New Mexico Geological Society
Fall Field Conference Guidebook – 69
Las Cruces Country III

Greg H. Mack, Brian A. Hampton, Frank C. Ramos, James C. Witcher, and Dana S. Ulmer-Scholle, [editors]
2018, 218 pages.

After a 20-year hiatus, the 2018 NMGS Fall Field Conference will showcase the geology of south-central New Mexico with emphasis on the Doña Ana Mountains and surrounding regions near Las Cruces. The Las Cruces area is situated in the northern part of the Chihuahua Desert and is noted for a wide variety of geologic and geomorphic features as well as the recently-designated Prehistoric Trackways National Monument (2009) and Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument (2014). New data and topics discussed in this guidebook include regional geologic structure and tectonics, stratigraphy and paleontology, hydrogeology, petrology and geochemistry, volcanology, economic geology and mineral resources, mining history, as well as a wealth of new igneous and detrital geochronologic and thermochronologic ages from Precambrian- Cenozoic rocks. This volume includes detailed road logs of the Las Cruces region as well as four mini-papers and sixteen peer-reviewed technical research papers.

There are two versions of this guidebook available, the complete guidebook (218 pages), and a version with just the road logs that is spiral bound (68 pages).

ISBN: 1-58546-108-3

Table of Contents:

Note —Downloads of the papers below are free. Road logs mini-papers, maps, and other sections are only available in print.

1. The Doña Ana Caldera and regional outflow sheets: First-day Road Log from Las Cruces to Southern Doña Ana Mountains and Point of Rocks
   — G.H. Mack, F.C. Ramos, B.A. Hampton, W.R. Seager, and J.C. Witcher, pp. 1-13.
2. Geologic evolution of southern New Mexico: Second-day road log from Las Cruces to the northwestern Doña Ana Mountains and west-central Robledo Mountain
   — G.H. Mack, F.C. Ramos, B.A. Hampton, W.R. Seager, and J.C. Witcher, pp. 15-29.
3. Cenozoic igneous activity in the Organ Mountains: Third–day (A) road log from Las Cruces to Dripping Springs Recreation Area, Organ Mountains
   — F.C. Ramos, B.A. Hampton, W.R. Seager, and G.H Mack, pp. 31-37.
4. Authigenic opal and calcite beds in axial-fluvial sediment of the Camp Rice Formation (Pliocene-lower Pleistocene), Rincon Hills: Third–day (B) Road Log from Las Cruces to Rincon Hills
   — G.H. Mack, pp. 39-45.
5. Masson Farm Geothermal Greenhouses at Radium Springs: Third–day (C) Road Log from Las Cruces to Geothermal Greenhouses of the Masson Farm at Radium Springs
   — J.C. Witcher and G.H. Mack, pp. 47-51.

Mini-papers:

6. A new stegomastodon skull (Proboscidea: Gomphotheriidai) from the Camp Rice Formation, Doña Ana County, New Mexico
   — P. Houde and D. Peltier, pp. 53-56.
7. Summary of landforms of the central Jornada del Muerto that influence the hydrology and path of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
   — D. Kludt, D. Love, T. Newton, and B. Allen, pp. 57-59.
8. Digital 3D geologic framework of the Las Cruces area
   — D. S. Sweetkind, pp. 60-62.
9. Levees of the Hatch and Mesilla Valleys
   — A. Glover, pp. 63-64.

Papers:

Note — To download papers from this guidebook, you will need a PDF viewer like the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

10. Geology of the Doña Ana Mountains, south-central New Mexico: A summary (1.26 MB PDF)
    — W.R. Seager and G.H. Mack, pp. 71-81. [ABSTRACT]
11. Fusulinid and Conodont biostratigraphy of the Beeman formation (Pennsylvanian), Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico (7.03 MB PDF)
    — G.P. Wahlman and J.E. Barrick, pp. 83-91. [ABSTRACT]
12. Early Pliocene paleovalley incision during early Rio Grande evolution in southern New Mexico (8.15 MB PDF)
    — D. J. Koning, A. P. Jochems, and M.T. Heizler, pp. 93-108. [ABSTRACT] Supplemental Data: https://nmgs.nmt.edu/repository/index.cfml?rid=2018001
13. A stable isotope record from paleosols and groundwater carbonate of the Plio-Pleistocene Camp Rice Formation, Hatch-Rincon Basin, southern New Mexico (2.34 MB PDF)
    — A.P. Jochems and G.S. Morgan, pp. 109-117. [ABSTRACT]
14. Superposed reverse and normal faults in the central Florida Mountains, southwestern New Mexico, and their implications for post-Cretaceous crustal deforamtion (2.76 MB PDF)
    — T.F. Lawton and C.A. Clinkscales, pp. 119-125. [ABSTRACT]
15. Constraining timing of extension in the southern Rio Grande Rift and basin and range using apatite and zircon (U-Th)/He thermochronology (2.76 MB PDF)
    — J. Biddle and Ricketts, J. W., Amato, J.M., pp. 127-135. [ABSTRACT] Supplemental Data: https://nmgs.nmt.edu/repository/index.cfml?rid=2018002
16. U-Pb geochronology of Proterozoic igneous and metasedimentary rocks in southern New Mexico: Post-collisional S-type granite magmatism (1.28 MB PDF)
    — J.M. Amato, C.F. Ottenfeld, and C.R. Howland, pp. 137-145. [ABSTRACT] Supplemental Data: https://nmgs.nmt.edu/repository/index.cfml?rid=2018003
17. U-Pb geochronology of middle–late Eocene intermediate volcanic rocks of the Palm Park Formation and Orejon Andesite in south-central New Mexico (8.34 MB PDF)
    — R.H. Creitz, B.A. Hampton, G.H. Mack, and J.M. Amato, pp. 147-157. [ABSTRACT] Supplemental Data: https://nmgs.nmt.edu/repository/index.cfml?rid=2018004
18. Age relationships of igneous rocks in the Doña Ana Mountains (2.05 MB PDF)
    — F.C. Ramos and M.T. Heizler, pp. 159-163. [ABSTRACT]
19. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of Palm Park volcanic rocks, south-central New Mexico (2.45 MB PDF)
    — F.C. Ramos and Heizler, M.T., Hampton, B.A., pp. 165-171. [ABSTRACT] Supplemental Data: https://nmgs.nmt.edu/repository/index.cfml?rid=2018005
20. Sr and Pb isotope variations of igneous feldspars in the Doña Ana mountains (1.43 MB PDF)
    — F.C. Ramos, T. Askin, S. Levesque, P. Stevens, J. Thines, S. Farnsworth-Pinkerton, S. Lindell, and N. Richard, pp. 173-179. [ABSTRACT]
21. Sr and Pb isotope variations of feldspars in the middle to late Eocene Palm Park Formation and Orejon Andesite: Implications for regional variability and magmatic source characteristics (2.15 MB PDF)
    — F.C. Ramos, M. Jacobs, and B.A. Hampton, pp. 181-188. [ABSTRACT]
22. Oxygen isotope variations in Paleogene volcanic rocks from southern New Mexico: Insight on crustal contamination and magmatic sources (775 KB PDF)
    — M. Hoffman and G.S. Michelfelder, pp. 189-196. [ABSTRACT]
23. The Aden lava flows, Doña Ana County, New Mexico (2.84 MB PDF)
    — R.A. DeHon and R.A. Earl, pp. 197-202. [ABSTRACT]
24. Mineral resources of the Doña Ana mountains mining district, Doña Ana County, New Mexico (747 KB PDF)
    — V.T. McLemore, pp. 203-206. [ABSTRACT]
25. Characterization and origin of episyenites in the southern Caballo Mountains, Sierra County, NM (2.83 MB PDF)
    — V.T. McLemore, A. Smith, A.M. Riggins, Dunbar N., K.B. Frempong, and M.T. Heizler, pp. 207-216. [ABSTRACT] Supplemental Data: https://nmgs.nmt.edu/repository/index.cfml?rid=2018006