Gravity, depth to consolidated rock, and soil temperature in the Elko area, northeastern Nevada

The Elko area, in northeastern Navada, lies in a northeast-trending structural valley that is filled with Quaternary deposits and Tertiary sedimentary rocks to a maximum depth of about 4,500 feet. The deepest part of the valley is centered west of Elko. The valley-fill deposits in the remainder of the valley have an average depth of about 2,500 feet. 

The depth estimates were made from about 200 gravity measurements. Depths were calculated using a three-dimentional gravity inversion model and correlate fairly well with data from an oil test well drilled near Elko. 

Soil Temperature measurements, made at a depth of 6.6 feet (2 meeters) at 35 locations in the study area, indicate a major thermal anomaly (66 degrees Celsius) southwest of Elko, an area of known hot-spring activity.