Mark P Betts
Cueva Rock and Organ Mountains Needles
I was excited about the 2018 New Mexico Geological Society Fall Field Conference because I have always been curious about the Organ Mountains. Maybe you are or would be too.
When I stood on the dunes at White Sands when I was 9 and looked west at the mountains there, I noticed a dramatic change in them as I slowly scanned southward. The mountains to the north had relatively smooth crests and a slowly undulating topography.
The mountains to the south, however, were very different - they were very jagged and rough in profile.
Why was this?
Fast forward 30 years and I was standing on the same dunes photographing them at sunset and I noticed this abrupt change again and it reminded me of the same question I had 30 years earlier. Now however, I could find the answer and the Fall Field Conference would stop at the mountains and discuss and examine them in detail.
First however, a little cultural history. Cueva is Spanish for cave and, indeed, there is a cave in the rocks in the foreground. A cave is not really a cave unless there is a hermit or ascetic that lives there.
The hermit was Giovanni Maria de Agostini who traveled throughout South and North America on foot. In 1867, he walked to Las Vegas (The Meadows) New Mexico and lived atop a spectacular mountain above the town. This Mountain is now named: Hermits Peak after him.
After a couple of years, he walked south to Las Cruces and took up residence in a cave in the nearby Organ Mountains. In 1869 he was murdered in his cave and his murder has remained unsolved.
The jagged peaks of the Organ Mountains in the background, also look different than the red, smooth, massive rocks in the foreground. While we are looking, what are those smooth, multilayered rocks just above the black tree on the left side of the photograph? Stay tuned...
D0A9781
Cueva Rock and Organ Mountains Needles
I was excited about the 2018 New Mexico Geological Society Fall Field Conference because I have always been curious about the Organ Mountains. Maybe you are or would be too.
When I stood on the dunes at White Sands when I was 9 and looked west at the mountains there, I noticed a dramatic change in them as I slowly scanned southward. The mountains to the north had relatively smooth crests and a slowly undulating topography.
The mountains to the south, however, were very different - they were very jagged and rough in profile.
Why was this?
Fast forward 30 years and I was standing on the same dunes photographing them at sunset and I noticed this abrupt change again and it reminded me of the same question I had 30 years earlier. Now however, I could find the answer and the Fall Field Conference would stop at the mountains and discuss and examine them in detail.
First however, a little cultural history. Cueva is Spanish for cave and, indeed, there is a cave in the rocks in the foreground. A cave is not really a cave unless there is a hermit or ascetic that lives there.
The hermit was Giovanni Maria de Agostini who traveled throughout South and North America on foot. In 1867, he walked to Las Vegas (The Meadows) New Mexico and lived atop a spectacular mountain above the town. This Mountain is now named: Hermits Peak after him.
After a couple of years, he walked south to Las Cruces and took up residence in a cave in the nearby Organ Mountains. In 1869 he was murdered in his cave and his murder has remained unsolved.
The jagged peaks of the Organ Mountains in the background, also look different than the red, smooth, massive rocks in the foreground. While we are looking, what are those smooth, multilayered rocks just above the black tree on the left side of the photograph? Stay tuned...
D0A9781