A gravity study of the Jornada del Muerto and Palomas Basins
— A. L. Gilmer, R. A. Mauldin, and G. Randy Keller

The Jornada del Muerto, in south-central New Mexico, is an intermontane, synclinal basin. The Palomas Basin, a faulted, east-tilted graben, lies west of the Jornada, between the Caballo Mountains and the Black Range. There is an excellent correlation between gravity anomalies and Cenozoic tectonic features in both basins. The gravity high over the central Jornada del Muerto Basin is interpreted as being due, at least in part, to a mid-crustal, high-density, mafic intrusion; gravity lows of the southern and northern Jornada indicate the synclinal nature of the entire basin. The southern boundary of the Jornada del Muerto, located approximately 10 km northeast of the Doña Ana caldera, is modeled as a fault with throw approaching 4 km. This fault is probably the reactivated northern margin of the Laramide Rio Grande uplift.