Bureau of Mines Publications

by George Zamora

SOCORRO, N.M, October 12, 1998 -- Four of the latest publications of the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources:

1. The latest issue of New Mexico Geology, a quarterly magazine, features a new geologic interpretation of the "Broken Jug Formation," 1,200 meters of marine and volcanic strata exposed on the east flank of Hachita Peak in the Little Hatchet Mountains in far southwest New Mexico.

"Broken Jug Formation redefinition of lower part of Bisbee Group, Little Hatchet Mountains, Hidalgo County, New Mexico," is a comprehensive summary of recent field studies which cover the geologic setting, stratigraphy, various members and related formations, and the age and postulated correlation for the Broken Jug Formation. The formation is critical to improved understanding of the structural geology of the Little Hatchet Mountains and the geologic history of southern New Mexico.

The issue also includes a feature on the geologic and cultural history of Sumner Lake State Park, located about 16 miles northwest of Fort Sumner. The lake itself is formed on the Pecos River by an earthen structure dam which is 164 feet high and 30 feet wide, with a length of 925 feet at the base and 3,084 feet at the crest. Since it was originally established in 1965 as Alamogordo Lake State Park, Sumner Lake State Park has provided visitors with opportunities for recreational activities such as hiking, wildlife-viewing and bird-watching, picnicking, camping, swimming, scuba diving, fishing, boating, sailing, and water skiing. Developed facilities at the state park include picnic tables, four boat-launching ramps, drinking water, full restroom facilities with showers, campgrounds, a playground, and a cafe and store on the west side of the lake.

In addition, the current issue of New Mexico Geology offers a study of specimens of the late Albian ammonite Engonoceras serpentinum which were found in the Animas and Big Hatchet mountains in New Mexico's "bootheel" area.

A subscription to New Mexico Geology costs $10 per year or $18 for two years. Contact information is at the bottom of this page.

2. A color, six-by-eight-inch postcard of a geologic map of New Mexico, detailing the locations of the state's various rock masses. The card costs 75 cents.

"The rocks of New Mexico reveal a long and complex history of deposition, volcanic eruptions, structural deformation, and climatic extremes from intensely folded Precambrian cores of mountain ranges more than 600 million years old to black basalts that flowed across the landscape as recently as A.D. 900," the postcard's text notes.

Contact information is at the bottom of this page.

3. A comprehensive geologic study of the Florida Mountains, located southeast of Deming, N.M.

"Geology of the Florida Mountains, southwestern New Mexico," by the late Russell E. Clemons, longtime professor of geology at New Mexico State University, deals with the stratigraphy, structural geology, and mineral resources of the Florida and Little Florida Mountains.

Many figures, photographs, tables, and appendices, including five multi-colored map sheets detailing the geology of specific areas within the Florida Mountains and providing cross sections of the small mountain chain, are included with the 112 pages of text.

Memoir 43, or "Geology of the Florida Mountains, southwestern New Mexico" is available for $35, plus $5 for shipping and handling, from the NMBM&MR. Contact information is at the bottom of this page.

4. A database on CD-ROM, containing petroleum source rock data on 133 petroleum exploration wells and two outcrop sections in New Mexico and one exploration well in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico.

"The New Mexico Petroleum Source Rock Database," or Database DDS-DB2 of the Digital Data Series, by Ronald F. Broadhead, Maureen Wilks, Matthew Morgan, and Roy E. Johnson, provides analyses of 3,142 samples from these wells and outcrops in a tabular, spreadsheet form.

For each sampled interval from a well or outcrop section, there is information on up to 44 data fields that describe the location and geology of the sampled interval, as well as source rock parameters.

The database is available in five file formats: MS Access 2.0, 7.0, and 97; MS Excel 5.0; and comma-delimited relational ASCII.

"The New Mexico Petroleum Source Rock Database" is available for $50, plus $5 for shipping and handling from the NMBM&MR, a division of New Mexico Tech.

For more information about NMBM&MR publications, write to the Bureau Publications Office, New Mexico Tech, 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, NM 87801, or call (505) 835-5410, or visit the website at http://geoinfo.nmt.edu.