Difference between revisions of "San Juan basin"
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[[File:SanJuanBasinUSGS.jpg|thumb|300px|Map of San Juan Basin, Colorado-New Mexico, USA. U.S. Geological Survey.]] | [[File:SanJuanBasinUSGS.jpg|thumb|300px|Map of San Juan Basin, Colorado-New Mexico, USA. U.S. Geological Survey.]] | ||
| − | The San Juan basin is a structural depression in the northwest corner of New Mexico and in southern Colorado that encompasses about 35,000 km<sup>2</sup> (13,500 mi<sup>2</sup>). The basin contains deposits of natural gas, oil, coal, uranium, sand, gravel, limestone, humate, gypsum, road metal, building stone, water, and paleoplacer concentrations of heavy minerals, and therefore has been of economic interest to industries for many decades. The structural geology of the basin bears directly on the distribution of most of these resources and their recovery, and has attracted much academic interest in its relationship to depositional and tectonic patterns in the western interior of the United States.<ref name=Thadenandzech_1986>Thaden, Robert E., and Robert S. Zech, 1986, [http://archives.datapages.com/data/specpubs/mineral1/data/a179/a179/0001/0000/0035.htm Structure contour map of the San Juan basin and vicinity]: AAPG Studies in Geology 22, p. 35-45.</ref> | + | The San Juan basin is a structural depression in the northwest corner of New Mexico and in southern Colorado that encompasses about 35,000 km<sup>2</sup> (13,500 mi<sup>2</sup>). The [[basin]] contains deposits of [[natural gas]], [[oil]], [[coal]], [[uranium]], [[sand]], [[gravel]], [[limestone]], [[humate]], [[gypsum]], road metal, building stone, water, and paleoplacer concentrations of heavy minerals, and therefore has been of economic interest to industries for many decades. The structural geology of the basin bears directly on the distribution of most of these resources and their recovery, and has attracted much academic interest in its relationship to depositional and tectonic patterns in the western interior of the United States.<ref name=Thadenandzech_1986>Thaden, Robert E., and Robert S. Zech, 1986, [http://archives.datapages.com/data/specpubs/mineral1/data/a179/a179/0001/0000/0035.htm Structure contour map of the San Juan basin and vicinity]: AAPG Studies in Geology 22, p. 35-45.</ref> |
| − | Although the structural basin dates back to the Paleozoic Era,<ref name=Wengerdandmatheny_1958>Wengerd, S. A., and M. L. Matheny, 1958, [http://archives.datapages.com/data/bulletns/1957-60/data/pg/0042/0009/2000/2048.htm Pennsylvanian system of Four Corners region]: AAPG Bulletin, v. 42, p. 2048-2106.</ref> the present structural configuration is largely the result of Laramide deformation in the latest Cretaceous to early Tertiary.<ref name=Kelley_1951>Kelley, V. C., 1951, Tectonics of the San Juan basin, ''in'' Guidebook of the south and west sides of the San Juan basin, New Mexico and Arizona, 2nd Field Conference: New Mexico Geological Society, p. 124-131.</ref><ref name=Thadenandzech_1986 /> Paleotectonic reconstructions have shown that the basinal axis shifted considerably in pre-Laramide time. The bounding | + | Although the structural basin dates back to the Paleozoic Era,<ref name=Wengerdandmatheny_1958>Wengerd, S. A., and M. L. Matheny, 1958, [http://archives.datapages.com/data/bulletns/1957-60/data/pg/0042/0009/2000/2048.htm Pennsylvanian system of Four Corners region]: AAPG Bulletin, v. 42, p. 2048-2106.</ref> the present structural configuration is largely the result of [[Laramide]] deformation in the latest [[Cretaceous]] to early [[Tertiary]].<ref name=Kelley_1951>Kelley, V. C., 1951, Tectonics of the San Juan basin, ''in'' Guidebook of the south and west sides of the San Juan basin, New Mexico and Arizona, 2nd Field Conference: New Mexico Geological Society, p. 124-131.</ref><ref name=Thadenandzech_1986 /> [[Paleotectonic]] reconstructions have shown that the basinal axis shifted considerably in pre-Laramide time. The bounding [[uplift]]s at times were active and at times were quiescent. When active, the uplifts controlled the distribution of [[sediment]]s.<ref name=Santosandpeterson_1986>Santos, Elmer S., and Christine E. Turner-Peterson, 1986, [http://archives.datapages.com/data/specpubs/mineral1/data/a179/a179/0001/0000/0027.htm Tectonic setting of the San Juan basin in the Jurassic]: AAPG Studies in Geology 22, p. 27-33.</ref> |
Revision as of 21:47, 6 January 2015
The San Juan basin is a structural depression in the northwest corner of New Mexico and in southern Colorado that encompasses about 35,000 km2 (13,500 mi2). The basin contains deposits of natural gas, oil, coal, uranium, sand, gravel, limestone, humate, gypsum, road metal, building stone, water, and paleoplacer concentrations of heavy minerals, and therefore has been of economic interest to industries for many decades. The structural geology of the basin bears directly on the distribution of most of these resources and their recovery, and has attracted much academic interest in its relationship to depositional and tectonic patterns in the western interior of the United States.[1]
Although the structural basin dates back to the Paleozoic Era,[2] the present structural configuration is largely the result of Laramide deformation in the latest Cretaceous to early Tertiary.[3][1] Paleotectonic reconstructions have shown that the basinal axis shifted considerably in pre-Laramide time. The bounding uplifts at times were active and at times were quiescent. When active, the uplifts controlled the distribution of sediments.[4]
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Thaden, Robert E., and Robert S. Zech, 1986, Structure contour map of the San Juan basin and vicinity: AAPG Studies in Geology 22, p. 35-45.
- ↑ Wengerd, S. A., and M. L. Matheny, 1958, Pennsylvanian system of Four Corners region: AAPG Bulletin, v. 42, p. 2048-2106.
- ↑ Kelley, V. C., 1951, Tectonics of the San Juan basin, in Guidebook of the south and west sides of the San Juan basin, New Mexico and Arizona, 2nd Field Conference: New Mexico Geological Society, p. 124-131.
- ↑ Santos, Elmer S., and Christine E. Turner-Peterson, 1986, Tectonic setting of the San Juan basin in the Jurassic: AAPG Studies in Geology 22, p. 27-33.