The Safford-San Simon basin in southeastern Arizona has a volume of Cenozoic sediments over 5,000 cubic kilometers, more than twice the amount of the next largest basin in the state, and accounting for more than 12% of all Arizona's Cenozoic basin sediments.
A new AZGS publication by Senior Geologist Jon Spencer, calculates basin volumes for their CO2 sequestration potential, as part of a DOE-funded project with WESTCARB (West Coast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership).
Jon also calculated the sediment volumes below 800 meter depth, where CO2 should remain in a liquid form due to overburden pressures.
The report is online for free viewing and downloading.
[right, 88 Cenozoic basins for which volume calculations were done. Contiguous basins were divided at areas of shallow bedrock. The ten basins with the greatest basin volume below 800m depth are shown in red with basin names. Basin numbers correspond to basin numbers in Table 1 in the report]
Ref: Preliminary Evaluation of Cenozoic Basins in Arizona
for CO2 Sequestration Potential, May, 2011, Jon E. Spencer, AZGS OFR-11-05 v1.1, p15. http://repository.azgs.az.gov/uri_gin/azgs/dlio/1080