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SEAN D. CONNELL, BRUCE D. ALLEN, and JOHN W. HAWLEY
New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, 2808 Central Ave. SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106

Abstract-Interpretation of electrical and gamma-ray logs from water-supply wells in the Albuquerque area, central New Mexico, reveal laterally consistent stratigraphic patterns that provide a basis for local differentiation of Santa Fe Group basin fill, the principal aquifer for communities along the Rio Grande valley. A sequence of fine-grained silty sand and clay, first characterized in detail in a core hole drilled near the intersection of 98th St and I-40 on Albuquerque's west side, is traceable in the subsurface. This unit, informally named the Atrisco member of the middle red formation (Santa Fe Group), can be traced for several kilometers. The top of the Atrisco member separates coarse-grained sand and gravel of the Sierra Ladrones Formation (upper Santa Fe Group) from underlying fine- to medium-grained silty sand and clay of the middle red formation.

Beds of the Atrisco member and other marker units in the Sierra Ladrones and middle red formations are also useful in delineating several faults that are poorly exposed or buried by younger alluvium. Initial findings do not support projections of the Rio Grande fault beneath Albuquerque. The east margin of the basin is recognized as a series of north-striking, down-to-the-west normal faults that influenced Santa Fe Group deposition.

Connell, S.D., Allen, B.D., and Hawley, J.W., 1998, Subsurface stratigraphy of the Santa Fe Group from borehole geophysical logs, Albuquerque area, New Mexico: New Mexico Geology, v. 20, n. 1, p. 2-7

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