Full Title: Warren Hamilton Field Trip: The West Texas Nexus: Orogeny, Magmatism, K-Pg Boundary, Vertebrate Biostratigraphy, and Chihuahuan Desert Geohydrology
Endorsed by: GSA’s Planetary Geology, Mineralogy, Geochemistry, Petrology, and Volcanology, Structural Geology and Tectonics, Geochronology Divisions
Led by: Jesse Kelsch, Thomas Shiller, Patricia W. Dickerson, Joe Satterfield, Kevin Urbanczyk, Elizabeth Koeman-Shields
Date: Tue–Sat. 14-18 Oct. 2025
Time: 2 p.m. (first day)-5:30 p.m. (last day)
Location: Begins in Midland, Texas, USA
CEUs: 4.0
Big Bend structures, strata and waters record >500 Ma of Earth history. On this trip we'll visit: Paleozoic strata of the Marathon Basin; the Marathon fold-thrust belt recording Pangea assembly; Early Cretaceous marine platform carbonates; Late Cretaceous megafauna (Alamosaurus & Quetzalcoatlus); the K-Pg boundary; Laramide contractional structures of the Terlingua Uplift and the Sierra del Carmen; some of the 48-18 Ma Trans-Pecos magmatic province, including calderas, lavas, ignimbrites, pluton-associated mercury mineralization, and the Solitario lacco-caldera; Rio Grande rift structures with exposed kinematic history; and the Rio Grande/ Rio Bravo, plus springs from cross-border aquifers. Cost includes transportation (full size SUVs), Riata Inn in Marfa for 10/14 (double occupancy), Chisos Mining Co in Terlingua for 10/15-16 (double occupancy), Marathon Motel in Marathon for 10/17 (double occupancy), meals, snacks, and water. Students can apply for the Warren Hamilton Fund to defer the cost of the trip.
By purchasing this item, you are buying a seat on an in-person geological field trip.
Please review these Field Safety Documents. You will be contacted to provide your consent to these forms after purchasing a field trip.
Learn more about this and other GSA Connects 2025 events.
For additional information, please contact Rebecca Taormina, rtaormina@geosociety.org, GSA Field Trip and Short Program Coordinator.
Product Code: FT25CN425
Product Category: FTRIP