Abstract A synthesis of low-temperature thermochronologic results throughout the Laramide foreland illustrates that samples from wellbores in Laramide basins record either (1) detrital Laramide or older cooling ages in the upper ~1 km (0.62 mi) of the wellbore, with younger ages at greater depths as temperatures increase; or (2) Neogene cooling ages. Surface samples from Laramide ranges typically record either Laramide or older cooling ages. It is apparent that for any particular area the complexity of the cooling history, and hence the tectonic history interpreted from the cooling history, increases as the number of studies or the area covered by a study increases. Most Laramide ranges probably experienced a complex tectono-thermal evolution. Deriving a regional timing sequence for the evolution of the Laramide basins and ranges is still elusive, although a compilation of low-temperature thermochronology data from ranges in the Laramide foreland suggests a younging of the ranges to the south and southwest. Studies of subsurface samples from Laramide basins have, in some cases, been integrated with and used to constrain results from basin burial-history modeling. Current exploration for unconventional shale-oil or shale-gas plays in the Rocky Mountains has renewed interest in thermal and burial history modeling as an aid in evaluating thermal maturity and understanding petroleum systems.This paper suggests that low-temperature thermochronometers are underutilized tools that can provide additional constraints to burial-history modeling and source rock evaluation in the Rocky Mountain region.

Abstract Study of a regional three-dimensional seismic data set by Cumella and Ostby (2003) indicated the potential existence of wrench faults in the southern Piceance Basin, Colorado. Although the faults could be inferred to cut through the productive interval, no direct observation was possible until the Reservoir Characterization Project (RCP) conducted a multicomponent seismic study at Rulison Field. This study confirms the existence of faults and coduments their importance in creating fracture zones critical to higher expected ultimate recovery (EUR) well production within the field. Three-dimensional seismic data were acquired at Rulison Field by RCP to investigate whether zones of high fracture density within the Mesaverde reservoir interval could be detected. Three time-lapse, multicomponent seismic surveys were acquired in 2003, 2004, and 2006. The study confirmed the existence of wrench faults, documented zones of high fracture density, and observed pressure depletion within these zones. Wrench faults and fracture zones play an important role in the creation of “sweet spots” associated with wells of high EUR. Sweet spot identification with multicomponent seismic data can improve the economics of tight gas exploration and production.

Abstract The Grizzly Creek shear zone is a newly discovered Proterozoic structure coincident with the southern margin of the Laramide White River uplift in west-central Colorado. The shear zone includes a 10-15 m basal mylonite oriented 255/44°NW that truncates foliation and magmatic fabrics in the footwall. The mylonite is overlain by >400 m of moderately north-dipping tectonites dominated by protomylonitic to mylonitic gneiss intercalated with mainly concordant pseudotachylyte veins and cmscale ultramylonite bands. At the upper boundary of the shear zone, the high-strain tectonic fabrics grade into relatively undeformed rocks of the hanging wall. The shear zone separates supracrustal gneisses and coarse-to-megacrystic granitoids in the footwall (south block) from fine-grained, foliated granite and supracrustal gneisses in the hanging wall (north block). Mutually overprinting brittle and plastic fault rocks, including cataclasites, pseudotachylyte fault veins, mylonitized pseudotachylyte, and ultramylonite bands, record cyclic deformation by both seismogenic rupture and plastic creep within the shear zone. Mineral lineations on mylonitic foliation surfaces plunge N-NE, and a variety of microscopic and mesoscopic shear-sense indicators indicate top-to-south reverse displacement. The Grizzly Creek shear zone is truncated by the Cambrian-Precambrian nonconformity, which is underlain by a 1-2-m-thick paleoregolith containing altered pseudotachylyte. We interpret the shear zone to record cyclic seismogenic faulting and aseismic plastic flow at the brittle-plastic transition during Proterozoic ~N-S shortening. The age, kinematics, and tectonic style of the Grizzly Creek shear zone are consistent with the 1.4 Ga Colorado mineral belt shear zone system; a NE-trending intracontinental deformation zone that formed under a regional strain field involving N-S shortening, E-W extension, and complex transpression on subvertical shear zones 55 km to the southeast. The Grizzly Creek shear zone was brittley reactivated as a Laramide, south-vergent reverse fault with a displacement of > 200 m. We suggest that the Proterozoic Grizzly Creek shear zone represents a persistent zone of weakness in the lithosphere that significantly impacted the Cenozoic structural evolution and present geomorphology of the region. Keywords: pseudotachylyte, ultramylonite, brittle-plastic deformation, tectonic inheritance, White River uplift, Glenwood Canyon.

Abstract The Boulder Creek Watershed, within the Front Range region of Colorado, istypical of many western watersheds because it is composed of a high-gradient upperreach mostly fed by snowmelt, a substantial change in gradient at the range front, andan urban corridor within the lower gradient section. A stream ecosystem within anurban landscape not only can provide water for municipal, industrial, and agriculturalneeds, but also can be utilized for recreation, esthetic enjoyment, and wastewaterdisposal. The purpose of this 26 km bicycle field trip is to explore the hydrology andgeochemistry of Boulder and South Boulder Creeks and to discuss topics includingflood frequency and hazards, aqueous geochemistry of the watershed, and potentialimpacts of invasive species and emerging contaminants on stream ecology. Keywords: Colorado Front Range, flood hazard, water quality, invasive species

The fossil plants found in the Eocene Florissant Formation and Green River Formation are preserved with a level of detail that allows one to closely examine traces of insect feeding damage. Levels (amounts) and patterns (abundance of various types) of fossilized insect feeding damage from Florissant and the middle Eocene Green River Formation were compared. This allowed for a detailed examination of feeding damage and provided an opportunity to examine long-term patterns of change in insect herbivory during a period of climate fluctuation. Samples including 624 fossil leaves from Florissant and 584 fossil leaves from the Green River Formation were examined to document overall damage levels, the presence/absence of specific feeding guilds (i.e., hole-feeding, skeletonization, leaf-mining), and host-specific damage types. Florissant insects show host specificity in their feeding preferences as evidenced through the distribution of feeding damage on plants and through the presence of identifiable host-specific interactions. Some of these interactions appear to be long lasting as they are also apparent on the same, or closely related, leaf species found in the Green River Formation. Insect damage levels declined from the middle to late Eocene. This decline is correlated with a cooling event during this time interval and is in concurrence with the findings of other authors who have examined fossilized herbivory and climate change patterns. There is also an increase in the abundance of galls during this same interval, which also may be related to climate change.