Mescalero Ridge

The Mescalero Ridge forms the western edge of the great Llano Estacado, a vast plateau or tableland in the southwestern United States in New Mexico and Texas.[2][3] It is the western equivalent of the Caprock Escarpment, which defines the eastern edge of the Llano Estacado.

Mescalero Ridge
(Mescalero Escarpment)
Escarpment between Caprock and Maljamar
Highest point
Elevation4,462 ft (1,360 m)[1]
Prominence200 ft (61 m)
Coordinates33°02′35″N 103°51′13″W[1]
Geography
Mescalero Ridge is located in New Mexico
Mescalero Ridge
Mescalero Ridge
Location in Eastern New Mexico
Geology
Age of rockQuaternary
Mountain typeCaliche

Mescalero Sands

Extending north-south along the western edge of the Mescalero Ridge lies a vast sand sheet called the Mescalero Sands, named after the Mescalero Apaches who once hunted in these sandhills.[4][5] In 1928, Nelson Horatio Darton of the United States Geological Survey observed: “On the east side of the Pecos Valley in southern New Mexico there are very extensive sand hills formed of deposits known as the ‘Mescalero Sands,’ which are doubtless of Quaternary age ...” [6] In places, these sands climb up and over the Mescalero Ridge and spread out over portions of the Llano Estacado.

The north dune is an off-road vehicle area.[7] The south dune is a National Natural Landmark.[8]

See also

References
  1. "Mescalero Ridge". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. Price, A.P. 1977. Mescalero Sandhills of Cochran and Yoakum Counties, Texas. Master's thesis, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, 253 pp.
  3. Henderson, D. 2006. An Introduction to the Mescalero Sands Ecosystem. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University, 42 pp.
  4. Julyan, R. 1996. The Place Names of New Mexico. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.
  5. Hall, S.A. 2002. Field Guide to the Geoarchaeology of the Mescalero Sands, Southeastern New Mexico. State of New Mexico Historic Preservation Division and New Mexico Bureau of Land Management, Project No. 35-00-15334.11, 59 pp.
  6. Darton, N.H. (1928). ""Red Beds" and associated formations in New Mexico, with an outline of the geology of the state". United States Geological Survey Bulletin. 794: 59. doi:10.3133/b794. hdl:2346/66033.
  7. https://www.blm.gov/visit/mescalero-sands-north-dune-ohv-area
  8. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nnlandmarks/site.htm?Site=MESA-NM


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