Geologic and well-construction data for the H-10 borehole complex near the proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant site, southeastern New Mexico
Water-Resources Investigations Report
83-4124
By: J.G. Wells and S.L. Drellack
Links
- Document: Report (pdf)
- Plate: Plate 1 (pdf)
- Download citation as: RIS | Dublin Core
Abstract
The H-10 borehole complex, a group of three closely spaced boreholes, is located 3 1/2 miles southeast of the proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant site in west-central Lea County, New Mexico. The geological data presented in this report are part of a site-characterization study for the possible storage of defense-associated radioactive wastes within salt beds of the Salado Formation of Permian age. Each borehole was designated to penetrate a distinct water-bearing zone: H-10a (total depth 1 ,318 feet) was completed just below the Magenta Dolomite Member of the Rustler Formation of Permian age; H-10b (total depth 1 ,398 feet) was completed just below the Culebra Dolomite Member of the Rustler Formation; and H-10c (total depth 1,538 feet) was completed below the Rustler Formation-Salado Formation contact. The geologic units penetrated in borehole H-10c are surficial alluvium and eolian sand of Holocene age (0-5 feet); the Mescalero caliche (5-9 feet) and the Gatuna Formation (9-90 feet) of Pleistocene age; formation in the Dockum Group (Chinle Formation, 90-482 feet and Santa Rosa Sandstone, 482-658 feet) of Late Triassic age; and the Dewey Lake Red Beds (658-1,204 feet), the Rustler Formation (1,204-1,501 feet), and part of the Salado Formation (1,501-1,538 feet), all of Permian age. The sections of the Rustler and Salado Formations penetrated by borehole H-10c are complete and contain little or no evidence of dissolution of halite and associated rocks, indicating that the eastward-moving dissolution on top of the Salado, found just to the west of the WIPP site, has not reached the H-10 site. (USGS)
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Title | Geologic and well-construction data for the H-10 borehole complex near the proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant site, southeastern New Mexico |
| Series title | Water-Resources Investigations Report |
| Series number | 83-4124 |
| DOI | 10.3133/wri834124 |
| Edition | - |
| Year Published | 1983 |
| Language | ENGLISH |
| Publisher | U.S. Geological Survey, |
| Description | iv, 38 p. :ill., map ;28 cm. |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |