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San Luis Closed Basin
The San Luis Closed Basin is a endorheic basin in the Alamosa and Saguache counties of south-central Colorado. It includes San Luis Creek and its tributary, Saguache Creek. While the basin is east of the majority of the Rocky Mountains, it lies west of the Sangre de Cristo Range. An elevated plateau in Alamosa County, the San Luis Hills, separates the San Luis Closed Basin drainage from most of the San Luis Valley, which is southward-flowing and drains through the Rio Grande. Hydrology The San Luis Closed Basin forms a major segment of the eastern slope of the Colorado section of the Continental Divide. Historically, all of the waters that naturally entered the basin through hydrologic processes were disposed of by evapotranspiration Evapotranspiration (ET) refers to the combined processes which move water from the Earth's surface (open water and ice surfaces, bare soil and vegetation) into the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Continental Divide Of The Americas
The Continental Divide of the Americas (also known as the Great Divide, the Western Divide or simply the Continental Divide; ) is the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas. The Continental Divide extends from the Bering Strait to the Strait of Magellan, and separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain into the Atlantic and Arctic Ocean, including those that drain into the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and Hudson Bay. Although there are many other hydrological divides in the Americas, the Continental Divide is by far the most prominent of these because it tends to follow a line of high peaks along the main ranges of the Rocky Mountains and Andes, at a generally much higher elevation than the other hydrological divisions. Geography Beginning at the westernmost point of the Americas, Cape Prince of Wales, just south of the Arctic Circle, the Continental Divide's geographic path runs th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Landforms Of Saguache County, Colorado
A landform is a land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. They may be natural or may be anthropogenic (caused or influenced by human activity). Landforms together make up a given terrain, and their arrangement in the landscape is known as topography. Landforms include hills, mountains, canyons, and valleys, as well as shoreline features such as bays, peninsulas, and seas, including submerged features such as mid-ocean ridges, volcanoes, and the great oceanic basins. Physical characteristics Landforms are categorized by characteristic physical attributes such as elevation, slope, orientation, structure stratification, rock exposure, and soil type. Gross physical features or landforms include intuitive elements such as berms, cliffs, hills, mounds, peninsulas, ridges, rivers, valleys, volcanoes, and numerous other structural and size-scaled (e.g. ponds vs. lakes, hills vs. mountains) elements including various kinds of inland and oceanic waterbodi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endangered Species
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, invasive species, and climate change. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List lists the global conservation status of many species, and various other agencies assess the status of species within particular areas. Many nations have laws that protect conservation-reliant species which, for example, forbid hunting, restrict land development, or create protected areas. Some endangered species are the target of extensive conservation efforts such as captive breeding and habitat restoration. Human activity is a significant cause in causing some species to become endangered. Conservation status The conservation status of a species indicates the likelihood that it will become extinct. Multiple factors are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southwestern Willow Flycatcher
The willow flycatcher (''Empidonax traillii'') is a small insect-eating, neotropical migrant bird of the tyrant flycatcher family native to North America. Taxonomy There are four subspecies recognized, all of which breed in North America (including three subspecies that breed in California). At one time, this bird and the alder flycatcher (''Empidonax alnorum'') were considered to be a single species, Traill's flycatcher. Their song is the only reliable method to tell them apart in the field. The binomial commemorates the Scottish zoologist Thomas Stewart Traill. Subspecies The subspecies are best distinguished from each other by their songs. In addition, the four subspecies have significant genetic differences based on mitochondrial DNA analysis. Their winter ranges have been elucidated using mitochondrial DNA genetic studies of 172 birds sampled in winter combined with plumage coloration and morphological differences. The four subspecies of the willow flycatcher are: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baccharis Sarothroides
''Baccharis sarothroides'' is a North American species of flowering shrub known by the common names broom baccharis, desertbroom, greasewood, rosin-bush and groundsel in English and "escoba amarga" or "romerillo" in Spanish. This is a spreading, woody shrub usually sticky with glandular secretions along the primarily leafless green stems. The small, thick leaves are a few centimeters long and are absent much of the year, giving the shrub a spindly, twiggy appearance. It flowers abundantly with tiny green blooms on separate male and female plants. Native to the Sonoran Desert of northwestern Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Sonora) and the Southwestern United States (southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, western Texas), it is common in gravelly dry soils and disturbed areas. Uses The Seri refer to desert broom as , and make a decoction by cooking the twigs. This drink is used to treat colds, sinus headache, and general sore achey ailments. The same tea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Luis State Park
San Luis State Park is a former state park located in Alamosa County, Colorado, United States. In 2017, the property lost its status as a state park, and management of it was transferred to the San Luis Lakes State Wildlife Area. San Luis Lakes State Wildlife Area is located east of the town of Mosca, south off State Highway 150 near the Great Sand Dunes National Park. The state wildlife area contains an intermittent lake which is sometimes allocated small quantities of water from the hydrologically managed San Luis Closed Basin drainage. Wildlife A variety of wildlife makes its home in the area, including coyotes, kangaroo rats, rabbits, elk, various kinds of songbirds, raptors, reptiles and amphibian Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...s. References Extern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Closed Basin Project
The Closed Basin Project is a groundwater extraction project in the San Luis Valley in Colorado, United States, that began in the 1970s, and remains in operation in the 2020s. The project is managed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation. Location A closed basin is a hydrologic basin that has no outlet for the water. Precipitation can only leave through evaporation or seepage. The closed basin of the San Luis Valley covers between the San Luis Hills in the south, the San Juan Mountains to the west, Poncha Pass to the north and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east. The basin is separated by a hydraulic divide at the southern end from the Rio Grande watershed. It contains the towns of Center, Hooper, Moffat, Mosca and Saguache and the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. Streams that flow into the basin include irrigation diversions from the Rio Grande, the Carnero, La Garita, and Saguache creeks from the west, San Luis Creek from the north, and the Nort ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Sand Dunes National Park And Preserve
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is a national park of the United States that conserves an area of large sand dunes on the eastern edge of the San Luis Valley, and an adjacent national preserve in the Sangre de Cristo Range, in south-central Colorado. The park was originally designated Great Sand Dunes National Monument on March 17, 1932, by President Herbert Hoover. The original boundaries protected an area of ."Antiquities Act 1906-2006: Maps, facts and figures" . ''nps.gov''. National Park Service. Retrieved December 12, 2017. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sink (geography)
An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent and seasonal lakes and swamps that equilibrate through evaporation. Endorheic basins are also called closed basins, terminal basins, and internal drainage systems. Endorheic regions contrast with open lakes (exorheic regions), where surface waters eventually drain into the ocean. In general, water basins with subsurface outflows that lead to the ocean are not considered endorheic; but cryptorheic. Endorheic basins constitute local base levels, defining a limit of the erosion and deposition processes of nearby areas. Endorheic water bodies include the Caspian Sea, which is the world's largest inland body of water. Etymology The term ''endorheic'' derives from the French word , which combines ( 'within') and 'flow'. Endorheic lakes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evapotranspiration
Evapotranspiration (ET) refers to the combined processes which move water from the Earth's surface (open water and ice surfaces, bare soil and vegetation) into the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of water to the air directly from soil, Canopy interception, canopies, and water bodies) and transpiration (evaporation that occurs through the stomata, or openings, in plant leaves). Evapotranspiration is an important part of the local water cycle and climate, and measurement of it plays a key role in water resource management Irrigation, agricultural irrigation. Definition ''Evapotranspiration'' is defined as: "The combined processes through which water is transferred to the atmosphere from open water and ice surfaces, bare soil and vegetation that make up the Earth’s surface." Evapotranspiration is a combination of evaporation and transpiration, measured in order to better understand crop water requirements, irrigation scheduling, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
