New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting — Abstracts

Igneous dikes have been described in the Castile Formation of southeastern Eddy County, NM. This study has been conducted to determine if there is a relationship between gypsum karst development and igneous dikes in the Castile Formation in Eddy County, New Mexico. The igneous dikes are thought to have an affect on the local hydrology and associated karst development around them. To conduct this research a surface survey of the area around the dike was done to find and document karst features and geology. Also, randomly generated areas away from the dikes were surveyed to use as a control. A T-Test was run to determine if there is a significant difference between karst development around the dike and in the control areas. ArcGis, which was used to analyze the data collected, shows a relationship between the karst development and igneous dikes.