Geology and Availability of Ground Water in the Northern Part of the White Sands Missile Range and Vicinity New Mexico By JAMES E. WEIR, JR. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 1801 Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1965 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director Library of Congress catalog-card No. GS 65-323 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 CONTENTS Page Abstract ..______________________________________________________ 1 Introduction...___________________________________________________ 1 Location and accessibility__________________________.___________ 3 Methods of investigation_______________________________________ 4 System of numbering wells and springs_________________________ 5 Acknowledgments. ____________________________________ ____ 6 Geography. ____________________________________________________ 7 Physiography. ____________________________________________ 7 Jornada del Muerto_____________________________ _ __ 8 Northern Tularosa Basin______________________-_-__________ 8 Climate and vegetation_______________________________________ 9 Culture--.___________________________________ 11 Geology and structure____-_-__-__-------------------_-_-__------__ 12 Stratigraphic units and their water-bearing characteristics..________ 13 Precambrian______________________________________________ 14 Cambrian and Ordovician__________________________________ 15 Devonian and Mississippian_____--_-______-_-___-__________ 15 Pennsylvanian____________________________________________ 16 Permian__________________________________________________ 18 Bursum Formation_________-_____-___-_-_-_-__________ 18 Abo Formation______________________________________ 19 Yeso Formation__________-___________-_-_-_-______-___ 19 Glorieta Sandstone__-_--_-_---------_-_-_-_---_-_-_-__ 20 San Andres Limestone_-__-_-_---_-_-_---_---_-_-----_- 20 Triassic___________________________________ 20 Cretaceous______________________________________________ 21 Dakota Sandstone__-------------------_-----------_-_- 21 Mancos Shale__-__-___-_-------__-------_-_-_-_-_-__-_ 21 Mesaverde Group.____________________________________ 22 Tertiary_________________________________ 22 Baca Formation__________-_-____--_-__-_-__-_-_-_____- 23 Datil Formation.._____________________________________ 23 Tertiary(?) _______________________________________________ 24 Santa Fe Group________________ ________________ 24 Quaternary.______________________________________________ 24 Ground-water hydrology._______________-__--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-___---__ 25 Principles of occurrence, movement, and quantitative measurement-_ 25 Movement in the zone of saturation_________________________ 26 Coefficients of permeability and transmissibility_______________ 22 Coefficient of storage_____________________________________ 28 Specific yield______________________________ 29 Recharge and natural discharge--------------------------------- 29 m IV CONTENTS Ground-water hydrology Continued Discharge by pumping from wells______________________________ 32 Aquifers____ __________________________________________________ 33 Tertiary and Quaternary.________________________________ 33 Baca and Datil Formations and Santa Fe Group._________ 33 Chemical quality of the water.- ___________________ 34 Pumping tests____________ ____________ 35 Alluvium__________._ _____ _____ 37 Yeso Formation___________________________________________ 39 Chemical quality of the water__________________________ 40 Pumping test__________________________________ 40 San Andres Limestone and Glorieta Sandstone-_ _.._____ 41 Chemical quality of the water-_________________________ 42 Pumping test and reservoir physical characteristics.-.---.. 42 Bursum Fonnation____-______________________________ 43 Chemical quality of the water_______________________ 45 Pumping tests______________________ ______________ 46 Cretaceous _______________________ _________ 48 Minor aquifers____________________________________________ 49 Summary of the availability of ground water ______________________ 50 References ___________________________________________________ 51 Basic data___._____.______________________________________________ 53 ILLUSTRATIONS Page PLATE 1. Map of northern Jornado del Muerto and northern Tularosa Basin and adjacent areas, Socorro, Lincoln, Sierra, and Otero Counties, New Mexico, showing geology, well and spring data, and contours on the water table, 1957________ In pocket FIGURE 1. Index map of western New Mexico___________________ 2 2. Diagram showing well-numbering system _______ 6 3. Average annual precipitation in south-central New Mexico. 10 4-7. Graphs for aquifer tests: 4. Stallion 1______________________ _ __________ 35 5. Fite"PW"well_______________________ 36 6. Red Canyon Range Camp.____________________ 41 7. Murray well_______ _____ - 43 8. Cross section through Murray well and MacDonald 2____ 44 9-11. Graphs for aquifer tests: 9. Mockingbird Gap well_______ ______ . 46 10. Baca well_________________________ 47 11. Baca test well.._________________. 48 CONTENTS V TABLES Page TABLE 1. Records of wells in the northern part of the White Sands Missile Range and vicinity, New Mexico.___________ 64 2. Records of springs in the northern part of the White Sands Missile Range and vicinity, New Mexico.._______ _. 61 3. Analyses of water from selected wells in the northern part of the White Sands Missile Range and vicinity, New Mexico________________________________ 62 4. Analyses of water from selected springs in the northern part of the White Sands Missile Range and vicinity, New Mexico_______________________________________ 68 5. Descriptive logs of drill cuttings from wells and test holes in the northern part of the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico_--__________--___._.___________________ 69 GEOLOGY AND AVAILABILITY OF GROUND WATER IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE AND VICINITY, NEW MEXICO By JAMES E. WEIR, JR. ABSTRACT The report describes the geology and ground-water resources of the northern part of the White Sands Missile Range and vicinity in south-central New Mexico. Rocks ranging in age from Precambrian to Quaternary crop out in fault-block mountains and in the adjacent desert basins; only two geologic periods Silurian and Jurassic are not represented in the rock sequence. Unconsolidated rocks of Tertiary and Quaternary age contain vast quantities of water and locally yield moderate to large amounts of water to wells and springs. In a few localities, rocks of Permian and Cretaceous ages yield small to moderate amounts of water from joints and fractures, which have locally been enlarged by solution. Transmissibilities, determined from two pumping tests of wells tapping the least permeable part of the Tertiary rocks, range from 170 to 2,800 gpd per ft (gallons per day per foot). Pumping tests of wells tapping the Bursum Formation of Permian age indicated transmissibilities ranging from 9 to 75,000 gpd per ft. A pumping test of a well in the Yeso Formation, also of Permian age, showed a transmissibility of about 45,000 gpd per ft and a storage coefficient of 2.36 X10'3. The chemical quality of the ground water in the area is predominantly poor because of high sulfate content and, in the Tularosa Basin, high sulfate and chloride content. Some of the water in the Bursum Formation is of good to fair chemical quality, but it locally contains an undesirably high nitrate content. Small amounts of water of good to fair quality are present at six localities on the missile range: near the northwest corner; at Hardin Ranch near Rhodes Pass; at two wells north and south of Mockingbird Gap; at Trail Canyon well in sec. 36, T. 6 S., R. 5 E.; near Baca well in sec. 26, T. 6 S., R. 6 E.; and at scattered small springs issuing from Pennsylvanian rocks on the back slope of Sierra Oscura. Off the range, the alluvium west of the river in the Rio Grande Valley yields large quantities of water of good chemical quality. The scarcity of water of good quality precludes general development of potable supplies within the White Sands Missile Range. Development of non- potable supplies for dual systems, however, warrants consideration. INTRODUCTION The White Sands Missile Range covers approximately 5,00i) square miles in south-central New Mexico. Most of the area has been a mili- WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE AND VICINITY, N. MEX. tary reservation since the early part of World War II and is now used for guided missile tests, bombing and strafing practice, and other tactical and testing maneuvers. The first atomic bomb was tested July 16,1945, on the range, at Trinity Site, approximately 10 miles north of Mockingbird Gap. The area investigated for this report includes, in part, the northern third of the range (fig. 1). 105° KEY FOR 15' QUADRANGLES 1 Broken Back Crater 2 Bingham 3 Carthage 4 (San Antonio) 5 (Val Verde) 6 Granjean Well 7 Mockingbird Gap 8 Willow Springs (Chihuahua Ranch) 9 Three Rivers 10 Capitol Peak 11 Salinas Peak 12 (Malpais Well) 13 (Sowell) 14 Black Top Mountain 15 Valley 16 Tularosa 0 50 MILES i i , i .1 EXPLANATION Boundary of studied area Boundary of White Sands Missile Range FIGUEE 1. Index map of western New Mexico. Names in parentheses are those of U.S. Geological Survey quadrangles (scale, 1:62,500). Other names are those of Aimy Map Service quadrangles (scale, 1: 50,000). A.M.S. 7%-minute quadrangles,