12 Tectonics, Volcanism, and Sediment Dispersal Within and Proximal to the Rio Grande Rift and Southern Rocky Mountains

This session integrates research on coupled tectonics, volcanism, and sediment dispersal in the Rio Grande Rift and southern Rockies. We examine how extensional faulting controls volcanic processes and reshapes sediment routing from Colorado through Texas.

Monday, 18 May 2026
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Alvarado A

Participants

• Chair John Clay
• Chair Carla Eichler
• Chair Rebecca VanderLeest

Presentations

• 1:35 PM
  Lower crustal xenoliths from Silver Mountain, eastern Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado: A window into the lithosphere during early Rio Grande Rift initiation
  Amy Gilmer, United States Geological Survey, Denver, CO and Ren Thompson, United States Geological Survey, Denver, CO and Ian Hillenbrand, United States Geological Survey, Denver, CO and Heather Lowers, US Geological Survey, Denver, CO
  410618 (Technical Sessions)
• 1:55 PM
  Resetting of Thermochronometers by High-temperature Fluid Flow in the Fra Cristobal Range, New Mexico
  Kyle Gallant, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM and Veronica Prush, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM and Shari Kelley, New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Los Alamos, NM
  410685 (Technical Sessions)
• 2:15 PM
  Subsurface Structure of the Northern Jemez Mountains
  Carson Pennington, University of Texas Dallas, Plano, TX and John Ferguson, University of Texas, Richardson, TX and Shari Kelley, New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Socorro, NM
  410701 (Technical Sessions)
• 2:35 PM
  From deposition to exhumation, documenting changes in the Orocopia Schist and included metasomatized rocks at Cemetery Ridge, southwest Arizona
  Suzanne Craddock Affinati, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ and Omar Droubi, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI and Thomas Hoisch, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, AZ and Chloe Bonamici, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI and Zoe Durcia, Northern Arizona University , Flagstaff, AZ and Chloe Cummings, Northern Arizona University , Flagstaff, AZ and Gabe Epstein, Northern Arizona University , Flagstaff, AZ and Gordon Haxel, United States Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ and Carl Jacobson, Iowa State Univeristy, Malvern, PA
  410607 (Technical Sessions)
• 3:15 PM
  Insights into Lithospheric Extension in a Rio Grande Rift Basin from Bayesian modeling of Tectonic Subsidence and High-Precision Geochronology
  Tyson Smith, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO and Sean Gaynor, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO and Brenhin Keller, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH and Magdalena Curry, Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Raleigh, NC and Blair Schoene, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ and Tom Lapen, University of Houston, Houston, TX
  410516 (Technical Sessions)
• 3:35 PM
  Climatic and tectonic controls on 14–10 Ma piedmont progradation in the central Rio Grande rift, New Mexico
  Daniel Koning, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM and Siânin Spaur, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM and Jeremy Rugenstein, Colorado State University, Geosciences, Fort Collins, CO and Sean Connell, New Mexico Tech, Albuquerque, NM and Garrett Williamson, Eocene Environmental Group, Des Moines, IA and Julia Ricci, New Mexico Institute Mining & Technology, Socorro, NM and Matthew Heizler, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM and Jeffrey Knott, California State University, Fullerton, CA
  410697 (Technical Sessions)
• 3:55 PM
  Regional-scale to Local-scale Exploration of Geothermal Systems in the Rio Grande Rift Zone
  Shuvajit Bhattacharya, The University of Texas at Austin, Cedar Park, TX and Rama Arasada, The University of Texas at Austin and Bissett Young, The University of Texas at Austin and Peter Eichhubl, The University of Texas at Austin
  410732 (Technical Sessions)