Recent reports published

OF-20-11 Alkaline Complexes of the Wet Mountains Area, Colorado: A Geological Summary, Bibliography, and Data Compilation of Critical Mineral Laboratory Results — With renewed interest in critical minerals driven by global demand and consequent shortages, the CGS funded a compilation of historical sample results and a literature review, along with a brief review of the geological context.

OF-20-09 Review of the Jefferson County Water Supply Policies and Analyses for Land Development in Mountain Areas — The perennial issue of development versus the protection of groundwater resources is the general subject of this report. Specifically, Jefferson County asked the CGS to review some of their land development and zoning regulations that relate to water supplies.

In addition, as we review our past work, we are bringing reports and presentations related to our mission that have not been formally published including:

WAT-2005-02 Natural Acid Rock Drainage in Colorado: Overview and Recent Investigations — A PowerPoint presentation on this critical ground- and surface-water issue.

The CGS actively participates in the STATEMAP portion of the US Geological Survey’s National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP), a nation-wide effort to generate comprehensive geologic maps of individual 7-1/2-minute topographic quads. Following one or sometimes two seasons of intensive field work by a team of researchers, field information is carefully compiled, reviewed, and released as one of our geologic quadrangle maps. These are in the form of high-resolution PDF files along with a corresponding package of GIS data.

Continuing our long-standing mapping efforts in northern Front Range areas, these two in Weld County are in areas experiencing continued growth and development:

OF-19-02 Geologic Map of the Gowanda Quadrangle, Weld County, Colorado — between Longmont (west) and Platteville (east), Frederick (north) and Johnstown (south), Colorado.

OF-21-04 Geologic Map of the Hardin Quadrangle, Weld County, Colorado — along the South Platte River, east-southeast of Greeley, Colorado.

The Geologic Mapping Advisory Committee (GMAC)—with representatives from State, Federal, and Tribal governments, academia, and the private sector—select which Colorado quadrangles are included in this ongoing program. Our STATEMAP progression map shows the many quads that have been completed, are in progress, or under current consideration across the state. The program provides crucial information to many constituents on geologic hazards, mineral resources, and groundwater, as well as informing a range of land-use issues across the state.