Rio Grande Rift
The Rio Grande Rift is a rift valley extending north from Mexico, near El Paso, Texas through New Mexico into central Colorado.
The area is presently quiescent, but significant geological activity has occurred in the area over the last 20 million years. The
Sangre de Cristo Range lies to the east of the north portion of the rift. The
Valles Caldera National Preserve is a huge
caldera by the Jemez river, nearby. The
Colorado Plateau, to the west, includes the San Juan Volcanic Field and the
San Juan Mountains. The
Rio Grande river follows the course of the rift from southern Colorado to El Paso; it starts a southeast course out of New Mexico at the pass between the Franklin mountains and the Sierra Juarez, which ends at the Gulf of Mexico.
