Oakwood Salt Dome in Leon and Freestone Counties, East Texas, is under consideration as a nuclear waste repository. The surficial geology above the dome provides information needed to evaluate the last stages of salt growth in Oakwood Dome and has a bearing on studies of ground-water flow patterns.

Lineament analysis is part of a broad spectrum of structural studies employed to determine the tectonic stability of the East Texas Basin. Such information is necessary to assess the suitability of East Texas salt domes as possible repository sites for the storage of high-level nuclear wastes.

The Hueco Tanks geothermal area contains five known but now inactive hot wells (50° to 71°C). The area trends north-south along the east side of Tularosa-Hueco Bolson astride the Texas-New Mexico border approximately 40 km northeast of El Paso.

The third year of research was highlighted by the integration of regional basinal studies with growth histories for specific domes, studies of cap-rock diagenesis and salt deformation, preliminary studies of ground-water flow and geochemistry around Oakwood Dome, and preliminary studies of microseismicity in the Mount Enterprise fault zone.

Variable intensity of diagenesis is the factor primarily responsible for contrasting regional reservoir quality of Tertiary sandstones from the upper and lower Texas coast.