- Pajarito Plateau
The Pajarito Plateau is a
volcanic plateau in north centralNew Mexico ,United States . The plateau, part of theJemez Mountains , is bounded on the west by theValles Caldera and on the east by the White Rock Canyon of theRio Grande . The plateau is occupied by several notable entities, includingBandelier National Monument , the town of Los Alamos and its remote suburb White Rock, andLos Alamos National Laboratory . Elevations range from about 5600 feet (1700 meters) at the river to about 7800 feet (2300 meters) where the plateau merges into the mountain range.The Pajarito Plateau is primarily composed of
ignimbrite , a voluminous deposit of volcanictuff laid down in an explosiveeruption — in this case, a pair of eruptions from the nearbyValles Caldera . The two ignimbrite-forming eruptions occurred about 1.4 million and 1.1 million years ago and ejected about 300 cubic kilometers of rock each. The orange-pink rock formations constituting the resulting ignimbrites are known as the Otowi and Tshirege Members of the Bandelier tuff. The soft, friable tuff is stabilized bybasalt flows that interleave with the ignimbrites. The tuff lies on top of avolcanic field , exposed to the east, which formerly was continuous with theCaja del Rio (now across the Rio Grande).Erosion has created a maze ofcanyon s up to 800 feet (240 meters) deep that dissect the plateau intomesa s. Many of these mesas climb on the western side rather than descending on all sides, thus sometimes are referred to aspotrero s.Rock climbing is popular here with locals and visitors alike, and is done in the canyons on basalt cliffs that lie within and below the tuff, which itself is too soft to be climbed safely.The canyons and mesas are highly scenic and well endowed with
trail s, about which numerous guidebooks have been written. Some trails reach the Rio Grande; others reach the rim of the Valles Caldera. Some arelong distance trail s, of which a few have been used forultramarathon s and endurance rides. Popular uses include walking, dog walking, running,orienteering androgaining , mountain biking, horse riding, and OHV-ing.Due to constraints of geography and land ownership, both Los Alamos and White Rock are compact populated places. Outside of these, the plateau is sparsely populated and
wildlife is abundant and diverse. A largeelk herd that spends summers in the Jemez Mountains descends to the Pajarito Plateau during the winter, creating a significant driving hazard.Deer , black bear andcoyote are common, and the plateau and mountains support a small but stable population ofmountain lion s, which have on occasion been known to attack humans.Fact|date=June 2008 Smaller mammals such asraccoon s,skunk s, andgopher s are common. Parts of the Bandelier backcountry have been closed seasonally due to nestingbald eagle s. The Rio Grande supports a significant migratoryflyway that brings many other birds (notablysandhill crane s) to the plateau during migration seasons, and three species ofhummingbird s are abundant during summer. White Rock Canyon, the major canyon containing the Rio Grande into which the plateau's canyons empty, is notorious forrattlesnake s.ee also
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Caja del Rio References
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