Continental Scientific Drilling Program: Valles Caldera, New Mexico

Technical Report · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1993

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/894723· OSTI ID:894723

The U.S. Continental Scientific Drilling Program attempts to develop a better understanding of the geologic and hydrologic mechanisms within the continental crust, under the auspices of an interagency group comprising the US Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Geological Survey. Ten years of research and drilling in the Valles caldera of northern New Mexico has provided a new understanding of volcanism and geothermal systems within a large caldera. Situated at the intersection of the Rio Grande rift and the Jemez volcanic lineament, the Valles caldera and Toledo calderas were formed during two massive eruptions 1.1 and 1.5 M a that vented approximately 300 to 400 km{sup 3} of high-silica rhyolitic tephra. The research at the Valles/Toledo caldera has provided more than 3000 m of corehole samples, which are stored in a repository in Grand Junction, Colorado, and are accessible to the public. This research has also helped support theories of mineral deposition within hydrothermal systems-hot water circulating through breccias, leaching elements from the rocks, and later depositing veins of economically valuable materials.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 894723
• Report Number(s): LALP-93-82
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
CALDERAS
CONTINENTAL CRUST
DEPOSITION
DRILLING
GEOLOGIC SURVEYS
GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS
Geothermal Legacy
LEACHING
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
RIO GRANDE RIFT
VOLCANISM
WATER