Geologist Fraser Goff, author of Valles Caldera: A Geologic History, will be at the UNM Bookstore on Friday, April 17, at noon to discuss and sign copies of his book. The Valles Caldera in New Mexico’s Jemez Mountains, with its large collapsed crater and active geothermal system, has long attracted researchers from around the world. The UNM Bookstore is located at 2301 Central Ave. NE at the intersection of Cornell and Central.
In the 1880s, explorer John Wesley Powell first described Jemez Mountain volcanism, and from the mid 1990s on, the Valles Caldera has been a focus for environmental, ecological, and climate change research.
Surprisingly, until Goff, no one had written a geologic history of the Valles Caldera and its environs. Goff reviews the geologic and geothermal history of the caldera, offers insights into the area’s pre-caldera geology, and acts as a guide for field trips around the Jemez Mountains. The book contains more than 60 color photographs of rocks and minerals and examples of geological processes that adventurers and scientists alike will appreciate.
Commissioned by the board of the Valles Caldera National Preserve, the body that manages the Valles Caldera, Goff’s book provides a readable scientific overview of this remarkable natural wonder, during a time when its preservation and governance is under question and in the news. For more than a century, the caldera was held safe within the 89,000-acre Baca Ranch, but now some environmentalists question whether the preserve should be managed by the National Park Service.
Fraser Goff (B.S., San Jose State; Ph.D., University of California-Santa Cruz) is retired from the U.S. Geological Survey and from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). He is now an adjunct professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of New Mexico. While at LANL, Goff conducted research on more than 40 geothermal systems and fifteen active volcanoes worldwide. Dr. Goff has spent 30 years working in or near the Jemez Mountains and Valles Caldera.
For those attending the event, parking will be validated in the parking structure for up to one hour with purchase. Please call Lisa Walden at 505-277-7494 for more information.