Current Abstract

February 13th, 2024 Meeting Abstract

Basin Fill Architecture of Pliocene-Lower Pleistocene Alluvial-Fan and Axial-Fluvial Strata Adjacent to the Mud Springs Mountains, Palomas Basin, Southern Rio Grande Rift

 

Presented by: Ron Foster

 

Abstract:

Well-exposed Pliocene-lower Pleistocene strata adjacent to the intrabasinal Mud Springs Mountains (MSM), near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico provide a nearly three-dimensional view of the Palomas half graben basin-fill and records the interplay between small alluvial fans derived from the MSM, large alluvial fans derived from the Black Range (BR), and the axial Rio Grande.

The distribution and interplay of sediments within MSM alluvial fans, BR alluvial fans, and axial Rio Grande record low and intermittent sediment yield from small (<1 km2) catchments in the MSM, as well as toe-cutting by the axial Rio Grande and by BR-derived fan channels, whose erosive power was related to high relief and high-elevation catchments with areas on the order of ~500 km2 in combination with contemporaneous faulting adjacent to the Caballo Mountains and eastward tilting of the half graben during most of the deposition. Additionally, stable carbon and oxygen isotopes from authigenic calcite within paleosols were used as paleoclimate proxies to interpret climatic control on the extent of MSM-derived alluvial fans.

Biography:

Ron Foster is a professional geologist with 14 years of oil and gas industry experience, having worked in exploration, operations, and development roles throughout the US mid-continent, Iraqi Kurdistan, and West Africa with Marathon Oil Co., and over three years developing California heavy oil assets with Berry Petroleum. For the past year he has worked for Cornerstone Engineering working primarily in the oil and gas regulatory space for California operators. Ron’s fascination with geology was sparked during a five-day Santa Barbara City College geology field course to the Death Valley area. Despite continuing to major in communication throughout his undergraduate studies, he took as many geology courses as he could, including attending a summer field course twice. While pursuing a master’s in communication at New Mexico State University, he regularly attended geology colloquia and found his way onto geology field trips. His passion and skills for filed geology led to a mapping-based geology master’s thesis, which was incorporated into quadrangle published by the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources.

 

 

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