Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.

org on May 4, 2015

Geological Society of America

Special Paper 291
1994

Depth and geometry of the northern Rio Grande rift

in the San Luis Basin, south-central Colorado

Charles F Kluth,* and Carl H. Schaftenaar*

Chevron U.S.A., Inc., Denver, Colorado 80201

ABSTRACT

The deepest part of the northern Rio Grande rift is just northwest of the Great
Sand Dunes, on the eastern side of the San Luis Valley, in south-central Colorado.
Approximately 150 km (95 m) of high-quality, 20-fold Common Depth Point seismic
data indicate that the basin is filled with approximately 6.4 km (21,000 ft) of
Tertiary sediments, mostly Oligocene or younger in age. These data, combined with
published data, provide a basis for interpreting the structural geometry of the rift.
The internal structural geometry of this part of the rift is surprisingly uncom-
plicated. Sympathetic and antithetic faulting is not widespread, or major, within the
deep part of the basin. The internal geometry of the sedimentary packages, how-
ever, indicates a complicated movement history on the faults that are present within
the rift.
The bounding fault zone between the rift and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains
has approximately 9.2 km (30,000 ft) of vertical separation and may be very compli-
cated. Although we were not able to resolve the bounding fault zone with our seis-
mic data, the data constrains the minimum angle of the fault zone to be approxi-
mately 45°. Our modeling suggests that a 60° angle is the most likely orientation of
the fault zone. The influence of earlier, low-angle extension recognized nearby and
elsewhere in the Rio Grande rift is not directly evident in our data.
Assuming 60° antithetic shear in the hanging wall, which is supported by the
seismic data, a depth of detachment (flattening) is estimated to be approximately 16
km, in the brittle-ductile transition zone estimated from heat-flow data.
Cross sections drawn using the constraints of the new seismic data, require only
8 to 12% extension across the rift at this latitude.

INTRODUCTION that, in many places, parallels earlier structures (Chapin, 1979;

Tweto, 1979; Lindsey and others, 1983). In the vicinity of
The Rio Grande rift is an intracontinental rift system that Great Sand Dunes National Monument and Crestone, Colo-
trends generally north-south from central Colorado through rado (Fig. 2), gravity, seismic, and well data indicate that the
central New Mexico and into northern Mexico (Fig. 1). The rift is a large, complex, east-tilted, half graben with a central
northern part of the rift is characterized by a northerly trend hörst (Behrendt and Bajwa, 1974; Cordell, 1978; Burroughs,
1981; Gries, 1985). The deepest part of the half graben along
the western flank of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains has been
*Present addresses: Kluth, Chevron Overseas Petroleum, Inc., P.O. Box
5046, San Ramon, California 94583; Schaftenaar, 1068 Stonemeadow Drive, estimated to contain 6 to 9 km of Tertiary fill (Gaca and Karig,
Parker, Colorado 80134. 1965; Davis and Keller, 1978).

Kluth, C. F., and Schaftenaar, C. H„ 1994, Depth and geometry of the northern Rio Grande rift in the San Luis Basin, south-central Colorado, in Keller,
G. R„ and Cather, S. M., eds., Basins of the Rio Grande Rift: Structure, Stratigraphy, and Tectonic Setting: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America
Special Paper 291.

27
 Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.org on May 4, 2015

28 C. F. Kluth and C. H. Schaftenaar

Geologic relationships and radiometric age data indicate Hagstrum and Lipman (1986) interpret rifting to postdate the
that uplift of the region and the initial stages of rifting in 26-Ma Amalia Tuff. It appears that rifting proceeded in two
southern Colorado began approximately 30 to 27 m.y. ago stages, an earlier phase that included lower angle normal faults
(Tweto, 1979; Lindsey et al., 1983; Chapin, 1988). Jones and a later stage that included higher angle normal faults
(1991) reports early low angle faults that date approximately (Morgan and Golombek, 1984). Our data pertain to the geom-
26 to 24 Ma in southern Colorado. In northern New Mexico, etry of the San Luis Basin as the result of the second phase of
extension. There is abundant evidence that faulting associated
with the rift has continued into Holocene time (Tweto, 1979;
McCalpin, 1982).
The rocks that fill the San Luis Valley part of the rift are
stratigraphically complex and poorly exposed. They are fine to
coarse, orange-red-brown sandstones interbedded with shales,
conglomerates, and volcanics (Brister and Gries, this volume).
The section has been subdivided according to age and the
presence of volcanic and volcaniclastic materials (Powell,
1958; Huntley, 1979a, b). The units interfinger in an appar-
ently complex fashion and details of the nomenclature are re-
viewed by Huntley (1979a, b) and Brister and Gries (this
volume). None of the units crops out from below the Tertiary
and Quaternary alluvium in our study area.
This paper presents an interpretation of the depth and
structural geometry of the northern Rio Grande rift in southern
Colorado as constrained by our new seismic data. Our data
were acquired just north of Great Sand Dunes National
Monument. It includes the deepest part of the rift (Baca
graben) in the San Luis Basin. We then used this geometry,
along with published data, to construct balanced cross sections
across the basin.

DATA

The seismic reflection data presented here are 20-fold,

Common Depth Point data acquired with a conventional vibra-
tor crew. A seismic-velocity profile was constructed from
sonic-velocity logs from wells in the area (Table 1). Since no
single well penetrates the entire section, a composite velocity
model was constructed using logs from several wells. The co-
herence of the velocity profiles in parts of the section pene-
trated by more than one well and the relatively straightforward
velocity/depth relationship provide a measure of confidence
that the model is applicable. This profile was used to migrate
the seismic data and to convert the data to depth for use in
constructing the structural cross sections. The velocity profile
shows gradually increasing velocity with depth. Seismic data
were recorded for 6 sec (all times are two-way travel time),
but there are no coherent data below approximately 4 sec, so
the lines shown here are displayed only to 4 sec.

Line 1
Figure 1. Location map of the Rio Grande rift. Stippled pattern repre-
sents Tertiary and Quaternary extension-related basins. " V " pattern rep- Line 1 is approximately 24 km (14 mi) long and was shot
resents late Tertiary and Quaternary volcanic rocks. Short-dashed pattern at right angles to the structural grain of the half graben (Fig.
represents Precambrian rocks in the cores of Late Cretaceous to Tertiary
2). It was shot across the deepest part of the basin and ties the
basement-cored uplifts. Unornamented areas represent areas not directly
related to Rio Grande rift extensional structures. (After Baldridge and strike line (Line 3) as discussed below.
others, 1984.) The reflections on the southwestern (left) end of Line 1
 Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.org on May 4, 2015

Depth and geometry, northern Rio Grande rift 29

(Fig. 3) form a coherent package that dips gently eastward. reflections and coherent data at approximately 2.6 sec, there is
This end of the line is just east of the central basin horst a zone of poor-quality data with flat dips. The flat-dipping
(Alamosa horst) suggested by the gravity data (Behrendt and data, if real, diverge from the overlying westerly dipping pack-
Bajwa, 1974) and confirmed by well control. This coherent age. This divergence may represent an equivalent of the angu-
package of reflections is underlain, at approximately 2.3 sec, lar unconformity interpreted on data to the south by Burroughs
by a much less coherent band of reflections. The package of (1981), Gries (1985), and Brister and Gries (this volume).
coherent reflections dips gently eastward and the package The gentle southwesterly dip in the package above 2.5 sec
thickens uniformly, but with minor breaks, to the vicinity of continues from IB to the vicinity of point 1C where dip in-
point 1A (see Fig. 3). In the vicinity of point 1A, the dip on creases and data quality decreases in some zones. From point
the reflections flattens and reverses to a westerly direction. 1C northeastward to the end of the line, the reflections dip
The zone of less-coherent reflections down to approximately more steeply southwestward, the time interval between them
3.6 sec, while not strong, apparently continues dipping east- decreases, and the data quality deteriorates toward the moun-
erly to the vicinity of point IB. Between these poor-coherence tain front.

106° W
Figure 2. Location map of the northern Rio Grande rift in south-central Colorado. Stipple pattern
represents Tertiary sediments. The geographic name for this part of the rift is the San Luis Valley.
The " V " pattern represents the volcanic rocks of the San Juan volcanic field. The short-dashed pat-
tern represents Precambrian to Tertiary rocks associated with the Late Cretaceous to Tertiary base-
ment cored uplifts. Federal and state highways are shown by dashed lines. " G S D N M " shows the
location of Great Sand Dunes National Monument. Heavy dashed line labeled " 1 " is the location of
the A M R X 1 , 1A seismic data of Gries (1985). Heavy-dashed line labeled " S " is location of seismic
data of Stoughton (1977). Label " 2 " is the location of seismic data of Davis and Stoughton (1979).
 Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.org on May 4, 2015

30 C. F. Kluth and C. H. Schaftenaar

TABLE 1. VELOCITY MODEL USED IN CONVERTING SEISMIC Line 3

DATA FROM TIME TO DEPTH FOR USE IN CONSTRUCTING THE
GEOLOGIC CROSS SECTIONS*
Line 3 (Fig. 5) trends north-northwest and was shot to tie
Depth Interval Velocity Line 1, Line 2, the Amoco-Mapco 1-32 State well, and
(m) (ft) (m/sec) (ft/sec) AMRX-1 seismic data shown by Gries (1985) and Brister and
Gries (this volume) along the strike of the basin. It illustrates
0 0 the geometry of the deepest part of the San Luis Basin along
460 1,510 1,841 6,040
strike and ties together the other data to permit a three-dimen-
1,125 3,689 2,657 8,716
1,933 6,341 3,233 10,608 sional view of the basin geometry.
2,095 9,530 3.888 12,756 Line 3 ties AMRX-1 seismic line (Gries, 1985; Brister
4,004 13,136 4,396 14,424 and Gries, this volume) at point 3A and includes a concordant
5,154 16,909 4,600 15,092 north (right)-dipping package of reflections above 1.7 sec.
6,357 20,856 4,812 15,788
Below 1.7 sec the reflections dip more gently northward than
"This model is based on sonic velocity log data from several nearby the upper package. This angular discordance is interpreted to
wells: Amoco-Mapco 1-32 State (T40N,R12E,32); Couger 1 Cros be the angular unconformity in the section described by Bur-
(T39N.R11 E,3); Reserve 1-33 NBH Land (T40N.R11E,33); Amerada roughs (1981), Gries (1985), and Brister and Gries (this vol-
1-16 F State (T39N,R10E,16).
ume). The data tie to the Amoco-Mapco 1-32 State well
(Huntley, 1979a,b; Burroughs, 1981; Gries, 1985) at point 3B.
Data from this well provide limited control on the age of the
rocks represented by the reflections on our seismic data.
Further details of the ages of rocks within the basin are pro-
vided by Brister and Gries (this volume).
Line 2 Reflections of the upper package cut progressively down-
ward to the north and truncate reflections in the lower package.
Line 2 (Fig. 4; see Fig. 2 for location) was shot approxi- The lower package of reflections, those below the unconform-
mately perpendicular to the structural grain of the half graben ity, appear to be completely cut out in the vicinity of point 3C.
and continues to the west across the entire width of the San From that point northward, we are not able to identify the un-
Luis Basin. The western end of the line was shot on exposed conformity in the seismic data.
volcanic rocks on the San Juan volcanic field. Line 3 ties Line 1 at point 3D, near the deepest part of the
We did not obtain coherent data at the west (left) end of basin. Between point 3C and point 3D the package of reflec-
Line 2, probably due to the presence of volcanic rocks with tions expands northward. Just to the north of point 3D, the dip
high seismic velocities on the surface. Where the line enters the of the reflections flattens and reverses and the basin becomes
area with alluvial material on the surface at point 2A (Fig. 4) shallower in that direction. The package of reflections thins
the data improve substantially. Our seismic lines and cross sec- with only minor interruption, northward to the vicinity of
tions therefore are shown in Figure 4 only where we had inter- point 3E, where the dip direction reverses into a smaller sub-
pretable data. At point 2A, the reflections above 2.9 sec form basin shown by Behrendt and Bajwa (1974) and Davis and
an eastward-thinning wedge that onlaps the central basin horst- Stoughton (1979).
block of Precambrian basement at approximately point 2D.
At point 2B, reflections near the top of the section form
INTERPRETATION
the lower part of an eastward thickening wedge-shaped pack-
age that continues across the central-basin horst. In the vicinity
of point 2B the reflections in the upper package are concordant Our interpretation of the geometry of the northern part of
with the underlying package, but small angular discordances the San Luis Basin is shown in the structure sections con-
such as those in the vicinity of point 2C indicate that the pack- structed after depth conversion of the seismic two-way time
ages should be considered separately. In the vicinity of point data (Figs. 3c, 4c, 5c). In all three seismic sections (Figs. 3b,
2D the line crosses the central-basin horst. The reflections are 4b, 5b), stratigraphic geometry within the syn-rift section is il-
disrupted by apparent normal-sense displacements in the area lustrated by four reflections, identified as 1 through 4. These
of 2E to 2F. At point 2F the reflection near the top of the base- reflections are also shown in the structure sections (Figs. 3c,
ment reaches its deepest level, approximately 3.3 to 3.4 sec. 4c, 5c). Using the new stratigraphic information provided by
The reflections reverse dip and the time interval between Brister (1990) and Brister and Gries (this volume) we assign
them begins to decrease at point 2G. At approximately that reflection 1 (Figs. 3, 4, 5) to the lower part of the Alamosa
point, data quality begins to decrease. The steeply west dip- Formation. Reflections 2, 3, and 4 are within the lower Santa
ping reflection a 1.7 sec below point 2H may be a normal fault Fe Group (see Brister and Gries, this volume, for details of the
plane within the Sangre de Cristo normal fault zone. stratigraphy).
 Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.org on May 4, 2015

Depth and geometry, northern Rio Grande rift 31

Line 1 the basin and continued sedimentation through time. Minor

faulting disrupts the markers on the east-dipping flank, but the
Using well control in the area, we interpret the coherent basin has surprisingly little internal deformation (large-scale
reflections on the southwestern (left) end of Line 1 at approxi- antithetic faulting, etc.).
mately 2.3 sec to represent Tertiary volcanic and clastic rocks The thickness of the rift-fill sequence between the lowest
and the poor-coherence reflections to represent the upper part marker horizon and the basement increases in the deepest part
of the Precambrian basement. The basement on the southwest- of the basin. This indicates a history of rapid movement on the
ern end of Line 1 is approximately 3,200 m below the surface Sangre de Cristo fault zone during the early history of rift de-
of the valley (Fig. 3c). The basement dips gently northeast- velopment. Influx of clastic material from nearby high areas
ward toward the deepest part of the basin. The overlying filled the rift depression. The westerly dip on the reflections
marker horizons also dip northeastward at progressively lower near the Sangre de Cristo fault zone suggests that the Sangre
angles higher in the section, indicating continued growth of de Cristo Mountains provided abundant clastic material to the

Figure 3. Line 1 (see Fig. 2 for location). A, uninterpreted, migrated seismic data; B, interpretation
of seismic data; C, geologic cross section constructed using the seismic and gravity data. Lines la-
beled 1A through I D are reference marks described in the text.
 Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.org on May 4, 2015

32 C. F. Kluth and C. H. Schaftenaar

2000

o
«
£ •2000

s
-4000

-6000

Figure 4. Line 2 (see Fig. 2 for location). A, uninterpreted, migrated seismic data; B, interpretation
of seismic data; C, geologic cross section constructed using the seismic and gravity data. Lines la-
beled 2A through 2H are reference marks described in the text.

basin throughout its history. We interpret the data to indicate Fig. 3 and point 2G in Fig. 4) may reflect the effect of the
that the volume of clastic material shed from the adjacent footwall or regional uplift. It may also reflect slight antilistric
mountains and highlands, to the east and west of the basin dur- shape of the fault zone or differential compaction of the sedi-
ing the development of the rift completely filled any topo- ments. None of these factors is constrained at present. Further
graphic low that might have formed adjacent to the bounding interpretation must await additional data.
normal fault zone. This scenario is different than in areas such At its deepest point on the structure section drawn from
as Badwater, the topographically lowest point in Death Valley, the seismic and gravity data on Line 1, the basement is at ap-
California, which is adjacent to the bounding normal fault. proximately 4,250 m below sea level and approximately 7 km
The implication of this relationship is that the topography in below the present land surface. The marker horizons dip more
the basin, near the bounding fault, has always sloped to the steeply to the west, and the interval between them decreases as
west, away from the mountain front, as it does today. This they approach the eastern flank of the basin. This geometry re-
may have limited the development of ponds or lakes along the flects thinning in the alluvial-fan section, possibly over inter-
mountain front and thus decreased the likelihood of nonmarine mediate fault blocks of basement rocks in the Sangre de Cristo
source rocks for hydrocarbon exploration. The shaly material fault zone.
in nearby wells has very low (much less than 1%) total organic The strong reflection at approximately 0.6 seconds under
carbon content. point ID on the seismic data may be a fault plane within the
A possible additional factor in producing west-sloping to- normal fault zone. It does not correspond to a fault on the sur-
pography during the development of the rift is uplift of the face, but its geometry suggests that it may be part of the fault
footwall. The crest of the narrow Sangre de Cristo Range to zone buried by alluvium. The fault blocks shown within the
the east includes several peaks above 4,265 m (14,000 ft). This Sangre de Cristo zone on the cross section (Fig. 3c) are
suggests possible uplift of the range as a rift shoulder. The schematic since our data generally did not image reflections
change of the reflections on the seismic data from easterly to from the zone.
westerly dip near the deepest part of the basin (see point IB in While we were not able to positively identify the Sangre
 Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.org on May 4, 2015

Depth and geometry, northern Rio Grande rift 33

Tie Line 1
3A 3B 3D Tie Line 2

Amoco-Mapco
1-32 State

Figure 5. Line 3 (see Fig. 2 for location). A, uninterpreted, migrated seismic data; B, interpretation
of seismic data; C, geologic cross section constructed using the seismic and gravity data. Lines la-
beled 3A through 3E are reference marks described in the text.

de Cristo fault zone in our data, we are able to constrain its po- and associated mineralization in the Sangre de Cristo Range in
sition and angle. The minimum angle of the fault zone is con- southern Colorado, south of our study area. We see no evi-
strained to be approximately 45° by a line connecting the most dence for the earlier phase (Morgan and Golombek, 1984) of
easterly seismic event that we interpret as basement on our low-angle faulting in our data. Presumably these faults would
data and that of Gries (1985) and the surface of the outcrop of be located in the hanging wall of the later, high-angle faults
the fault. We have shown a 60° dip on the Sangre de Cristo and below the basement-rift fill contact, where we recorded no
fault zone as permitted by the seismic and by preliminary two- usable data. The low-angle normal faults may have reactivated
dimensional models of the gravity data. We also suggest that a earlier thrust faults as suggested to the south by Russell and
portion of the fault zone is beneath the alluvial fans of the Snelson (1990, this volume). The more steeply dipping reflec-
Sangre de Cristo Mountains. This geometry is different than tions below the unconformity to the south (Burroughs, 1981;
that in the Albuquerque Basin, part of the Rio Grande rift in Gries, 1985; Brister and Gries, this volume) may represent
central New Mexico. In that area, Russell and Snelson (1990, more steeply dipping beds on the hanging wall of low-angle
this volume) interpreted basin-bounding faults dipping ap- normal faults. The unconformity above these rotated beds
proximately 30° to 40°. would mark abandonment of the low-angle faults and the
Jones (1991) reported low-angle (15 to 40°) normal faults onset of movement and relatively less tilting on high-angle
 Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.org on May 4, 2015

34 C. F. Kluth and C. H. Schaftenaar

normal faults. The amount of extension due to low-angle fault- easterly dip of the basement are related to earlier movements.
ing in the area of our study is unknown. We have used the edge of the eastward-thickening package of
sediments as the "hinge" edge of the half graben.
Line 2 The sedimentary rocks east of the central basin horst are
cut by relatively minor faults, but no large-scale structures are
The basement dips very gently eastward at the western present in that area. The rocks reverse dip and their thickness
(left) end of Line 2 (Fig. 4a, b, c), where the line emerges from begins to decrease in the vicinity of point 2G. As in Line 1, we
the area where the surface is covered by volcanic rocks. interpret a coarse alluvial fan facies to cover intermediate level
Basement in the vicinity of point 2A (Fig. 4c) is approxi- fault blocks along the east side of the basin. We attribute the
mately 2050 m below the surface of the valley. deterioration of seismic data quality on the eastern (right) ends
The rocks represented by the eastward-thinning wedge of of Lines 1 and 2 to dispersion of energy by the coarse material
reflections at point 2A (beneath point 2A, the top of this in the proximal alluvial fan. The zone of rapid deterioration of
wedge is approximately 0.1 sec, the base is approximately 2.0 the data may indicate either the facies change from the coarse,
sec) are approximately 1,500 m thick and thin onto the west- proximal fan to the finer-grained distal fan or that there is
ern side of the central basin horst in the vicinity of point 2C. complex structure within the fault zone.
Brister and Gries (this volume) interpret pre-rift volcanic Our interpretation is that the basement is represented by
rocks to be present on the eastern side of the rift. This indi- the zone of reflections at approximately 3.3 sec at point 2F.
cates that some of the rocks represented by this package of re- This area is the deepest part of the basin where it is crossed by
flections were deposited to the east of the horst. This wedge Line 2. We acknowledge the possibility that the basement may
may represent the eastern margin of a Cretaceous or early be somewhat deeper, and that the more steeply east dipping re-
Tertiary basin that has later been rotated so that the margin is flections may represent rocks below an angular unconformity
now nearly flat lying or has gentle easterly dip. Alternatively as shown to the south by Gries (1985) and Brister and Gries
this wedge may represent the eastward thinning distal margin (this volume).
of the San Juan volcanic field that filled in the western part of
the San Luis Basin. Based on the work of Brister and Gries Line 3
(this volume) we assign the rocks of this eastward-thinning se-
quence to the Conejos and Blanco Basin Formations. The basement at the southern (left) end of Line 3 (Fig. 5b,
Above the eastward-thinning wedge, at point 2A, is the 5c) is represented by reflections 2.7 sec beneath point 3A and
thin edge of an eastward-thickening wedge of rocks that is is approximately 4,000 m below the surface of the valley. The
probably of middle Oligocene and younger age (see Brister marker units from the seismic section are part of a northward-
and Gries, this volume). This package of rocks thickens con- dipping and northward-thickening package of sedimentary
tinuously to the east, across the central basin horst and into the rocks. Palynomorph data indicates that these rocks are mostly
deepest part of the basin (point 2G). These rocks represent the of Neogene age (Huntley, 1979a; Burroughs, 1981; Gries
filling of the large half graben that is the manifestation of the 1985, S. N. Nelson, written communication, 1988).
Rio Grande rift at this latitude. These rocks belong to the The significant deep well in the area, the Amoco-Mapo 1 -
Santa Fe Group of Brister and Gries (this volume). 32 State, is located at point 3B. Details of the well, including
The basement is interpreted to be broken by faults that are interpretations of age of deposition of sedimentary rocks, have
upthrown to the east on the west side of the central basin horst. been reported by Huntley (1979a), Burroughs (1981), and
On the horst, the basement is approximately 2,450 m below Gries (1985). Briefly, the well was drilled to 2,860 m (9380
the surface of the valley. This feature is deeper on our data ft). It drilled a section of Tertiary rocks to total depth, ending
than it appears farther to the south, on line AMRX-1 (Gries, in an Oligocene igneous sill (Huntley, 1979a; Burroughs,
1985), despite similar gravity signatures in both areas (Beh- 1981; Gries, 1985; Brister and Gries, this volume). No paly-
rendt and Bajwa, 1974). Different lithologies and densities in nomorphs were recovered in the vicinity of the angular uncon-
basement and/or basin-fill rocks are possible reasons for the formity, reported by Burroughs (1981) and Gries (1985).
difference in the gravity between the two areas, but this prob- Oligocene forms are present, however, a few hundred meters
lem has not yet been investigated. (several hundred feet) above the discordance. Palynomorphs
On the east side of the horst, the basement dips gently whose age is latest Paleocene or younger (Juglaus sp., S. N.
eastward and is cut by faults with east sides downthrown to Nelson, written communication, 1988) were recovered below
produce the deepest part of the basin. With the exception of the unconformity. One specimen of one form (Momipites
the slight westerly dip of the west side of the central basin wyomingensis) was recovered from samples still deeper in the
horst, the basement surface is interpreted to dip gently east. well. This palynomorph indicates a Paleocene to Eocene age,
For purposes of calculating depth to detachment (discussed but the assemblage is too sparse to assess the possibility that
below) we infer that the central horst block, the lower, east- this form represents a reworking of the sedimentary section or
ward thinning wedge of the sedimentary rocks, and the gentle that it represents the true age of deposition (S. N. Nelson, per-
 Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.org on May 4, 2015

Depth and geometry, northern Rio Grande rift 35

sonai communication, 1988). Blister and Gries (this volume) Relatively small faults cut the basement surface and much
interpret Oligocene volcanic rocks at the base of the strati- of the basin-fill section. They are interpreted on the basis of re-
graphic section at this point, suggesting that the older paly- flection character to be normal faults with their downthrown
nomorphs are indeed reworked. The angular unconformity side away from the deepest part of the basin. This somewhat
apparently cuts down section to the north, so that by point 3C, surprising geometry may reflect extension in the strike direction
the unequivocally younger rocks rest directly on the Pre- of the hanging wall of the Sangre de Cristo fault, perhaps re-
cambrian basement. lated to irregularities in the geometry or splays of the fault zone.
The basin fill along this cross section gradually thickens These data and published data (Gries, 1985; Stoughton,
into the deepest part of the basin. In the vicinity of point 3D 1977; Davis and Stoughton, 1979) allow the interpretation of
the basement reflections dip northward at approximately 3.2 to the three-dimensional geometry of the Rio Grande rift in
3.4 sec. We interpret the basement to be approximately 6,300 south-central Colorado (Fig. 6). The deepest part of the rift is
m below the surface of the valley floor (approximately 3,900 on its east side adjacent to the Sangre de Cristo fault zone. The
m below sea level). North of point 3D, the dip on the rocks basin becomes shallower westward onto a central-basin horst,
flattens and reverses and the section thins. At the north end of the Alamosa horst. The basin then deepens westward from the
the cross section, the basement is approximately 4,700 m horst into the western subbasin (Monte Vista graben; Brister
below the surface. and Gries, this volume). The deep (eastern) part of the basin

.Crestone

/SAGUACHE CO.
RIO GRANDE"CO. ALAMOSÄCO.

AMRX-1.1A

CONTOURS IN METERS
RELATIVE TO SEA LEVEL

VALLEY SURFACE IS
APPROXIMATELY + 2 4 2 5 m.

Figure 6. Structure contour map of the top of the basement surface in the northern Rio Grande rift,
south-central Colorado. This map incorporates the interpretations of the seismic data and of pub-
lished data (Gries, 1985, Line A M R X - 1 , 1A; Stoughton, 1977, Line ST-1; Davis and Stoughton,
1979). Contours are in meters relative to sea level. The land surface in this part of the rift ranges
from 2,300 to 2,450 m above sea level. The stippled area on the west side of the Sangre de Cristo
Mountains represents the Sangre de Cristo fault zone.
 Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.org on May 4, 2015

36 C. F. Kluth and C. H. Schaftenaar

becomes shallower at the northern end of the area that we possibly some volcanic rocks. Age data from the Amoco-
studied and then deepens into another subbasin at the northern, Mapco well, which is tied by our seismic survey, indicate that
narrow end studied by Davis and Stoughton (1979). the thickest part, and possibly all, of the basin-fill section is
late Oligocene or younger in age. The basement surface be-
DEPTH TO DETACHMENT neath the basin-fill displays relatively minor deformation ex-
cept by the Sangre de Cristo fault zone that bounds the east
The rotation of the hanging-wall block suggests that the side of the rift. The Sangre de Cristo fault zone is interpreted
Sangre de Cristo fault may have a listric shape. The depth to to be a complex fault zone with large-displacement faults
the detachment or flat part of the fault can be calculated using buried beneath the alluvial fans shed from the Sangre de
methods given by P. Verrall (personal communication, 1981; Cristo Mountains. The zone has a minimum dip of approxi-
see Dula, 1991), Gibbs (1983, 1984), and White and others mately 45° and is interpreted to be 60°. Vertical displacement
(1986). The methods vary chiefly in the assumption of the on the Sangre de Cristo fault, from the top of basement out-
angle of shearing in the hanging wall (see White et al„ 1986; crops in the adjacent mountains to the top of basement in the
Dula, 1991). Using the graphical method of P. Verrall (per- deepest part of the basin, is a minimum of approximately 8.2
sonal communication, 1981), and Gibbs (1983, 1984), and as- km (27,000 ft). Depth-to-detachment calculations, based on
suming net vertical shear in the hanging wall, the depth of the structure sections that utilize the depth-converted seismic
detachment for the Sangre de Cristo fault is approximately 35 data suggest that the bounding fault zone remains steep to
to 38 km. Using a graphical method (P. Verrall, personal com- great depths, flattening at the presumed depth of the brittle-
munication, 1987) based on the equations of White and others ductile transition zone (approximately 16 km). The structure
(1986) and a 60° antithetic shear angle (based on the angle of sections require approximately 10 to 12% extension across the
antithetic faults on the seismic data) the depth to detachment is width of the rift at this latitude.
approximately 16 km. This depth would correspond approxi-
mately to the transition zone from brittle deformation (shal- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
lower) to more ductile behavior (deeper), based on heat-flow
data (Barrett and others, 1976; Repplier and Fargo, 1981; We thank Bruce Smith and Raina Powell for their work
Morgan and Golombek, 1984). At present, if the fault is on the early phases of this project, and Sheldon Nelson for pal-
curved, we interpret the shallower depth of detachment to be ynological interpretations. We gratefully acknowledge Chev-
more realistic geologically, because of the angle of antithetic ron U.S.A., Inc. for allowing us to publish these data and
faulting interpreted on Lines 1 and 2. interpretations. We thank Bruce Bryant, Lin Cordell, Scott
A critical factor in the determination of depth to detach- Baldridge, Brian Brister, Chuck Chapin, Steve Cather, and an
ment in listric faults is the determination of a regional eleva- anonymous reviewer for comments that improved the quality
tion to use as the upper surface of the synorogenic wedge. of this paper.
This is very difficult to do with confidence in our area because
of the possibility of uplift and deformation of the footwall. REFERENCES CITED
Therefore, we view the interpretation of these depth-to-detach-
ment calculations cautiously.
Baldridge, W. S., Olsen, K. H„ and Callender, J. E„ 1984, Rio Grande rift:
The wide hanging-wall block with a relatively small Problems and perspectives, in Baldridge, W. S., Dickerson, P. W.,
amount of tilting could also result from movement on a planar Riecker, R. E., and Riolek, J., eds., Rio Grande rift: New Mexico
fault and be indistinguishable on our data from the geometry re- Geological Society, Northern New Mexico, Guidebook, p. 1-12.
sulting from a curved fault that flattened at great depth. The deep Barrett, J. K., Pearl, R. H„ and Pennington, A. J., 1976, Map showing thermal
springs, wells and heat-flow contours in Colorado: Colorado Geological
geometry of the Sangre de Cristo fault zone remains unresolved.
Survey Information Series 4, scale 1:1,000.000.
We suggest, though, that the upper part of the Sangre de Behrendt, J. C., and Bajwa, L. Y., 1974. Bouguer gravity and generalized ele-
Cristo fault has a dip of approximately 60° in the San Luis vation maps of Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Map GP-896, scale
Basin. The structure sections based on these data also support 1:1,000,000.
the interpretation that development of the basin requires a rela- Brister, B. S., 1990, Tertiary sedimentation and tectonics: San Juan sag—San
Luis Basin region, Colorado and New Mexico [Ph.D. thesis]: Socorro,
tively small amount of extension, approximately 10 to 12%.
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, 267 p.
The steep angle for the upper part of the fault and the sugges- Burroughs, R. L„ 1981, A summary of the geology of the San Luis Basin,
tion of midcrustal detachment depths, produce a deep basin Colorado-New Mexico, with emphasis on the geothermal potential of the
with a relatively small amount of extension. Monte Vista graben: Colorado Geological Survey Special Publication 17,
30 p.
Chapin, C. E., 1979, Evolution of the Rio Grande rift—A summary, in
SUMMARY
Riecker, R. E., ed., Rio Grande rift: Tectonics and magmatism: American
Geophysical Union, p. 1-5.
Our data indicate that the deepest part of the San Luis Chapin, C. E., 1988, Axial basins of the northern and central Rio Grande rift,
Basin is filled with approximately 6.4 km of sedimentary and in Sloss, L. L., ed., Sedimentary cover—North American craton: U.S.:
 Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.org on May 4, 2015

Depth and geometry, northern Rio Grande rift 37

Geological Society of America, The Geology of North America, v. D-2, Jones, D. M., 1991, Low-angle normal faulting and gold mineralization in the
p. 165-170. Sangre de Cristo Range of southern Colorado: Geological Society of
Cordeil, L„ 1978, Regional geophysical setting of the Rio Grande rift: America Abstracts with Programs, v. 25, p. A246.
Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 89, p. 1073-1090. Lindsey, D. A., Johnson, B. R., and Andriessen, P.A.M., 1983, Laramide and
Davis, G. H., and Keller, G. R., 1978, Subsurface structure of San Luis Neogene structure of the northern Sangre de Cristo Range, south-central
Valley, in Hawley, J. W., compiler, Guidebook to Rio Grande rift in New Colorado, in Lowell, J. D., ed., Rocky Mountain foreland basins and up-
Mexico and Colorado: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral lifts: Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, p. 219-228.
Resources, Circular 163, p. 28. McCalpin, J. P., 1982, Quaternary geology and neotectonics of the west flank
Davis, T. L., and Stoughton, D„ 1979, Interpretation of seismic reflection date of the northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains, south-central Colorado:
from the northern San Luis Valley, south-central Colorado, in Reicker, Colorado School of Mines Quarterly, v. 77, no. 3, 97 p.
R. E., ed., Rio Grande rift: Tectonics and magmatism: American Geo- Morgan, P., and Golombek, M. P., 1984, Factors controlling the phases and
physical Union, p. 185-194. styles of extension in the northern Rio Grande rift, in Baldridge, W. S.,
Dula, W. F., 1991, Geometric models of listric normal faults and rollover Dickerson, P. W., Riecker, R. E., and Zidek, J., eds., Rio Grande rift:
folds: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 75, New Mexico Geological Society, Northern New Mexico, Guidebook,
p. 1609-1625. p. 13-19.
Gaca, J. R., and Karig, D. E., 1965, Gravity survey in the San Luis Valley Powell, J. W., 1958, Ground-water resources of the San Luis Valley,
area, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 66-46, 21 p. Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 1379, p. 274.
Gibbs, A. D., 1983, Balanced cross-section construction from seismic sections Repplier, F. N., and Fargo, R. L., 1981, Geothermal gradient map of
in areas of extensional tectonics: Journal of Structural Geology, v. 5, Colorado: Colorado Geological Survey Map Series 20, scale 1:1,000,000.
p. 153-160. Russell, L. R., and Snelson, S„ 1990, Structural style and tectonic evolution of
Gibbs, A. D., 1984, Structural evolution of extensional basin margins: Journal the Albuquerque Basin segment of the Rio Grande rift, in Pinet, B„ and
of the Geological Society of London, v. 141, p. 609-620. Bois, C., eds., The potential of deep seismic profiling for hydrocarbon
Gries, R. R., 1985, Seismic lines in the San Luis Valley, south-central exploration: Paris, Editions Technip, p. 175-207.
Colorado, in Rice, R. R„ and Dyer, R. C., eds., Seismic exploration in the Stoughton, D., 1977, Interpretation of seismic reflection data from the San
Rocky Mountain region: Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists and Luis Valley, south-central Colorado [M.S. thesis]: Golden, Colorado
Denver Geophysical Society, p. 267-274. School of Mines, p. 100.
Hagstrum, J. T.. and Lipman, P. W„ 1986, Paleomagnetism of the structurally Tweto, O., 1979, The Rio Grande rift system in Colorado, in Riecker, R. E.,
deformed Latir volcanic field, northern New Mexico: Relations to forma- ed., Rio Grande rift: Tectonics and magmatism: Washington, D.C.,
tion of the Questa Caldera and development of the Rio Grande rift: American Geophysical Union, p. 33-56.
Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 91, p. 7383-7402. White, N. J., Jackson, J. A., and McKenzie, D. P., 1986, The relationship be-
Huntley, D„ 1979a, Cenozoic faulting and sedimentation in northern San Luis tween the geometry of normal faults and that of the sedimentary layers
Valley, Colorado: Summary: Geological Society of America Bulletin, in the hanging wall: Journal of Structural Geology, v. 8, p. 897-909.
P a r t i , v. 90, p. 8-12.
Huntley, D., 1979b, Cenozoic faulting and sedimentation in northern San Luis
Valley, Colorado: Geological Society of America, Part II, v. 90,
p. 135-153. MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTED BY THE SOCIETY OCTOBER 13, 1 9 9 3

Printed in U.S.A.
Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.org on May 4, 2015
Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.org on May 4, 2015

Geological Society of America Special Papers

Depth and geometry of the northern Rio Grande rift in the San Luis Basin,
south-central Colorado
Charles F Kluth and Carl H. Schaftenaar

Geological Society of America Special Papers 1994;291; 27-38

doi:10.1130/SPE291-p27

E-mail alerting services click www.gsapubs.org/cgi/alerts to receive free e-mail alerts when new
articles cite this article

Subscribe click www.gsapubs.org/subscriptions to subscribe to Geological Society of

America Special Papers
Permission request click www.geosociety.org/pubs/copyrt.htm#gsa to contact GSA.

Copyright not claimed on content prepared wholly by U.S. government employees within scope of
their employment. Individual scientists are hereby granted permission, without fees or further
requests to GSA, to use a single figure, a single table, and/or a brief paragraph of text in subsequent
works and to make unlimited copies of items in GSA's journals for noncommercial use in classrooms
to further education and science. This file may not be posted to any Web site, but authors may post
the abstracts only of their articles on their own or their organization's Web site providing the posting
includes a reference to the article's full citation. GSA provides this and other forums for the
presentation of diverse opinions and positions by scientists worldwide, regardless of their race,
citizenship, gender, religion, or political viewpoint. Opinions presented in this publication do not
reflect official positions of the Society.

Notes

© 1994 Geological Society of America