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<br />CC16~~O <br /> <br />propagate through Santa Fe Group deposits to reach the inner valley alluvium and the Rio <br />Grande, Because the inner valley alluvium is in direct hydraulic connection with the surface- <br />water system, it is discussed in detail in the following section. The remainder of this section is <br />devoted to the Santa Fe Group. <br /> <br />Hawley and Haase (1992, p. II1-2) and Hawley and others (in press) divide the Santa Fe <br />Group and post-Santa Fe Group deposits into six hydrostratigraphic units that are based on <br />depositional environment, lithologic features, and time of deposition (table 1). They further <br />divide the deposits into 10 primary lithofaCies units based on texture, degree of induration, and <br />geometry and distribution of contrasting textural zones within the units. The lithofacies units, <br />their depositional setting, and composition are listed in table 2. Each of the lithofacies has <br />distinctive properties that influence its hydraulic characteristics (table 3), thereby allowing <br />estimation of the distribution of hydraulic characteristics of the Santa Fe Group in much of the <br />Albuquerque area. Kernodle and others (1995) used the general distributions of the lithofacies <br />units within the hydrostratigraphic units to estimate the distribution of horizontal hydraulic <br />conductivity in the Albuquerque Basin. The horizontal hydraulic-conductivity values they <br />estimated are summarized in table 1. Kernodle and others estimated vertical hydraulic <br />conductivity by assuming a vertical to horizontal anisotropy ratio of 1 :200, <br /> <br />Table l.-Hydrostratigraphic units of Santa Fe Group and post-Santa Fe Group deposits, <br />and estimated hydraulic-conductivity values in the Albuquerque Basin <br /> <br />[--, not applicable] <br /> <br />Hydrostratigraphic wdt of Hawley <br />and Haase (1992) and Hawley and <br />others (in press) <br />River alluvium (Holocene to late <br />Pleistocene age) <br /> <br />Valley-border alluvium (Holocene <br />to middle Pleistocene age) <br />Piedmont-slope alluvium (Holocene <br />to middle Pleistocene age) <br />Upper Santa Fe unit (early <br />Pleistocene to late Miocene age) <br /> <br />Middle Santa Fe unit (late to middle <br />Miocene age) <br />Lower Santa Fe unit (middle <br />Miocene to late Oligocene age) <br /> <br />Subdivisions used by Kernodle and <br />others (1995) . <br />Rio Grande inner valley <br />Clay wne in the Albuquerque South <br />Valley <br />Rio Puerco inner valley <br />Not distinguished from upper Santa <br />Fe unit for simulation purposes <br />Not simulated--above saturated zone <br /> <br />Horizontal hydraulic conductivity <br />estimated by Kernodle and others <br />(1995), in feet per day <br />40 <br />0.5 <br /> <br />20 <br /> <br />Undifferentiated <br />Piedmontcslope deposits <br />Axial-channel deposits <br />Undifferentiated <br /> <br />10 or 15 <br />10 <br />30 to 70 <br />4 <br /> <br />Undifferentiated <br />Zia sand <br />Cochiti Fonnation <br /> <br />2 <br />4 or 10 <br />4 <br /> <br />Many areas near the margins of the Albuquerque area and beyond are not described in <br />sufficient detail to estimate the distribution of hydraulic characteristics. The effects from ground- <br />water withdrawal continue to propagate through the aquifer bi spreading of the cone of <br />depression, particularly as withdrawals increase and expand. As these effects propagate, the <br />hydraulic characteristics of the deposits in these margin areas become more significant in the <br />hydrologic interaction of the aquifer and surface-water system. For this reason, it is useful tu <br />continue expanding the classification of the deposits beyond the Albuquerque area. <br /> <br />14 <br />