Albuquerque Basin
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Albuquerque Basin
The Albuquerque Basin (or Middle Rio Grande Basin) is a structural basin and ecoregion within the Rio Grande rift in central New Mexico. It contains the city of Albuquerque. Geologically, the Albuquerque Basin is a half-graben that slopes down towards the east to terminate on the Sandia and Manzano mountains. The basin is the largest and oldest of the three major basins in the Rio Grande rift, containing sediments whose depth ranges from . The basin has a semi-arid climate, with large areas that count as desert. Paleo-Indian traces dating back 12,000 years show that the climate used to be wetter and more fertile than it is today. The Rio Grande flows through the basin from north to south, and its valley has been irrigated for at least 1,000 years. Intense irrigation began in the late nineteenth century with new dams, levees and ditches and has caused environmental problems. In times of low water levels in the Rio Grande, Albuquerque relies on groundwater for its potable wat ...
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Sandia Mountains
The Sandia Mountains (Southern Tiwa: ''Posu gai hoo-oo'', Keres: ''Tsepe,'' Navajo: ''Dził Nááyisí''; Tewa: ''O:ku:p’į'', Northern Tiwa: ''Kep’íanenemą''; Towa: ''Kiutawe'', Zuni: ''Chibiya Yalanne'') are a mountain range located in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, immediately to the east of the city of Albuquerque in New Mexico in the southwestern United States. The mountains are just due south of the southern terminus of the Rocky Mountains, and are part of the Sandia–Manzano Mountains. This is largely within the Cibola National Forest and protected as the Sandia Mountain Wilderness. The highest point is Sandia Crest, . Etymology ''Sandía'' means ''watermelon'' in Spanish, and is popularly believed to be a reference to the reddish color of the mountains at sunset. Also, when viewed from the west, the profile of the mountains is a long ridge, with a thin zone of green conifers near the top, suggesting the "rind" of the watermelon. However, as Robert Julyan not ...
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Folsom Tradition
The Folsom Complex is a Paleo-Indian archaeological culture that occupied much of central North America from c. 8500 BCE to c. 4000 BCE. The term was first used in 1927 by Jesse Dade Figgins, director of the Colorado Museum of Natural History. Numerous Paleoindian cultures occupied North America, with some restricted to the Great Plains and Great Lakes of the modern United States of America and Canada as well as adjacent areas to the west and south west. The Folsom Tradition was characterised by use of Folsom points as projectile tips and activities known from kill sites where slaughter and butchering of bison took place and Folsom tools were left behind. Some kill sites exhibit evidence of up to 50 bison being killed, although the Folsom diet apparently included mountain sheep, marmots, deer and cottontail rabbit as well. The Folsom Hanson Site in Wyoming also revealed areas of hardstanding, which indicate possible dwellings. The type site is Folsom site, near Folsom, New ...
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Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58See the 2014 version of the ICS geologic time scale
million years ago. It is the second and most recent epoch of the Neogene Period in the . The Pliocene follows the Epoch and is followed by the Epoch. Prior to the 2009 ...
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Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern marine invertebrates than the Pliocene has. The Miocene is preceded by the Oligocene and is followed by the Pliocene. As Earth went from the Oligocene through the Miocene and into the Pliocene, the climate slowly cooled towards a series of ice ages. The Miocene boundaries are not marked by a single distinct global event but consist rather of regionally defined boundaries between the warmer Oligocene and the cooler Pliocene Epoch. During the Early Miocene, the Arabian Peninsula collided with Eurasia, severing the connection between the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean, and allowing a faunal interchange to occur between Eurasia and Africa, including the dispersal of proboscideans into Eurasia. During the ...
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Santa Fe Group (geology)
The Santa Fe Group is a group of geologic formations in New Mexico and Colorado. It contains fossils characteristic of the Oligocene through Pleistocene epochs. The group consists of basin-filling sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the Rio Grande rift, and contains important regional aquifers. Description The Santa Fe Group is widely defined as basin-filling sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the Rio Grande rift. These range in age from late Oligocene to Pleistocene. The oldest formations in the group correspond to the earliest structural deformation associated with rifting. Geologic uplift of the region around the rift has ended deposition, and erosion in the Rio Grande river system has exposed many of the beds deposited earlier, often spectacularly, as in the badlands north of Santa Fe. The formations in the group are divided into lower and upper sections. The lower Santa Fe Group was deposited in bolsons (closed arid basins) where streams drained into intermittent play ...
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Bernardo, New Mexico
Bernardo is an unincorporated community in Socorro County, New Mexico, United States, at the northern junction of US 60 and Interstate 25. Bernardo was named, ''circa'' 1902, after a friend of John Becker, a leading merchant in nearby Belen. The main point of interest is the nearby Bernardo Wildlife Management Area, visited by large flocks of sandhill cranes and other birds. Location Bernardo is situated in the Albuquerque Basin on the west bank of the Rio Grande, just north and upstream from that river's confluence with the Rio Puerco. There is an RV park and Horse Motel on the west side of I-25, across from the Waterfowl Management Area, on the old Route 66. The landscape in the area consists of cultivated fields, grassland, marshland and ephemeral river. Ladron Peak is just to the west and Bernardo State Game Refuge is just east of the settlement. Collectors of rocks and minerals may find petrified and opalized wood on east side of the Rio Grande near the route 60 bridge. Se ...
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Belen, New Mexico
Belén (; es, Belén) is the second most populous city in Valencia County, New Mexico, Valencia County, New Mexico, United States, after its county seat, Los Lunas. The population was 7,360 at the 2020 Census. Belén is Spanish language, Spanish for Bethlehem but gained the nickname "The Hub City". The city is geographically near the center of New Mexico and has been a significant transportation hub for central New Mexico that includes access to rail, the interstate highway and air at Valencia County's only public airport. Belén is at the southern end of the Albuquerque metropolitan area, Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is located 35 miles south of Albuquerque. History Belén was founded in 1740 as Nuestra Señora de Belén (Our Lady of Bethlehem) by a group of colonists led by Diego Torres and Antonio Salazar, who had received permission to settle the tract of land known as the Belén Grant. The early settlers in the Belén grant included several genízaro ...
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Los Lunas, New Mexico
Los Lunas is a village in Valencia County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2010 census, the village population is 14,835 inside the village limits due to the new housing developments at El Cerro de Los Lunas (Huning Ranch). It is the county seat of Valencia County. Los Lunas is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area. The name "Los Lunas" is a partial Anglicization of the name of the Luna family, who originally settled in the area (''los Luna'', in Spanish). History The original land grant was made to Don Adrian Luna Candelaria in 1716, but within two years it was given to the Luna family. Some Civil War battles were fought near the village. Los Lunas became the county seat in 1876 and became an incorporated village in 1928. The Los Lunas Decalogue Stone is located nearby. Geography and climate Los Lunas is located at (34.809336, −106.735247). According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 10.1 square miles (26.0&nb ...
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Isleta Village Proper, New Mexico
Isleta Village Proper is a census-designated place (CDP) in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 491 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Isleta Village Proper is located at (34.907901, -106.693176). According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , all land. The village lies in the Rio Grande Valley of the Albuquerque Basin on the west bank of the Rio Grande. When the river is low, the nearby Isleta Diversion Dam and the downstream San Acacia Diversion Dam, both managed by the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, can divert all water from the Rio Grande along a stretch of the river. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 496 people, 190 households, and 125 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 1,839.4 people per square mile (709.3/km2). There were 278 housing units at an average density of 1,031.0 per square mile (397.5/km2). The racia ...
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Rio Rancho, New Mexico
Rio Rancho ( es, Río Rancho) is the most populous and only city in Sandoval County, New Mexico, Sandoval County, part of the expansive Albuquerque metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of New Mexico. A small portion of the city extends into northern Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernalillo County. It is the third-largest city in New Mexico, and one of the most rapidly growing. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, Rio Rancho had a population of 87,521. The name ''Rio Rancho'' derives from Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, ''Los Ranchos'', the Spanish colonial ranches established along the Rio Grande in the Albuquerque Basin, and throughout historic Santa Fe de Nuevo México, Nuevo México. There were large ranches also in neighboring Corrales, New Mexico, Corrales. Since the late 20th century, it has developed as a suburb of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque. History The great majority of the territory of Rio Rancho was originally part of the Town of Alameda Grant, ...
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Bernalillo, New Mexico
Bernalillo () is a town in Sandoval County, New Mexico, Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States. As of the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census, the town population was 8,320. It is the county seat of Sandoval County, New Mexico, Sandoval County. Bernalillo is part of the Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque Albuquerque metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Wine Festival In the 1620s, the wine grape was introduced to Bernalillo and the wine industry blew up. Families were making their own wine from scratch and vineyards were flourishing. Unfortunately, the market dipped due to drought and floods. Slowly over time, the wine industry came back into Bernalillo and has sustained its health today, becoming a tradition and staple within the town itself. The town has embraced its wine heritage and hosts the New Mexico Wine festival yearly during each Labor Day. The event brings in people from all of New Mexico as well as tourists. The event has served as an ...
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Algodones, New Mexico
Algodones is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 814 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Algodones lies in the Rio Grande Valley in the northeast of the Albuquerque Basin on the east bank of the Rio Grande. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and (1.37%) is water. History Near the town of Algodones lies a narrow pass known as La Angostura. The pass was important for trade along the Camino Real, and was the site of fortifications dating from the early 17th century to control movemnt along the road. The village of Algodones developed in the 18th century when continuing efforts by the Spanish settlers to control the nearby Rio Grande river fords and pass through the valley. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 688 people, 236 households, and 182 families residing in the CDP. The population densi ...
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