Otero Mesa is a plateau in the Trans-Pecos. The plateau extends north from Hudspeth County, Texas into Otero County, New Mexico. [1] Otero Mesa is the dominant landform in Hudspeth County, composing 70% of its land area. [1] [2] Otero Mesa has a more limited extant in Otero County, NM. Overall, 2/3 of Otero Mesa are in Texas, but the colloquial usage of "Otero Mesa" is restricted to the component of the plateau in New Mexico. [1] [3] [4] This is only a political distinction; Otero Mesa is physiographically continuous across the NM-TX state line. [1]
In the center of Otero Mesa, the plateau is interrupted by the Cornudas Mountains, a cluster of buttes that jut almost 2,000' above the plateau. [1] The Cornudas Mountains include Wind Mountain, the highest point on Otero Mesa at 7,282'. [1] The range is peppered with thousands of petroglyphs, complementing the well-known Hueco Tanks site farther west. [5] [6]
Otero Mesa is the northernmost part of the Chihuahuan Desert at its longitude. [7] While the Chihuahuan Desert extends another 200 miles north along the Pecos and Rio Grande River Valleys, the high backslopes of the Sacramento, White, and Manzano Mountains between the basins are too mesic to support Chihuahuan Desert vegetative sites. [7] [1] These areas are instead classified as Southwestern Tablelands. [7] [8]
Grassland is the predominant landcover on Otero Mesa. [9] These semi-arid grasslands are a remnant of a much larger network of Chihuahuan Desert steppes that carpeted uplands and bajadas 150 years ago. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [3] Overgrazing and fire suppression has degraded large swaths of this ecoregion into scrubland. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [3] Consequently, conservation organizations have recognized Otero Mesa as a significant ecosystem deserving protection. [22] [23] [4]
In Texas, Otero Mesa is divided into private ranches. North of the state line, Otero Mesa is a patchwork of Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Land Office, and private lands. [24] Livestock grazing is the primary land use here as well, but most of it is authorized under federal and state permits. [24] [25] Extensive federal ownership makes this area easier to protect; thus, for the sake of expediency, conservationists have defined "Otero Mesa" as the part of Otero Mesa in New Mexico.
McGregor Range, a U.S. Army installation, includes approximately 300,000 acres of withdrawn BLM land on Otero Mesa. [1] Livestock grazing is allowed on most of this acreage, but a Fort Bliss Training Complex (FBTC) Recreational Access Permit is still required to visit the range when it is not in use. [26] [27]
Before the introduction of domesticated livestock in the late 19th century, virgin grassland carpeted Otero Mesa. It was far from homogeneous, however: differences in soil composition, climate, and surface runoff created a patchwork of unique plant communities, or ecological sites. Specifically,
"[a]n ecological site is defined as a distinctive kind of land with specific soil and physical characteristics that differ from other kinds of land in its ability to produce a distinctive kind and amount of vegetation and its ability to respond similarly to management actions and natural disturbances." [28]
Scrublands on Otero Mesa are not considered unique ecological sites. Instead, they are classified as degraded states of other ecological sites whose historic climax plant communities (HCPCs) were grassland. Black grama, blue grama, tobosa, alkali sacaton, vine mesquite, bush muhly, and dropseeds were the dominant species in these HCPCs; the dominant species in non-riparian, degraded flatland ecological sites are now creosote bush and honey mesquite.
Ecological Site | Code | Historic Climax Plant Community (HCPC) Dominant Species |
---|---|---|
Gravelly | R042XD007NM [30] | Bush Muhly; Black Grama; Creosote Bush; Dropseed [30] |
Loamy | R042XB014NM [30] | Bush Muhly; Black Grama; Creosote Bush; Dropseed [30] |
Loamy Sand | R042XD008NM [31] | Black Grama [31] |
Loamy | R042XD001NM [32] | Blue Grama; Tobosa [32] |
Deep Sand | R042XB011NM [33] | Dropseeds; Black Grama; Bush Muhly [33] |
Draw | R042XB016NM [34] | Tobosa; Alkali Sacaton; Vine Mesquite; Blue Grama [34] |
Limy | R042XB019NM [35] | Black Grama [35] |
Limestone Hills | R042XB021NM [36] | Black Grama; Tobosa [36] |
Gravelly | R042XC001NM [37] | Black Grama [37] |
Shallow Sandy | R042XC002NM [38] | Black Grama [38] |
Gyp Upland | R042XC006NM [39] | Alkali Sacaton; Black Grama; Blue Grama; Burrograss; Tobosa; Gypsum (Chino) Grama; Gypsum Dropseed; Saltbush; Ephedra; Coldenia [39] |
Loamy | R042XC007NM [40] | Tobosa; Black Grama; Blue Grama; Burrograss [40] |
Limestone Hills | R042XC020NM [41] | Black Grama; Sideoats Grama; Curlyleaf Muhly [41] |
Sandhills | R042XC022NM [42] | Sand Bluestem; Giant Dropseed; Spike Dropseed; Sand Dropseed; Mesa Dropseed [42] |
Limy | R042XC030NM [43] | Black Grama; Blue Grama; Sand Dropseed; Threeawn [43] |
Clay Flat, Desert Grassland | R042XC241TX [44] | Tobosa; Vine Mesquite; Grama [44] |
Igneous Hill and Mountain, Desert Grassland | R042XC247TX [45] | Black Grama; Sideoats Grama; Cane Bluestem; Tanglehead [45] |
Limestone Hill and Mountain, Desert Grassland | R042XC249TX [46] | Black Grama; Sideoats Grama; Cane Bluestem; Tanglehead [46] |
Sandstone Hill and Mountain, Desert Grassland | R042XC255TX [47] | Black Grama; Sideoats Grama [47] |
Loamy Bottom | R042XD002NM [48] | Alkali Sacaton [48] |
Draw | R042XD003NM [49] | Sideoats Grama [49] |
Limy | R042XD004NM [50] | Black Grama; Blue Grama [50] |
Clay Loam Upland | R042XD005NM [51] | Alkali Sacaton; Blue Grama [51] |
Gravelly, Desert Grassland | R042XC244TX [52] | Bush Muhly; Black Grama; Slim Tridens; Threeawn; Blue Grama [52] |
Shallow Sandy | R042XD006NM [53] | Black Grama; Blue Grama [53] |
Limestone Hill, Dry Mixed Prairie | R042XD744TX [54] | Black Grama; Blue Grama; Sideoats Grama; Curlyleaf Muhly [54] |
Limestone Hill and Mountain, Mixed Prairie | R042XE278TX [55] | n/a [55] |
The only major throughway on Otero Mesa is U.S. Route 180, which crosses the plateau to between El Paso and Guadalupe Mountains National Park. [1] There are no towns on Otero Mesa. [1] The western edge of Otero Mesa in New Mexico is defined by an abrupt escarpment. [1] McGregor Range, a U.S. Army installation, extends from U.S. Route 54 over this escarpment and onto Otero Mesa proper. [1] While access is restricted on McGregor Range, the public can use the Owen Prather Highway (New Mexico State Road 506) to cross it. This is the only way onto Otero Mesa from the west in New Mexico. NM-506 experiences temporarily closures during some military exercises.
Otero Mesa slopes gently eastward into Crow Flats and Salt Flats. These two playas drain most of the plateau. The western edge of Otero Mesa is an escarpment continuous with the Sacramento Mountains. In the vicinity of El Paso, Hueco Mountains separate Otero Mesa from the Rio Grande Valley. Until Van Horn, the border of Otero Mesa is a series of steep escarpments and bajadas. At its southwest corner, Otero Mesa dramatically rises to form the Sierra Diablo, which tower over Salt Flats. Otero Mesa fades into the lowlands for 40 miles before it reaches the tablelands of the southern Sacramento Mountains.
Peak | Elevation |
---|---|
Deer Mountain | 5791' [1] |
Flat Top | 6135' [1] |
Alamo Mountain | 6679' [1] |
Cornudas Mountain | 5724' [1] |
Wind Mountain | 7282' [1] |
Black Mountain | 5350' [1] |
San Antonio Mountain | 7010' [1] |
Washburn Mountain | 5689' [1] |
Chatfield Mountain | 6364' [1] |
Dog Mountain | 5731' [1] |
Sierra Tinaja Pinta (1) | 5683' [1] |
Sierra Tinaja Pinta (2) | 5665' [1] |
Cerro Diablo | 5709' [1] |
Otero Mesa is the southern extension of the eastward-dipping Sacramento Mountains fault block. The extension of the Rio Grande rift has gradually uplifted the fault block over the last 25 million years. Several exposed sedimentary formations compose the bedrock of the Mesa. From west to east, these are the Hueco Formation, Yeso Group, and San Andres Formation. [56] This is also the relative chronology of the formations, from oldest to youngest. All are Permian marine carbonate sequences deposited during the Cisuralian epoch.
In contrast to their abrupt western escarpment, the southern margin of the Sacramento Mountains is a gently sloping bajada. The bajada is formed by three alluvial fans emerging from the mouths of Wildcat Canyon, El Paso Canyon, and the Sacramento River Canyon. The superficial alluvium of the bajada was deposited between 126,000 kya and the present day.
Along with the outflow of Piñon Creek onto Crow Flats, the Sacramento Mountains Bajada is the primary groundwater recharge zone in the Salt Basin.
The Cornudas Mountains are field of igneous intrusions on the New Mexico-Texas state line. Rising dramatically from the plains of Otero Mesa, these plutons "represent the northern extent of the Trans-Pecos magmatic province."
The igneous intrusions that compose the Cornudas Mountains were emplaced between 37.4 mya to 31.6 mya. This corresponds to the end of the Laramide Orogeny and the "progressive shallowing of the subduction of the Farallon plate beneath the North American plate." In the succeeding time, the plutons were exhumed by erosion, being more resistant to weathering than the surrounding sedimentary rock.
In the Cornudas Mountains, "the predominant lithology is porphyritic nepheline syenite," though other alkalic rocks, including "nepheline-bearing augite syenite,...nepheline-bearing trachyte,...syenite,...nepheline syenite,...phonolite,... foliated porphyritic nepheline syenite,...quartz-bearing syenite,...quartz-bearing trachyte" and nepheline-bearing augite syenite are present.
"The Cornudas Mountains have been examined for potential economic deposits of gold, silver, beryllium, rare-earth elements, niobium,...uranium, [and nepheline,] but no production has occurred."
Wind Mountain is the type locality of windmountainite, a novel mineral there discovered in a phonolite dike. Windmountainite was formally described in 2020.
Wind Mountain is the type locality of georgechaoite, where it occurs in miarolitic cavities in nepheline syenite. Georgechaoite was formally described in 1985.
The Brokeoff Mountains are a series of southeast-dipping fault blocks that form a disjunct the Guadalupe Mountains. Three major formations are exposed in the Brokeoff Mountains: the Yeso, San Andres, and Grayburg formations (listed from oldest to youngest). All are composed of Cisuralian marine deposits.
The rugged terrain of the Brokeoffs and southern Guadalupe Mountains escarpment form a distinct, northward-opening "V." Big Dog, Upper Dog, and Middle Dog Canyons lead to the apex of the V, the uplands of Guadalupe Mountains National Park.
Otero Mesa is a 1.2 million acre (4,900 km2) area in northern Chihuahuan Desert region of southern New Mexico. Between 1954 and 1965 the U.S. Army expanded its McGregor Range facilities at Fort Bliss onto Otero Mesa by purchasing ranches. [57] [58] In 2005, the Bureau of Land Management approved the area for exploratory drilling for oil and gas, [59] but that approval is currently being litigated[ citation needed ] by the state of New Mexico and environmental groups who want the mesa to be recognized as protected wilderness.
On Tuesday, April 28, 2009, the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled against the US Bureau of Land Management plan for leasing the Otero Mesa for oil and gas extraction. The court found that the BLM had failed to consider an alternative that would leave the Otero Mesa unleased, and also failed to examine potential impacts to the underlying groundwater. The oil company HEYCO had been granted a lease for extracting natural gas form Otero Mesa, pending the outcome of the litigation.[ citation needed ]
Jornada del Muerto was the name given by the Spanish conquistadors to the Jornada del Muerto desert basin, and the almost waterless 90-mile (140 km) trail across the Jornada beginning north of Las Cruces and ending south of Socorro, New Mexico. The name translates from Spanish as "Dead Man's Journey" or "Route of the Dead Man". The trail was part of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro which led northward from central colonial New Spain, present-day Mexico, to the farthest reaches of the viceroyalty in northern Nuevo México Province.
The Sonoran Desert is a hot desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States. It is the hottest desert in both Mexico and the United States. It has an area of 260,000 square kilometers (100,000 sq mi).
The Chihuahuan Desert is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lower Pecos Valley in New Mexico, and a portion of southeastern Arizona, as well as the central and northern portions of the Mexican Plateau. It is bordered on the west by the Sonoran Desert, the Colorado Plateau, and the extensive Sierra Madre Occidental range, along with northwestern lowlands of the Sierra Madre Oriental range. Its largest, continual expanse is located in Mexico, covering a large portion of the state of Chihuahua, along with portions of Coahuila, north-eastern Durango, the extreme northern part of Zacatecas, and small western portions of Nuevo León. With an area of about 501,896 km2 (193,783 sq mi), it is the largest hot desert in North America. The desert is fairly young, existing for only 8000 years.
Hueco Tanks is an area of low mountains and historic site in El Paso County, Texas, in the United States. It is located in a high-altitude desert basin between the Franklin Mountains to the west and the Hueco Mountains to the east. Hueco is a Spanish word meaning hollows and refers to the many water-holding depressions in the boulders and rock faces throughout the region. Due to the unique concentration of historic artifacts, plants and wildlife, the site is under protection of Texas law; it is a crime to remove, alter, or destroy them.
The Sacramento Mountains are a mountain range in the south-central part of the U.S. state of New Mexico, lying just east of Alamogordo in Otero County. From north to south, the Sacramento Mountains extend for 85 miles (137 km), and from east to west they encompass 42 miles (68 km).
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The West Potrillo Mountains are a mountain range in south central Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. They are located approximately 40 miles (64 km) northwest of El Paso, Texas, 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Las Cruces, New Mexico, and 35 miles (56 km) southeast of Deming, New Mexico Most of the mountains are located on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument. Access to the vicinity is through Doña Ana County Road B-4 South from NM 549, which may be accessed from Interstate 10 Exit 116.
The Tamaulipan mezquital, also known as the Brush Country, is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion in the Southern United States and northeastern Mexico. It covers an area of 141,500 km2 (54,600 sq mi), encompassing a portion of the Gulf Coastal Plain in southern Texas, northern Tamaulipas, northeastern Coahuila, and part of Nuevo León.
The Mopah Range is a desert mountain range, in the Lower Colorado River Valley region, in southeastern San Bernardino County, California.
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The San Andres National Wildlife Refuge is located in the southern San Andres Mountains of southcentral New Mexico, USA. The refuge, which lies within the northernmost extension of the Chihuahuan Desert, has elevations ranging from 4,200 feet (1,300 m) to 8,239 feet (2,511 m) feet. Refuge habitats vary from creosote and Chihuahuan desert grasslands in the bajadas to pinyon-juniper woodlands at higher elevations. A few springs, seeps, and seasonal streams provide water for wildlife and riparian habitats in the refuge.
The Chihuahuan pocket mouse is a species of heteromyid rodent found in the southwestern United States and Mexico. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the desert pocket mouse, but was determined to be a distinct species in 1996, following analysis of its mitochondrial DNA.
Lycium berlandieri is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family known by the common name Berlandier's wolfberry. It is native to Mexico and the south-western United States from Arizona to Texas.
The Sierra del Carmen, also called the Sierra Maderas del Carmen, is a northern finger of the Sierra Madre Oriental in the state of Coahuila, Mexico. The Sierra begins at the Rio Grande at Big Bend National Park and extends southeast for about 72 kilometres (45 mi), reaching a maximum elevation of 2,720 metres (8,920 ft). Part of the Sierra del Carmen is protected in the Maderas del Carmen Biosphere Reserve as part of a bi-national effort to conserve a large portion of the Chihuahua Desert in Mexico and Texas.
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