Ren Thompson
Science and Products
Geologic Framework of the Intermountain West
The Geologic Framework of the Intermountain West project was launched with the goal of producing a new digital geologic map database and 3D geologic model of a transect from the Rio Grande rift to the Basin and Range, based on a synthesis of existing geologic maps with new targeted new mapping, subsurface data, and other data sets. This database will integrate disparate map data, resolve...
Cenozoic Landscape Evolution of the Southern Rocky Mountains
The Cenozoic Landscape Evolution of the Southern Rocky Mountains Project is a multi-year investigation funded by the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program. This project utilizes a combination of geologic mapping, geophysical surveys, basin modeling, and structural, neotectonic, geomorphic, volcanic, stratigraphic, and geochronologic studies to better understand the geologic landscape...
Volcanism
Volcanic rocks and their plutonic underpinnings are temporally and spatially coincident with, or superimposed on, prominent tectonic structures from the late Cretaceous in the Southern Rocky Mountains.
Renewing the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program as the Nation’s authoritative source for modern geologic knowledge
This document presents the renewed vision, mission, and goals for the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP). The NCGMP, as authorized by the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-285, 106 Stat. 166 and its reauthorizations), is tasked with expediting the production of a geologic database for the Nation...
Brock, John; Berry, Karen; Faulds, James; Berg, Richard; House, Kyle; Marketti, Michael; McPhee, Darcy; Schmidt, Kevin; Schmitt, James; Soller, David; Spears, David; Thompson, Ren; Thorleifson, Harvey; Walsh, Gregory
Geologic map of Petroglyph National Monument and vicinity, Bernalillo County, New Mexico
This geologic map depicts and briefly describes geologic units underlying Petroglyph National Monument and immediately adjacent areas in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. The Monument is underlain dominantly by Quaternary basalts of the Albuquerque Volcanoes volcanic field, a series of basin-filling volcanic flows and associated vents from a...
Thompson, Ren A.; Chan, Christine F.; Gilmer, Amy K.; Shroba, Ralph R.
A shallow rift basin segmented in space and time: The southern San Luis Basin, Rio Grande rift, northern New Mexico, U.S.A.
Interpretation of gravity, magnetotelluric, and aeromagnetic data in conjunction with geologic constraints reveals details of basin geometry, thickness, and spatiotemporal evolution of the southern San Luis Basin, one of the major basins of the northern Rio Grande rift. Spatial variations of low-density basin-fill thickness are estimated primarily...
Drenth, Benjamin J.; Grauch, V. J.; Turner, Kenzie J.; Rodriguez, Brian D.; Thompson, Ren A.; Bauer, Paul W. Middle Pleistocene formation of the Rio Grande Gorge, San Luis Valley, south-central Colorado and north-central New Mexico, USA: Process, timing, and downstream implications
The Rio Grande is the fourth longest river in North America extending over 3,000 km from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico. The Pleistocene evolution of this river from individual subbasins into a coalesced fluvial system has been long debated. Herein, we constrain the middle Pleistocene evolution of the northernmost and largest Rio Grande...
Ruleman, Chester A.; Hudson, Adam M.; Thompson, Ren A.; Miggins, Daniel P.; Paces, James; Goehring, Brent M. A supervolcano and its sidekicks: A 100 ka eruptive chronology of the Fish Canyon Tuff and associated units of the La Garita magmatic system
Establishing temporal constrains on major volcanic eruptions is limited by the precision of existing geochronometers. Prior work on the La Garita caldera, created by the eruption of the Fish Canyon Tuff, failed to resolve temporal differences between pre-, syn-, and post-collapse eruptive units. Here, we report 40Ar/39Ar geochronologic data...
Morgan, Leah E.; Johnstone, Samuel A.; Gilmer, Amy K.; Cosca, Michael A.; Thompson, Ren A.
Geologic map of the San Antonio Mountain area, northern New Mexico and southern Colorado
The geologic map of the San Antonio Mountain area in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado is located along the west-central part of the San Luis Valley. The San Luis Valley is the geomorphic expression of the San Luis Basin, an extensional basin associated with the northern Rio Grande rift. Deposits within the map area record volcanic,...
Turner, Kenzie J.; Thompson, Ren A.; Cosca, Michael A.; Shroba, Ralph R.; Chan, Christine F.; Morgan, Leah E. Establishing chronologies for alluvial-fan sequences with analysis of high-resolution topographic data: San Luis Valley, Colorado, USA
On active alluvial fans, debris-flow deposits and frequent avulsions produce a rough topographic surface. As is the case in many initially rough landforms produced by catastrophic processes, the topography of alluvial fans is progressively smoothed, producing textural differences useful in establishing relative age criteria for fans. Here, we...
Johnstone, Samuel A.; Hudson, Adam M.; Nicovich, Sylvia; Ruleman, Chester A.; Sare, Robert M.; Thompson, Ren A. Geomorphic evolution of the San Luis Basin and Rio Grande in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico
The San Luis Basin encompasses the largest structural and hydrologic basin of the Rio Grande rift. On this field trip, we will examine the timing of transition of the San Luis Basin from hydrologically closed, aggrading subbasins to a continuous fluvial system that eroded the basin, formed the Rio Grande gorge, and ultimately, integrated the Rio...
Ruleman, Chester A.; Machette, Michael; Thompson, Ren; Miggins, Dan M; Goehring, Brent M; Paces, James B. Geologic cross sections and preliminary geologic map of the Questa Area, Taos County, New Mexico
In 2011, the senior authors were contacted by Ron Gardiner of Questa, and Village of Questa Mayor Esther Garcia, to discuss the existing and future groundwater supply for the Village of Questa. This meeting led to the development of a plan in 2013 to perform an integrated geologic, geophysical, and hydrogeologic investigation of the Questa area by...
Bauer, Paul W.; Grauch, V.J.S.; Johnson, Peggy S.; Thompson, Ren; Drenth, Benjamin J.; Kelson, Keith I.
Geologic map of the Alamosa 30’ × 60’ quadrangle, south-central Colorado
The Alamosa 30'× 60' quadrangle is located in the central San Luis Basin of southern Colorado and is bisected by the Rio Grande. The Rio Grande has headwaters in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado and ultimately discharges into the Gulf of Mexico 3,000 kilometers (km) downstream. Alluvial floodplains and associated deposits of the Rio Grande...
Thompson, Ren; Shroba, Ralph R.; Michael N. Machette; Fridrich, Christopher J.; Brandt, Theodore R.; Cosca, Michael A.
Preliminary geophysical interpretations of regional subsurface geology near the Questa Mine Tailing Facility and Guadalupe Mountain, Taos County, New Mexico
This report presents geophysical interpretations of regional subsurface geology in the vicinity of the Tailing Facility of the Questa Mine near Guadalupe Mountain, Taos County, New Mexico, in cooperation with the New Mexico Environment Department. The interpretations were developed from aeromagnetic data, regional gravity data, data from four...
Grauch, V.J.S.; Drenth, Benjamin J.; Thompson, Ren; Bauer, Paul W.
Geologic map of the Ute Mountain 7.5' quadrangle, Taos County, New Mexico, and Conejos and Costilla Counties, Colorado
The Ute Mountain 7.5' quadrangle is located in the south-central part of the San Luis Basin of northern New Mexico, in the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, and contains deposits that record volcanic, tectonic, and associated alluvial and colluvial processes over the past four million years. Ute Mountain has the distinction of being one of...
Thompson, Ren; Turner, Kenzie J.; Shroba, Ralph R.; Cosca, Michael A.; Ruleman, Chester A.; Lee, John P.; Brandt, Theodore R.