Landslides and other mass movements near TA-33, northern White Rock Canyon, New Mexico. Final report

摘要

Massive slump complexes and at least two rock avalanches flank the eastern rim of the Pajarito Plateau along northern White Rock Canyon, north of TA-33. Landslides failed along mechanically weak rocks in the Santa Fe Group, within the Puye Formation, or in Pliocene alluvial and lacustrine units. The landslides are mainly of early or middle Pleistocene age. The toe area of at least,one slump complex has been active in the late Pleistocene, damming White Rock Canyon near the mouth of Water Canyon. Lacustrine sediment that filled this lake, or series of lakes, to an elevation of at least 1710 m is preserved at a number of upstream sites, including a deposit near the Buckman townsite that exposes 30 m of lacustrine sediment. Charcoal collected at several sites has been submitted for (sup 14)C dating. Landslides, however, probably do not represent a significant short-term threat to the material disposal areas at TA-33. Bedrock that lies beneath the TA-33 mesa is relatively stable, the mesa shows no signs of incipient failure, and past periods of slide activity were responses to rapid downcutting of the Rio Grande and climate change, probably over periods of several decades, at least. Rockfall and headward erosion of gullies do not represent significant decadal hazards on canyon rims near TA-33. Gully migration near MDA-K is a potential threat, but the gullies were not examined in detail. A system of north-trending faults, at least one of which displays Pleistocene activity, bisects the TA-33 mesa. If these faults are capable of producing significant seismic shaking, generalizations about landslide and rockfall hazards must be reevaluated.