Rincon Valley (New Mexico)

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Rincon Valley is a valley through which the Rio Grande flows in New Mexico. Rincon Valley heads at 33°02′54″N107°16′41″W / 33.04833°N 107.27806°W / 33.04833; -107.27806 at an elevation of 4,195 feet in a narrow gap between the Caballo Mountains on the east and bluffs on the west bank of the Rio Grande south of where Red Canyon meets the river, in Sierra County, New Mexico. [1] Its mouth is at an elevation of 3,973 feet / 1,211 meters where it emerges from a narrow canyon between the Selden Hills on the northeast bank of the river and Robledo Mountains on the southwest bank, into the Mesilla Valley at Radium Springs in Doña Ana County, New Mexico. [2]

Valley Low area between hills, often with a river running through it.

A valley is a low area between hills or mountains typically with a river running through it. In geology, a valley or dale is a depression that is longer than it is wide. The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys. Most valleys belong to one of these two main types or a mixture of them, at least with respect to the cross section of the slopes or hillsides.

Rio Grande river forming part of the US-Mexico border

The Rio Grande is one of the principal rivers in the southwest United States and northern Mexico. The Rio Grande begins in south-central Colorado in the United States and flows to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way, it forms part of the Mexico–United States border. According to the International Boundary and Water Commission, its total length was 1,896 miles (3,051 km) in the late 1980s, though course shifts occasionally result in length changes. Depending on how it is measured, the Rio Grande is either the fourth- or fifth-longest river system in North America.

New Mexico State of the United States of America

New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern region of the United States of America; its capital and cultural center is Santa Fe which was founded in 1610 as capital of Nuevo México, while its largest city is Albuquerque with its accompanying metropolitan area. It is one of the Mountain States and shares the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona; its other neighboring states are Oklahoma to the northeast, Texas to the east-southeast, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua to the south and Sonora to the southwest. With a population around two million, New Mexico is the 36th state by population. With a total area of 121,590 sq mi (314,900 km2), it is the fifth-largest and sixth-least densely populated of the 50 states. Due to their geographic locations, northern and eastern New Mexico exhibit a colder, alpine climate, while western and southern New Mexico exhibit a warmer, arid climate.


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Little Rincon Mountains

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Abo Canyon, also known as Abo Pass, is a mountain pass at the southern end of the Manzano Mountains of central New Mexico.

Cooke's Spring, or Cookes Spring, a spring in Luna County, New Mexico at an elevation of 4839 feet. Cooke's Spring is located at the eastern mouth of the narrow upper Cooke's Canyon, part of what was called Cooke's Pass, a narrow gap, running east and west, through the Cooke's Range.

San Diego Mountain also known as Tonuco Mountain is an American summit 22 miles northwest of Las Cruces, New Mexico in Doña Ana County. Its summit is at an elevation of 4,951 feet.

Jug Canyon is a valley in Sierra County, New Mexico. Its mouth is at its confluence with Outlaw Canyon at an elevation of 4,511 feet / 1,375 meters, where they form the head of Arroyo Cuervo which flows into the Rio Grande to the east, in Dona Ana County, New Mexico. The head of Jug Canyon is located at 32°38′44″N107°27′50″W at an elevation of 4760 feet, 2 miles northwest of Nutt Mountain where it opens up into the plain between the Good Sight Mountains to the east and the Mimbres Mountains to the west.

Red Canyon is a canyon in the Caballo Mountains in Sierra County, New Mexico. The canyon has its head on the west slope of the mountains at 33°00′05″N107°09′51″W. It descends westward to its mouth where the canyon emerges from the mountains near where its wash confluence with the Rio Grande at an elevation of 4,232 feet / 1,290 meters.

Selden Hills

Selden Hills are a range of hills in Doña Ana County, New Mexico. They lie just over a mile northwest of Radium Springs east of the Rio Grande at the lower end of Rincon Valley. Named for Fort Selden that was located nearby to the southeast.

Elephant Butte is a summit now located in the Elephant Butte Reservoir and within the Elephant Butte Lake State Park in Sierra County, New Mexico. It has an elevation of 4,639 feet (1,414 m). It was named for its shape, said to look like an elephant.

McRae Canyon is a canyon in the southern Fra Cristobal Range in Sierra County, New Mexico. Its waters are tributary to the Rio Grande, and today flow into the Elephant Butte Reservoir at the head of an inlet in the flooded lower canyon, at an elevation of 4,354 feet / 1,327 meters. Its source is at 33°13′52″N107°05′50″W, at an elevation of 5,070 feet / 1,545 meters in the southern Fra Cristobal Range. McRae Canyon has one major tributary the Cañon del Muerto that has its confluence with McRae Canyon at 33°11′21″N107°07′32″W.

References

Coordinates: 32°29′54″N106°54′45″W / 32.49833°N 106.91250°W / 32.49833; -106.91250

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.