View of Sierra Blanca Peak from Lookout Mountain, one of the stops on an upcoming geology tour from PEEC and Fraser and Cathy Goff. These features form part of the roof of Three Rivers Stock. The tour will take place from Friday, June 29 to Sunday, July 1 and explore the geology and volcanology of the Sierra Blanca in south-central New Mexico. Courtesy photoPEEC News:
The Pajarito Environmental Education Center and local geology experts Fraser and Cathy Goff are offering an exciting three-day field trip to examine the geology and volcanology of the Sierra Blanca in south-central New Mexico.
This outing begins Friday, June 29 and ends Sunday, July 1 and is perfect for anyone with an interest in geology and natural science.
The Goffs worked extensively in the Sierra Blanca from 2009-2014. They love this area because it contains the visible roots of volcanoes and three crystallized magma chambers (stocks) that have been uplifted and unroofed by tectonic forces and erosion. The largest, Three Rivers Stock, is unique because it is one of the few places where a caldera-forming magma chamber can be linked to a thick explosive volcanic flow, the Palisades Tuff.
Participants will meet at the Los Alamos Nature Center at 7 a.m. Friday, June 29 and carpool to their destination. Over the course of three days, participants will explore areas near Nogal Peak, the Three Rivers Stock, the Palisades Tuff, enjoy a gondola ride to Lookout Mountain in Ski Apache and more. The itinerary can be read in full at www.peecnature.org.
Registration is required to participate in this tour. PEEC has reserved a block of rooms at the Comfort Inn in Ruidoso and participants can select to have their accommodations taken care of by PEEC or find their own.
Fraser Goff is the author of Valles Caldera: A Geologic History and worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory for 26 years. He has worked extensively in the Valles Caldera and on about 40 geothermal systems and 15 active volcanoes worldwide during his career. Cathy Goff is also an accomplished geologist/geochemist and has worked on geothermal and volcanic projects throughout the western USA and in Alaska, Hawaii, Latin America, Italy, and Japan. More recently, Fraser and Cathy worked for the New Mexico StateMap Program and helped produce new geologic maps of Valles Caldera, Mount Taylor volcano, and the Sierra Blanca magmatic area.
For more information about this and other PEEC programs, visit www.peecnature.org, email adventure@peecnature.org or call (505).662.0460.
