Jemez Mountains & Valles Caldera

Much work has been done on the Jemez Mountains/Valles Caldera complex. As with any topic which has received considerable in-depth study, finding a simple summary can be difficult for the beginner. The following is a short list of recent references providing basic information. These provide a useful starting point for interested investigators and students.

The original map (aka in volcanology circles as "Smith-Bailey 'n Ross" ) is still very much used as a general base and is still applicable.

• Smith, R. L., R. A. Bailey, and C. S. Ross, Geologic map of the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico. U. S. Geological Survey, Miscellaneous Geologic Investigations Map, I-571, 1970.

Some of the most concentrated, yet general, sources of information about the Valles Caldera and the Jemez Mountains are in the following publications.

• Self, S., Jemez Volcanism, New Mexico, in Wood, C. A., and J. Kienle, "Volcanoes of North America", Cambridge University Press, New York, page 295-297, 1990. [Your best bet for a simplified overview]
• Goff, F., et al., Excursion 17B: Volcanic and hydrothermal evolution of the Valles Caldera and the Jemez volcanic field, in "Field Excursions to Volcanic Terranes in the western United States, Volume I, Southern Rocky Mountains", New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources Memoir 46, p.381-434, 1989. [Probably your best bet for details; includes an extensive list of references]
• Goff, F. et al., (editors) The Jemez Mountains Region, The New Mexico Geological Society Forty-Seventh Annual Field Conference, Socorro, 1996. [All the latest information and more; the NMGS volumes are in all major university libraries]

• Heiken, G., F. Goff, J. N. Gardner, W.S. Baldridge, J. B. Hulen, D. L. Nielson, and D. Vaniman, 1990, The Valles/Toledo caldera complex, Jemez volcanic field, New Mexico. Ann. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 18, 27-53. Goff, F. J. N. Gardner, Baldridge, J. B. Hulen, D. L. Nielson, et al., 1989, Volcanic and hydrothermal evolution of the Valles caldera and Jemez volcanic field. N. Mex. Bur. Mines Miner. Resour. Mem, 46, 381-434.

There are a number of caldera-related papers of potential use in the "Caldera Special Issue" of JGR, V. 89, 1984.

• Self, S., et al., Explosive rhyolitic volcanism in the Jemez Mountains: Vent locations, caldera development, and relation to regional structure, Jour. Geophysical Research, 91, 1779-1798, 1986.