Английская Википедия:El Malpais National Monument
Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Infobox protected area El Malpais National Monument is a National Monument located in western New Mexico, in the Southwestern United States.[1] The name El Malpais is from the Spanish term Malpaís, meaning badlands, due to the extremely barren and dramatic volcanic field that covers much of the park's area.
It is on the Trails of the Ancients Byway, one of the designated New Mexico Scenic Byways.[2]
Geography and geology
The lava flows, cinder cones, and other volcanic features of El Malpais are part of the Zuni-Bandera volcanic field, the second largest volcanic field in the Basin and Range Province.[1] This volcanically active area on the southeast margin of the Colorado Plateau is located on the ancient Jemez Lineament, which provides the crustal weakness that recent magmatic intrusions and Cenozoic volcanism are attributed to.[3]
The rugged pahoēhoē and ʻaʻā lava flows of the Zuni-Bandera eruptions (also called the Grants Lava Flows) filled a large basin, created by normal faulting associated with the Rio Grande Rift, between the high mesas of the Acoma Pueblo to the east, Mt. Taylor to the north, and the Zuni Mountain anticline to the northwest. Vents associated with these flows include Bandera Crater, El Calderon, and several other cinder cones; more than a dozen older cinder cones follow a roughly north–south distribution along the Chain of Craters west of the monument.[4]
Features
El Malpais has many lava tubes open to explore (unguided) with a free caving permit, available at NPS-staffed facilities. There are currently four caves accessible by permit: Junction and Xenolith caves in the El Caldron area, and Big Skylight and Giant Ice caves in the Big Tubes area. From December 2010 to June 2013, all caves were temporarily closed to recreational use to protect bats from the spread of White Nose Syndrome (WNS) until a permitting process, including visitor screening for WNS, could be implemented.[5] Recent research at El Malpais shows that the bacterial microbiome of bats and the bacterial microbiome in the caves can affect each other, which may provide more insight into the connections between cave environments, defense systems of bats, and WNS.[6]
A nearby scenic overlook at Sandstone Bluffs offers spectacular panoramic views over the monument's lava flows.[7]
Natural history
Some of the oldest Rocky Mountain Douglas-firs (Pseudotsuga menziesii subsp. glauca) on Earth can be found living in El Malpais Monument.[8] In 2020, a new population of hart's-tongue ferns (Asplenium scolopendrium) was discovered inside of a cave with basaltic lava flows in El Malpais, which represents the first confirmed population of the species in the United States or Canada west of the Mississippi; all other known populations of the fern are around the Great Lakes, Alabama, and Tennessee. Genetic analyses and surveys are currently being performed to determine the population's variation and overall health.[9]
El Malpais National Monument is distinguished by its unique geological features, including lava flows and associated lava-tubes that provide critical roosting habitat for bats. These underground structures offer stable temperatures, protection, and proximity to limited water resources, making them essential hibernacula for diverse bat species, setting the park apart from others with similar woodlands and water resources. Conservation efforts to preserve these lava-tubes are vital for safeguarding bat populations, especially in light of potential threats like White-nose syndrome.[10]
History
The area around El Malpais was used for resources, settlement, and travel by Oasisamerica cultures, Native Americans, and Spanish colonial and pioneer exploration. Archaeological sites remain in the park.[11]
In the 1940s the Malpais lava field was one of the eight candidate sites considered by the Manhattan Project to test detonate the first atomic bomb, the Trinity nuclear test, which did occur to the south at White Sands Proving Ground.[12] The Department of Defense did use the site as a bombing range to train pilots during World War II.[11]
After the war, the Bureau of Land Management became the administrator of the area. In 1987, President Reagan signed Шаблон:USPL that created El Malpais National Monument and designated it a unit of the National Park Service.[13] It is jointly managed with the nearby El Morro National Monument.
Protection and management
The U.S. National Park Service protects, manages, and interprets El Malpais National Monument. El Malpais Visitor Center (formerly The Northwest New Mexico Visitor Center) is just south of Exit 85 off I-40 in Grants, New Mexico.[5]
The adjacent El Malpais National Conservation Area is protected and managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.[14] They staff the El Malpais National Conservation Area Ranger Station 8 miles down State Highway 117 south of I-40 Exit 89.[15]
The Cibola National Forest conserves large natural areas, wildlife, and habitats in the surrounding region as well.[16]
In literature
The second portion of the 1932 book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley takes place on the "savage reservation", which is located on land encompassing the park's area.[17]
The malpais is the setting for a western story, "Flint" (November, 1960) by Louis L'Amour. Flint is a successful business man who thinks he is dying of cancer and returns to a hidden campsite within the malpais he had learned of in his youth.[18]
A scene in Cormac McCarthy's 1985 novel Blood Meridian takes place on the malpais.[19]
See also
References
Further reading
External links
Шаблон:Commons category Шаблон:Wikivoyage
- Official website at the National Park Service
- BLM: El Malpais National Conservation Area website
- Offbeat New Mexico – El Malpais
- TopoQuest USGS Quad Map
Шаблон:Protected areas of New Mexico Шаблон:National Monuments of the United States Шаблон:Registered Historic Places Шаблон:National Park Travelers Club Conventions
- ↑ 1,0 1,1 Шаблон:Cite gvp
- ↑ Trail of the Ancients. Шаблон:Webarchive New Mexico Tourism Department. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite journal
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite journal
- ↑ 5,0 5,1 Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite journal
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Valdez, E. W., Geological Survey (U.S.), & United States. National Park Service. (2012). Surveillance for white-nose syndrome in the bat community at el malpais national monument, new mexico, 2011 (Ser. Open-file report, 2012-1097). U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
- ↑ 11,0 11,1 Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite journal
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite journal
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite news
- Английская Википедия
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