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Valles Caldera
Valles Caldera
Alamos. It has a land area of 89,716 acres (140.18 sq mi, or 363.07 km2).[4] It is administered from United States Forest Service offices in Jemez Springs.
A panoramic view of Valle Grande, with Redondo Peak (a resurgent dome) in the distance and the rhyolite lava dome of Cerro la Jara at right-center.
Geology and science
Valles Caldera (or Jemez Caldera), is a 12-mile-wide collapsed volcanic crater in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico. Within its caldera, Valle Grande[1] is the largest valle (grass valley) and the only one with a paved road.
History
Until recently, the Valles Caldera was part of the Baca Ranch. The Dunigan family sold the entire surface estate of 95,000 acres (380 km2) and seven-eighths of the geothermal mineral estate to the federal government.
Cerro la Jara (right) in winter Valles Caldera is one of the smaller volcanoes in the supervolcano class. The circular topographic rim of the caldera measures 19 kilometers (12 miles) in diameter. The caldera and surrounding volcanic structures are the most thoroughly studied caldera complex in the United States. Research studies have concerned the fundamental processes of magmatism, hydrothermal systems, and ore deposition. Nearly 40 deep cores have been examined, resulting in extensive subsurface data. The Valles Caldera is the younger of two calderas known at this location, having collapsed over and buried the Toledo Caldera, which in turn may have collapsed over yet older calderas. The associated Cerros del Rio volcanic field, which forms the eastern Pajarito Plateau and the Caja del Rio, is older than the Toledo Caldera. These two large calderas formed during eruptions 1.47 million and 1.15 million years ago.[5] The Caldera and surrounding area continue to be shaped by ongoing volcanic activity. The El Cajete Pumice, Battleship Rock Ignimbrite, Banco Bonito Rhyolite, and the VC-1 Rhyolite were emplaced during the youngest eruption of Valles caldera, about 50,000-60,000 years ago. Seismic
Valles Caldera National Preserve
On 25 July 2000, the Valles Caldera Preservation Act, 16 U.S.C. Sections 698v-698v-10, created the Valles Caldera National Preserve. The careful husbandry of the Baca Ranch by its private owners, including selective logging, limited grazing and hunting, and the use of prescribed fire, had preserved a mix of healthy range and timber land with significant biodiversity, including New Mexico’s largest herd of elk, and served as a model for self-sustaining land development and use.[2] Funds for the purchase came from the Land and Water Conservation Fund derived from royalties the US government receives from offshore petroleum and natural gas drilling.[3] Under the terms of the Act, the Preserve will have to produce sustaining income; environmentalists had lobbied for the more inclusive protections of National Park status instead. The preserve is located in northeastern Sandoval County and southern Rio Arriba County, just west of Los
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investigations show that a low-velocity zone lies beneath the caldera, and an active geothermal system with hot springs and fumaroles exists today.[6]
Valles Caldera
Another view of Cerro la Jara, an approximately 75 metre (250 ft) high forested rhyolite lava dome The volcanic properties of the Valles Caldera make it a likely source for renewable and nonpolluting geothermal energy. However, some people oppose development of the geothermal energy, considering it destructive to scenic beauty and recreational and grazing use.[7][8] The lower Bandelier tuff which can be seen along canyon walls west of the Valles Caldera, including San Diego Canyon, is related to the eruption and collapse of the Toledo Caldera. The upper Bandelier tuff is believed to have been deposited during eruption and collapse of the Valles Caldera. The now eroded and exposed orangetan, light-colored Bandelier tuff from these events creates the stunning mesas of the Pajarito Plateau. These calderas and associated volcanic structures lie within the Jemez Volcanic Field. This volcanic field lies above the intersection of the Rio Grande Rift, which runs north-south through New Mexico, and the Jemez Lineament, which extends from southeastern Arizona northeast to western Oklahoma. The volcanic activity here is related to the tectonic movements of this intersection.
Exterior "town" set in Valle Grande • 1971 Shoot Out with Gregory Peck • 1977 Peter Lundy and the Medicine Hat Stallion (TV) with Leif Garrett • 1982 The Gambler (TV) with Kenny Rogers • 1994 Troublemakers with Terence Hill • 1995 Buffalo Girls (TV) with Anjelica Huston • 1997 Last Stand at Saber River (TV) with Tom Selleck • 2003 The Missing with Tommy Lee Jones • 2007 Seraphim Falls with Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan[13]
References
[1] In local English, "Valle Grande" is pronounced /ˈvaɪ.jeɪ ˈɡrɑːndeɪ/ VYE-yay -GRAHN-day. Some people use pronunciations closer to Spanish. [2] 16 U.S.C. Section 698v(a)(5). [3] CNN.com "New Mexico’s Baca Ranch soon to be public land". [4] Table 6 - NFS Acreage by State, Congressional District and County - United States Forest Service October 10, 2007 [5] Izett, Glen A. (1981). "Volcanic Ash Beds: Recorders of Upper Cenozoic Silicic Pyroclastic Volcanism in the Western United States". Journal of Geophysical Research 86 (B11): 10200–10222. doi:10.1029/JB086iB11p10200. [6] [1] [7] [2] [8] [3] [9] Valles Caldera National Preserve (2004) Stewardship Register: Interim Equestrian Program [4] [10] VallesCaldera.gov: Trail Riding Overview [11] "Caldera ski-O". February 2008. http://nmorienteers.org/Images/Results_080102.jpg. Retrieved on 2008-10-20. [12] Martin, Craig (2003) Valle Grande: A History of the Baca Location No. 1, All Season Publishing.
Recreation
A number of recreational and/or historical uses take place in the Valles Caldera. Many of these uses involve trails. Valles Caldera has many miles of ranch roads and livestock and game trails. These include a network of trails currently designated for horse riding.[9][10] The largest meadow, Valle Grande, is a venue for ski orienteering. The orienteering map was developed by New Mexico Orienteers.[11]
List of films shot in Valles Caldera
Valles Caldera has provided several filming locations,[12] most for films in the Western genre. Some of these locations include exterior sets, such as the weathered "ranch house" that can be seen from the highway in Valle Grande, and a small "town".
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[13] Hephner, Tracy (2006) See Us on the Silver Screen (Again!), La Ventana en los Valles, volume 1, number 2, page 3.
Valles Caldera
• Valles Caldera Rim Trails Project • Vallescaldera.com, the unofficial web site of the Valles Caldera • Forests.org documents the negotiations that led to the Preservation Act • The Physics Institute of Brazil’s Valles Caldera website (English) • Geologic travel guide from American Geological Institute • Caldera Action, advocacy organization • Valles Caldera National Preserve travel guide from Wikitravel Coordinates: 35°52′N 106°29′W / 35.86°N 106.48°W / 35.86; -106.48
See also
• Los Alamos, New Mexico • Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico • Valle Vidal
External links
• Valles Caldera National Preserve, official website • Los Amigos de Valles Caldera (Friends of the Valles Caldera)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valles_Caldera" Categories: National Preserves of the United States, VEI-7 volcanoes, Rift volcanoes, Volcanoes of New Mexico, Volcanic calderas of the United States, Complex volcanoes, Pleistocene volcanism, Trails in New Mexico, Filming locations, Orienteering venues, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, Sandoval County, New Mexico This page was last modified on 19 May 2009, at 06:53 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
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