Open-file Report - 579
Block diagrams and cross-sections illustrating geologic and tectonic evolution of the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, Rio Grande rift, central New Mexico

The Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge (SNWR) lies athwart the Rio Grande rift in central New Mexico. Seven block diagrams and detailed captions are presented to illustrate the geologic and tectonic evolution of the SNWR. Diagrams represent: 1) continental accretion in the Paleo- and Meso-Proterozoic, 2) the Late Paleozoic ancestral Rocky Mountains orogeny, 3) the foreland basin of the Late Cretaceous western interior seaway, 4) the late-stage Laramide orogeny, 5) Paleogene supervolcanoes of the early Rio Grande rift, 6) early Neogene domino-style extension above a hot middle crust, and 7) late Neogene extension of the active Rio Grande rift. Additional diagrams include a perspective diagram of the SNWR, a geologically and geophysically constrained structure section across the active rift at 37º 17’ N, an annotated stratigraphic column and an index map showing the location of the SNWR within the Rio Grande rift.

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