Morrison Formation, San Juan Basin (08)
Comments on Geologic Parameters
08 Continuity of Top Seal:
In his paper on ground-water resources of the upper Colorado River Basin, Freethey (1987a, p. 61) identified the Brushy Basin as the confining unit of the Morrison aquifer. Even though Freethey's assessment is only for Colorado, Utah, and Arizona, the literature (for example, Turner and others, 1991) suggests that this general configuration is also appropriate for the San Juan Basin. Freethey (1987a) described the confining units in his study (including the Brush Basin Member) as leaky. Additional characterization is needed.
08 Map:
08 Reference:
Freethey, G. W., 1987a, Upper Colorado River Basin regional aquifer-systems analysis—Mesozoic rocks in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, Arizona, and New Mexico, in McLean, J. S., and Johnson, A. I., eds., Regional aquifer systems of the United States—aquifers of the western mountain area: 23rd Annual American Water Resources Association (AWRA) Conference and Symposium, Salt Lake City: AWRA Monograph Series No. 14, p. 57–70.
Kirk, A. R., and Condon, S. M., 1986, Structural control of sedimentation patterns and the distribution of uranium deposits in the Westwater Canyon Member of the Morrison Formation, northwestern New Mexico—a subsurface study, in Turner-Peterson, C. E., Santos, E. S., and Fishman, N. S., eds., A basin analysis case study: the Morrison Formation Grants uranium region New Mexico: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Studies in Geology No. 22, p. 105–143.
Turner-Peterson, C. E., 1987, Sedimentology of the Westwater Canyon and Brushy Basin Members, Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation, Colorado Plateau, and relationship to uranium mineralization: University of Colorado, Ph.D. dissertation, 169 p.