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At least 865 records · Page 48Linked to original sources
USGS2007

Rocky Mountain Snowpack Chemistry at Selected Sites, 2004

During spring 2004, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service collected and analyzed snowpack samples for 65 sites in the Rocky Mountain region from New Mexico to Montana. Snowpacks were sampled from late February through early April and generally had well-below-average- to near-average snow-water equivalent. Regionally, on April 1, snow-water equivalent ranged from 50 to 89 percent. At most regional sites monitored during 1993-2004, snowpack ammonium, nitrate, and sulfate concentrations for 2004 were lower than the 12-year averages. Snowpack ammonium concentrations in the region were lower than average concentrations for the period at 61 percent of sites in the region, but showed a new pattern compared to previous years with three of the four highest 2004 concentrations observed in northern Colorado. Nitrate concentrations in 2004 were lower than the 12-year average for the year at 53 percent of regional sites, and typically occurred at sites in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana where powerplants and large industrial areas were limited. A regional decrease in sulfate concentrations across most of the Rocky Mountains (with concentrations lower than the 12-year average at 84 percent of snowpack sites) was consistent with other monitoring of atmospheric deposition in the Western United States. Total mercury concentrations, although data are only available for the past 3 years, decreased slightly for the region as a whole in 2004 relative to 2003. Ratios of stable sulfur isotopes indicated a similar regional pattern as observed in recent years with sulfur-34 (d34S) values generally increasing northward from northern New Mexico and southern Colorado to northern Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2014

Two decision-support tools for assessing the potential effects of energy development on hydrologic resources as part of the Energy and Environment in the Rocky Mountain Area interactive energy atlas

The U.S. Geological Survey project—Energy and Environment in the Rocky Mountain Area (EERMA)—has developed a set of virtual tools in the form of an online interactive energy atlas for Colorado and New Mexico to facilitate access to geospatial data related to energy resources, energy infrastructure, and natural resources that may be affected by energy development. The interactive energy atlas currently (2014) consists of three components: (1) a series of interactive maps; (2) downloadable geospatial datasets; and (3) decison-support tools, including two maps related to hydrologic resources discussed in this report. The hydrologic-resource maps can be used to examine the potential effects of energy development on hydrologic resources with respect to (1) groundwater vulnerability, by using the depth to water, recharge, aquifer media, soil media, topography, impact of the vadose zone, and hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer (DRASTIC) model, and (2) landscape erosion potential, by using the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE). The DRASTIC aquifer vulnerability index value for the two-State area ranges from 48 to 199. Higher values, indicating greater relative aquifer vulnerability, are centered in south-central Colorado, areas in southeastern New Mexico, and along riparian corridors in both States—all areas where the water table is relatively close to the land surface and the aquifer is more susceptible to surface influences. As calculated by the RUSLE model, potential mean annual erosion, as soil loss in units of tons per acre per year, ranges from 0 to 12,576 over the two-State area. The RUSLE model calculated low erosion potential over most of Colorado and New Mexico, with predictions of highest erosion potential largely confined to areas of mountains or escarpments. An example is presented of how a fully interactive RUSLE model could be further used as a decision-support tool to evaluate the potential hydrologic effects of energy development on a site-specific basis and to explore the effectiveness of various mitigation practices.

Colorado;New Mexico↗
USGS2003

Importance of geology to fisheries management: Examples from the northeastern Gulf of Mexico

Seafloor mapping of shelf-edge habitats in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico demonstrates how sidescan-sonar imagery, seismic-reflection profiling, video data, geologic mapping, sediment sampling, and understanding the regional geologic history can enhance, support, and guide traditional fisheries research and management. New data from the Madison Swanson and Steamboat Lumps Marine Reserves reveal complex benthic habitats consisting of high-relief calcareous pinnacles, low-relief karstic hardbottom, rocky outcrops several kilometers in length, and variable thickness of fine-grained and apparently mobile coarse-grained sediments. Our data also show that certain fish alter the landscape by clearing sediment from hardbottom areas (e.g., red grouper Epinephelus morio) and by burrowing extensively in fine-grained sediment (e.g., tilefish Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps). The seafloor imagery and geologic maps show that (a) sea level fluctuations played a dominant role in the development of the present-day regional geology, and (b) habitats (and benthic communities) are tied closely to geologic character. Understanding the geologic setting allowed for efficient and representative sampling of the biology. The geologic data can be used to set meaningful boundaries for fishery reserves and to help predict habitats in areas that are not well mapped. This interdisciplinary work added value to traditional research disciplines by providing management with integrated tools to make better decisions.

American Fisheries Society Symposium↗
USGS2016

Geomorphic evolution of the San Luis Basin and Rio Grande in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico

The San Luis Basin encompasses the largest structural and hydrologic basin of the Rio Grande rift. On this field trip, we will examine the timing of transition of the San Luis Basin from hydrologically closed, aggrading subbasins to a continuous fluvial system that eroded the basin, formed the Rio Grande gorge, and ultimately, integrated the Rio Grande from Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico. Waning Pleistocene neotectonic activity and onset of major glacial episodes, in particular Marine Isotope Stages 11–2 (~420–14 ka), induced basin fill, spillover, and erosion of the southern San Luis Basin. The combined use of new geologic mapping, fluvial geomorphology, reinterpreted surficial geology of the Taos Plateau, pedogenic relative dating studies, 3 He surface exposure dating of basalts, and U-series dating of pedogenic carbonate supports a sequence of events wherein pluvial Lake Alamosa in the northern San Luis Basin overflowed, and began to drain to the south across the closed Sunshine Valley–Costilla Plain region ≤400 ka. By ~200 ka, erosion had cut through topographic highs at Ute Mountain and the Red River fault zone, and began deep-canyon incision across the southern San Luis Basin. Previous studies indicate that prior to 200 ka, the present Rio Grande terminated into a large bolson complex in the vicinity of El Paso, Texas, and systematic, headward erosional processes had subtly integrated discontinuously connected basins along the eastern flank of the Rio Grande rift and southern Rocky Mountains. We propose that the integration of the entire San Luis Basin into the Rio Grande drainage system (~400–200 ka) was the critical event in the formation of the modern Rio Grande, integrating hinterland basins of the Rio Grande rift from El Paso, Texas, north to the San Luis Basin with the Gulf of Mexico. This event dramatically affected basins southeast of El Paso, Texas, across the Chisos Mountains and southeastern Basin and Range province, including the Rio Conchos watershed and much of the Chihuahuan Desert, inducing broad regional landscape incision and exhumation.

Colorado, New Mexico↗
USGS1971

Deformation of lee-side laminae in eolian dunes

Processes responsible for structures in sand dunes consist of (l) primary deposition by saltation and creep and by settling from suspension, (2) redeposition accompanying avalanching, and (3) penecontemporaneous erosion. Characteristics of dune structures were examined in the field by introducing marker beds of magnetite at times of sand deposition, thus recording original surfaces and making possible the determination of subsequent changes. Similar structures were examined in the laboratory by testing processes and comparing the resulting structural forms with corresponding natural features. Avalanching in sand is of two types: sand flow and slumping. Deformational structures characteristic of each were recorded in the field and were reproduced in the laboratory. Nine varieties of deformational structures are recognized and described. Analysis of these structures suggests criteria for distinguishing compressional types (lower dune slope) from tensional types (upper dune slope). The analysis of deformational structures also serves to distinguish between forms developed in cohesive sand and those in non-cohesive sand. Since the degree of cohesion is largely a function of the amount of moisture in the sand at the time of avalanching, the deformational structures provide a means for recognizing original dry sand, wet sand, sand crusts, and saturated sand surfaces in ancient deposits. A testing of these criteria was made by comparing laboratory samples with those of dry sand at White Sands, New Mexico, and with those of coastal dunes (probably wet sand) in southern Brazil.

New Mexico↗
USGS2015

The quality of our Nation's waters: Water quality in basin-fill aquifers of the southwestern United States: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, 1993-2009

The Southwest Principal Aquifers consist of many basin-fill aquifers in California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. Demands for irrigation and drinking water have substantially increased groundwater withdrawals and irrigation return flow to some of these aquifers. These changes have increased the movement of contaminants from geologic and human sources to depths used to supply drinking water in several basin-fill aquifers in the Southwest.

Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico,↗
USGS2002

Precipitation history of the Colorado Plateau region, 1900-2000

The Colorado Plateau covers 210,000 km 2 (130,000 mi 2) of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Management of this region?s resources requires an understanding of how its climate has varied in the past and may change in the near future. Recent studies by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other scientists suggest that the region may become drier for the next 2 to 3 decades, in a pattern similar to the drought of 1942?1977. The region?s population has increased fourfold since the mid-1950s, creating the possibility of severe consequences if such a drought were repeated.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS1993

Geohydrologic systems in Kansas, geohydrology of the Great Plains aquifer system

Sedimentary rocks of Late Cambrian through Early Cretaceous age in Kansas are part of a regional flow system of hydraulically connected aquifers and confining units. Future demands for water require that these deeply buried rocks be studied to describe hydrologic properties and ground-water-flow conditions and to provide information that will serve as the basis for decisions concerning the protection and the management of the water resources contained therein, Toward this end, the U.S. Geological Survey, as a part of its Central Midwest Regional Aquifer-System Analysis (CMRASA), began a 5-year hydrologic investigation of this regional flow system in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas (Jorgensen and Signor, 1981). This chapter is one of nine contained in Hydrologic Investigations Atlas HA-722, which present a description of the physical framework (Chapters B-F) and the geohydrology (Chapters G-I} of principal aquifers and confining systems in Upper Cambrian through Lower Cretaceous rocks in Kansas; the stratigraphic relations of these geohydrologic systems are discussed in detail in Chapter A (Wolf and others, 1990). This chapter (G) describes the geohydrology of the Great Plains aquifer system; the physical framework of the Great Plains aquifer system is presented in Chapter B (Spinazola and others, 1992). The maps in this chapter are based on existing data from selected geophysical and lithologic logs, drill-stem tests, water-level measurements, water-quality analyses, and published maps of stratigraphically equivalent units. An index to the geohydrologic data compiled for the CMRASA in Kansas is presented in Spinazola and others (1987). For the most part, data used to construct the maps were collected over many years and do not reflect aquifer conditions for any specific time period.

Kansas↗
USGS1977

Review and analysis of hydrogeologic conditions near the site of a potential nuclear-waste repository, Eddy and Lea counties, New Mexico

This interim report reviews and summarizes the hydrogeology of rocks associated with the Permian salt beds (Castile and Salado Formations) of Los Medanos area in southeastern New Mexico. The information will be considered, together with other factors, in the preparation of an analysis of the impact of a potential nuclear-waste repository on the environment. Most of the geologic units in and adjacent to the Permian salt deposits are characterized by low permeabilities and highly mineralized water. Sandstone of the Delaware Mountain Group, which underlies the salt, has an average hydraulic conductivity of 0.16 ft/d and an average porosity of 15.65 percent. Flow is north-northeastward toward the margin of the Capitan Limestone, at velocities ranging from 0.0005 to 0.0008 ft/d. The Capitan Limestone, a relatively high yielding limestone-reef aquifer adjacent to the study area, has transmissivity values ranging from 500 sq ft/d to 10,000 sq ft/d and an average hydraulic conductivity of about 5 ft/d. Water movement west of the Pecos River is northeastward in the reef, with discharge at Carlsbad Springs. East of the Pecos River, water moves at very low rates and the direction of movement is uncertain. The Castile and Salado Formations, which might be used to contain the nuclear waste, have a few isolated pockets of brine and gas, but generally transmit little or no ground water. (Woodard-USGS)

Open-File Report↗
USGS1997

Late Pleistocene-Holocene cataclysmic eruptions at Nevado de Toluca and Jocotitlan volcanoes, central Mexico

This field guide describes a five day trip to examine deposits of Late Pleistocene-Holocene cataclysmic eruptions at Nevado de Toluca and Jocotitlan volcanoes in central Mexico. We will discuss the stratigraphy, petrology, and sedimentological characteristics of these deposits which provide insights into the eruptive history, type of volcanic activity, and transport and emplacement mechanisms of pyroclastic materials. These parameters will allow us to discuss the kinds of hazards and the risk that they pose to populations around these volcanoes. The area to be visited is tectonically complex thus we will also discuss the location of the volcanoes with respect to the tectonic environment. The first four days of the field trip will be dedicated to Nevado de Toluca Volcano (19 degrees 09'N; 99 degrees 45'W) located at 23 km. southwest of the City of Toluca, and is the fourth highest peak in the country, reaching an elevation of 4,680 meters above sea level (m.a.s.l.). Nevado de Toluca is an andesitic-dacitic stratovolcano, composed of a central vent excavated upon the remains of older craters destroyed by former events. Bloomfield and Valastro, (1974, 1977) concluded that the last cycle of activity occurred nearly equal 11,600 yr. ago. For this reason Nevado de Toluca has been considered an extinct volcano. Our studies, however, indicate that Nevado de Toluca has had at least two episodes of cone destruction by sector collapse as well as several explosive episodes including plinian eruptions and dome-destruction events. These eruptions occurred during the Pleistocene but a very young eruption characterized by surge and ash flows occurred ca. 3,300 yr. BP. This new knowledge of the volcano's eruptive history makes the evaluation of its present state of activity and the geological hazards necessary. This is important because the area is densely populated and large cities such as Toluca and Mexico are located in its proximity.

Brigham Young University Geology Studies↗
USGS2020

EMD Gas Hydrates Committee annual report

Global research on the potential commercial viability of gas extraction from gas hydrates is continuing, predominantly in Asia and in the United States, where recent efforts have focused on the exploration and characterization of gas hydrate petroleum systems and conducting controlled production tests of gas hydrate deposits hosted in mostly sand-rich reservoir systems. In 2017, gas hydrate production testing was conducted in marine settings in the offshore of Japan and China. An additional test was conducted in the Shenhu region of the South China Sea in 2020 to further evaluate the effectiveness of various well completion technologies to produce gas from gas hydrates. Late in 2018, a research partnership led by the U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory and the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation established a new Alaska North Slope test site for an extended gas hydrate production pilot with the completion of a stratigraphic test well. With the successful completion of the Prudhoe Bay Unit Hydrate-01 stratigraphic test well, planning is now underway for drilling of three additional wells at the Alaska test site, which will include a geoscience data well and two production test wells. In 2019, the Government of India released the results of one of the most comprehensive gas hydrate scientific drilling investigations ever undertaken, the leadership of the Indian National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 reported on the discovery of several significant gas hydrate accumulations that were considered suitable for future gas hydrate production testing. In September of 2019, the U.S. Geological Survey released a new assessment of the technically recoverable gas hydrate resources on the Alaska North Slope. In 2018, the University of Texas at Austin released a comprehensive report describing the operational and initial technical results of the UT-GOM2-1 Hydrate Pressure Coring Expedition, which drilled and partially cored two wells in Green Canyon Block 955 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The results of these recently complete gas hydrate geologic and production studies have been further reviewed in this AAPG-EMD Gas Hydrate Committee report.

Alaska↗
USGS1951

Geology and coal resources of the Stonewall-Tercio area, Las Animas County, Colorado

The Stonewall-Tercio area lies along the western edge of the Trinidad coal field, Colorado, a part of the large Raton Mesa region of Colorado and New Mexico. Coal of Upper Cretaceous and early Tertiary age in that region has been utilized extensively for coking and for domestic heating. Present mining operations are limited, but mining is possible throughout much of the field.

Colorado↗
USGS2025

Drone-based radiometric surveys provide high-resolution mine waste characterization

Airborne radiometric surveys use passive geophysical techniques to characterize geochemical variations at or near earth’s surface. These methods have been used for a variety of mapping applications, including mineral resource evaluation. However, detailed characterization of smaller geologic targets, including mine waste features, requires flying at lower altitudes and with tighter line spacing than is feasible with traditional aircraft. Here, a small uncrewed aircraft system (sUAS) equipped with a radiometric sensor was used to acquire high-resolution gamma-spectrometry over small mine waste features and a low-grade stockpile in southwestern New Mexico. The sUAS radiometric system mapped local variability within each survey area and revealed ~2–10 m wide zones where radioelements K, Th, and U may be elevated 2–10× the surrounding material. Additionally, the sUAS radiometric data revealed radioelement variability across survey sites, which correlated reasonably well with variability seen in geochemical samples at each survey site, even though samples collected from individual sites showed high local variability. The sUAS data characterized local heterogeneity within mine waste and other small geologic targets at scales of a few meters to tens of meters, which is not possible with traditional crewed aircraft, and with continuity of coverage that is not possible with ground surveys, thus filling a key gap in geophysical survey spatial resolution.

New Mexico↗
USGS2021

Estimates of public-supply, domestic, and irrigation water withdrawal, use, and trends in the Upper Rio Grande Basin, 1985 to 2015

The Rio Grande flows approximately 670 miles from its headwaters in the San Juan Mountains of south-central Colorado to Fort Quitman, Texas, draining the Upper Rio Grande Basin (URGB) study area of 32,000 square miles that includes parts of Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. Parts of the basin extend into the United Mexican States (hereafter “Mexico”), where the Rio Grande forms the international boundary between Texas and the State of Chihuahua, Mexico. The URGB was chosen as a focus area study (FAS) for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Census (NWC) as part of the WaterSMART initiative. The objective of the USGS NWC under WaterSMART is to focus on the technical aspects of providing information and tools to stakeholders so that they can make informed decisions on water availability. This report contains water-use withdrawal estimates of groundwater and surface water for public-supply, self-supplied domestic, and irrigation water use for years 1985–2015 at 5-year intervals for the 22 drainage basins at the subbasin 8-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC-8) level. Data for additional categories of self-supplied industrial, mining, livestock, aquaculture, thermoelectric, and hydroelectric water use are provided in the accompanying data release to illustrate total withdrawals for the URGB. The additional category data are provided in this report only for the year 2015. Deliveries of water from public-supply systems to domestic users are included and are the only water-delivery data presented in this report. Consumptive use for irrigation is reported for all HUC-8 subbasins for 2015 and for select HUC-8s in the other years beginning in 1985 (the irrigation category includes irrigation for both crop and golf). Water transported outside of the URGB (interbasin transfers) is not included as part of the withdrawals and are not accounted for in any category of use within the URGB. Estimated total withdrawals for all the water-use categories (including hydroelectric) in 2015 as reported in the USGS compilations in the URGB were 3,152.10 million gallons per day (Mgal/d). Surface water was the dominant source of water used in the URGB, providing about 71 percent of total withdrawals. Nearly all withdrawals were from freshwater sources; there was a small amount of saline groundwater that was used for public supply and self-supplied industrial, which were all reported in Texas. The proportions of total 2015 withdrawals from States in the URGB are 46 percent each in Colorado and New Mexico and 8 percent in Texas. A comparison of 2015 water withdrawals for the URGB—for the categories of public supply, self-supplied domestic, self-supplied industrial, thermoelectric, irrigation, livestock, mining, aquaculture, and hydroelectric—showed that irrigation is the dominant water use, at 74 percent of total withdrawals. Other water-use categories in the URGB that use about 1 percent or greater of the total water use by volume are public supply (9 percent) and self-supplied domestic and aquaculture (each about 1 percent). This report focuses on the higher volume, consumptively used categories of public supply, self-supplied domestic, and irrigation. A discussion on basin population provides context for the categories of public-supply and self-supplied domestic water use. The population in the part of the basin in the United States grew from 1.36 to 2.26 million people between 1985 and 2015. With the city of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, included, the total population of the URGB grew from an estimated 2.01 to 3.66 million people between 1985 and 2015. The largest concentrations of population are in New Mexico, Texas, and Chihuahua, with 98 percent of the total number of people in the basin in 1985 and 99 percent of the total in 2015 residing in these states. Albuquerque, El Paso, and Ciudad Juarez are the largest cities in the basin. Total withdrawals for public supply in the URGB averaged 277 Mgal/d from 1985 to 2015. About 60 percent of the URGB total public-supply withdrawals occurred in New Mexico, which averaged 170 Mgal/d. Groundwater provided 92 and 70 percent of the total withdrawals for public supply in 1985 and 2015, respectively. Deliveries to domestic users from public suppliers are reported for all drainage basins and years, and account for part of the total public-supply withdrawals. In the URGB, domestic deliveries from public suppliers increased from 1985 to 1995; since 2005, domestic deliveries from public supply have declined. The total populations served by public suppliers in the URGB increased by 90 percent from 1985 to 2015. In the URGB, more people were served by public-supply systems than were self-supplied, and the percentage of people on public-supply systems ranged from 81 to 92 percent from 1985 to 2015. Total domestic withdrawals in the URGB (deliveries plus self-supply withdrawals) ranged from 177.49 to 234.83 Mgal/d and peaked in 2005. Domestic use decreased from 2005 to 2010 by 17 percent and remained less than 200 Mgal/d in 2015. The per-capita daily use for the entire URGB fluctuated between the reporting years, but overall, domestic per-capita use across the basin has declined 46 percent from 145 gallons per capita daily (gpcd) in 1985 to 79 gpcd in 2015. Total irrigation withdrawals in the URGB had a mean value of 2,767.66 Mgal/d from 1985 to 2015 and withdrawals peaked in 1995 at 3,416.84 Mgal/d. Over the 30-year period, irrigation source water in the URGB has ranged from 69 to 84 percent surface water, and the most surface water diverted in the basin for irrigation was in 1995. Groundwater withdrawals for irrigation have fluctuated but overall decreased by 13 percent between 2005 and 2015. Slightly more than one-half of total irrigation withdrawals within the URGB occurred in Colorado, with a mean of 57 percent from 1985 to 2015. From the peak of water withdrawals in 1995 to the conclusion of this study in 2015, total irrigation withdrawals across the study area decreased by 32 percent. The total number of irrigated lands in the URGB from 1985 to 2015 had a mean of about 800 thousand acres, and more irrigated lands were consistently located in the headwaters of the URGB in the San Luis Valley, Colorado than the remainder of the study basin. In the 30-year period, Colorado had a mean of 68 percent of total irrigated lands whereas irrigated acres in New Mexico had a mean of 26 percent and the remaining 7 percent were in Texas. Since 2000, the number of irrigated acres in the URGB has fluctuated, but overall has decreased by 12 percent. More land was irrigated with surface systems (surface irrigation includes flood, furrow, and gated pipe systems, hereafter collectively termed “surface”) in the URGB than with other irrigation system types. Across the 30-year period, from 62 to 88 percent of total irrigated lands had surface-system irrigation, and surface systems covered a mean of 69 percent of the URGB’s acres. Microirrigation systems, predominantly in New Mexico and Texas, compose 0.2 percent or less of the irrigated acres in the basin and were first reported in 1995. From 1985 to 2015, the surface systems decreased in the basin by about 38 percent, and the number of acres of sprinkler and microirrigation systems increased. Acres irrigated by sprinkler systems (predominately center pivot systems) have increased 179 percent from about 99 thousand acres in 1985 to 275 thousand acres in 2015. In this dataset, the number of sprinkler acres surpassed the number of surface irrigated acres in 2000. Within the San Luis Valley in Colorado, the acreage of surface irrigation has decreased, and sprinkler irrigation has increased over the 30-year period. In the New Mexico part of the URGB, surface irrigation is reported as the dominant system type, where irrigation by surface systems accounts for 97–98 percent of how water is provided to crops. As in New Mexico, crops in Texas are irrigated primarily by surface systems. The mean of the mean simulated actual evapotranspiration (ETa) for crops in 2015 across the basin was highest for durum wheat at an estimated 36.00 inches per year (in/yr), and lowest for vegetables at an estimated 19.48 in/yr. Alfalfa and irrigated grass pastures mean ETa had a mean of 31.4 and 27.58 in/yr, respectively, for the basin. Pecans and peppers, both signature crops in the Rio Grande Basin, each had a mean ETa of 30.67 and 30.38 in/yr of mean. In general, mean ETa values for crops were lower in the HUCs of the Colorado San Luis Valley (13010001, 13010002, 13010003 and 13010004) which are more northerly and at higher elevations. The mean ETa for crops increased in the HUCs that are more southerly and at lower elevations in the basin.

New Mexico↗
USGS2010

Digital map of the aquifer boundary for the High Plains aquifer in parts of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming

This digital data set represents the extent of the High Plains aquifer in the central United States. The extent of the High Plains aquifer covers 174,000 square miles in eight states: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. This data set represents a compilation of information from digital and paper sources and personal communication. This boundary is an update to the boundary published in U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1400-B, and this report supersedes Open-File Report 99-267. The purpose of this data set is to refine and update the extent of the High Plains aquifer based on currently available information. This data set represents a compilation of arcs from a variety of sources and scales that represent the 174,000 square-mile extent of the High Plains aquifer within the eight states. Where updated information was not available, the original boundary extent defined by OFR 99-267 was retained. The citations for the sources in each State are listed in the 00README.txt file. The boundary also contains internal polygons, or 'islands', that represent the areas within the aquifer boundary where the aquifer is not present due to erosion or non-deposition. The datasets that pertain to this report can be found on the U.S. Geological Survey's NSDI (National Spatial Data Infrastructure) Node, the links are provided on the sidebar.

Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, ↗
USGS2023

Water-level data for the Albuquerque Basin and adjacent areas, central New Mexico, period of record through September 30, 2022

The Albuquerque Basin, located in central New Mexico, is about 100 miles long and 25–40 miles wide. The basin is hydrologically defined as the extent of consolidated and unconsolidated deposits of Tertiary and Quaternary age that encompasses the structural Rio Grande Rift between San Acacia to the south and Cochiti Lake to the north. Drinking-water supplies throughout the basin were obtained primarily from groundwater resources until December 2008, when the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA) began treatment and distribution of surface water from the Rio Grande through the San Juan-Chama Drinking Water Project. An initial network of wells was established by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the City of Albuquerque from April 1982 through September 1983 to monitor changes in groundwater levels throughout the Albuquerque Basin. In 1983, this network consisted of 6 wells with analog-to-digital recorders and 27 wells where water levels were measured monthly. As of water year 2022, the network consisted of 120 wells and piezometers at 54 locations. The USGS, in cooperation with the ABCWUA, the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer, and Bernalillo County, measures water levels at the wells and piezometers in the network; this report, prepared in cooperation with the ABCWUA, presents water-level data collected by USGS personnel at the sites through water year 2022 (October 1, 2021, through September 30, 2022). Water-level data that were collected in previous water years from wells that were later discontinued were published in previous USGS reports.

New Mexico↗
USGS2020

Sand dunes, modern and ancient, on southern Colorado Plateau tribal lands, southwestern USA

A mantle of both active and stable aeolian sand covers approximately 34,000 km 2 of northern Arizona, western New Mexico and southern Utah on the southern Colorado Plateau. From west to east, these deposits can be subdivided into the Kaibab-Moenkopi dunes, Chinle Valley dunes, and Chaco dunes, all of which include relict, partly stable and mobile aeolian sand. Locally, these deposits have distinct compositional characteristics. An examination of previous studies into disparate aspects of Colorado Plateau dunes, taken in the context of local geology, Quaternary landscape history and geomorphic processes, provides new insights into interpretation of this regional aeolian sedimentary record. Additional new data about the characteristics of the deposits, and an assessment of present-day climatic conditions enhances our ability to interpret the relative influences of ecosystem and geomorphologic processes with climate variability that continue to influence both new dune formation and reactivation of older deposits. Taken as a whole, the data emphasizes the role that local landscape conditions and history play in providing the context for correctly interpreting aeolian activity and depositional environments, and whether sediment supply or climate play a dominant role in sand dune formation. This is particularly true in the Little Colorado River Valley of northeastern Arizona, where Quaternary volcanic activity has significantly influenced the local landscape processes, deposit characteristics, and dune paleohistory.

Book chapter↗
USGS2025

Reservoir thermal energy storage pre-assessment for the United States

Storing thermal energy underground for later use in electricity production or direct-use heating/cooling is a promising, viable, and economical green energy option. Reservoir thermal energy storage (RTES) is one such option, which stores energy in underutilized permeable strata with low ambient groundwater flow rates and more geochemically evolved (e.g. brackish/saline) waters relative to overlying principal aquifer systems. The U.S. Geological Survey has begun assessing RTES potential nationally by focusing on five generalized geologic regions (Basin and Range, Coastal Plain, Illinois Basin, Michigan Basin, Pacific Northwest) across the United States. Hydrogeologic reservoir models are developed for the following eight metropolitan area cities within those regions to evaluate RTES performance across different climates and subsurface conditions: Albuquerque, New Mexico; Charleston, South Carolina; Chicago and Decatur, Illinois; Lansing, Michigan; Memphis, Tennessee; Phoenix, Arizona; and Portland, Oregon. Evaluated metrics include estimated required well spacing, thermal storage capacity, and thermal recovery efficiency through time. Also considered for each reservoir are potential complicating factors, including reservoir depth, thermally driven free convection, and groundwater salinity. This work focuses on direct-use cooling because the need for cooling modern office buildings greatly exceeds that for heating in most parts of the country (Falta and others, 2016); however, the evaluated metrics are also relevant to heating and electricity applications. Results indicate that favorable RTES conditions exist in each region, with the Coastal Plain and Basin and Range being especially favorable for thermal storage capacity, while the Pacific Northwest and Michigan Basin excel at energy recovery for the evaluated cooling application. The results underscore the utility of developing maps of thermal storage capacity, subsurface temperature models, and volumetric estimates of thermal storage capacity to serve as key RTES resource classification standards. Overall, this pre-assessment provides a basic understanding of RTES potential in several cities and geologic regions throughout the country and will aid ongoing thermal energy storage assessment efforts.

Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, S↗