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Sedimentology

New Mexico and the surrounding Southwest, Rocky Mountains, and Colorado Plateau provide unique opportunities to study Precambrian through Quaternary sedimentary rocks deposited in marine (carbonate and siliciclastic), continental, and volcanic settings.

Faculty in the Sedimentology Group offer classes including Sedimentology-Stratigraphy, Advanced Sedimentology, Carbonate Sedimentology, Sedimentary Petrology, Sedimentary Geochemistry, Organic Geochemistry, and Basin Analysis. Consult our Upper Division and Lower Division course lists, and our listing of Current Courses for more information about these classes.

Faculty research emphasizes carbonate sedimentology (cyclostratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy, chemostratigraphy), volcaniclastic sedimentology, sedimentation in rift basins, hydrostratigraphy, diagenesis, low-temperature geochemistry, and geomicrobiology. These research areas are tied to other faculty members and laboratories within the Department.

Important laboratory facilities pertinent to the study of sedimentary rocks include: stable and radiogenic isotope labs, SEM, TEM, XRD, XRF, AA, research microscopes, computer labs (including UNIX work stations), and a diagenesis lab.

Links to web sites of faculty members associated with the Sedimentology Group are shown below:

• Maya Elrick -- Carbonate sedimentology/stratigraphy, chemostratigraphy
• Gary Smith -- Relationship of sedimentation to evolution of Rio Grande Rift, relationships of sedimentation to continental volcanism, sedimentological characterization of aquifer heterogeneity
• Laura Crossey -- Low-temperature geochemistry, diagenesis, geomicrobiology

Photo Captions:

Upper Photo: Miocene rift-basin sedimentary strata and volcanic ashes are eroded into scenic badlands flanking the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the Espanola basin north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Photo by Gary Smith.

Lower Photo: Paleozoic carbonate and clastic strata in the Sacramento Mountains near Alamogordo, New Mexico, record changing tectonic settings, fluctuating sea level, and changing climate. Photo by Maya Elrick.

Please send comment about this site to connolly@unm.edu.

Please direct inquiries about the Department and its programs to epsdept@unm.edu

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