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Hydrogeologic Investigation of the Southern Taos Valley, Taos County, New Mexico

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Hydrogeologic Investigation of the Southern Taos Valley, Taos County, New Mexico NEW MEXICO BUREAU OF GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES Hydrogeologic Investigation of the Southern Taos Valley, Taos County, New Mexico Peggy S. Johnson Paul W. Bauer Brigitte Felix Final Technical Report August 2016 (updated November 2016) Open-File Report 581 New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources A division of New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology Socorro, NM 87801 (575) 835 5490 Fax (575) 835 6333 geoinfo.nmt.edu Hydrogeologic Investigation of the Southern Taos Valley, Taos County, New Mexico Peggy S. Johnson Paul W. Bauer Brigitte Felix Final Technical Report August 2016 (updated November 2016) Open-File Report 581 New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources PROJECT FUNDING Taos County New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Aquifer Mapping Program Healy Foundation The views and conclusions are those of the authors, and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the State of New Mexico. Cover photograph: View north down the Picuris piedmont in an area where Quaternary sand and gravel depos- its cover a complex system of buried Embudo faults and Picuris-Pecos faults. Proterozoic rocks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains are on the right horizon, and isolated volcanoes of the Taos Plateau volcanic field in the Rio Grande rift are on the left horizon. The water well being drilled in the fall of 2015 penetrated 1200 feet of Santa Fe Group and Picuris Formation sedimentary rocks. Photograph by Paul Bauer NEW MEXICO BUREAU OF GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES SOUTH TAOS VALLEY, TAOS COUNTY CONTENTS Proterozoic rocks ....................................................31 Executive Summary ............................................................. 1 Faults of the Southern Taos Valley ..........................31 I. Introduction ....................................................................... 3 Picuris-Pecos fault system ..................................31 Background ............................................................................. 3 Embudo fault zone .................................................32 Previous work ....................................................................... 4 Sangre de Cristo fault zone ...............................32 Purpose and scope .............................................................. 5 Los Cordovas fault zone .....................................33 Description of the study area ....................................... 6 Structural and Subsurface Geology ........................34 Geography ..................................................................... 6 Taos graben ................................................................34 Geomorphology and surface hydrology ...... 6 Miranda graben .......................................................34 Land status and accessibility .............................. 8 Geometry of buried faults ..................................35 Conceptual structural model of the .............................................................................. 9 II. Methods study area ...............................................................35 Geologic mapping and cross sections ...................... 9 3D patterns of basin-fill units ..........................35 Aerial photogrammetry and Southern extent of basalt ...................................38 field mapping .......................................................10 The Picuris embayment .......................................38 Boreholes .....................................................................10 Hydrogeologic cross sections .....................................39 Geophysics ..................................................................10 Summary of geologic investigations .......................42 Development of cross sections ........................10 Depiction of faults in the cross sections ....12 IV. Hydrogeologic Systems of the Water-level measurements, water-table map, ............................................... and groundwater hydrographs ............................12 Southern Taos Valley 45 ............................................... Measurement and inventory methods ........12 Hydrostratigraphic units 45 Water-table map ............................................... 12 Santa Fe Group basin fill ....................................45 ............ Groundwater-level fluctuations ......................18 Pennsylvanian–Proterozoic bedrock 47 Geochemical Methods ....................................................18 Basin-bedrock hydrologic boundary and hydrogeologic windows .......................48 Data collection and analysis .............................19 Picuris piedmont aquifer ...............................................49 Data compilation and data quality ...............20 Perched groundwater ............................................49 III. Geology of the Southern Taos Valley ....21 Deep confined basin-fill aquifer ......................54 Regional Geology ..............................................................21 Miranda Canyon bedrock aquifers .........................54 Rio Grande rift .........................................................21 Groundwater fluctuations ............................................54 Taos Plateau volcanic field .................................21 Seasonal water-level fluctuations ...................56 Rio Grande gorge ...................................................23 Annual and short-term water-level Picuris Mountains and fluctuations ............................................................57 Sangre de Cristo Mountains .......................23 Water-level changes and hydrographs .........58 Geologic Units .....................................................................23 Drought versus depletion ...................................63 Surficial deposits ......................................................23 Summary of hydrogeologic systems .......................63 Servilleta Basalt ........................................................25 Santa Fe Group basin fill ....................................25 V. Thermal, and Chemical Characteristics Picuris Formation ...................................................28 of Groundwater ............................................................67 Older Tertiary volcanic rocks ..........................30 Thermal conditions ..........................................................67 Paleozoic rocks .........................................................30 Chemical characteristics ................................................73 NEW MEXICO BUREAU OF GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES SOUTH TAOS VALLEY, TAOS COUNTY Major ions and water type ................................73 Figures Minor ions, trace elements 1. Location map, land status, and regional setting . 4 and mineral saturation ............................... 81 2. Neighborhood associations ........................................... 6 Groundwater residence time .......................................82 3. Physiographic features of the Taos area Mineral solution, precipitation with acequias and sites of interest ............................. 7 and disequilibrium ............................................85 4. Watersheds of the Taos Valley with surface Summary of water chemistry and water sites and precipitation stations ...................... 8 age investigations .........................................................88 5. Map of wells, springs and surface-water sites ...13 6. Regional geologic map ...................................................22 ..................................... VI. Summary and Conclusions 91 7. Generalized geologic map ............................................24 ................................................................... Geologic model 91 8. Stratigraphy of the southern Taos Valley ............25 ............................................... Picuris piedmont aquifer 91 9. Photos of Servilleta Basalt ............................................27 ..................................................... Deep confined aquifer 92 10. Photos of the Lama formation ..................................27 Bedrock aquifers ................................................................92 11. Photograph of lake-clay deposit in Miranda Canyon hydrogeology ...............................92 basin-fill sediments ...........................................................28 Aquifer interconnection and compartments ......93 12. Photograph of the Chama-El Rito member Groundwater trends ........................................................93 of the Tesuque Formation ............................................29 Groundwater chemistry and age ..............................93 13. Photograph of Ojo Caliente Sandstone ................29 14. Photograph of the Chamita Formation ................29 15. Photograph of the Picuris Formation ....................30 VII. Recommendations .........................................................95 16. Photos of the Embudo fault zone ............................33 17. Photos of the Los Cordovas fault zone ................34 Project Staff & Acknowledgments ........................97 18. Structural model of three regional fault systems ................................................................ 36–37 References ..........................................................................98 19. Hydrogeologic cross sections .............................. 39–41 20. Map of groundwater domains in the Picuris piedmont aquifer ...............................................46
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