Skip Links

USGS - science for a changing world

Open-File Report 00-189

Summary of Geophysical Investigations of the Death Valley Regional Water-Flow Modeling Project, Nevada and California

By Richard J. Blakely, Victoria E. Langenheim, and David A. Ponce

Thumbnail of and link to report PDF (11.4 MB)Abstract

This report summarizes geophysical investigations in the Amargosa Desert and surrounding areas conducted between 1997 and 2000 in support of the Death Valley Regional Water-Flow Modeling Project of the U.S. Geological Survey. These investigations used both gravity and aeromagnetic data to develop a regional-scale tectonic and lithologic model for the near-surface. Gravity data were inverted in order to estimate the depth to pre-Cenozoic basement throughout the study area. This basement surface is interpreted to be the contact between pre-Cenozoic carbonate rocks and overlying alluvium, an important component of water-flow models. Gravity data also were used to identify locations where basement rocks are anomalously dense, possibly indicating areas resistant to water flow. A new aeromagnetic survey of the central part of the study area was used to map concealed faults and areas underlain by volcanic rocks.

First posted November 13, 2001

For additionl information, contact:
Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
345 Middlefield Road, MS 901
Menlo Park, CA 94025-3591
http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/gmeg/

Part or all of this report is presented in Portable Document Format (PDF). For best results viewing and printing PDF documents, it is recommended that you download the documents to your computer and open them with Adobe Reader. PDF documents opened from your browser may not display or print as intended. Download the latest version of Adobe Reader, free of charge.


Suggested citation:

Blakely, Richard J., Langenheim, Victoria E., and Ponce, David A., 2000, Summary of Geophysical Investigations of the Death Valley Regional Water-Flow Modeling Project, Nevada and California: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 00-189, 31 pp., https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2000/0189/.




Accessibility FOIA Privacy Policies and Notices

Take Pride in America logo USA.gov logo U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://pubsdata.usgs.gov/pubs/of/2000/0189/index.html
Page Contact Information: GS Pubs Web Contact
Page Last Modified: Wednesday, 07-Dec-2016 18:16:37 EST