Geology of the Taos Region

About this guidebook

We return to Taos after a 20-year hiatus. On the 1984 field conference (Guidebook 35), participants circumnavigated the Picuris Mountains on Day 1, explored high into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on Day 2, and crossed the rift into the Tusas Mountains on Day 3. This year, the focus of the conference is quite different. We spend all of the first two days investigating the southern San Luis rift basin. On Day 1 (6 stops, 107 miles), we trace the dramatic Rio Grande gorge, stopping periodically to delve into the geologic history of the sedimentary and volcanic materials that fill the rift and the geomorphic history of the Rio Grande and its tributaries. On Day 2 (5 stops, 49 miles), we plot a course along the southeast boundary of the basin, tracking the structurally complex transition from the master rift fault zone to the rift accommodation zone. On Day 3 (3 stops, 23 miles), we cross from the San Luis to Espanola Basins, stalking elusive pre-rift structural basins and their spectacular sedimentary sequences. The roadlogs and papers in this guidebook and the field conference presentations highlight a vast body of new geologic data emerging from the Taos area.

GPS (Global Positioning System) waypoints are one new feature of this guidebook that may prove useful for those that intend to use the roadlogs after the conference. These waypoints can be uploaded into your GPS unit to aid in navigation at turns and stops along the route.