William C. Steinkampf | USGS Science

USGS2005

Hydrogeology of the Mogollon Highlands, central Arizona

The Mogollon Highlands, 4,855 square miles of rugged, mountainous terrain at the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau in central Arizona, is characterized by a bedrock-dominated hydrologic system that results in an incompletely integrated regional ground-water system, flashy streamflow, and various local water-bearing zones that are sensitive to drought. Increased demand on the water resources of the area as a result of recreational activities and population growth have made necessary an increased understanding of the hydrogeology of the region. The U.S. Geological Survey conducted a study of the geology and hydrology of the region in cooperation with the Arizona Department of Water Resources under the auspices of the Arizona Rural Watershed Initiative, a program launched in 1998 to assist rural areas in dealing with water-resources issues. The study involved the analysis of geologic maps, surface-water and ground-water flow, and water and rock chemical data and spatial relationships to characterize the hydrogeologic framework. The study area includes the southwestern corner of the Colorado Plateau and the Mogollon Rim, which is the eroded edge of the plateau. A 3,000- to 4,000-foot sequence of early to late Paleozoic sedimentary rocks forms the generally south-facing scarp of the Mogollon Rim. The area adjacent to the edge of the Mogollon Rim is an erosional landscape of rolling, step-like terrain exposing Proterozoic metamorphic and granitic rocks. Farther south, the Sierra Ancha and Mazatzal Mountain ranges, which are composed of various Proterozoic rocks, flank an alluvial basin filled with late Cenozoic sediments and volcanic flows. Eight streams with perennial to intermittent to ephemeral flow drain upland regions of the Mogollon Rim and flow into the Salt River on the southern boundary or the Verde River on the western boundary. Ground-water flow paths generally are controlled by large-scale fracture systems or by karst features in carbonate rocks. Stream channels are also largely controlled by structural features, such as regional joint or fault systems. Precipitation, which shows considerable variability in amount and intensity, recharges the ground-water system along the crest of the Mogollon Rim and to a lesser extent along the crests and flanks of the rim and the Mazatzal Mountains and Sierra Ancha. Flashy runoff in the mainly bedrock stream channels is typical. Springs are distributed throughout the region, typically discharging at or above the contact of variably permeable formations along the face of the Mogollon Rim with a scattering of low-discharge springs in the Proterozoic rocks below the rim. The surface of the Colorado Plateau is the primary recharge area for the C aquifer in which ground-water flows north toward the Little Colorado River and south toward the Mogollon Highlands. Within the study area, flow from the C aquifer primarily discharges from large, stable springs in the upper East Verde River, Tonto Creek, and Canyon Creek Basins along the top of the Mogollon Rim and to the west as base flow in West Clear Creek. On the basis of chemical evidence and the distribution and flow characteristics of springs and perennial streams, the C aquifer is also the source of water for the limestone aquifer that discharges from carbonate rocks near the base of the Mogollon Rim. Vertical flow from the C aquifer, the base of which is in the Schnebly Hill Formation, recharges the limestone aquifer that discharges mainly at Fossil Springs in the western part of the study area and as base flow in Cibecue Creek on the eastern edge of the study area. Local, generally shallow aquifers of variable productivity occur in plateau and mesa-capping basalts in the sedimentary rocks of the Schnebly Hill and Supai Formations, in fractured zones of the Proterozoic Payson granite, and in the alluvium of the lower Tonto Creek Basin. Where time series data exist, such water-bearing zones are shown to be sensitive to short-

Scientific Investigations Report↗

USGS2001

Ground-water flow to Death Valley, as inferred from the chemistry and geohydrology of selected springs in Death Valley National Park, California and Nevada

Death Valley lies downgradient from adjacent valleys to the north, south, east, and west in California and Nevada, and is the site of substantial ground-water discharge. The sources of the discharging waters have been discussed by several investigators in the past and are of heightened concern because of the potential disposal of high-level radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, and because of ground-water withdrawals attendant to commercial mining in the northwestern Amargosa Valley region. This report describes high- and low-discharge springs in and along the Amargosa Range that were sampled to augment the level of understanding of the extent and distribution of westward ground-water flow through the range. The Black Mountains do not seem to be part of a significant path of ground-water flow from the Amargosa region. This is attributed to the complex lithology and geologic history of the Black Mountains structural block and to the presence of the intervening Furnace Creek fault zone. The only ground-water discharge associated with the Black Mountains where water chemistry reflects an external source or sources is Saratoga Spring, for which δ 2 H and δ 18 O data indicate recharge in the Spring Mountains to the east. The southern part of the Funeral Mountains transmits a large volume of water through faulted and fractured rocks of Cambrian age that lie at or along the distal part of the northeast -oriented Spotted Range-Mine Mountain structural zone. Waters discharging from springs in the Furnace Creek Ranch vicinity (Travertine and Nevares) both compositionally and isotopically resemble waters from the Ash Meadows spring group in the Amargosa Desert. The Ash Meadows springs and water in the Amargosa Valley alluvium likely are chemically representative of ground water entering the southern Funeral Mountains. Much less ground water flows through the central and northern Funeral Mountains than flows through the southern part, as indicated by the geologic setting and chemistry of Keane Wonder Spring. The northern one-half of the mountains comprises early-to-middle Proterozoic metamorphic rocks that are the core of the Funeral Mountains anticlinorium. The core is largely unfaulted, plunges to the northeast and southwest, and is truncated to some extent on the east by the shallow-dipping Boundary Canyon fault. This structural setting and the paucity of springs in the northern one-half of the Funeral Mountains indicate a long traveltime from the Amargosa region to the western margin of the northern and central parts of the mountains. The Grapevine Mountains include the highest elevations in the Amargosa Range. Substantial precipitation and recharge above about 2,000 meters are evinced by numerous small springs and seeps along the east and west margins. The local nature of the recharge is reflected in δ 2 H and δ 18 O values and in the spring chemistries that indicate control by Tertiary volcanic rocks. The highest spring discharges associated with the Grapevine Mountains are near the north end of the mountains in the Grapevine Ranch area. The springs in this area are similar chemically and isotopically, except for one or two order-of-magnitude differences in calcium, magnesium, and strontium concentrations and a 1.2 per mil difference in δ 13 C values. These differences can be attributed to differences in the distal parts of the respective flow paths. The springs also lie at the end of a northeast -oriented structural zone in the Walker Lane Belt, and their δ 2 H, δ 13 C, and δ 18 O values indicate a recharge area likely to the northeast, outside of the Grapevine Mountains.

California;Nevada↗