Spring Break Trip: White Sands National Monument

We drove to Alamogordo today, another lovely (and I say that with total sarcasm) southern New Mexico town. Alamogordo is situated in the Tularosa Basin, a low spot caused by the downward movement of the land between parallel faults. These faults are considered part of the Rio Grande Rift system that fractures the state from north to south. To the west of Alamogordo are the San Andreas Mountains and to the east are the Sacramento Mountains. I find these names funny since I grew up in California, near Sacramento and very much aware of the San Andreas Fault system nearby.

Just outside of Alamogordo is the White Sands National Monument. These are not your ordinary silica (quartz) sand dunes. The sand at White Sands are made of fine white grains of gypsum and encompass about 275 square miles. Three things are needed to form sand dunes: a source of sand, plenty of wind, and a place where the sand can be deposited.

The main source of the white sand is the erosion of the San Andreas Mountains to the southwest of the dunes. When the Permian sea evaporated 250 million years ago, it left behind deposits of salts and gypsum, and turning into the limestone rock that underlie this whole area between Carlsbad and Alamogordo. The area was uplifted and exposed 10 million years ago and over time, the rock has broken down into sand-sized particles that were carried by the wind to be deposited at the monument. The other source are alkaline lakes that evaporate and leave behind gypsum deposits that get transported by the wind.

Our first stop at White Sands National Monument was the Visitor Center, where we rented sleds. We got a park map as we journeyed out on a 16-mile driving tour through the dunes. At the halfway point where the Transverse Dunes were, we found a really great hill to sled down, spending a lot of time climbing up the dune and sliding down it. The sand was so soft and cool; I loved how it sparkled in the sun. On the way back, we stopped to get out and walk along some trails. We walked on the shorter trails, the Big Dune Nature Trail (1 mile on the Parabolic Dunes), and the Interdune Boardwalk (1/3 mile). Both were great and wonderful to explore.

I do have to say though, all that sand and no ocean....but it was quite the experience!

P.S.: Transverse dunes form perpendicular to the prevailing wind, Parabolic dunes are u-shaped.

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Neat

"Let all that you do be done in love"
1 Cor 16:14

Spring Break Trip: King's Palace Tour

After the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens Tuesday morning, we went back to Carlsbad Caverns to go on a ranger-guided tour of the King's Palace portion of the caves. It was a 1.5 hour, 1-mile tour that descended into the deepest part of the cave that is open to the public, 830 feet below the desert surface.

Immediately when we entered into the section of cave known as the King's Palace, memories flooded back to me from when I was a kid visiting with my family. I guess this portion of the cave was open to the public, without a ranger, when I visited then. It is amazing how a memory can be forgotten, then retrieved again so quickly.

We walked along the trail and saw more amazing decorations, entering into the Papoose Room, Queen's Chamber, and the Green Lake Room (yes, there is a small green lake there). There were fantastic stalagmites and

columns and so many "curtains." We saw helictites, a chaotic, dendritic cave form on the ceiling. This section of the cave was a lot more active than the Big Room that we toured the day before. We saw water dripping onto a growing stalagmite in the Queen's Chamber that looked like an ice cream cone.

While in the Queen's Chamber, we all sat on the rock wall while the ranger shut out the lights. We witnessed a total black out! Could you imagine exploring the caves before lighting was installed and then having to navigate with only a lantern? I don't know if I'd be brave enough!

It's just amazing what can happen when sufuric acid can do to limestone! We could even see the "bashful elephant" in the flowstone in one formation.

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Neat

"Let all that you do be done in love"
1 Cor 16:14

Spring Break Trip: Carlsbad's Living Desert Zoo and Gardens

We got up bright and early this morning to go to the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park here in Carlsbad. The park is situated on a hill overlooking the town and is set up really nice. The park showcases plants and animals of the Chihuahuan Desert, which also extends down into Mexico, west into Arizona, and east into Texas. As I mentioned in my previous blog, it is all part of that Permian basin from 250 million years ago that has been uplifted and exposed.

Animals that we saw included birds of prey such as the bald eagle, javelinas, snakes, bison, Mexican wolves, elk, and a bobcat. Unfortunately, the mountain lion was not out.

Plants included many cactii, agave, yucca, trees, and shrubs.

Rocks included limestone and selenite (the pure form of gypsum). Gypsum is a rock that formed in a shallow sea environment that had high evaporation rates. This gypsum is from the same formation that the White Sands National Monument near Alamogordo is a part of. We'll be going there tomorrow.

The zoo and gardens are a really neat way to spend about an hour or so of your morning.

This afternoon we went back to Carlsbad Caverns to go on a ranger-guided tour of the King's Palace and were awestruck again by the beauty of the caves. I'll post more pictures of that tour soon.

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Neat

"Let all that you do be done in love"
1 Cor 16:14

Spring Break Trip: Carlsbad

Carlsbad, NM....Wow, what a town. Not much here, really, besides one long strip of highway that appears like it has died a long and slow death. The Wal-Mart was a "happenin'" place though. And they do have a Chili's restaurant with really delicious cheese fries. Anyway, it is a place to stay and again, makes me thankful I live in northern New Mexico.

Carlsbad is located at the edge of the Guadalupe Mountains on the Permian Basin. It is part of that Permian shallow sea where a great reef formed some 250 million years ago.

We drove about 45 minutes southwest of Carlsbad to go to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The park is part of the Capitan reef within the Chihuahuan Desert Ecosystem. Basically, that means lots of cactus species (in fact, more species of cactii than in any other desert) and shrubs.

The Capitan Reef (where Carlsbad Caverns National Park is) was mostly made of sponges and algae with the occasional shelled creature such as ammonites, brachiopods, or crinoids that were deposited and transformed into limestone. Over the past 20 million years this deposit has been uplifted and exposed. The limestone caves were formed when slightly acidic groundwater seeped into the cracks, dissolving away the rock and leaving empty space. Because this area has many oil deposits, it is more acidic than normal and so dissolution is greater. That's why Carlsbad Caverns are so magnificent.

Anyway, we went into the caves via the Natural Entrance, the same entrance that I went into when I was about 9 years old. The descent into the cave was amazing with continuous switchbacks leading deeper into the caves. The trail led about 1.3 miles and 800 feet down into the cave, opening up in "The Big Room" where the elevators deposit you if you choose to take them down rather than hike down (and it's another mile or so to walk the trail through the Big Room). Believe me, it is far more extraordinary to enter through the Natural Entrance!

The Pièce de résistance, of course, are the magnificent speleothems that are formed from rain and snowmelt seeping into the caves, dripping to create stalagtites, stalagmites, ribbons, draperies, popcorn, flowstone, and soda straws (for example). The waters are rich in minerals and absorbed gases from the sediments and limestone above. When the water drop evaporates, it leaves behind calcite and decorates the caves with awesome formations.

Tomorrow, we're going to go on a ranger-guided tour to the King's Palace in the Caverns. I hope the kids don't freak out when he/she turns out all lights to make the cave dark. But before that adventure, we're going to visit the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park. It'll be another fun, and warm day.

Neat

"Let all that you do be done in love"
1 Cor 16:14

Spring Break Trip: Roswell

What can I say about southern New Mexico besides, "I'm glad I live in northern New Mexico." As they say, it is a good place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

My family and I are on our spring break trip and decided to take a tour of the southern portion of our state. Once you get out of Santa Fe, going south on Highway 285, the scenery is flat and covered in scrub brush, mostly sage, cactus, and juniper (sneeze). The geology is that of a 250 million year old (Permian) shallow sea with lightly colored San Andreas Limestone predominant. Oil and natural gas deposits sit on top of this limestone.

We drove about 4 hours to Roswell and stopped at the UFO Museum. It is devoted to an event in July of 1947 where something happened northwest of Roswell during a severe thunderstorm. Was it a flying saucer? Was it a weather balloon? What happened? "The Roswell Incident," as it is known as seems to be a great government cover up of a crash of some sort of UFO. There was debris of some unknown metal as well as alien bodies recovered, then confiscated and hidden away. The government officials say it was a weather balloon that crashed, but many remain suspicious of the end report. For 60 years, it all has remained a mystery.

The museum exhibits are a bit "cheesey" and do require a lot of reading, so for those who have children who don't like to read (or simply are too young to read), this is not a good museum choice. It is very stark and in a werehouse-style building so doesn't really showcase The Roswell Incident or it's other exhibits such as ones on UFO research, crop circles, alien abductions, and Area 51. But it is worth an hour out of your day.

Next stop....Carlsbad!,

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Neat

"Let all that you do be done in love"
1 Cor 16:14