Quaternary Geology of Chaco Canyon, Northwestern New Mexico

Author

David Waxham Love

Publication Date

12-18-1980

Abstract

The overall purpose of studying the Quaternary geology of Chaco Canyon is to develop an understanding of how the geomorphic system in the Chaco drainage evolved and how it presently operates. This dissertation has several subsidiary purposes; (1) to describe and relate modern sedimentary features and facies (which are likely to be preserved in the alluvial fill of the canyon) to modern geomorphic processes, (2) to use the results from the study of modern sediments to interpret exposures of alluvium in Chaco Canyon in order to reconstruct past environments, (3) to develop conceptual models of the geologic subsystems of the canyon, (4) to establish a tentative sequence of erosional and depositional events in Chaco Canyon and (5) to indicate methods for more precise evaluations of environmental reconstructions.

Degree Name

Earth and Planetary Sciences

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

First Committee Member (Chair)

Stephen G. Wells

Second Committee Member

Raymond V. Ingersoll

Third Committee Member

Lee A. Woodward

Fourth Committee Member

Roger Y. Anderson

Fifth Committee Member

C.T. Siemers

Project Sponsors

New Mexico Geological Society, UNM Student Research Allocations Committee

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Recommended Citation

Love, David Waxham. "Quaternary Geology of Chaco Canyon, Northwestern New Mexico." (1980). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/eps_etds/161