Research Geologist Adam Hudson installs a soil temperature and moisture monitoring station for a topographic asymmetry study in the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve (Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado, USA).
Geologic Framework of the Intermountain West
The Geologic Framework of the Intermountain West (IMW) Project is creating a seamless, integrated, geologic map database that spans the Intermountain West region. The database will serve enhanced geologic map data to support geoscience research, environmental and resource assessments, and the communication of geologic information for all U.S. Geological Survey stakeholders.
This innovative approach to serving geologic map data synthesizes new and existing geologic mapping into a spatially consistent geologic framework, preserves source metadata, and improves the queryability of map unit information. The stratigraphic framework that underpins the geologic mapping is constructed dynamically using a process-based, time-dependent, hierarchical classification of map units. This data set can be integrated with users’ data via GIS hosted feature layers or can be viewed using the Intermountain West Geologic Map Explorer .
Research groups within this project investigate the magmatic, tectonic, stratigraphic, and landscape evolution of the Intermountain West through targeted studies of geologic processes.
The Intermountain West Seamless Geologic Map Explorer is now live!
The USGS Geochron Database Explorer is now live!
Surficial geologic map database for the Blanca Peak, Walsenburg, Trinidad, and Alamosa 30' x 60' quadrangles, Colorado
Isotopic data for Death Valley, California supporting Unified 200 kyr Paleohydrologic History of the Southern Great Basin
Bedrock geologic map database for the Blanca Peak, Walsenburg, Trinidad, and Alamosa 30' x 60' quadrangles, Colorado
Cosmogenic Al-26/Be-10 Isochron Burial Data for the Nussbaum Gravel at Baculite Mesa, CO
Isotopic, geochronologic and soil temperature data for Holocene and late Pleistocene soil carbonates of the San Luis Valley, Colorado and New Mexico, USA
Data release of zircon U-Pb geochronology and whole-rock isotope geochemistry for drill core samples from Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, and Wyoming
Detrital zircon U-Pb data for Upper Triassic sandstones of the Auld Lang Syne basin, northwest Nevada, USA
Seamless Integrated Geologic Map Database of the Intermountain West: Contributions to The National Geologic Map (ver. 2.0, October 2024)
Data release of isotope geochemistry, mineral chemistry, and geochronology for a Proterozoic paragneiss sampled from drill core from North Dakota
Data release of monazite and xenotime geochronology for Proterozoic rocks in central Colorado and monazite and zircon geochronology and whole-rock isotope geochemistry fo a Proterozoic drill core sample from western Colorado
U-Pb detrital zircon data and Ar feldspar data from middle Cenozoic sandstones and volcanic tuffs from southern Nevada, USA
Maximum horizontal stress orientation and relative stress magnitude (faulting regime) data throughout North America
Surficial geology of the northern San Luis Valley, Saguache, Fremont, Custer, Alamosa, Rio Grande, Conejos, and Costilla Counties, Colorado
Geologic map of the Homestake Reservoir 7.5′ quadrangle, Lake, Pitkin, and Eagle Counties, Colorado
Geologic map of the Bonanza caldera area, northeastern San Juan Mountains, Colorado
Geologic map of Petroglyph National Monument and vicinity, Bernalillo County, New Mexico
Geologic map of the San Antonio Mountain area, northern New Mexico and southern Colorado
Research Geologist Adam Hudson installs a soil temperature and moisture monitoring station for a topographic asymmetry study in the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve (Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado, USA).
Research Geologist Jens-Erik Lundstern poses as a scale for middle Cenozoic fluvial conglomerates in the Delamar Mountains (southern Nevada, USA).
Research Geologist Jens-Erik Lundstern poses as a scale for middle Cenozoic fluvial conglomerates in the Delamar Mountains (southern Nevada, USA).
Intermountain West Project members Adam Hudson and Michael Frothingham inspect young aeolian deposits of the San Juan River corridor (Bluff, Utah, USA).
Intermountain West Project members Adam Hudson and Michael Frothingham inspect young aeolian deposits of the San Juan River corridor (Bluff, Utah, USA).
Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) grow on middle Cenozoic sedimentary rocks of the Las Vegas region (southern Nevada, USA).
Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) grow on middle Cenozoic sedimentary rocks of the Las Vegas region (southern Nevada, USA).
Photomigrograph (cross-polarized light) showing branching bunches of calcite filaments grown from algal mats in spring-discharge tufas of Cold Creek Spring (Las Vegas region, Nevada, USA).
Photomigrograph (cross-polarized light) showing branching bunches of calcite filaments grown from algal mats in spring-discharge tufas of Cold Creek Spring (Las Vegas region, Nevada, USA).
Strongly deformed Paleoproterozoic granitic intrusions in biotite schist (Spaghetti Canyon, Lower Granite Gorge, Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA).
Strongly deformed Paleoproterozoic granitic intrusions in biotite schist (Spaghetti Canyon, Lower Granite Gorge, Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA).
The Colorado River, brown from heightened suspended load following rains, flows through Paleoproteroic basement and overlying Cambrian Tapeats Sandstone in the Grand Canyon (Arizona, USA).
The Colorado River, brown from heightened suspended load following rains, flows through Paleoproteroic basement and overlying Cambrian Tapeats Sandstone in the Grand Canyon (Arizona, USA).
The moon sets over an exposure of the Great Unconformity within the Colorado National Monument (Colorado, USA). At this location, Paleoproterozoic granite (foreground) is unconformably overlain by the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation.
The moon sets over an exposure of the Great Unconformity within the Colorado National Monument (Colorado, USA). At this location, Paleoproterozoic granite (foreground) is unconformably overlain by the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation.
View to the west across Death Valley (California, USA) to the Panamint Mountains. Alluvial fans (foreground) and the salt lake playa of the Badwater basin (middle ground) occupy the basin floor.
View to the west across Death Valley (California, USA) to the Panamint Mountains. Alluvial fans (foreground) and the salt lake playa of the Badwater basin (middle ground) occupy the basin floor.
Research Geologist Marieke Dechesne describes fluvial deposits of the Paleocene Raton Formation (Raton Basin, Colorado, USA).
Research Geologist Marieke Dechesne describes fluvial deposits of the Paleocene Raton Formation (Raton Basin, Colorado, USA).
Research Geologist Marieke Dechesne investigates heavy mineral-bearing shoreface deposits in the Upper Cretaceous Trinidad Sandstone (Raton Basin, New Mexico, USA).
Research Geologist Marieke Dechesne investigates heavy mineral-bearing shoreface deposits in the Upper Cretaceous Trinidad Sandstone (Raton Basin, New Mexico, USA).
Research Geologist A. Kate Souders investigates complexly deformed, middle Cenozoic volcaniclastic rocks of the Death Valley region (California, USA).
Research Geologist A. Kate Souders investigates complexly deformed, middle Cenozoic volcaniclastic rocks of the Death Valley region (California, USA).
Research Geologist A. Kate Souders samples fluvial sandstones of the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation (eastern Nevada, USA).
Research Geologist A. Kate Souders samples fluvial sandstones of the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation (eastern Nevada, USA).
Research Geologist Amy Gilmer walks over carbonate rocks of the Upper Triassic Star Peak Group (northern Humboldt Range, Nevada, USA).
Research Geologist Amy Gilmer walks over carbonate rocks of the Upper Triassic Star Peak Group (northern Humboldt Range, Nevada, USA).
In an effort to better understand the effects of abandoned mine lands on natural resources, Research Geologists Margaret Berry and Adam Hudson collect samples of ancestral Animas River sediment for geochemical analysis (Durango, Colorado, USA).
In an effort to better understand the effects of abandoned mine lands on natural resources, Research Geologists Margaret Berry and Adam Hudson collect samples of ancestral Animas River sediment for geochemical analysis (Durango, Colorado, USA).
Wild burros stand guard on the path to Miocene volcaniclastic rocks of the Death Valley region (California, USA).
Wild burros stand guard on the path to Miocene volcaniclastic rocks of the Death Valley region (California, USA).
Geologic Framework of the Intermountain West project members Adam Hudson, Margaret Berry, Harrison Gray, Cal Ruleman, and Samuel Johnstone perform field work for a topographic asymmetry study in the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve (Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado, USA).
Geologic Framework of the Intermountain West project members Adam Hudson, Margaret Berry, Harrison Gray, Cal Ruleman, and Samuel Johnstone perform field work for a topographic asymmetry study in the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve (Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado, USA).
Research Geologist Jens-Erik Lundstern explores multi-colored lacustrine shales of the Oligocene Amargosa Valley Formation (Bat Mountain, California, USA).
Research Geologist Jens-Erik Lundstern explores multi-colored lacustrine shales of the Oligocene Amargosa Valley Formation (Bat Mountain, California, USA).
Research Geologist Theresa Schwartz takes field notes about the Cenozoic sedimentary rocks of Bat Mountain (Death Valley region, California, USA).
Research Geologist Theresa Schwartz takes field notes about the Cenozoic sedimentary rocks of Bat Mountain (Death Valley region, California, USA).
Research Geologist Theresa Schwartz walks over Cenozoic sedimentary rocks in Death Valley National Park (California, USA).
Research Geologist Theresa Schwartz walks over Cenozoic sedimentary rocks in Death Valley National Park (California, USA).
The flat-lying rhyolite of Cropsy Mountain overlies the hydrothermally altered Summitville Andesite (San Juan Mountains, Colorado, USA).
The flat-lying rhyolite of Cropsy Mountain overlies the hydrothermally altered Summitville Andesite (San Juan Mountains, Colorado, USA).
Below are publications associated with the Geologic Framework of the Intermountain West Project.
Unified 200 kyr paleohydrologic history of the Southern Great Basin: Death Valley, Searles Valley, Owens Valley and the Devils Hole cave
Late Triassic paleogeography of southern Laurentia and its fringing arcs: Insights from detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology and Hf isotope geochemistry, Auld Lang Syne basin (Nevada, USA)
Clumped isotopes record a glacial-interglacial shift in seasonality of soil carbonate accumulation in the San Luis Valley, southern Rocky Mountains, USA
Paleogene sedimentary basin development in southern Nevada, USA
Paleoproterozoic reworking of Archean crust and extreme back-arc metamorphism in the enigmatic southern Trans-Hudson orogen
Heterogeneous multi-stage accretionary orogenesis — Evidence from the Gunnison block in the Yavapai Province, southwest USA
The importance of nodal plane orientation diversity for earthquake focal mechanism stress inversions
Geochemical evidence for evolving Proterozoic crustal thickness and orogenic styles in southwestern Laurentia
Fluorine-rich mafic lower crust in the southern Rocky Mountains: The role of pre-enrichment in generating fluorine-rich silicic magmas and porphyry Mo deposits
Triple oxygen isotope compositions of globally distributed soil carbonates record widespread evaporation of soil waters
Monazite and xenotime petrochronologic constraints on four Proterozoic tectonic episodes and ca. 1705 Ma age of the Uncompahgre Formation, southwestern Colorado, USA
Paleohydrologic history of pluvial lake San Agustin, New Mexico: Tracking changing effective moisture in southwest North America through the last glacial transition
Intermountain West Seamless Geologic Map Explorer
The Intermountain West Seamless Geologic Map Explorer is an interactive mapping application that hosts surficial and bedrock geologic data layers for a transect from the Rio Grande rift to the Basin and Range.
USGS Geochron Database Explorer
This Web Application is a tool for viewing, exploring, and downloading the "USGS Geochron: A Database of Geochronological and Thermochronological Dates and Data" Data Release.
The Geologic Framework of the Intermountain West (IMW) Project is creating a seamless, integrated, geologic map database that spans the Intermountain West region. The database will serve enhanced geologic map data to support geoscience research, environmental and resource assessments, and the communication of geologic information for all U.S. Geological Survey stakeholders.
This innovative approach to serving geologic map data synthesizes new and existing geologic mapping into a spatially consistent geologic framework, preserves source metadata, and improves the queryability of map unit information. The stratigraphic framework that underpins the geologic mapping is constructed dynamically using a process-based, time-dependent, hierarchical classification of map units. This data set can be integrated with users’ data via GIS hosted feature layers or can be viewed using the Intermountain West Geologic Map Explorer .
Research groups within this project investigate the magmatic, tectonic, stratigraphic, and landscape evolution of the Intermountain West through targeted studies of geologic processes.
The Intermountain West Seamless Geologic Map Explorer is now live!
The USGS Geochron Database Explorer is now live!
Surficial geologic map database for the Blanca Peak, Walsenburg, Trinidad, and Alamosa 30' x 60' quadrangles, Colorado
Isotopic data for Death Valley, California supporting Unified 200 kyr Paleohydrologic History of the Southern Great Basin
Bedrock geologic map database for the Blanca Peak, Walsenburg, Trinidad, and Alamosa 30' x 60' quadrangles, Colorado
Cosmogenic Al-26/Be-10 Isochron Burial Data for the Nussbaum Gravel at Baculite Mesa, CO
Isotopic, geochronologic and soil temperature data for Holocene and late Pleistocene soil carbonates of the San Luis Valley, Colorado and New Mexico, USA
Data release of zircon U-Pb geochronology and whole-rock isotope geochemistry for drill core samples from Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, and Wyoming
Detrital zircon U-Pb data for Upper Triassic sandstones of the Auld Lang Syne basin, northwest Nevada, USA
Seamless Integrated Geologic Map Database of the Intermountain West: Contributions to The National Geologic Map (ver. 2.0, October 2024)
Data release of isotope geochemistry, mineral chemistry, and geochronology for a Proterozoic paragneiss sampled from drill core from North Dakota
Data release of monazite and xenotime geochronology for Proterozoic rocks in central Colorado and monazite and zircon geochronology and whole-rock isotope geochemistry fo a Proterozoic drill core sample from western Colorado
U-Pb detrital zircon data and Ar feldspar data from middle Cenozoic sandstones and volcanic tuffs from southern Nevada, USA
Maximum horizontal stress orientation and relative stress magnitude (faulting regime) data throughout North America
Surficial geology of the northern San Luis Valley, Saguache, Fremont, Custer, Alamosa, Rio Grande, Conejos, and Costilla Counties, Colorado
Geologic map of the Homestake Reservoir 7.5′ quadrangle, Lake, Pitkin, and Eagle Counties, Colorado
Geologic map of the Bonanza caldera area, northeastern San Juan Mountains, Colorado
Geologic map of Petroglyph National Monument and vicinity, Bernalillo County, New Mexico
Geologic map of the San Antonio Mountain area, northern New Mexico and southern Colorado
Research Geologist Adam Hudson installs a soil temperature and moisture monitoring station for a topographic asymmetry study in the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve (Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado, USA).
Research Geologist Adam Hudson installs a soil temperature and moisture monitoring station for a topographic asymmetry study in the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve (Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado, USA).
Research Geologist Jens-Erik Lundstern poses as a scale for middle Cenozoic fluvial conglomerates in the Delamar Mountains (southern Nevada, USA).
Research Geologist Jens-Erik Lundstern poses as a scale for middle Cenozoic fluvial conglomerates in the Delamar Mountains (southern Nevada, USA).
Intermountain West Project members Adam Hudson and Michael Frothingham inspect young aeolian deposits of the San Juan River corridor (Bluff, Utah, USA).
Intermountain West Project members Adam Hudson and Michael Frothingham inspect young aeolian deposits of the San Juan River corridor (Bluff, Utah, USA).
Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) grow on middle Cenozoic sedimentary rocks of the Las Vegas region (southern Nevada, USA).
Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) grow on middle Cenozoic sedimentary rocks of the Las Vegas region (southern Nevada, USA).
Photomigrograph (cross-polarized light) showing branching bunches of calcite filaments grown from algal mats in spring-discharge tufas of Cold Creek Spring (Las Vegas region, Nevada, USA).
Photomigrograph (cross-polarized light) showing branching bunches of calcite filaments grown from algal mats in spring-discharge tufas of Cold Creek Spring (Las Vegas region, Nevada, USA).
Strongly deformed Paleoproterozoic granitic intrusions in biotite schist (Spaghetti Canyon, Lower Granite Gorge, Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA).
Strongly deformed Paleoproterozoic granitic intrusions in biotite schist (Spaghetti Canyon, Lower Granite Gorge, Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA).
The Colorado River, brown from heightened suspended load following rains, flows through Paleoproteroic basement and overlying Cambrian Tapeats Sandstone in the Grand Canyon (Arizona, USA).
The Colorado River, brown from heightened suspended load following rains, flows through Paleoproteroic basement and overlying Cambrian Tapeats Sandstone in the Grand Canyon (Arizona, USA).
The moon sets over an exposure of the Great Unconformity within the Colorado National Monument (Colorado, USA). At this location, Paleoproterozoic granite (foreground) is unconformably overlain by the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation.
The moon sets over an exposure of the Great Unconformity within the Colorado National Monument (Colorado, USA). At this location, Paleoproterozoic granite (foreground) is unconformably overlain by the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation.
View to the west across Death Valley (California, USA) to the Panamint Mountains. Alluvial fans (foreground) and the salt lake playa of the Badwater basin (middle ground) occupy the basin floor.
View to the west across Death Valley (California, USA) to the Panamint Mountains. Alluvial fans (foreground) and the salt lake playa of the Badwater basin (middle ground) occupy the basin floor.
Research Geologist Marieke Dechesne describes fluvial deposits of the Paleocene Raton Formation (Raton Basin, Colorado, USA).
Research Geologist Marieke Dechesne describes fluvial deposits of the Paleocene Raton Formation (Raton Basin, Colorado, USA).
Research Geologist Marieke Dechesne investigates heavy mineral-bearing shoreface deposits in the Upper Cretaceous Trinidad Sandstone (Raton Basin, New Mexico, USA).
Research Geologist Marieke Dechesne investigates heavy mineral-bearing shoreface deposits in the Upper Cretaceous Trinidad Sandstone (Raton Basin, New Mexico, USA).
Research Geologist A. Kate Souders investigates complexly deformed, middle Cenozoic volcaniclastic rocks of the Death Valley region (California, USA).
Research Geologist A. Kate Souders investigates complexly deformed, middle Cenozoic volcaniclastic rocks of the Death Valley region (California, USA).
Research Geologist A. Kate Souders samples fluvial sandstones of the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation (eastern Nevada, USA).
Research Geologist A. Kate Souders samples fluvial sandstones of the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation (eastern Nevada, USA).
Research Geologist Amy Gilmer walks over carbonate rocks of the Upper Triassic Star Peak Group (northern Humboldt Range, Nevada, USA).
Research Geologist Amy Gilmer walks over carbonate rocks of the Upper Triassic Star Peak Group (northern Humboldt Range, Nevada, USA).
In an effort to better understand the effects of abandoned mine lands on natural resources, Research Geologists Margaret Berry and Adam Hudson collect samples of ancestral Animas River sediment for geochemical analysis (Durango, Colorado, USA).
In an effort to better understand the effects of abandoned mine lands on natural resources, Research Geologists Margaret Berry and Adam Hudson collect samples of ancestral Animas River sediment for geochemical analysis (Durango, Colorado, USA).
Wild burros stand guard on the path to Miocene volcaniclastic rocks of the Death Valley region (California, USA).
Wild burros stand guard on the path to Miocene volcaniclastic rocks of the Death Valley region (California, USA).
Geologic Framework of the Intermountain West project members Adam Hudson, Margaret Berry, Harrison Gray, Cal Ruleman, and Samuel Johnstone perform field work for a topographic asymmetry study in the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve (Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado, USA).
Geologic Framework of the Intermountain West project members Adam Hudson, Margaret Berry, Harrison Gray, Cal Ruleman, and Samuel Johnstone perform field work for a topographic asymmetry study in the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve (Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado, USA).
Research Geologist Jens-Erik Lundstern explores multi-colored lacustrine shales of the Oligocene Amargosa Valley Formation (Bat Mountain, California, USA).
Research Geologist Jens-Erik Lundstern explores multi-colored lacustrine shales of the Oligocene Amargosa Valley Formation (Bat Mountain, California, USA).
Research Geologist Theresa Schwartz takes field notes about the Cenozoic sedimentary rocks of Bat Mountain (Death Valley region, California, USA).
Research Geologist Theresa Schwartz takes field notes about the Cenozoic sedimentary rocks of Bat Mountain (Death Valley region, California, USA).
Research Geologist Theresa Schwartz walks over Cenozoic sedimentary rocks in Death Valley National Park (California, USA).
Research Geologist Theresa Schwartz walks over Cenozoic sedimentary rocks in Death Valley National Park (California, USA).
The flat-lying rhyolite of Cropsy Mountain overlies the hydrothermally altered Summitville Andesite (San Juan Mountains, Colorado, USA).
The flat-lying rhyolite of Cropsy Mountain overlies the hydrothermally altered Summitville Andesite (San Juan Mountains, Colorado, USA).
Below are publications associated with the Geologic Framework of the Intermountain West Project.
Unified 200 kyr paleohydrologic history of the Southern Great Basin: Death Valley, Searles Valley, Owens Valley and the Devils Hole cave
Late Triassic paleogeography of southern Laurentia and its fringing arcs: Insights from detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology and Hf isotope geochemistry, Auld Lang Syne basin (Nevada, USA)
Clumped isotopes record a glacial-interglacial shift in seasonality of soil carbonate accumulation in the San Luis Valley, southern Rocky Mountains, USA
Paleogene sedimentary basin development in southern Nevada, USA
Paleoproterozoic reworking of Archean crust and extreme back-arc metamorphism in the enigmatic southern Trans-Hudson orogen
Heterogeneous multi-stage accretionary orogenesis — Evidence from the Gunnison block in the Yavapai Province, southwest USA
The importance of nodal plane orientation diversity for earthquake focal mechanism stress inversions
Geochemical evidence for evolving Proterozoic crustal thickness and orogenic styles in southwestern Laurentia
Fluorine-rich mafic lower crust in the southern Rocky Mountains: The role of pre-enrichment in generating fluorine-rich silicic magmas and porphyry Mo deposits
Triple oxygen isotope compositions of globally distributed soil carbonates record widespread evaporation of soil waters
Monazite and xenotime petrochronologic constraints on four Proterozoic tectonic episodes and ca. 1705 Ma age of the Uncompahgre Formation, southwestern Colorado, USA
Paleohydrologic history of pluvial lake San Agustin, New Mexico: Tracking changing effective moisture in southwest North America through the last glacial transition
Intermountain West Seamless Geologic Map Explorer
The Intermountain West Seamless Geologic Map Explorer is an interactive mapping application that hosts surficial and bedrock geologic data layers for a transect from the Rio Grande rift to the Basin and Range.
USGS Geochron Database Explorer
This Web Application is a tool for viewing, exploring, and downloading the "USGS Geochron: A Database of Geochronological and Thermochronological Dates and Data" Data Release.