26 The Americafi Geologist. July, i898 
THE GEOLOGY OF THE ENVIRONS OF ALBUQUER- 
QUE, NEW MEXICO. 
By C. L. Hereiok, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 
(Plate VI.) 
It is somewhat surprising that the geology of the valley of 
the Rio Grande in New Mexico seems to have escaped atten- 
tion, while the more inaccessible parts of the territory have 
been the subject of elaborate memoirs. The small area about 
the metropolis of New Mexico which forms the subject of 
this paper is not wanting in interest from many points of view, 
but it seems never to have received more than passing atten- 
tion, while the large area of the Mount Taylor district to the 
west is the subject of the interesting and elaborate mono- 
graph by captain Button. 
The area covered by this report is, roughly speaking, a 
square of twenty miles, with the city of Albuquerque at its 
centre. Its study has been carried on in intervals of the ad- 
ministrative work of the University and cannot hope to be 
exhaustive, yet we trust that a foundation has been laid for 
a more minute study of the valley at other places. The at- 
tempt to secure information at second hand has proven futile, 
for the few who in this region are sufficiently interested to 
observe natural phenomena are not well enough versed in the 
elements of geological interpretation to report correctly the 
facts observed. The writer gratefully acknowledges the as- 
sistance of Prof. E. W. Claypole, a former colleague in the 
geological study of the Waverly of Ohio, who accompanied 
him upon several of the expeditions upon which this paper 
rests. Although the conditions here reported are in a sense 
local, it is upon the accurate comprehension of these details 
that the intelligent survey of the general geological outlines 
must rest. A map with contour lines and details of distribu- 
tion is in process of construction and will be issued in the 
forthcoming bulletin of the University of New Mexico. 
I. The Albuquerque River Deposits. 
The valley of the Rio Grande at Albuquerque offers a 
number of interesting geological problems, some of which 
when solved may prove of far-reaching importance for the 
interpretation of the general surface geology of the territory. 
