Preliminary investigations of the extent of Río Grande rift in the northern portion of the state of Chihuahua

During the past decade, the Río Grande rift has been recognized as one of the major Cenozoic continental rift systems. The other widely recognized rift systems are the East African rift, the Rhine graben, and Lake Baikal. A series of special publications (Riecker, 1979; Baldridge et al., 1984; Keller, 1986) have drawn the attention of the international scientific community to the Río Grande rift. Early studies suggested this rift might only extend as far south as the Socorro, New Mexico región which is about 300 km north of El Paso/Juárez. However, more recent geological (Seaget and Margan, 1979) and geophysical (Daggett et al., 1986; Sinno et al., 1986; Keller et al., 1988) studies document that the rift can be differentiated from the Basin and Range province and extends for a significant distance into the State of Chihuahua.