Skyline Drive General, Geology May 19, 2022 Fremont County geologic attractions Fremont County, two hours south of Denver, is located on the south-central Front Range of Colorado in a geological region called the Cañon City Embayment. Its geological environment and history is incredibly diverse as are its paleontological treasures. It is the only county in Colorado featuring two…
North Table Mountain stands between Golden and the wider Denver metro area in the background. Photo credit: Vince Matthews for the CGS. Geology, Publications May 11, 2022 Golden Rocks: The Geology and Mining History of Golden, Colorado We’ve received the go ahead to help distribute this marvelous (and FREE!) 100+ page digital publication from the talented and insightful Donna Anderson and Paul Haseman. Their passion for geology and for communicating the fascinating and often surprising facts about Golden and its geologic history show through every page…
The Flatirons overlooking Boulder Geology, Publications April 21, 2022 Unfolding the Geology of the West Our collaborators and friends up in Boulder at the Geological Society of America (GSA) are making the following special offer available to our loyal subscribers (instructions at the end of the article): As the national GSA conference takes place in Denver every few years, staff at…
Munroe Quarry near Livermore Geology, Hazards April 11, 2022 Case Study: Lykins Formation Small but significant areas of Colorado are underlain by bedrock that is composed of evaporative minerals. These are salts and sulfates that precipitate out of salt-concentrated surface waters. In the geologic past these minerals were deposited in shallow seas within closed or restricted basins where…
An expansive view of most of Colorado looking from the south-south-west from the International Space Station (ISS). Photo credit: NASA. General, Geology April 8, 2022 NASA Earth Observatory One of our favorite online feeds is from the NASA Earth Observatory along with their Image of the Day. After catching a recent article on the San Luis Valley, we thought that our loyal subscribers might be interested…
Helicorder trace from Trinidad seismometer station Geology, Hazards March 25, 2022 CGS Seismic Stations Early History The Colorado School of Mines first acquired and installed a single three-component seismograph in the Cecil H. Green Observatory at Bergen Park, about 9 mi (14 km) southwest of Golden. That system was in continuous high-gain operation into the 1980s and was, during that…
Interstate-70 running through Glenwood Canyon is one of the most spectacular segments of the US Interstate system. Photo credit: Vince Matthews for the CGS. Geology March 16, 2022 The Glenwood Canyon Highway This recent RMPBS/Colorado Experience video traces the history of transportation through Colorado’s spectacular Glenwood Canyon. It focuses on the complex construction process of Interstate-70 that sought to harmonize with the geology and the landscape. Initially fraught with controversy and opposition, the Glenwood Canyon Highway is one…
Pierre Shale (gray) exposed along St. Vrain Creek in Weld County General, Geology, Publications March 16, 2022 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…
A 3610 g slice of the Bear Creek meteorite being held for scale that was formerly in the Jurgen Nauber Meteorite Collection (JNMC) in Zurich General, Geology March 9, 2022 Tale of the Bear Creek Meteorite, Jefferson County, Colorado By Matthew Morgan, Deputy Director, Colorado Geological Survey and Gary Curtiss, Lakewood geologist and meteorite collector The prior discovery by George R. Morrison of the Bear Creek iron meteorite was confirmed on April 18, 1866 when Morrison and James L. Wilson returned to a location approximately 48 km (30…
On the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Geology Train trip General, Geology February 21, 2022 Cumbres and Toltec Geology Train We just found out about this year’s Cumbres & Toltec Geology Train adventures in southwest Colorado and northwest New Mexico. Because of the high demand in former years, there are two dates this year, 19 June and 17 September 2022. They’ll both…
MS-51 Interpretive Geothermal Gradient Map of Colorado (detail)|Onsite rig drilling for a geothermal heating/cooling or "heat pump" system in Fort Collins Energy, Geology November 19, 2021 Case Study: geothermal gradient The CGS has long been involved in researching the characteristics of geothermal energy across the state, publishing more than 30 reports on various aspects of this important renewable resource. In that regard we thought we would re-introduce some of that research and how it is accomplished. One…
Detail from one of over 600 Denver Basin geophysical and lithological logs included in the ON-OF-78-08M digitization project. Photo credit: Colorado Geological Survey. Geology, Minerals, Publications June 3, 2021 New GIS data and maps For those of you who are subscribers to the CGS announcement list, we want to direct your attention to a handful of new maps and recently digitized analog data sets that we haven’t otherwise publicized. These include several important online GIS maps and downloadable data packages:…