Data release for Surficial Geology of the Northern San Luis Valley, Saguache, Fremont, Custer, Alamosa, Rio Grande, Conejos, and Costilla Counties, Colorado
Dates
Publication Date
2021-06-21
Time Period
2021
Citation
Ruleman, C.A., and Brandt, T.R., 2021, Data release for Surficial Geology of the Northern San Luis Valley, Saguache, Fremont, Custer, Alamosa, Rio Grande, Conejos, and Costilla Counties, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9PUTQYK.
Summary
The San Luis Valley and associated underlying basin of south-central Colorado and north-central New Mexico is the largest structural and hydrologic basin of the Rio Grande Rift and fluvial system. The surrounding San Juan and Sangre de Cristo Mountains reveal evidence of widespread volcanism and transtensional tectonism beginning in the Oligocene and continuing to the present, as seen in fault displacement of Pleistocene to Holocene deposits along the eastern basin-bounding Sangre de Cristo fault system and fault zones along the western margin of the basin. The San Luis basin can generally be subdivided into northern and southern basins at the structural and physiographic high terrain of the San Luis Hills in the center of the basin, [...]
Summary
The San Luis Valley and associated underlying basin of south-central Colorado and north-central New Mexico is the largest structural and hydrologic basin of the Rio Grande Rift and fluvial system. The surrounding San Juan and Sangre de Cristo Mountains reveal evidence of widespread volcanism and transtensional tectonism beginning in the Oligocene and continuing to the present, as seen in fault displacement of Pleistocene to Holocene deposits along the eastern basin-bounding Sangre de Cristo fault system and fault zones along the western margin of the basin. The San Luis basin can generally be subdivided into northern and southern basins at the structural and physiographic high terrain of the San Luis Hills in the center of the basin, proximal to the Colorado-New Mexico stateline. The northern San Luis Valley can be subdivided into two subbasins at approximately the latitude of the Great Sand Dunes and San Luis Lakes, where the endorheic northern subbasin surface and subsurface flow currently accumulate in a series of playa lakes. To the south of this playa region, the Rio Grande has captured basin hydrology into a through-going fluvial system cutting through the San Luis Hills, carving the Rio Grande gorge, and ultimately flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. This surficial geologic map of the northern San Luis Valley, paired with the Alamosa, CO 1:100,000-scale geologic map (U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3342) provides new and compiled geologic mapping that characterizes basin deposits and locates the traces of active faults, with the goal to provide geospatial data for future investigations related to western North American neotectonics, Pleistocene paleoclimate, and related geomorphic processes. In addition, present natural and anthropogenic water bodies have been located and updated for hydrologic modeling and water-usage investigations.
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Related External Resources
Type: Related Primary Publication
Ruleman, C.A., and Brandt, T.R., 2021, Surficial geology of the northern San Luis Valley, Saguache, Fremont, Custer, Alamosa, Rio Grande, Conejos, and Costilla Counties, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map, https://doi.org/10.3133/sim3475.
Land-use planners of many kinds (including National Forest managers, developers, city and rural planners, and highway builders) need accurate geologic data with which to make informed decisions. This geologic map and geodatabase are designed to meet this requirement. The map is also part of the National Geologic Database, which is intended as digital framework for the entire country. From a scientific standpoint, the map attempts to clarify many chronologic, stratigraphic, and geomorphic relationships within the San Luis Valley and basin, showing relationships related to neotectonics of the northern Rio Grande rift and Pleistocene paleoclimate of the southern Rocky Mountains. The conceptual structural and stratigraphic figure stages the Oligocene to Pliocene tectono-magmatic evolution of the San Luis Valley with regional tephrachonologic and local stratigraphic relationships. The regional stratigraphic correlation chart places local San Luis Valley and regional deposits within a Pleistocene paleoclimate context with a generalized correlation of the marine isotope record and related paleoclimatic intervals.
