Memoir 33 New Mexico Bureau of Mines & Mineral Resources A DIVISION OF NEW MEXICO INSTITUTE OF MINING & TECHNOLOGY Geology of Albuquerque Basin, New Mexico by Vincent C. Kelley SOCORRO 1977 NEWMEXICOINSTITUTEOFMINING&TECHNOLOGY KENNETH W. FORD, President NEWMEXICOBUREAUOFMINES & MINERALRESOURCES FRANK E. Kornowsiti, Director GEORGE S. AUSTIN, Deputy Director BOARD OF REGENTS Ex Officio Jerry Apodaca, Governor of New Mexico Leonard DeLayo, Superintendent of Public Instruction Appointed William G. Abbott, 1961 -1979, Hobbs John M. Kelly, Treasurer, 1975-1981, Roswell Owen Lopez, 1977-1983, Santa Fe Dave Rice, Secretary, 1972-1977, Carlsbad Steve Torres, President, 1967-1979, Socorro BUREAUSTAFF Full Time WILLIAM E. ARNOLD, Scientific Illustrator NANCY H. MIZELL, Geologist ROBERT A. BIEBERMAN, Senior Petrol. Geologist KAREN D. PATTERSON, Secretary KATHRYN BRADLEY, Secretary NEILA M. PEARSON, Scientific Illustrator LYNN A. BRANDVOLD, Chemist JOAN PENDLETON, Editorial Assistant CORALE BRIERLEY, Chemical Microbiologist JUDY PERALTA, Executive Secretary CHARLES E. CHAPIN, Senior Geologist CHRISTOPHER RAUTMAN, Economic Geologist RICHARD R. CHAVEZ, Laboratory Technician IV MARSHALL A. REITER, Geophysicist RUBEN A. CRESPIN, Laboratory Technician I JACQUES R. RENAULT, Geologist Lois M. DEVLIN, Office Manager JAmEs M. ROBERTSON, Mining Geologist Jim P. DoosoN, Laboratory Technician I ROBERT SHANTZ, Metallurgist ROUSSEAU H. FLOWER, Senior Paleontologist W. TERRY SIEMERS, Indust. Minerals Geologist ROY W. FOSTER, Senior Petrol. Geologist JACKIE H. SMITH, Laboratory Technician IV STEPHEN J. FROST, Field Geologist WILLIAM J. STONE, HydrOgeOlOgiSi JOHN W. HAWLEY, Environmental Geologist DAVID E. TABET, Geologist STEPHEN C. HOOK, Paleontologist JOSEPH E. TAGGART, JR., Mineralogist BRADLEY B. HOUSE, Metallurgical Technician I SAMUEL THOMPSON III, Petroleum Geologist TERRI R. JARAMILLO, Receptionist ROBERT H. WEBER, Senior Geologist ROBERT W. KELLEY, Editor & Geologist DAVID L. WHITE, Geochemist ARTHUR J. MANSURE, Geophysicist MICHAEL R. Wxy-rt, Field Geologist NORMA J. MEEKS, Secretary I MICHAEL W. WOOLDRIDGE, Scientific Illustrator CANDAcE H. MERILLAT, Assistant Editor JULIE ZEPEDA, Receptionist (on leave) Part Time CHRISTINA L. BALK, Geologist JOHN REICHE, Instrument Manager CHARLES B. HUNT, Environmental Geologist ALLAN R. SANFORD, Geophysicist JACK B. PEARCE, Director, Information Services THOMAS E. ZIMMERMAN, Chief Security Officer Graduate Students JULIE ATKINSON DAVID MEYERSON DAVIDPETTY SAM BOWING GLENNR.OSBURN JUDYRUSSELL ROBERT BROD BRIAN K. PETERSON CHARLES SHEARER JO ANNECIMA Plus about 25 undergraduate assistants First printing, 1977 Available from New Mexico Bureau of Mines & Mineral Resources, Socorro, NM 87801 Published by Authority of State of New Mexico, NMSA 1953 Sec. 63-1-4 Printed by University of New Mexico Printing Plant, October 1977 Price $9.50 Preface In many ways, this work is the culmination of a career of studying the geology of New Mexico and adjoining parts of the Colorado Plateau and the Colorado Rockies. Very early in my career, I began work on uplifts adjoining the Albuquerque Basin, in particular the Sandia, Manzanita, Lucero, and Ladron uplifts. This work was done with both the U.S. Geological Survey and students at the University of New Mexico. Tectonic aspects of this work were expressed in the "Tectonic map of a part of the upper Rio Grande area, New Mexico" (Kelley, 1954). I continued my interest by writing several New Mexico Geological Society guidebook articles on the depression (Kelley, 1952), "Geology of the Caballo Mountains" with Caswell Silver (Kelley and Silver, 1952), and "Regional tectonics of the Colorado Plateau and relationship to the origin and distribution of uranium" (Kelley, 1955). However, current impetus for the work came mostly from a recent publication with Stuart A. Northrop entitled Geology of Sandia Mountains and vicinity, New Mexico (Kelley and Northrop, 1975). The unusual and well-displayed basin-border relationships between the Sandia uplift and the Albuquerque Basin allowed the logical and natural return to the Rio Grande depression (my own backyard) in the summer of 1974. In this work emphasis is on the basin—its internal stratigraphy, structure, and erosional history. One can hardly overemphasize the importance of the works of Kirk Bryan, his students, and co-workers in laying the groundwork for our current understanding of geology of the middle part of the Rio Grande depression. Their early recognition of several depositional facies and informal stratigraphic members has been an important guide. Equally impor- tant were the recognition and naming of several erosional surfaces. Kirk Bryan, a product of the area because of his early training at the University of New Mexico, contributed greatly through an outstanding career devoted in large part to the Rio Grande depression (Bryan, 1938, p. 199). During my work along the rift zone the following geologists, some professional and some students, helped in molding the concepts that are presented in this report: Charles B. Read, Gordon H. Wood, Jr., Charles B. Hunt, Walter H. Bucher, R. W. Duschatko, Earl P. Harrison, Phillip T. Hayes, Tom A. Fitzgerald, Charles B. Reynolds, Paul E. Soister, Alan E. Disbrow, Jerome E. Anderson, Edward C. Beaumont, Leon T. Silver, Paul W. Lambert, Bruce A. Black, Ned A. Noble, Brewster Baldwin, Zane Spiegel, Jock A. Campbell, Lee A. Woodward, A. M. Kudo, and Jon Callender. Special appreciation is extended to Russell E. Clemons who critically reviewed the manuscript. Curtis J. Little helped with data on recent deep wells drilled in the basin. Dave Love, Barry Winters, and my son, Robert B. Kelley, helped at times in the field. Many ranchers allowed entry through their properties. Particular assistance was given by Fred and Jack Hunting, Weldon Burris, and Donald King of Estancia, Dwayne Luce of Bosque Farms, Orville Moore of Socorro, Alfred Baca of Bernalillo, Phillip Lauriano of Sandia Pueblo, and Sam Armijo of Santa Ana Pueblo. Hassen Tinnen of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service arranged entrance to the large La Joya land grant. Leroy Hacker of U.S. Bureau of Land Management provided airphotographs. William Hale, Walter Mourant, and Francis Koopman of the U.S. Geological Survey assisted with numerous problems. Financial assistance was given by the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources. In particular the author wishes to thank Frank Kottlowski and Robert Bieberman. Vincent C. Kelley Albuquerque Professor Emeritus May 12, 1977 University of New Mexico Contents ABSTRACT 7 STRUCTURE 3 5 INTRODUCTION 7 BORDERFEATURES 36 STRATIGRAPHY 8 East side 36 PREBASINBEDS 8 West side 38 SANTAFEANDOTHERBEDS 10 North termination 43 Zia member 12 South termination 43 Middle red member and main body 14 BASINFEATURES 43 Ceja Member 18 Eastern area 44 Post-Santa Fe sediments 20 Western area 46 IGNEOUS ROCKS 24 DISCUSSION—ORIGIN ANDDEVELOPMENT 50 GEOMORPHOLOGY 2 5 PRE-RIFTSETTING 50 PEDIMENTS 25 DETERMINANTSOFLOCATION 50 DISSECTED SLOPES 30 GROWTHANDGEOMETRY 51 TERRACES 30 MODELINGMECHANICS 53 ALLUVIALSLOPES 31 REFERENCES 5 5 ALLUVIALFANSANDCONES 32 INDEX 5 8 FLOODPLAINS AND VALLEY BOTTOMS 32 POCKET (geologic map & lig. 19) TABLES 1—Thicknesses of Paleozoic formations 8 6—Maria Chavez Arroyo section 15 2—Thicknesses of Mesozoic formations 9 7—Gabaldon Badlands section 16 3—Thicknesses of Paleozoic and Mesozoic formations 9 8 — Ceja Member section 2 0 4—Benevidez Ranch section 14 5—Ziana section 15 9—Deep wells 51 FIGURES 1—Index map vi 14—Vertical airphoto of southern part Los Pinos uplift 36 2—Nomenclature chart of Santa Fe beds 10 15—Vertical airphoto of southern end Manzano uplift 36 3—View of fanglomerate cliffs in Santa Fe beds 15 16—Airview east of Manzano Mountains at 4—Airview of tilted Santa Fe beds 17 Bosque P eak 3 7 5—Vertical airphoto of western part of Ceja Mesa 23 I7—View east at Sandia escarpment 38 6—Vertical airphoto of part of Ceja Mesa around Dalies 22 I8—View of steeply dipping Santa Fe gravel 40 7—Vertical airphoto of travertine banks 24 I9—Tectonic map of Albuquerque Basin (in pocket) 8—Airview north of Canjilon diatreme 24 20—Structure sections across Albuquerque Basin 42 9—North-south longitudinal profiles 26 2 I—Vertical airphoto of dissected Hubbell Springs fault 10—Ortiz surface 27 scar p 45 11—Vertical airphoto of southern end of Ceja Mesa 29 22—Airview of Ladron Mountains 46 12—Vertical airphoto of Rio Grande floodplain 33 23—View of late Holocene north-trending fault scarp 46 13—Tectonic map of Rio Grande rift system 34 24—Airview east along Jemez River 49 Frontispiece: facing page. NASA LANDSAT 1, COLOR COMPOSITE BANDS 4, 5, AND 7. Scale: 1 inch to approximately 10 miles. (courtesy Technical Application Center, University of New Mexico). vi 7 Abstract The Albuquerque Basin of central New Mexico is about 102 mi long (north-south) and 25-40 mi wide (east-west). The Rio Grande, rising in Colorado and emptying into the Gulf of Mexico, flows southward through the basin which is surrounded by diverse Laramide and late Cenozoic uplifts. Several structural benches are delineated within the basin; fault scarps face the trough in most places. Ends of the basin are formed by convergence of side boundaries toward narrower structural and depositional channels that connect with basins north and south. The basin fill consists of up to 12,000 ft of sandstone, mudstone, and gravel of the Santa Fe Formation or Group (Miocene- Pliocene). In the northern part the fill is divided into the units of