Heat flow in Colorado and New Mexico

Nine new values of heat flow in Colorado and New Mexico range from 1.22 μcal/cm2 sec to 2.7 μcal/cm2 sec. These data indicate that high heat flow is characteristic of all the Southern Rocky Mountains and the Basin and Range province in southwestern New Mexico. In the Southern Rocky Mountains, high and variable heat flow may be due to radioactivity in the upper part of a thick crust. In the Basin and Range province, differences in crustal structure suggest that high flux may be related to additional factors besides crustal radioactivity.