New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting — Abstracts

Examination of remote imagery of Tijeras Canyon drainage and reflection seismic profiles imply disturbance of drainage from Tijeras Canyon. During the deposition of late Tertiary sediments on the Hubble bench in the area now occupied by Kirtland Military reservation and into Pleistocene time, the principal drainage of Tijeras Canyon flowed straight southwest along the projection of the Tijeras fault through the Isleta Pueblo. The outlet of Tijeras drainage moved steadily to the northeast during the Pleistocene, occupying a complex of channels that trend west and at some times flowed first west and then south along the Llano de Albuquerque, perhaps under structural control of basinal faults. These faults are visible on imagery as strong lineaments near the west edge of the llano. The original drainage channel has been elevated several hundred feet at its center, east of Manzano base, and the northern limb of this drainage is presently reversed, flowing out through the most recent natural exit of Tijeras drainage, north of Four Hills. This disturbance has its approximate center at the intersection of the Tijeras and Hubble Springs faults and appears to be a region of strong tectonic uplift. These observations support evidence of activity of the Tijeras fault system documented by Machette and Lozinsky and may imply previously unsuspected Holocene interaction between the Tijeras and Hubble Springs faults.