The San Luis Valley is a region in south-central Colorado with a small portion overlapping into New Mexico. The valley is approximately 122 miles (196 km) long and 74 miles (119 km) wide, extending from the Continental Divide on the northwest rim into New Mexico on the south. It contains 6 counties and portions of 3 others. It is an extensive high-altitude depositional basin of approximately 8,000 square miles (21,000 km2) with an average elevation of 7,664 feet (2,336 m) above sea level. The valley is a section of the Rio Grande Rift and is drained to the south by the Rio Grande, which rises in the San Juan Mountains to the west of the valley and flows south into New Mexico. The San Luis Valley has a cold desert climate but has substantial water resources from the Rio Grande and groundwater.
The Rio Grande rift is a north-trending continental rift zone. It separates the Colorado Plateau in the west from the interior of the North American craton on the east. The rift extends from central Colorado in the north to the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, in the south. The rift zone consists of four basins that have an average width of 50 kilometres (31 mi). The rift can be observed on location at Rio Grande National Forest, White Sands National Park, Santa Fe National Forest, and Cibola National Forest, among other locations.
The Brazos Mountains is a range in far northern Rio Arriba County, in northern New Mexico in the southwestern United States. The range is part of the Tusas Mountains, which extended slightly into Colorado. A high crest runs from the border with Colorado for over 20 miles (32 km) in a south-southeasterly direction. The high point of the range at 11,405 feet (3,476 m) is on Grouse Mesa, at the Brazos Benchmark. Two miles (3 km) to the southeast is the more distinctive Brazos Peak, at 11,288 feet.
The Caballo Mountains, are a mountain range located in Sierra and Doña Ana Counties, New Mexico, United States. The range is located east of the Rio Grande and Caballo Lake, and west of the Jornada del Muerto; the south of the range extends into northwest Doña Ana County. The nearest towns are Truth or Consequences and Hatch.
The Albuquerque Basin is a structural basin and ecoregion within the Rio Grande rift in central New Mexico. It contains the city of Albuquerque.
The Camp Rice Formation is a geologic formation in west Texas and southern New Mexico. It preserves fossils of the Pliocene-Pleistocene. These include the distinctive Tonuco Mountain Local Fauna.
The Chamita Formation is a geologic formation in north-central New Mexico. It preserves unique fossils dating back to the Neogene period. The presence of volcanic ash beds in the formation, which can be radiometrically dated, gives the absolute age of the fossils, which is valuable for establishing the geologic time scale of the Neogene.
The Popotosa Formation is a geologic formation in New Mexico. It preserves fossils dating back to the Neogene period. These include the Socorro flora, notable for its fine preservation of plant reproductive structures.
The Rincon Valley Formation is a geologic formation found in the Rincon Valley of New Mexico. It preserves fossils dating back to the Miocene epoch and records a time when the valley was a closed basin, just before being integrated into the ancestral Rio Grande River.
The Tesuque Formation is a geologic formation in north-central New Mexico, United States. The formation provides an unusually complete record of the evolution of mammals during the Miocene epoch.
The Zia Formation is a geologic formation in the southwestern Jemez Mountains and northwestern Santo Domingo basin. It contains vertebrate fossils that date it to early to middle Miocene in age.
Robbie Rice Gries is an American petroleum geologist who was the first female president (2001–02) of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), president of the Geological Society of America (2018–19), and founder of Priority Oil & Gas LLC. Gries is noted to have made some influential progress for women in this field. In 2017, Gries published the book titled Anomalies—Pioneering Women in Petroleum Geology: 1917-2017. Gries is recognized as an unconventional thinker when approaching geological concepts and applications.
The geology of New Mexico includes bedrock exposures of four physiographic provinces, with ages ranging from almost 1800 million years (Ma) to nearly the present day. Here the Great Plains, southern Rocky Mountains, Colorado Plateau, and Basin and Range Provinces meet, giving the state great geologic diversity.
The Tanos Formation is a geologic formation in central New Mexico. It is estimated to be about 25 million years in age, corresponding to the Oligocene epoch.
The Ancha Formation is a geologic formation found near Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is estimated to be between 1 and 3 million years in age, corresponding to the late Pliocene and Pleistocene.
The Arroyo Ojito Formation is a late Miocene geologic formation exposed near Albuquerque, New Mexico. It records deposition of sediments in the Albuquerque Basin of the Rio Grande Rift after full integration of the Rio Grande through the basin.
The Blackshare Formation is a geologic formation exposed in the Hagan Basin west of the Ortiz Mountains of New Mexico. It is estimated be to of Miocene age.
The Servilleta Basalt or Servilleta Formation is a geologic formation that underlies most of the Taos Plateau of northern New Mexico. It has a radiometric age of 3.6 to 4.5 million years, corresponding to the Pliocene epoch.
The Picuris Formation is a geologic formation exposed in the eastern flank of the Rio Grande rift in northern New Mexico. It was deposited from the late Eocene to Miocene epochs.
The Espanola basin is a structural basin in northern New Mexico. It is located in the Rio Grande watershed and is part of the Rio Grande rift. The definition of its boundaries is not fully settled, but the basin is usually defined such that it includes the cities of Santa Fe, Los Alamos, and Espanola.
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