geothermal resource potential of the safford-san simon basin, arizona

tinuities appear to correlate with late Paleozoic and Mesozoic tectonic and
sedimentation patterns in southern Arizona (Elston, 1958; McKee, 1951;
Peirce, 1976; Ross, 1973).
In the Safford-San Simon basin, two linear discontinuities are interpreted
to cross the study area.
The northern element coincides with the
south-facing escarpment of the Gila Mountains.
This northern element contains
a northwest-striking array of Laramide porphyry copper ore bodies and prospects
in the Gila Mountains and Peloncillo Mountains to include the Phelps
Dodge, Kennecott, San Juan and Sanchez ore bodies in the Gila Mountains and
the Sol and Slick Rock basin prospects in the northern Peloncillo Mountains.
Another apparent Texas Zone discontinuity crosses the study area from Stockton
Pass in the Pinaleno Mountains to Granite Gap in the Peloncillo Mountains.
A major west-northwest oriented fault zone with Precambrian left-lateral
strike-slip traverses the Stockton Pass area (Swan, 1976).
In the San Simon
area, the southern boundary of a Pliocene-late Miocene depositional basin is
on strike with this element.
The depositional basin is interpreted
from drillers' logs and will be discussed in detail in the discussion of the
geothermal potential of the San Simon area.
At Granite Gap near the Arizona­
New Mexico border a structurally high exposure of pre-Tertiary rocks documents
another major northwest-oriented fault zone, which is also on strike with the
Stockton Pass zone (Gillerman, 1958; Armstrong and Silberman, 1974; and
Drewes and Thorman, 1978).
A major northeast-striking feature, the Morenci lineament, crosses the
northern Safford-San Simon basin.
The Gila River east of Safford defines
the lineament where it cuts through the northern Peloncillo Mountains in the
Gila Box.
the range.
The lineament crosses the Pinaleno Mountains at the "dog leg" in
Several very prominent canyons oriented northeast drain the east
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