Hinsdale Formation
The Hinsdale Formation is a geologic formation exposed in southwestern Colorado and northern New Mexico. It has a radiometric age of 4.4 to 26.8 million years, corresponding to the Neogene period.
Description
The Hinsdale Formation is a bimodal volcanic formation, containing silica-poor olivine basalt and high-silica rhyolite with only small quantities of volcanic rock of intermediate composition. The sequence reflects assimilation and fractional crystallization of a primitive basalt magma. Total thickness is in excess of.The formation is the youngest volcanic formation of the San Juan volcanic field, and is separated from older units by a significant erosional surface. Radiometric ages range from 4.4 to 26.8 million years. The formation once formed an extensive thin veneer over the San Juan volcanic field before itself being eroded.
The change to bimodal association coincided with the transition from Laramide compression to Rio Grande rift extension, a pattern seen elsewhere in the western United States.