Geologic Map of the Valles Caldera, Jemez Mountains, New Mexico

Valles caldera is famous as the type locality of large resurgent calderas (Smith and Bailey, 1968), the location of a classic 260-300 °C liquid-dominated geothermal system (Goff and Gardner, 1994), and the site of a long-lived late Pleistocene lake (Fawcett et al., 2011). We have published a detailed color geologic map of the Valles caldera and surrounding areas at 1:50,000 scale obtainable from New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources (geoinfo.nmt.edu/publications/maps/geologic/gm/79/). The new Valles map has been compiled from all or parts of nine 1:24,000 geologic maps completed between 2004 and 2008 (Bland, Cerro del Grant, Jarosa, Jemez Springs, Polvadera Peak, Redondo Peak, Seven Springs, Valle San Antonio, and Valle Toledo). Our map provides more detailed geology on the resurgent dome, caldera collapse breccias, post-caldera lava and tuff eruptions, intracaldera sedimentary and lacustrine deposits, and precaldera volcanic and sedimentary rocks than previous maps and incorporates recent stratigraphic revisions to the geology of the Jemez Mountains volcanic field. Three cross sections supported by surface geology, geophysical data and deep borehole logs (≤4500 m) show an updated view of the caldera interior, depict a modern interpretation of caldera collapse and resurgence, and provide caldera-wide subsurface isotherms (≤500 °C). A 30 page booklet included with the map contains extensive rock descriptions for 162 stratigraphic units and figures showing physiographic features, structural relations between Valles (1.25 Ma) and the earlier, comparably sized Toledo caldera (1.62 Ma), correlation charts of map units, and the distribution of pre- and post-caldera hydrothermal alteration styles, including recently documented zeolite-type alteration. Finally, the booklet includes a generalized model showing our interpretation of intracaldera structure and subjacent magma chambers, and relations of Valles to earlier Quaternary-Precambrian units.