CrosssectionacrosstheJornadadelMuerto,Engle, and
northernPalomasBasins,south-central
NewMexico
byRichard
P.Lozinsky,
NewMexico
Bureau
of Mines
andMineral
Resources,
Socono,
NM97801
Introduction
eastward into the Cawizozo-Capitan area (Kelley, 1971).No McRae
strata were penetrated in this well.
The absenceof the McRae Formation in this part of the Jornada
del Muerto brings up two important questions:1) doesthis absence
suggest a pinch out of the McRae west of the well and, therefore,
the easternlimit of McRaedeposition? or 2) does the absenceindicate
an erosional truncation with the McRae originally extending farther
east? These are difficult questions to answer because the regional
extent of the McRaeis poorly understood.To date, McRaeouicrops
have only been recognized in the Cutter sagf[ornada del Muerto
area. Kelley and Thompson (1,964)speculated that the McRae depositional area extended into the Carrizozo-Capitan area based on
correlation of the McRae Formation with the Cub Mountain Formation. Similar lithologies and general stratigraphic position were
the basis for correlation. However, it is very difficult to document
if the McRae and Cub Mountain Formations were co-extensivebecause of limited outcrops and no subsurfacedata. More detailed
sedimentologic studies of these units are necessaryto answer these
questions.
The Sierra"K" StateNo. L well also penetratedPermian Glorieta
and Mississippian Lake Valley strata that are absent in the Cutter
sag-Caballo and Mud Springs uplifts. Unit thicknesses shown on
the western side of the Jornada del Muerto and in the Cutter sag
are based on measured sections in the Caballo-Cutter sag uplift by
Kelley and Silver (1952),Bushnell (1953),and Mason (1976).
Cutter sag
The Cutter sag, a structually low part of the Caballo-Fra Cristobal
uplift, divides the Jornada del Muerto from the Engle Basin. Units
in this area generally dip befween 10-15'eastward. McRaeFormation thicknessin the Cutter sag is problematic. Bushnell (1953)estimated the McRae to be about 1,000 m thick, but this estimate is
based on extrapolation acrossElephant Butte Reservoir where faults
and other structuresmay be present.Basedon mapping by Lozinsky
(1986),McRae thickness is probably closer to 500 m. This is the
thicknessused in the crosssection.
Data from the Sierra "K" StateNo. L well indicate that eastward
Faulting is more common in the Cutter sag than in the Jornada
from the ftrlter sag all Paleozoicunits, except the San Andres For_ del Muerto. Faults in the Cutter sag usually have stratigraphic
sepmation, thicken, and Upper Cretaceousuniis thin. Erosionaltrun- arationsof 100m or less.The Hot Springsfault marks the boundaiy
cation is.probably the cause of the Cretaceousthinning as opposed between the Cutter sag and the Engle Basin. At the surface, the Hot
to a sedimentarypinch out becausethese Cretaceous-rocks^eitend
JornadaDel Muerto Basin
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FIGURE l-Location
indicates railroad.
5km
of map of cross section and study area. Numbers in blue refer to wells listed in Table 1. Hatchured line
New Mexico Geology August 7987
SierroCuchillo
Ronge
E n g l eBos
PolomosBosin
o
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FIGURE 2-Cross section acrossthe fornada del Muerto, Engle, and northern PalomasBasins. Refer to Fig. 3 for explanation of unit llmbols' PlioPleistocenebasalt flows that partly cap the Cutter sag u." .r6t shown. Surface geology compiled from LoZinsky (1986),Heyl et al' (1983),Maxwell
and Oakman (1985),and Machette (written comm. 1982).
\
"ol
Te
o
F.'
:@'
I
o
r
Y
a
I
V o lc o n i c sB
In l r u s i v e s
F
McRoeFormofion
Mesoverde
Group
MoncosShole
DokoloSondsfone
r ul-
50n Anores lormolron
P
e
\
\\
\
\
\
\\
I
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\\t
Glnriafaac
YesoFormotion
AboFormotion
Bursum-Hueco
Formolion
o
n
(L
g
KelleyLimestone
LokeVolleyFm.
JA
P e r c h oS h o l e
Oiole Formolion
:usselmon Dolomifr
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e
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delMuerto
I Jornodo
SontoFeGrouo
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9e
Bliss Formolion
('
G r o n i t i c B m e t o m o r o h i cr o c k s
('
d
FIGURE3-Stratigraphicchartfor crosssection.Unit symbolsreferto those
shownin Fig.2.
Springsfault dips about 70-80' to the west and has at least 7,220m
of down-to-the-westseparation(Lozinsky, 1985).The Hot Springs
fault is shown as a single fault because,in this area, the trace is
submergedbeneaththe watersof ElephantButte Reservoir.This fault
may actually be a complex zone containing many splays and small
fault blocks as seen in exposuresnorth and south of the reservoir.
Chapin (1983)has interpreted faults like the Hot Springs as major
right-lateral strike-slip faults of late Laramide age that have been
reactivatedas normal faults during late Cenozoicrifting.
Engle Basin
The Engle Basin is a half graben with its deeper portion to the
east along the Hot Springs fault. Here, the basin fill is probably as
August 1987 Nau Mexico Geology
much as 700m or more thick. Note how the Upper Cretaceousunits
thin westward in the Engle Basin. This thinning is probably due to
pre-SantaFe erosion. The McRae Formation has also thinned to
ibout 27 m in the Gartland 1 Brister well. No McRae strata were
recognizedin either the West Elephant Butte FederalNo. 2 or the
Sumhit 1A Mims wells. MesaverdeGroup strataunderlie the basin
fill in the two wells. However, the two wells probably do not indicate
accuratelythe thickness of the McRaeFormation eastof the Gartland
1 Brister well becausethey are located about 4 km south of the cross
sectionline. Thus, McRaestrataprobably disappearjust west of the
Gartland L Brister well and south towards the Summit 1A Mims
well. The McRae disappearancemay be the result of pre-Santa Fe
erosionor it could representthe McRae'swestern limit of deposition
becauseMcRae units are not found farther west (Jahns et al., 1978;
Heyl et al., 1983).
AII wells in the Engle Basin penetrate dioritic(?) intrusives of various thicknessesin the Yeso Formation. These intrusives have increasedthe thicknessof the Yeso,especiallyin the Gartland 1 Brister
well. A fault is hypothesized between the Gartland 1 Brister and
West Elephant Butte No. 2 wells to account for the elevation differenceto the top of the Precambrian.
Mud Springs uplift
The western portion of the Engle Basin probably representsa
buried part of the Mud Springs uplift becausethe basin depth decreasesand the northeastern extension of the Mud Springs uplift
projectsinto this areaof the crosssection(M. Machette,pers. comm.
teSZ;.for the most part, the Mud Springsuplift is a northeast-tilted
block. However, where exposed near T or C, the Mud Springs uplift
is complex structurally and contains an overturned syncline (Kelley
and Silver, 1952).These same complexitiesmay also occur in the
buried part of the cross section. The West Elephant Butte Federal
No. 1 well shows that the Upper Cretaceousunits are absenton this
buried block and that the basin fill rests directly on limestone of the
San Andres Formation. Pre-SantaFe Group erosion probably removed the Cretaceousunits and part of the San Andres Formation
from the Mud Springs block.
The tops of units between the Gartland L Brister and West Elephant
Butte Federal No. 1 wells differ greatly, especially the depth of the
Precambrian.Thus, there may be another major fault between these
two wells. The thicker PennsylvanianMagdaienaGroup in the West
Elephant Butte FederalNo. 1 well may be due to one of the following
reasons:1.)late Paleozoicsyn-depositionalfaulting; 2) juxtaposition
acrossa strike-slip fault; 3) repetition of beds due to faulting; or 4)
steeperdips. Between the West Elephant Butte FederalNo. L and
Gartland L Garner wells, the Santa Fe Group greatly thickens over
a distanceof 3 km. This thicknessincreaseover such a short distance
t4E
-e o)
tlL
J o r n o d od e l M u e r t oB o s i n
C u t t e rso9
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E
Elephanl
Eutte
-+lReservoirF
:t
o
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o_
2
I
a
5km
Y
2
|
O
4
3
3mi
E
m
2,500
2,OOO
t,500
I,OOO
500
o
-500
(D
=
9
a
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pe
pc
probably delineatesthe Mud Springsfault, which marks the boundary between the PalomasBasin and the buried uplift.
PalomasBasin
The PalomasBasinis an eastward-tilted,half grabensimilar to the
Engle Basin as evidencedby gravity data (Gilmer et al., 1985)and
by eastward dips of Santa Fe Group beds along the western edge
of the basin (Heyl et al., 1983).Basin-fillthicknessis probably greater
than 2,000m along the easternside of the PalomasBasin. Here, the
Gartland 1 Garner well bottomed in the SantaFe Group at a depth
of 1,988m. This well penetrated mostly poorly sorted, coarse-to
fine-grained sand with minor silt and clay interbeds. These sediments may be proximal alluvial-fandepositsderived from the Mud
Springs uplift.
Heyl et al. (1983)mapped the surfacegeology along the western
margin of the PalomasBasin,including a basin-boundingfault. They
showed that the easternflank of the SierraCuchillo Rangeconsists
of Tertiaryvolcanicunits. Due to a lack of well control in the Palomas
Basin, it is not known how far east these volcanicsextend into the
PalomasBasin. However, thev do not extend as far as the West
ElephantButte FederalNo. 1 well becauseno volcanicunits are seen
in the well cuttings. Thus, the volcanicsmust either pinch out somewhere in the PalomasBasin or have been eroded from the Mud
Springsblock before deposition of the SantaFe Group.
It is not known what units are presentbelow the volcanics.In the
Sierra Cuchillo Range,fahns et al. (1978)reported a similar strati-
- r,500
-2,OOO
-2,500
graphic section as that for the Engle Basin_with the addition of
Sildran, Devonian, and Mississippianstrata(Fig. 3). This same section may also be present in the subsurfaceof the PalomasBasin.
Conclusions
fornada del Muerto Basins.Tertiary volcanic units exposedin the
Sierra Cuchillo Range probably extend an unknown distanceeastward into the PalomasBasin. Little is known about the subsurface
geologyof the PalomasBasinbecauseof limited well control. When
t-hiswork is combinedwith areageophysicalstudies(suchas Gilmer
et al., 1986),a more refined interpretation of the subsurfacegeology
may be possible.
AcxNowr-rpcMENrs-Ron Broadhead aided in interpreting geophysical logs. This paper benefited from reviews_byR. Harrison, J.
Baiker, M. Bowie, f. Hawley, C. Chapin, and W Seager.Lynne
McNeil typed Table1. This work was supported bythe New Mexico
BureauoiMines and Mineral Resources,Frank Kottlowski, Director.
Monte Brown drafted the figures.
Continuedon page63
TABLE l-Well data. Well numbers refer to those shown in blue in Fig. 1. Data was derived from analyses of geophysical logs, lithologic logs, and
in some places, well cuttings. NP, not penetrated; *, estimated tops or thicknesses; t, total thickness of dioritic(?) intrusives in Yeso Formation.
Well
no.
Name; location;
completion date
Surface Total
Elevation depth
(m)
(m) TKm
Thickness (m)
Tops (m)
Ku
Psa
Py
Pa
Fm
QTsf
TKm Ku
Psa
Py
Pa
Fm
PL
>1,988
Gartland 1 Garner;
11-12!5W r2t27t50
1,500
1,988
West Elephant Butte
Federal No 1;
7-129-4W; 72112182
t,509
2,204
Gartland 1 Brister;
8-725-4W; 1.l2ll5l
redrilled 9/20/55
1,480
2,617 1,0387,01.1. 581 355
West Elephant
Butte Federal No. 2;
3-13S-4W; 1/5/83
1,394
2,303
798
Summit 1,{ Mims;
2-725-4w; 1.013151.
1,393
1,888
789 354
Sierra "K" State No 1;
35-125-7W; 8ll0l70
1.558
2.396
1.,1861.,066 7 7 2
577
415
778 -563
-401
NP
- 1.,034*
-645
NP
r20 354 297 816
123+
323
M2
- 1 tqq*
27
2M
430 226 533 38s 47"1* 225*
226+
'112 -183
- 653
-880
595
221. 231. 234 295 471. 226
29+
125 -1.1.0 -367
NP
- 838'
NP
- 7,064*
604
415
-777
NP
-7,026*
<20?
346
996 793
333
-&
))q
235 257 477* 226*
26+
542 203 460
397 707* 225*
NewMexicoGeology Aogust 1.987
Exploration activity in New Mexico re-
portion of the Ortiz mine grant, Santa Fe
County, concentrating efforts in the Lukas
and CaracheCanyon areas.Long Lac planned
to complete12 holes during the year.
St. Cloud Mining Company pursued an
on-going sampling and evaluation program
in the Chloride mining district of the Black
Range,Sierra County. Essentially, efforts are
geared toward the production of preciousmetal-bearing siliceous smelter flux. Shipments have been made from the U.S. Treasprimarily becauseof an ever-tightening web ury mine, Great Republic mine, and other
of environmental red tape.
properties. Sunshine Mining Company re- A possiblegold find id being evaluatedby linquished its option on the St. Cloud-U.S.
lylolycorp, Inc. (division of Unocal, Corp.) in Treasury mine in mid-year after a small, and
the Red River areain northern New Mexico. apparently unsuccessful,drilling and samThe nearby Questaarea has been mined for pling program.
Also in the Chloride mining district, First
M i s s i s s i p p iC o r p . c o m p l e t e da s s e s s m e n t
drilling on the Hoosier and Silver monument
properties, while the area around the Weber
shaft (extreme north end of the district) was
Junebugcampground.But the areais within
a-wildernessstudy area,and both permit applicationshave been denied.
Similarly, LaPaz Mining Co. attempted to
develop a small gold placer on Beaf Creek
near Piflos Altos, Grant Countv but became
embroiled with the Army Corp of Engineers
over a section 404 permit (which regulates
the placing of fill material back into i river
or stream). The permit was denied on the
basisthat the mining activity by La Pazwould
critically damage downstream water and
habitats.
An unexpected molybdenum find was reLong Lac Minerals Exploration continued vealed in an exploration hole drilled by Los
to drill on its gold prospect in the southern Alamos National Labs in the Valles caldera
structure38 mi northwest of SantaFe. This
hole, secondof three planned, was designed
to gather scientific data on geothermal systems as well as to learn more about formation
of ore deposits. Molybdenite (MoS.), along
with small amounts of copper,lead, and zinc,
was encounteredbetween 80 and 400ft, some
possiblyof ore grade.
The New Mexico Bureau of Mines and
Mineral Resources(NMBMMR), along with
funding from the New Mexico Energy Researchand Development Institute and private industry completedthe secondyear of
a projected 4-yearprogram to evaluate strippable coal resourcesin the San TuanBasin.
A total of 56 holes was completed during
1986:35 in the Menefee Formation around
San Mateo, La Ventana, and Chacra Mesa;
10 in the Menefee/Crevasse Canyon Formations in the Gallup coal field; eight in the
CrevasseCanyon Formation near Crownpoint and Borrego Pass; and three in the
Fruitland Formation near Star Lake.
NMBMMR staff also provided geologic expertise and chemicalanalysesas part of an
exploration drilling program on the yttrium
rare-earth deposits at Laughlin Peak in Colfax County.
A few properties other than those mentioned above are currently being promoted
vigorously on the basis of very high gold
and/or platinum values. Someof these (particularly the platinum "deposits") will eventually be exposed as fraud. The would-be
investor is advised to exerciseextreme caution.
-Robert W. Eaeleth
NMBMMRMining Engineer
Continuedfrom page57
guide to selectedcauldrons and mining districts of the
Datil-Mogollonvolcanicfield, New Melico: New Mexico Geological Society, Special Publication no.7, pp.
131-138.
Kelley, V. C., 1955, Regional tectonics of south-central
New Mexico: New Mexico Geological Society, Guidebook to 5th Field Conference, pp. 96-fiL
Kelley, V. C., 7971,,Geology of the Pecoscountry, southeasternNew Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and
Mineral Resources,Memoir 24,75 pp.
faulting in the southem Rocky Mountains with emKelley,V C., andSilver,C.,7952,Geologyof theCaballo
phasis on petroleum exploration; in Lowell, J. D. (ed.),
Mountains wjth special reference to regional stratigRocky Mountarn foreland basins and uplifts: Rockv
raphy and structure and to mineral resources,including
Mountain Association of Geologists, Denver, pp. 1691
oil and gas: University of New Mexico, Publications in
779.
Geology,no. 4,286 pp
Clemons, R E., King, W. R., Mack, G. H , and Zidek, J
Kelley, V C., and Thompson, T B, 1964,Tectonicsand
(eds.), 1986,Truth or Consequencesregion: New Mexgeneralgeology of the Ruidoso-Carrizozo region, cenico Geologica.lSociety, Guidebook to 37th Field Contral New Mexico: New Mexico Geological Society,
ference,317 pp
Guidebook to 15th Field Conference, 110-121..
Gilmer, A. L , Mauldin, R A., and Keller, G. R., 198d,A
Kottlowski, F. E., Flower, R. H., Thompson, M L., and
gravity study of the Jornada del Muerto and Palomas
Foster,R. W., 1956,Srratigraphicstudies o{ the San
Basins:New Mexico Geological Society,Guidebook to
Andres Mountains, New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau
37th Field Conference,pp. 131-134.
of Mines and Mineral Resources,Memoir 1, 132 pp.
Heyl, A. V, Maxwell, C. H , and Davies, L L , 1983, Lozinsky, R. P, 1986,Geology and late Cenozoic history
Geology and mineral deposits of the priest Tank quadof the Elephant Butte area,SierraCounty, New Mexico:
rangle, Siena County, New Mexico: U.S. Geological
New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources,
Swey, Miscellaneous Field Shidies Map MF1555, scale
Circular 187, 40 pp
7:24,000.
Mason, f. T., 1975,The geology of the Caballo PeakquadJahns,R H, McMillan, D K, O'Brient,J.D, andFisher,
rangle, Siena County, New Mexico: Unpublished M.S.
D. L., 7978,Geologic section in the Siena Cuchillo and
thesis, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, 131
flanking areas,Siena and Socono Counties, New MexPP
ico; iz Chapin, C E., and Elston, W. E (eds.), Field Maxwell, C H , and Oakman, M. R., 1986,Geologic map
References
and cross sections of the Cuchillo quadrangle, Sierra
!9unty, New Mexico: U.S. Geological Survey, OpenfiJeReport 86279, scale7:24,000.
Seager,W. R., 1986, Third-day road log, from Truth or
Consequencesto southeastem Caballo Mountains and
SanDego Mountain via I-25 and the Jomada del Muerto:
New Mexico Geological Society, Guidebook to 37th Field
Conference, pp. 35-52
Seager,W. R., and Morgan, P., 1979,Rio Grande rift in
southern New Mexico, west Texas,and northern Chihuahua; ln Rieker, R. E (ed ), Rio Grande rift-tectonics and magmatism: American Geophysical Union,
Washington,D.C., pp. 87-106.
n
New Mexico Geology Augtst 1987