___________________ - __ ------------ 10 6. Graph showing precipitation in the Deep Springs Valley_____________________________________________ 12 7. View across the bog-mound marsh _____________________________________________________ - _--------- 15 8. Views of Buckhorn Springs 5 and 1--------------------------------------------------------------- 16 9. Cemented fanglomerate on fault scarp above Buckhorn Springs 10 and 11----------------------------- 16 10. View of the closed sag pond at low stage___________________________________________________________ 17 11. Section of the alluvium in the Deep Springs Valley__________________________________________________ 18 12. High-altitude aerial photograph of the Deep Springs Valley _________________________________ --------- 19 13. Graph showing relation of water surface area to volume for Deep Springs Lake _________ ---------------- 22 14. View of Deep Springs Lake at low stage __________________________________________________ --------- 23 15. View of stagnant brine pooL ____________________________________________________________ --------- 23 16. Graph showing relation of lake volume to total dissolved salts at Deep Springs Lake____________________ 24 17. View of windblown salt dust_ ___________________________________________________________ --------- 24 18. Graph showing relation of surface-water volume to dissolved-solids concentration for a receding phase of Deep Springs Lake ______________________________________________________________________ - __ -- 25 19-22. Diagram showing- 19. Chemical composition of inflow to Deep Springs Lake__________________________________________ 31 20. Composition of well waters from the Deep Springs ValleY-------------------------------------- 32 21. Major anions in waters from Deep Springs Lake ________________________________ ----_--------- 33 22. Trends in composition of dissolved solids in inflow to Deep Springs Lake_________ -_-_------------ 33 m IV CONTENTS FIGURE 23-26. Diagram showing relation of ion concentration to discharge for- Page 23. VVyman Creek---------------------------------------------------------------------------- A36 24. Corral Spring 1 ___________ -= __________________________________________ - _ - - __ - - - - - _ - _ - _ - - _ _ _ 36 25. Corral Spring 2 _____________________________________________________ --_-- __ -----_---_-- _ _ _ 36 26. Buckhorn Springs------------------------------------------------------------------------- 37 27-30. Diagram showing relation of- 27. Ion concentration to total dissolved solids for Corral Spring inflow------------------------------ 38 28. Cation concentration to total dissolved solids for Buckhorn Spring inflow_________________________ 39 29. Anion concentration to total dissolved solids for Buckhorn Spring inflow_- _____ - __ --_--_-_- __ -___ 39 30. pH to total dissolved solids in Buckhorn Spring inflow _____________ -- __ -- _______ ---_-__________ 40 31. View of ephemeral runoff on interdunal flats north of Deep Springs Lake ___________· _____ - __ -__________ 41 32. View of gas vent on the north side of the Deep Springs Lake saltpan__________________________________ 41 33. Diagram showing brines from Deep Springs Lake in terms of the reciprocal system NaaSOcK2SOcNaCl- KCl________________________________________________________________________________________ 42 34. Graph showing relation of lake stage to S04 :Cl ratio_______________________________________________ 42 35. View of surface of salt crust at Deep Springs Lake__________________________________________________ 45 36. Section of salt crust____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 4 7 37. Diagram showing composition of salt phases ____________________ --- _____________ --- __ ----__________ 50 38. Diagram showing mineral assemblages in equilibrium with saturated solutions ____ ---------------------- 52 TABLES Page TABLE 1. Generalized column of sedimentary bedrock in the Deep Springs Valley drainage area_________________________ A7 2. Climatic data for Deep Springs Valley and vicinity, California_____________________________________________ 11 3. Estimated discharge of surface water units in Deep Springs Valley, 1959-61_________________________________ 13 4. Data on water surface area, volume, and tonnage of dissolved solids at Deep Springs Lake____________________ 21 5. Hydrologic data from Deep Springs Lake as compared with some major closed lakes cited by Langbein_________ 22 6. Comparison of total C02, pH, and alkalinity determinations for samples of water from the Deep Springs Valley_ 28 7. Analyses of waters from the Deep Springs Valley, 1959-61_________________________________________________ 29 8. Precipitate mineral species at Deep Springs Lake--------------------------------------------------------- 44 9. Saline mineral assemblages in the system NaHCO:rNa2C03-NaaS04..-H2 0 at Deep Springs Lake________________ 51 CLOSED-BASIN INVESTIGATIONS THE HYDROLOGY AND MINERALOGY OF DEEP SPRINGS LAKE, INYO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA BY BLAIR F. JONES ABSTRACT system is connected with the central and eastern bog-mound Deep Springs Lake is a small intermittent saline lake at springs, and, to a lesser extent, (c) with the Corral and Buck an altitude of about 5,000 feet within a completely closed horn Springs along the prominent fault zone east of the lake. basin in northern Inyo County, Calif. The basin is a relatively The Corral Springs discharge ground water from igneous recently formed graben, in which the most active faulting rocks along the fault zone north of the lake; the Buckhorn occurred on the east, within or near the White-Inyo Mountains Springs discharge largely ground water from sedimentary horst block. and contact metamorphic rocks intercepted by the fault zone The Deep Springs Valley was formerly occupied by a large south of the lake. lake which may have covered more than one-half of the valley Discharge estimates indicate that inflow to Deep Springs floor as recently as 1,000 years B.P. Recent normal faulting Lake from the Wyman-Crooked Creeks, Corral Springs,