New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting — Abstracts

John W. Hawley, along with colleagues, has been working on a surficial geologic map of New Mexico since the mid 1970s. Surficial data for the state were compiled predominantly in the 1980s on USGS 1:250,000 topographic quadrangles. Map units were differentiated into three orders of classification: 1) major genetic materials and their relative ages, 2) lithologic character of clasts and bedrock terranes, and 3) particle size and dominant textural classes. Point symbols for volcanic features were also depicted. These efforts culminated in a wealth of data, which in turn led to extreme challenges for cartographic organization and digital production. Two separate efforts in the mid 1990s and 2000-01 failed to produce either a surficial map or a digital product.

The New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources received funding in 2002 to reorganize the data and produce digital coverages for quadrants of the state. Vast technological advances since the original map data were compiled has led to both data refinement and enrichment; the original dataset was greatly enhanced by overlaying it upon both a 30-m digital elevation model (DEM) and a TM satellite image of the state. To date, digital surficial data for the NW, NE, and SE quadrants of the state have been compiled. Final completion of data capture and production of both a map of genetic/age classes, as well as a GIS-based digital product displaying all surficial data is expected by the end of 2004.