ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Geology of New Mexico

Geology is a science that looks at the Earth and all the different rocks and landforms on it. New Mexico is a state in America that has lots of different kinds of rocks and landforms because it’s been around for a very, very long time.

A long time ago, New Mexico used to be covered in water – kind of like a big ocean – and different kinds of animals lived in it. Over time, the water went away and the land started to move around – almost like it was alive! This made big mountains and valleys and deserts and canyons.

Now, if you look at a map of New Mexico, you will see there are a lot of different colors on it. This is because each color shows a different kind of rock. The rocks can be different colors because they are made of different materials – like dirt, sand, or even hardened lava!

Some rocks in New Mexico are really old – like more than a billion years old! These rocks are called precambrian rocks and they tell us about what the Earth was like a long, long time ago. There are also more recent rocks that tell us about the creatures that lived on and in the land more recently – like dinosaurs!

So, in simple terms, the geology of New Mexico has a lot of different kinds of rocks and landforms because the land has been around for a very long time and has gone through many changes over time – from being covered in water to forming mountains and deserts.