However, most of the fossils are too small for the human eye to detect. The limestone contains marine fossils including crinoids, brachiopods, gastropods, horn corals, and bryozoans. This is topped by a relatively thin layer (approximately 300 feet (91 meters) of sedimentary rock (mostly limestone, and some sandstone) of Pennsylvanian age (circa 300 million years ago). There is also some metamorphic rock of age 1.60 billion years. The core of the range consists of Sandia granite, with a U-Pb age of 1453☑2 million years. They form the eastern boundary of the Albuquerque Basin. The Sandias were uplifted in the last ten million years as part of the formation of the Rio Grande Rift. The Sandia Mountains are a fault block range, on the eastern edge of the Rio Grande Rift Valley. Climate Ĭlimate data for Sandia Crest, New Mexico (elevation 10690 ft 1953-1979) The average speed of the tram car is 12 mph (19 km/h), and the length of the ride is approximately 15 minutes. Over this distance the tram cars ascend over 4,000 feet (1,200 m). The Sandia Mountains are home to the world's second longest tramway, Sandia Peak Tramway, which is 2.7 miles (4.3 km) long. Lying to the east and northeast of the Sandias are two smaller ranges, the Ortiz Mountains and the San Pedro Mountains. This gives Sandia Crest a relatively high topographic prominence of 4,098 ft (1,249 m). The Sandias are the highest range in the immediate vicinity, and are well-separated from the higher Sangre de Cristo Mountains. One of the notable features in the Sandia mountains is Tijeras Canyon which leads to a historically important pass the canyon is traversed by Interstate 40, following the route of historic U.S. The Sandia mountains are separated from the Manzano mountains by the Manzanitas. The Sandias are part of a single larger geologic unit, the Sandia–Manzano Mountains, which consists of two other parts: the Manzanita Mountains and the Manzano Mountains (both of which lie to the south of the Sandias). Sandia Crest from the west, with adjacent radio and TV towers The west side of the range is steep and rugged, with a number of sheer rock walls and towers near Sandia Crest. The range measures approximately 17 miles (27 km) north-south, and the width in the east–west direction varies from 4 to 8 miles (6.4 to 12.9 km). Major summits: Sandia Crest and South Sandia Peak, 9,702 ft (2,957 m). The Sandias are a small range, a part of the Basin and Range Province, but built by a different phenomenon known as rifting, consisting of a single north–south ridge, which rises to two The author also notes that the Sandia Pueblo Indians, who are Tiwa speakers, sometimes call the mountain Bien Mur, "big mountain". ![]() In Southern Tiwa, Posu gai hoo-oo means where water slides down arroyo. However, as Robert Julyan notes, "the most likely explanation is the one believed by the Sandia Indians: the Spaniards, when they encountered the Pueblo in 1540, called it Sandia, because they thought the squash gourds growing there were watermelons, and the name Sandia soon was transferred to the mountains east of the pueblo." Also, when viewed from the west, the profile of the mountains is a long ridge, with a thin zone of green conifers near the top, suggesting the "rind" of the watermelon. Sandía means watermelon in Spanish, and is popularly believed to be a reference to the reddish color of the mountains at sunset. The highest point is Sandia Crest, 10,678 feet (3,255 m). This is largely within the Cibola National Forest and protected as the Sandia Mountain Wilderness. The mountains are just due south of the southern terminus of the Rocky Mountains, and are part of the Sandia–Manzano Mountains. ![]() The Sandia Mountains ( Southern Tiwa: Posu gai hoo-oo, Keres: Tsepe, Navajo: Dził Nááyisí Tewa: O:ku:p’į, Northern Tiwa: Kep’íanenemą Towa: Kiutawe, Zuni: Chibiya Yalanne) are a mountain range located in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, immediately to the east of the city of Albuquerque in New Mexico in the southwestern United States. Location of the Sandia Mountains within New Mexico
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |