Geologic interpretation of Apollo 6 stereophotography from Baja California to west Texas

Excellent space photography of parts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico was obtained during the unmanned Apollo 6 spaceflight. Two features of this photography made it useful for geologic interpretations: its vertical stereocoverage and its exposure under a relatively low angle of solar illumination through an unusually cloud-free and clear atmosphere. The structural patterns, which were topographically enhanced by the longer shadows, were annotated on the photographs, in order to analyze their trends with respect to the continental tectonic framework, and to attempt to correlate the pattern with known copper or other base metal deposits. The annotated fracture patterns showed the regional trends and their distribution. The area studied was a 100- to 105-mile swath of terrain covering a total land area of approximately 60,000 square statute miles. The coverage began from a point centered on Punta Colnett on the Pacific coast of Baja California and extended to the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico and west Texas.