Preliminary Geologic Map of the Albuquerque 30’ x 60’ Quadrangle, north-central New Mexico By Paul L. Williams and James C. Cole Open-File Report 2005–1418 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior Gale A. Norton, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey P. Patrick Leahy, Acting Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 2006 For product and ordering information: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS Suggested citation: Williams, Paul L., and Cole, James C., 2006, Preliminary Geologic Map of the Albuquerque 30’ x 60’ quadrangle, north-central New Mexico: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2005-1418, 64 p., 1 sheet scale 1:100,000. 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Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted material contained within this report. ii Contents Abstract.................................................................................................................1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................2 Geography and geomorphology.........................................................................3 Compilation sources and methods.....................................................................5 Acknowledgments..............................................................................................8 Geologic setting ....................................................................................................8 Proterozoic rocks ...............................................................................................9 Layered rocks..................................................................................................9 Intrusive rocks...............................................................................................10 Paleozoic rocks................................................................................................10 Mesozoic rocks ................................................................................................11 Tertiary sedimentary rocks...............................................................................12 Lower Tertiary sedimentary and volcaniclastic rocks ....................................12 Santa Fe Group.............................................................................................13 Pre-Pliocene units......................................................................................15 Pliocene units.............................................................................................19 Cenozoic intrusive and volcanic rocks ...............................................................21 Ortiz porphyry belt ...........................................................................................21 Basalt fields .....................................................................................................22 Small igneous bodies ......................................................................................23 Quaternary deposits ...........................................................................................23 Alluvial slope deposits......................................................................................23 Major stream deposits......................................................................................24 Other Quaternary deposits ..............................................................................26 Tributary terrace deposits .............................................................................26 Eolian deposits..............................................................................................26 Colluvial deposits ..........................................................................................26 Lake-related deposits in the Estancia Basin .................................................26 Mixed deposits ..............................................................................................27 Structure ............................................................................................................27 Proterozoic structures .....................................................................................29 Paleozoic and Mesozoic structures .................................................................29 Ancestral Rocky Mountains...........................................................................29 Laramide Orogeny ........................................................................................29 Cenozoic structures ........................................................................................30 Ortiz porphyry belt.........................................................................................30 Rio Grande rift...............................................................................................30 Sandia uplift ..................................................................................................31 Summary and discussion of geologic history ......................................................32 References Cited ................................................................................................39 Description of map units......................................................................................49 iii Figures 1. Geographic setting of the Albuquerque 30' x 60' quadrangle............................4 2. Index map showing sources of geologic-map data used in compiling the Albuquerque 30' x 60' quadrangle ........................................................6 3. Diagram showing evolution of nomenclature for the Santa Fe Group in the Albuquerque basin.........................................................................17 4. Map of principal structural features in the Albuquerque 30' x 60' quadrangle ...............................................................................................28 Conversion Factors Inch/Pound to SI Multiply By To obtain Length inch (in.) 2.54 centimeter (cm) inch (in.) 25.4 millimeter (mm) foot (ft) 0.3048 meter (m) mile (mi) 1.609 kilometer (km) Area square mile (mi2) 2.590 square kilometer (km2) Temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) may be converted to degrees Fahrenheit (°F) as follows: °F=(1.8×°C)+32 Temperature in degrees Fahrenheit (°F) may be converted to degrees Celsius (°C) as follows: °C=(°F-32)/1.8 Horizontal coordinate information is referenced to the North American Datum of 1927 (NAD 27). iv Preliminary Geologic Map of the Albuquerque 30’ x 60’ quadrangle, north-central New Mexico By Paul L. Williams1 and James C. Cole2 Abstract The Albuquerque 30’ x 60’ quadrangle spans the Rio Grande rift between the Colorado Plateau and Great Plains geologic provinces, and includes parts of the Basin and Range and Southern Rocky Mountains physiographic provinces. Geologic units exposed in the quadrangle range in age from Early Proterozoic schist and granite to modern river alluvium. The principal geologic features of the area, however, chiefly reflect contractional folding and thrusting of the Late Cretaceous Laramide orogeny and the Neogene extension of the Rio Grande rift. Significant parts of the history of the rift in this region are displayed and documented by the geology exposed in the Albuquerque quadrangle. Post-Laramide erosion, beginning at about 60 Ma, is recorded by the Diamond Tail Formation and Galisteo Formation (upper Paleocene and Eocene) that are preserved in the Hagan Basin and around the uplifted margins of the younger Rio Grande rift. Intermediate volcaniclastic deposits of the Espinaso Formation (Oligocene) were shed in and around the contemporaneous volcanic-intrusive complexes of the Ortiz porphyry belt in the northeastern part of the quadrangle. The earliest fluvial sediments attributed to extension in the Rio Grande rift in this area are the Tanos and Blackshare Formations (upper Oligocene and Miocene) in the Hagan Basin that indicate extension was underway by 25 Ma. Farther west, the oldest rift-filling sediments are eolian sand and interdune silty deposits of the Zia Formation (lower and middle Miocene). Major extension occurred during the Miocene but subsidence and sedimentation was highly irregular from place to place. Parts of three rift sub- basins are known within the Albuquerque quadrangle, each basin locally as deep as about 14,000 feet (4.3 km), separated by less extended zones (structural horsts) where the rift-fill is much thinner. The geometry of these early, deep rift sub-basins suggests the primary extension direction was oriented northeast-southwest. Significant local folding and uplift within the complex rift seems to have occurred in late Miocene, accompanied by erosion and recycling of earlier rift-fill sediments. This deformation may reflect clockwise re-orientation of the primary extension direction to its Pliocene and current east-west alignment. Late Miocene and early Pliocene uplift and erosion were widespread in the region, as indicated by channeled and local angular unconformities at the bases of all Pliocene units, especially prominent along basin margins. These