Magnetotelluric Data in the Espanola Basin, West of Santa Fe, New Mexico: Usgs Open-File Report 2005-1037

Description

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is doing a series of studies of the Espanola Basin in northern New Mexico. One objective of these studies is to understand the hydrogeologic framework of the Espanola Basin to help land managers plan and develop water supplies. These studies involve a multidisciplinary approach to better understand the critical aquifers in the intracontinental rift environment. Detailed geologic mapping, high-resolution airborne magnetic surveys, electromagnetic surveys, and hydrologic, lithologic, and hydrogeochemical data are being used to better understand the aquifer systems in the Espanola Basin. A magnetotelluric (MT) survey was done as part of these studies. The primary purpose of the MT survey was to map changes in electrical resistivity with depth that are related to lithologic variations important to the critical aquifers. The purpose of this report is to release the MT sounding data; no interpretation of the data is included.”