El Morro's Headlands EarthCache
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Located near the entrance of New Mexico’s El Morro National Monument, off of NM Highway 53
A reliable waterhole hidden at the base of a massive sandstone bluff made El Morro (Spanish for the bluff) a popular stop and campsite for travelers. Ancestral Puebloans settled on the mesa top over 700 years ago. Spanish and American travelers rested, drank from the pool, and carved their signatures, dates and messages for hundreds of years. Today, El Morro National Monument protects over 2,000 inscriptions and petroglyphs, as well as Ancestral Puebloan ruins. The posted coordinates takes you to an informational sign near the entrance of the monument describing the geology of the area.
The Jurassic period sand dunes were eventually buried by sediment. The weight turned the dunes into stone (The yellowish-tan Zuni Sandstone). The later stream deposit sediments became Dakota Sandstone, a hard layer of rock protecting the Zuni sandstone layer beneath. Where erosion breached the upper layer, the exposed Zuni sandstone wore away. The valley located here is the result of that erosion. Where the protective layers endured, as on the El Morro Formations, massive headlands formations remain. Wind and water erosion continue to remove sandstone grain by grain, which slowly destroys the inscriptions found at the base of the formation. El Morro is a Cuesta – a long formation with a gentle upward slope that drops off abruptly at one end. This land is composed of sandstone layers deposited by wind, desert streams, and an ancient sea. Sandwiched between upward pressure from underground forces and the weight of newer rock above (since eroded), the sandstone developed cracks that gradually weathered into long vertical joints which are prominent in the formation in the present day. As part of the logging requirement, please read the informational sign at the above coordinates.
To Log this EarthCache:
• Following the Jurassic period, what is the name of the period the stream deposits occurred which later formed the Dakota Sandstone (answer on the informational sign).
• Post a picture of yourself and/or GPS in front of the main formation located to the South West of the listed coordinates. Please begin your e-mail with the name of the earthcache and make sure your log includes the number of people in your group.
The above information was compiled from the following sources: • National Park Service, Trail Guide, El Morro National Monument.
Placement approved by the El Morro National Monument Staff
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