Regional water table (2014) in the Mojave River and Morongo Groundwater Basins, southwestern Mojave Desert, California

Teague, Nicholas F.; Dick, Meghan; House, Sally F.; Clark, Dennis A.

doi:10.3133/ofr20161105

Cited by 2 publications

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“…Neal et al [] and Goetz [] had attributed the lowering of water table levels in regions such as the San Bernardino County to intense irrigation and human consumption, which offers an explanation for the development of large fractures in the sites visited in this particular region. Indeed, regional water table maps for the San Bernardino region [e.g., Teague et al ., ] (a detailed list of regional water table maps is available through The Mojave Water Agency (http://www.mojavewater.org/regional-water-table.html)) clearly show a decline in water table levels since the 1950s in many regions including the Lucerne dried Lake. It should be noted that similar comprehensive data are unavailable for the two other dried lakes of interest in the County (i.e., Soggy and Coyote), probably due to their relatively more secluded nature.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Field investigation of dried lakes in western United States as an analogue to desiccation fractures on Mars

et al. 2015

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Potential Desiccation Polygons (PDPs), tens to hundreds of meters in size, have been observed in numerous regions on Mars, particularly in ancient (>3 Gyr old) terrains of inferred paleolacustrine/playa geologic setting, and in association with hydrous minerals such as smectites. Therefore, a better understanding of the conditions in which large desiccation polygons form could yield unique insight into the ancient climate on Mars. Many dried lakebeds/playas in western United States display large (>50 m wide) desiccation polygons, which we consider to be analogues for PDPs on Mars. Therefore, we have carried out fieldwork in seven of these dried lakes in San Bernardino and the Death Valley National Park regions complemented with laboratory and spectral analysis of collected samples. Our study shows that the investigated lacustrine/playa sediments have (a) a soil matrix containing ~40–75% clays and fine silt (by volume) where the clay minerals are dominated by illite/muscovite followed by smectite, (b) carbonaceous mineralogy with variable amounts of chloride and sulfate salts, and significantly, (c) roughly similar spectral signatures in the visible‐near‐infrared (VIS‐NIR) range. We conclude that the development of large desiccation fractures is consistent with water table retreat. In addition, the comparison of the mineralogical to the spectral observations further suggests that remote sensing VIS‐NIR spectroscopy has its limitations for detailed characterization of lacustrine/playa deposits. Finally, our results imply that the widespread distribution of PDPs on Mars indicates global or regional climatic transitions from wet conditions to more arid ones making them important candidate sites for future in situ missions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Field investigation of dried lakes in western United States as an analogue to desiccation fractures on Mars

et al. 2015

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Hydrogeology and simulation of groundwater flow in the Lucerne Valley groundwater basin, California

Stamos¹,

Larsen²,

Powell³

et al. 2022

Scientific Investigations Report

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not have been completed without the continued support, technical input, collaboration, and groundwater-level data collected by the Mojave Water Agency and the pumpage data provided by the Mojave Water Agency Watermaster. We are grateful to our U.S. Geological Survey illustrator Donna Knifong and editor Dawn Nahhas for their help in completing the report. A special acknowledgement is extended to the U.S. Geological Survey colleagues who made significant contributions during the early stages of this project, including Jill Densmore,

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Regional water table (2014) in the Mojave River and Morongo Groundwater Basins, southwestern Mojave Desert, California

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Field investigation of dried lakes in western United States as an analogue to desiccation fractures on Mars

Field investigation of dried lakes in western United States as an analogue to desiccation fractures on Mars

Hydrogeology and simulation of groundwater flow in the Lucerne Valley groundwater basin, California

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