KARST AT THE WIPP SITE

             PHOTOGRAPHS FROM DOCTORAL DISSERTATION OF RICHARD HAYES PHILLIPS:
         "PROSPECTS FOR REGIONAL GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION DUE TO KARST LANDFORMS
             IN MESCALERO CALICHE AT THE WIPP SITE NEAR CARLSBAD, NEW MEXICO"

LEFT:  Close-up of Mescalero caliche surface, 24 inches deep, in section 30.  Solution
activity has leached much of the carbonate, leaving pink solution pits 0.25 to 2 inches
long, from which the carbonate is essentially gone.

CENTER:  A large solution pipe in Mescalero caliche, 9 to 10 feet in diameter, 130 inches
deep, floored by Dewey Lake Redbeds, in section 30.  The caliche flanks dip at angles
ranging from 36 degrees to nearly vertical.  Powdery caliche terminates as abruptly as
the hardpan.  There is no calcareous material within this solution pipe; solution
processes are complete.

RIGHT:  A large solution pipe in Mescalero caliche, at least 12.75 feet in diameter,
110 inches deep, floored by Dewey Lake Redbeds, in section 30.  Where the caliche hardpan
drops off, siltstone fragments of Dewey Lake Redbeds are exposed in the trench floor;
water soaks in rapidly when poured on this exposure.  The Dewey Lake Redbeds are overlain
by an exposure of soft, calcareous dissolution residue, 36 inches thick and 31 inches long.

For a full discussion of the geologic context of these photographs see "Direct Testimony"
                         http://www.cardnm.org/techsecfrm_a.html