New Mexico Geological Society
Fall Field Conference Guidebook – 72
Socorro Region III

Daniel J. Koning, Kevin M. Hobbs, Fred M. Phillips, W. John Nelson, Steven M. Cather, Anne C. Jakle, and Brittney Van Der Werff, [editors]
2021, 426 pages.

Beautifully exposed geologic features in the Socorro region exemplify important events in the geologic history of central New Mexico. The relative ease of access to these intriguing features from the town of Socorro justifies a third NMGS visit to this area. The 2022 Fall Field Conference will showcase new mapping, geochronology, and other geologic studies that have occurred in the Socorro region since the 1983 Fall Field Conference. The array of rocks seen here include Proterozoic crystalline rocks, a relatively complete Pennsylvanian-Permian section, Oligocene volcanic rocks, Santa Fe Group deposits from all phases of rifting, and a complete set of post–Santa Fe Group, Quaternary terraces. Fault-propagation and fault-bend folds associated with the Laramide orogeny, in addition to rift-related domino-block tilting and half-grabens, are also nicely exposed in the Socorro area. This volume includes detailed road logs of the Socorro area, including the Little San Pascual Mountains. Twenty-one peer-reviewed, technical papers and seven minipapers present recent research of this important region.

There are two versions of this guidebook available, the complete guidebook (426 pages), and a version with just the road logs that is spiral bound (146 pages).