Geology
April 11, 2022
Case Study: Lykins Formation
Small but significant areas of Colorado are underlain by bedrock that is composed of evaporative…
case study
Water
January 14, 2022
Case Study: stormwater
Stormwater runoff is excess water associated with a rain or snow storm event that flows over the…
Energy
November 19, 2021
Case Study: geothermal gradient
The CGS has long been involved in researching the characteristics of geothermal energy across the state,…
Hazards
July 12, 2018
Collapsible Soils
By Jonathan White, Senior Engineering Geologist, Emeritus At the end of the 19th and beginning of…
Hazards
August 22, 2011
Case Study: The Trinidad, Colorado Earthquakes
[ED: Originally published in 2011 by Vincent Matthews, former State Geologist at the CGS.] Around midnight on August 22,…
Hazards
July 10, 2009
Case Study: Rockfall – St. Francis of Assisi, Castle Rock
The CGS studied the site of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Castle Rock extensively after a block detached from…
Hazards
July 6, 2005
Case Study: Rockfall – Glenwood Springs
The town of Glenwood Springs in west-central Colorado lies at the confluence of the Roaring Fork and Colorado rivers.
Hazards
June 21, 2005
Case Study: Clear Creek Canyon rockslide
Rockfalls and rock slides are common along transportation corridors in the Rocky Mountains. Clear Creek Canyon just west of Golden…
Hazards
January 17, 2005
Case Study: Roaring Fork sinkhole
[ED: This report from January 17, 2005 was written by Jon White, (Senior Engineering Geologist, Emeritus). Lightly edited for dated…
Hazards
March 23, 2003
Case Study: Avalanche – Silver Plume
On March 23, 2003, a large avalanche occurred about one mile west of the Town of Silver Plume. The avalanche brought trees, rock, soil and snow to the valley floor, knocked down overhead utility lines, blocked the I-70 frontage road, damaged the town’s water treatment plant (WTP), and dammed Clear Creek. The dam was breached using explosives before the plant’s electric pump motors were flooded. With damage to the WTP’s chlorine contact tank and building, Silver Plume residents had to boil their tap water for over a month.
Hazards
June 19, 1995
Case Study: Rockfall – Manitou Springs
by Jon White Manitou Springs occupies a narrow valley where Fountain Creek emerges from the foothills northeast of Pikes Peak and west of Colorado Springs. The valley slopes are composed of interbedded resistant sandstone and conglomerates (i.e., gravelly sandstone), and weaker mudstones and shale. The outcropping sandstone is most prevalent on the steeper slopes on the north side of the valley.