Tularosa Basin

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TheTularosa Basin is agraben basin in theBasin and Range Province and within theChihuahuan Desert, east of theRio Grande in southernNew Mexico andWest Texas, in theSouthwestern United States.

Map of theTularosa Basin (light blue) and its landmarks, in southernNew Mexico andWest Texas, U.S.

Whitegypsum sand andYucca (*Yucca elata*) plants, in Tularosa Basin atWhite Sands National Park.

Geography

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The Tularosa Basin is located primarily inOtero County, New Mexico. It covers about 6,500 sq mi (16,800 km²) (35% larger than Connecticut). It lies between theSacramento Mountains to the east, and theSan Andres andOscura Mountains to the west. The basin stretches about 150 mi (240 km) north–south, and at its widest is about 60 mi (100 km) east-west. It is geologically considered part of theRio Grande Rift zone, which widens there due to the slight clockwise rotation of theColorado Plateau tectonic plate.

Notable features of the basin includeWhite Sands National Park,Oliver Lee Memorial State Park, theCarrizozo Malpais lava flow,Holloman Air Force Base, and theWhite Sands Missile Range with the historicTrinity nuclear test Site. Tularosa Creek flows westward into the Tularosa Basin just north of the village ofTularosa. The distinct northwestern New MexicoTularosa River is located inCatron County.

Hydrologically, the Tularosa Basin is anendorheic basin, as no water flows out of it. The basin is closed to the north by Chupadera Mesa and to the south by the broad flat 4000-foot-elevation plain between theFranklin andHueco Mountains, with the conventional boundary taken to be the New Mexico–Texas border. Surface water that does not evaporate or soak into the ground eventually accumulates atplayas (intermittently dry lake beds), the largest of which isLake Lucero, at 3888 feet elevation, at the southwest end of the White Sandsdunes. TheWhite Sands are a 710-km² (275-mi²) field of white sand dunes composed ofgypsum crystals. To the north of Lake Lucero are extensivealkali flats, which produce additional gypsum for wind deposition on the dunes.

History

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Upper Paleolithic

TheWhite Sands fossil footprints in the Tularosa Basin are estimated by the National Park Service to be 21 000 to 23 000 years old and include footprints possibly showing humans stalking agiant sloth.^[1] The footprints are located at the shore of anice age era lake. As of November 2021, 61 fossil footprints have been found at the site.^[2]

Apache, Spanish, and U.S. 'Old West'

When the Spanish arrived in the Tularosa Basin, they found springs and small streams coming from theSacramento Mountains that fed a relatively lush grassland on the eastern side of the basin. While the Spanish tried some sheep ranching and some mining, the area remained firmly under Apache control until the 1850s, when the United States established its military presence at Fort Stanton (in the Sacramento Mountains) (1855–1896), Torreon Fort (nearLincoln) (1850s), and Camp Comfort (1858–1859) at White Sands. Under US military protection, the first permanent settlement was established in 1862, when about 50 Hispanic farmers from theRio Grande Valley moved toTularosa. Efforts to control the Apache waned somewhat during theAmerican Civil War and serious American settlement did not begin until the late 1870s, when settlers and cattle ranchers from Texas began moving into the basin. In 1969, theGemsbok was introduced.

Creosote bush—(Larrea tridentata), that replaced the overgrazed perennialgrasslands.

Grasslands and grazing

Thenative grasslands in the Tularosa Basin were able to support large herds in the wet years of the 1880s. When the Americans first started running cattle, in some places, thenative perennial bunchgrasses grew 'as high as a horse’s shoulder' - 1.0–2.5 m (3.3–8.2 ft) depending on species. One cowboy estimated in 1889 that 85,000 head weremustered within the basin, but said that was "far too heavy a burden for the range" - or beyond itscarrying capacity.^[3] Severe drought followed for years, and the grassland pastures never recovered from theovergrazing, which continued in many instances for 75 years or more and caused top-soilerosion anddesertification. Even within theWhite Sands Missile Range, where cattle grazing was eliminated in 1945, the effects from the 1890–1945 period of overgrazing can still be seen nearly everywhere. Many areas that were historically known to be rich perennial grasslands are nowxeric desert shrublands, withcreosote bush—(Larrea tridentata) predominating.

Groundwater salinization

Since surface water was unable to sustain the cattle herds, ranchers turned togroundwater, and the easily reachableaquifer of 'sweet water' was pumped out and depleted from under the basin, leaving onlybrackish water. Applying the groundwater to the surface resulted in additional salts being dissolved and transported back down bygroundwater recharge into the aquifer, increasing itssalinity. By 2000, it became clear that salts in the aquifer needed to be significantly reduced if existing levels of water use were to continue. Therefore, in 2004, the Tularosa Basin National Desalination Research Facility was established in the basin atAlamogordo, as a joint project of theFederal Bureau of Reclamation andSandia National Laboratories. It is a national center for researching procedures to reduce brackish water creation and to develop new technologies for desalination as it is increasingly found in present-day inland basin aquifers with agricultural irrigation and potable water withdrawal demands.

Ecology

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The Tularosa Basin is in theChihuahuan Desert ecoregion, with the formerGreat Plains grassland habitatecotones. Because of the closed nature of the basin, a number of unique ecological niches have developed. A significant number ofendemic species are only found in the Tularosa Basin. These include theWhite Sands pupfish (Cyprinodon tularosa) and the Oscura Mountainschipmunk.

Counties

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While the Tularosa Basin lies primarily in New MexicanOtero County, it also extends intoDoña Ana,Sierra,Lincoln, andSocorro Counties in New Mexico, andEl Paso County in southwestTexas.