Announcements

This bulletin synthesizes 177 optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and 54 radiocarbon dates, as well as detailed sediment size and chemical signature data, to document the history of eolian sand deposition during the late Pleistocene and Holocene in southeastern New Mexico. The authors use this history, which is based on 20 years of field observations, to assess the preservation potential of archeological sites in this area. The bulletin is richly illustrated with photographs and figures that clearly tell the story of unearthing discoveries that were previously hidden beneath the shifting sands of southeastern New Mexico.

This book is available for free download as a PDF.

This six-volume boxed set is now available for free in PDF format:

1. Petroleum Geology — Ronald F. Broadhead
2. Coal Resources — Gretchen K. Hoffman
3. Uranium Resources — Virginia T. McLemore and William L. Chenoweth
4. Metallic Mineral Deposits — Virginia T. McLemore and Virgil W. Lueth
5. Industrial Minerals and Rocks — Virginia T. McLemore and George S. Austin
6. Overview of the Valles Caldera (Baca) Geothermal System — Fraser Goff and Cathy J. Goff

This 2017 Resource Map, by Virginia T. McLemore, locates and describes 246 mining areas in New Mexico, and is now available in PDF format.

One map sheet: 24" x 28", scale 1:1,000,000
Booklet: 65 p.

The New Mexico Geochronology Research Laboratory (NMGRL) has officially launched a campaign to build two endowments. One will be dedicated to student support and the other to technical excellence. The endowments are exclusively for the benefit of the NMGRL will ensure the sustainability of our facility and continued accessibility of our services to a vast array of researchers, students, and other geochronology consumers.

[Read more details about the laboratory and the endowments.]

Nelia W. Dunbar, David S. Gutzler, Kristin S. Pearthree, Fred M. Phillips, Paul W. Bauer, Craig D. Allen, David DuBois, Michael D. Harvey, J. Phillip King, Leslie D. McFadden, Bruce M. Thomson, and Anne C. Tillery, 2022

The bulletin, which is the scientific foundation upon which New Mexico's 50-Year Water Plan is based, represents a compilation, assessment and integration of existing peer-reviewed published research, technical reports and datasets relevant to the broad topic of changes to New Mexico climate over the next 50 years, and resultant impact on water resources. This project, also known as the "Leap Ahead" analysis, also identifies significant data and modeling gaps and uncertainties, and suggests research directions to strengthen our understanding of climate and water resource changes.

This book is available for free download as a PDF.

Stacy Timmons and Laila Sturgis, [eds.], 2022

The Salt Basin is a hydrologically closed, semiarid basin shared across the southern region of New Mexico and westernmost Texas. Water resources in the southwestern United States are limited, and they are becoming further strained due to increasing aridity and rising temperatures in the face of climate change. Even with significant changes to current water use and robust conservation, exploration of new or alternative water resources may be necessary as water shortages occur in the Southwest. Historically, in New Mexico water resource exploration efforts have occurred in basins with limited groundwater pumping or population. The Salt Basin has been one such region of exploratory interest for several decades.

[more details]

We've assembled a convenient dashboard showing petroleum metrics specific to New Mexico. The metrics include NM rig count, spot prices for oil & gas, and production curves for NM.

The Publications Group at the New Mexico Bureau of Geology is actively seeking manuscripts for New Mexico Geology and our technical Bulletin and Memoir series.