Tv - Verde Formation

Approximate Thickness

0-1,800 feet.

Lithologic Description

Thick limestone facias: Limestone and marl, white to light-gray, grayish-orange and pinkish-gray; beds are 6 inches to 5 feet thick, many contain lenses and nodules of chert.

Lower, middle, and upper limestone facies: Limestone and marl, white to pinkish-gray and light-gray; beds are 1 to 10 feet thick, many contain lenses and nodules of chert, and solution channels.

Mudstone facies: Mudstone and claystone, yellowish-green to light-gray, pale-olive, and yellowish-orange; beds are less than 1 inch to 5 feet thick, some are sandy and silty, contain evaporite minerals.

Sandstone facies: Sandstone and siltstone, very fine to fine-grained, grayish-orange to light-brown and moderate-orange-pink; contains some interbedded layers of mudstone, claystone, and limestone.

Water-Bearing Characteristics

Principal unit of the regional aquifer where it crops out; limestone and sandstone facies are water bearing where saturated; well yields range from a few gallons per minute to as much as 2,000 gallons per minute from the limestone facies where it contains solution channels and joints; in the area south and east of Camp Verde the formation contains salt and gypsum that contribute excessive amounts of magnesium, sodium, sulfate, or chloride resulting in the water not being suitable for domestic or agricultural use. Arsenic concentrations exceeding the maximum contaminant level for drinking water are found in the area from Cornville and Lake Montezuma to Camp Verde.

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