A New Mexico celebration of the Route 66 Centennial would be incomplete without a ‘deep time’ dive into the geology along the Mother Road. Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles covers 2000 miles. Using this distance as a metaphor for the timeline of Earth’s 4.6 billion year (Ga or giga annum) history, the Earth formed “in Chicago” and by the time you get to New Mexico, half the trip, and half of Earth’s history, is behind you. Your drive through New Mexico is complicated by trying to stay on the road while seeing different “chapters” of the last 2 billion years of Earth history all mixed in the spectacular scenery.

This talk is designed to give a pictorial view of highlights seen along the New Mexico part of Rt 66 and to answer some of your questions about New Mexico geologic history.

Tickets are $7 for students and seniors, $10 for the general public. Go to www.NMnaturalhistory.org for tickets and information.

Dr. Karl E. Karlstrom is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of New Mexico. His research specialties are structural geology and tectonics and his New Mexico and Grand Canyon research spans the geologic timescale from the Precambrian to the Quaternary. His informal science education activities include, with his wife Dr. Laura Crossey, development of the Trail of Time Geoscience Education Exhibition at Grand Canyon which opened in 2010 and received the 2011 First Place award from National Association for Interpretation. He has served as a Science Editor for the journal GSA Today (2000- 2003), Science Editor for the Geological Society of America (GSA) Bulletin (2005-2008), received the GSA 2009 Distinguished Service Award, and is a GSA Fellow. He was selected for the 2014 UNM 60th Distinguished Research Lecture, received a 2015 Career Achievement Award from the American Institute of Professional Geologists (joint with Laura Crossey), and received the 2018 UNM Alumni Teaching Award. He served on the NM Statemap Advisory Committee for several decades, and has helped lead numerous NM Geological Society Fall Field Conferences.