Bureau of Geology News

Rocks in the Zuni Mountains record two distinct intervals of uplift over the last 80 million years preserved as cooling signatures in apatite mineral grains, according to a new paper published in Tectonics by New Mexico Bureau of Geology Field Geologist Dr. Jacob Thacker and Senior Geophysicist/Field Geologist Dr. Shari Kelley. The initial phase occurred during the Laramide orogeny, a deformation event that affected a wide swath of the western U.S. from 90 to 40 million years ago. The second uplift phase occurred at or after 20 million years ago, maybe as recently as 10 million years ago, and may be the result of convection in the mantle.

About 65 million years ago, a river system rapidly depositing sediments eroded off of the San Juan Mountains in Colorado formed the Ojo Alamo Sandstone located in the modern-day San Juan Basin, says a new paper published in Geosphere by New Mexico Bureau of Geology Field Geologist Dr. Kevin Hobbs. The article details how this little-studied unit likely formed as an amalgamation of multiple rivers all depositing predominantly sand carried south from the uplands to the north.

New Mexico Bureau of Geology Senior Field Geologist Dr. Geoffrey Rawling and New Mexico Tech Assistant Professor Dr. Alex Rinehart will receive the John C. Frye Environmental Geology Award at the Geological Society of America annual meeting in Portland, OR for their paper “Lifetime projections for the High Plains Aquifer in east-central New Mexico.” This award is presented annually to the best paper on environmental geology published either by one of the state geological surveys or by the Geological Society of America within the last 3 years.

Ron Broadhead, emeritus principal petroleum geologist at New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, was interviewed for the "Stone Notes" podcast about helium in New Mexico. The discussion focuses on helium exploration with some references to the research paper by Ronald Broadhead titled "Helium in New Mexico – geologic distribution, resource demand, and exploration possibilities”. Some highlights include discussing which reservoirs are ideal for helium production. Tune in to learn more about this interesting New Mexico resource.

The New Mexico Tech 2021 Distinguished Research Award winner is Dr. Nelia Dunbar, Director of the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources. The recipient of the Distinguished Research Award is chosen by a committee of Tech faculty and researchers from a list of candidates nominated by their colleagues.

Five Bureau-supported students, Tyler Cantrell, Haley Dietz, Ethan Haft, Nico Harrison, and Evan Owen, received awards from the New Mexico Geological Society for their their New-Mexico-focused research projects. The awards were announced at the New Mexico Geological Society spring meeting.

The New Mexico Bureau of Geology’s Geologic Mapping Program was awarded $583,603 through the federal STATEMAP program to continue detailed mapping. This year’s projects will focus on three key regions: the Rio Grande watershed, the lower Pecos River watershed, and along the Interstate-40 corridor near Gallup, New Mexico.

Bureau researchers have authored a book chapter Active volcanoes in Marie Byrd Land on three active volcanoes in West Antarctica. This work appears in a Geological Society of London Lyell Memoir entitled: Volcanism in Antarctica: 200 Million Years of Subduction, Rifting and Continental Break-Up.

Geoheritage sites come in many flavors. Some may be surprised to learn the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources houses a geoheritage site within its building.

The research of a number of New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources scientists has recently been featured on news shows or podcasts. Also, our local public radio station, KUNM, featured pieces by New Mexico Tech geologists for "Earth Science Week".