Rio Grande rift to the Colorado Plateau. First-day road log from Espanola to Abiquiu, Youngsville, Coyote, Gallina and Ghost Ranch
— Spencer G. Lucas, Daniel J. Koning, Andrew B. Heckert, Kate E. Zeigler, Adrian P. Hunt, Donald E. Owen, Florian Maldonado, and William R. Berglof

The fi rst day of the conference will focus on Rio Grande rift tectonics and Neogene sediments, and introduce us to Laramide tectonics and the older (Pemian-Triassic) sedimentary cover of the Chama Basin. The tour begins at Española in the Rio Grande rift and takes us across the western boundary of the rift onto the southeastern Colorado Plateau (Chama Basin). The fi rst stop, located in the rift, examines Neogene stratigraphy, tectonics and Quaternary terrace deposits near the confl uence of the Rio Chama and the Rio Grande. The second stop, at Abiquiu Dam, is on the Colorado Plateau, and we examine characteristic, nearly fl at-lying Upper Triassic strata (depositional systems and magnetostratigraphy). Stop 3 also is in essentially fl at-lying strata of the Colorado Plateau, but these are older, Lower Permian rocks at the classic bonebeds of Arroyo del Agua. The fourth stop takes us right to the edge of the structural San Juan Basin, where we examine Upper Cretaceous strata and discuss their economic geology, as well as Laramide tectonics. The route then retraces to Abiquiu Dam and continues to Ghost Ranch, where the last stop is at the world-famous Upper Triassic dinosaur quarry.