Summer Field Geology in nEW MEXICO AND SOUTHERN COLORADO

Program Description

This program takes place in the Rio Grande rift and Rocky Mountains of north-central New Mexico and southern Colorado. During the 6 week course, students construct stratigraphic columns, geologic maps, and cross sections. Students also learn about the geologic and cultural history of the region and visit pristine wilderness areas for hiking and outdoors activities. Geologic maps are made of simple mesas with layer-cake stratigraphy, complex ranges with mildly folded and faulted sedimentary rocks, intensely deformed polyphase metamorphic terrains, and volcanic plateaux with Quaternary fault scarps and multiple-aged terrace deposits. Students write reports summarizing the geologic history of each area from their mapping. 

The program begins in the picturesque Ghost Ranch area of Abiquiu, NM. Then, the group steadily works farther north and higher in elevation into the Sangre de Cristo and San Juan Mountains as the summer progresses. Various high summit hikes are led, including some that expose dinosaur footprints and porphyry copper mineralization. The trip ends with a star-lit hike to the top of Great Sand Dunes National Park.