Rio Grande Rift: Northern New Mexico, New Mexico Geological Society Thirty-Fifth Annual Field Conference October 11-13, 1984

379 Pages. No marks or stamps. The single defect to this otherwise As New book is a small abrasion to back board edge. Interior text pages are flawless. The theme of the 1984 New Mexico Geological Society field conference was the Rio Grande rift. It has become recognized since the 1978 International Symposium in Santa Fe, as a major late Cenozoic extensional feature of the continental lithosphere. As such, the rift has become the focus of an increasing amount of research directed toward developing a broader understanding of the dynamics and thermal history of the lithosphere. Since it is impossible for a single field conference to cover the entire rift, this year's guidebook focuses on its northern New Mexico segment. Here the rift is tectonically and morphologically well defined; hence, descriptions and discussions of this region are relevant both to the rift and to rifting processes generally. The rift is a modern tectonic feature and many of its characteristics and even its existence are determined by geological events certainly as old as late Paleozoic and perhaps even as old as Precambrian. Hence, work which may not seem rift-related to us at this time may eventually turn out to be relevant. The Rio Grande rift, largely because of its control on drainage, has strongly influenced Indian and Spanish settlement and trade patterns. In recognition of this intimate relationship between the geology and the culture and history of northern New Mexico, this guidebook includes an integrated group of papers on the archaeology of northern New Mexico. Three of these papers, by Peckham, Schroeder, and Cordell, were originally presented as part of a lecture series at the College of Santa Fe entitled Man on the Rio Grande: 10,000 Years of Human History, organized by John Ware and Myra Ellen Jenkins. Nine Articles Presented: Rift Processes, Tectonics Structure and Geophysics, Stratigraphy Sedimentology and Paleontology, Volcanic Geology, Precambrian Geology, Economic Geology, Geomorphology and Quaternary Geology, Hydrogeology and Water Geochemistry, and Archaeology and History.…