Hydrogeology of the Coconino Plateau and adjacent areas, Coconino and Yavapai Counties, Arizona

Bills, Donald J.; Flynn, Marilyn E.; Monroe, Stephen

doi:10.3133/sir20055222

Cited by 27 publications

(29 citation statements)

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“…Brown clay‐rich sediment above and below this green clay layer also yielded high 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios (0.72635 below and 0.73875 above). Samples of Long Point limestone have significantly lower values (0.71055 to 0.71384) relative to the clay‐rich sediment below the limestone but higher than marine limestones; e.g., 87 Sr/ 86 Sr = 00.70789–0.70918 ( n = 7) for the Kaibab Limestone [ Patchett et al , ; Monroe et al , ; Bills et al , ]. The relatively lower 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios of the limestone compared to the siliciclastic sediments suggest marine limestone‐arkosic isotopic interactions for the source of water out of which the Long Point limestone precipitated.…”

Section: Methods Of Analysis and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constraints on a Late Cretaceous uplift, denudation, and incision of the Grand Canyon region, southwestern Colorado Plateau, USA, from U‐Pb dating of lacustrine limestone

et al. 2016

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The uplift and denudation of the Colorado Plateau is important in reconstructing the geomorphic and tectonic evolution of western North America. A Late Cretaceous (64 ± 2 Ma) U‐Pb age for the Long Point limestone on the Coconino Plateau, which overlies a regional erosional surface developed on Permo‐Triassic formations, supports unroofing of the Coconino Plateau part of Grand Canyon by that time. U‐Pb analyses of three separate outcrops of this limestone gave ages of 64.0 ± 0.7, 60.5 ± 4.6, and 66.3 ± 3.9 Ma, which dates are older than a fossil‐based, early Eocene age. Samples of the Long Point limestone were dated using the isotope dilution isochron method on well‐preserved carbonates having high‐uranium and low‐lead concentrations. Our U‐Pb ages on the Long Point limestone place important constraints on the (1) time of tectonic uplift of the southwestern Colorado Plateau and Kaibab arch, (2) time of denudation of the Coconino Plateau, and (3) Late Cretaceous models of paleocanyon incision west of, or across, the Kaibab arch. We propose that the age of the Long Point limestone, interbedded within the Music Mountain Formation in the Long Point area, represents a period of regional aggradation and a time of drainage blockage northward and eastward across the Kaibab arch, with possible diversion of northward drainage on the Coconino Plateau westward around the arch via a Laramide paleo‐Grand Canyon.

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Section: Methods Of Analysis and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constraints on a Late Cretaceous uplift, denudation, and incision of the Grand Canyon region, southwestern Colorado Plateau, USA, from U‐Pb dating of lacustrine limestone

et al. 2016

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“…The Big Springs and Muav Faults displace the Fig. 6 Strontium isotope ratio relative to 1/strontium concentration for spring samples; values from rock samples in Bills et al 2007 andMonroe et al 2005 uplifted area of the Kaibab Plateau from the western portion of our study area including Snake Gulch. Several springs discharge along the Big Springs Fault (Warm, Oak, Tilton, Mangum and Big springs); however, there is no perennial surface water flowing away from these springs, which indicates that the water discharging at the springs may then reinfiltrate into the subsurface.…”

Section: Groundwater Flowpaths and Residence Timesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…δ 13 C for the rock units Kaibab, Toroweap and Hermit formations are −1.0, −1.4 and −1.3‰ respectively from rocks near the south rim of the Grand Canyon and well cuttings near Williams AZ (Bills et al 2007). The average of the three δ 13 C rock unit values is −1.2 and was also used for the δ 13 C value of carbonate rock in NetpathXL to understand the difference in groundwater age interpretation if the groundwater was interacting with carbonate rock with this carbon isotope signature.…”

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confidence: 97%

“…Using a value of −1.2‰ decreases the corrected age for the springs and also results in negative ages for some of the Pigeon Spring samples indicating that the correction methods are not appropriate for calculating the groundwater age or that the sample plots near the zero age line if the carbonate rock is −1.2‰ δ 13 C. There was some variation in the δ 13 C data from Bills et al (2007) where the range of δ 13 C in the Kaibab was −2 to −0.2; Toroweap was −1.8 to −1, and the Hermit was −2.3 to −0.3, so analysis of δ 13 C in rock units from this study area would help with the interpretation of the age dating of the groundwater for Pigeon, Slide, Horse, and Upper Jumpup springs. A soil gas CO 2 value of −22‰ for δ 13 C was used based on the values from Hart et al 2010 for C3 plant dominated areas in Utah.…”

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Geochemistry and hydrology of perched groundwater springs: assessing elevated uranium concentrations at Pigeon Spring relative to nearby Pigeon Mine, Arizona (USA)

et al. 2016

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The processes that affect water chemistry as the water flows from recharge areas through breccia-pipe uranium deposits in the Grand Canyon region of the southwestern United States are not well understood. Pigeon Spring had elevated uranium in 1982 (44 μg/L), compared to other perched springs (2.7-18 μg/L), prior to mining operations at the nearby Pigeon Mine. Perched groundwater springs in an area around the Pigeon Mine were sampled between 2009 and 2015 and compared with material from the Pigeon Mine to better understand the geochemistry and hydrology of the area. Two general groups of perched groundwater springs were identified from this study; one group is characterized by calcium sulfate type water, low uranium activity ratio 234 U/ 238 U (UAR) values, and a mixture of water with some component of modern water, and the other group by calcium-magnesium sulfate type water, higher UAR values, and radiocarbon ages indicating recharge on the order of several thousand years ago. Multivariate statistical principal components analysis of Pigeon Mine and spring samples indicate Cu, Pb, As, Mn, and Cd concentrations distinguished mining-related leachates from perched groundwater springs. The groundwater potentiometric surface indicates that perched groundwater at Pigeon Mine would likely flow toward the northwest away from Pigeon Spring. The geochemical analysis of the water, sediment and rock samples collected from the Snake Gulch area indicate that the elevated uranium at Pigeon Spring is likely related to a natural source of uranium upgradient from the spring and not likely related to the Pigeon Mine.

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“…Both of these conditions are impossible in landscapes of high relief such as this. These assumptions are erroneous even in the broadest sense, considering the complicated spatial relation of the variably perched or confined modern groundwater table to today's diverse Grand Canyon geology and topography (2). We ask the authors to justify these key assumptions and explore more rigorously the resultant uncertainties in their data.…”

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confidence: 99%

Comment on "Age and Evolution of the Grand Canyon Revealed by U-Pb Dating of Water Table–Type Speleothems"

Pederson

Young

Lucchitta

et al. 2008

Science

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Polyak et al . (Reports, 7 March 2008, p. 1377) reported speleothem data leading to their inference that the western Grand Canyon incised much earlier than previously thought. This contradicts several lines of published geological knowledge in the region, hinges upon unjustified hydrogeological assumptions, and is based on two anomalous data points for which we offer alternative explanations.

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Hydrogeology of the Coconino Plateau and adjacent areas, Coconino and Yavapai Counties, Arizona

Cited by 27 publications

References 35 publications

Constraints on a Late Cretaceous uplift, denudation, and incision of the Grand Canyon region, southwestern Colorado Plateau, USA, from U‐Pb dating of lacustrine limestone

Constraints on a Late Cretaceous uplift, denudation, and incision of the Grand Canyon region, southwestern Colorado Plateau, USA, from U‐Pb dating of lacustrine limestone

Geochemistry and hydrology of perched groundwater springs: assessing elevated uranium concentrations at Pigeon Spring relative to nearby Pigeon Mine, Arizona (USA)

Comment on "Age and Evolution of the Grand Canyon Revealed by U-Pb Dating of Water Table–Type Speleothems"

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