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Introduction 1
I Colorado’s Three Provinces 3
The Prairies 8
The Peaks 10
Front Range 11
Wet Mountains 16
Sangre de Cristo Range and Spanish Peaks 17
Park Range and Rabbit Ears Range 19
Gore Range 20
Tenmile and Mosquito Ranges 21
Sawatch Range 22
Elk Mountains and West Elk Mountains 24
San Juan Mountains 25
Uinta Mountains 26
The Plateaus 28
II Geologic History of Colorado 32
Precambrian Era 33
Paleozoic Era 38
Cambrian Period 39
Ordovician Period 40
Silurian Period 42
Devonian Period 42
Mississippian Period 43
Pennsylvanian Period 44
Permian Period 48
Mesozoic Era 51
Triassic Period 51
Jurassic Period 52
Cretaceous Period 56
Cenozoic Era 59
Tertiary Period 59
Quaternary Period 68
III Geology and Man in Colorado 74
Gold, Silver, and Other Metals 77
Boulder County 79
Central City and Idaho Springs 80
Georgetown, Empire, and Silver Plume 81
Leadville 82
Breckenridge 83
Fairplay 84
Silverton 85
Ouray 87
Aspen 88
Creede 89
Cripple Creek 90
Climax 91
Radium, Uranium, and Vanadium 93
Oil, Natural Gas, and Oil Shale 94
Coal 96
Construction Materials 97
Sand, Gravel, and Clay 97
Stone 99
Lime and Gypsum 101
Gems 102
Water 103
Surface Water 103
Groundwater 105
Caves 106
Springs 109
Environmental Geology 111
Glossary 114
Suggested Reading 119
Index 121