Eolian stratigraphy of intrabasinal fault depressions in the northern Hueco and southern TularosaBasins: Evidence for neotectonic activity

TitleEolian stratigraphy of intrabasinal fault depressions in the northern Hueco and southern TularosaBasins: Evidence for neotectonic activity
Publication TypeBook Chapter
Year of Publication1998
AuthorsBuck B.J, Kipp J., Monger CH
EditorMack GH
Book TitleNew Mexico Geological Society Guidebook, 49th Field Conference, Las Cruces Country II
Pagination79-86
PublisherNew Mexico Geological Society
Call Number00746
Keywordsbook, books, chapter, chapters, eolian stratigraphy, fault depressions, eolian stratigraphy, geology, Hueco Basin, quaternary geology, report, reports, soil, geomorphology, stratigraphy, Hueco Basin, stratigraphy, Tularosa Basin
AbstractNorth-south-trending depressions, which parallel the major boundary faults between the northern Hueco and southern Tularosa Basins and the Franklin, Organ, and San Andres Mountains, have been interpreted as small intrabasinal normal faults. This project excavated and described about 140 profiles, including 81 within 8 intrabasinal fault complexes as part of an archaeological study to determine the late Quaternary stratigraphy within the basin. Our results show 5 major stratigraphic units within the Hueco Basin: La Mesa, eolian analogs of the Jornada (I and II), Isaacks' Ranch, and Organ deposits, and lastly, the Historic Blowsand deposit. These sediments contain the same morphologic features and have similar radiocarbon ages as sediments along adjacent alluvial fans, indicating that these eolian sediments are time correlative to the extensively-studied deposits along the alluvial fans in the adjacent Desert Project. Morphologic features, isotopic and pollen studies, as well as radiocarbon dates, suggest that the stratigraphy of both types of sediments are controlled by alternating periods of erosion and deposition, which are primarily driven by climatic fluctuations. However, stratigraphic differences along intrabasinal faults suggest some additional local tectonic controls. Understanding the late Quaternary stratigraphy within these basins is crucial for future neotectonic studies. Evidence for seismic activity possibly as recently as the late Pleistocene or early Holocene was found in the form of seismic-induced liquefaction features and fault-related offset of units.
Reprint EditionIn File (12/21/2000)