| Zuñi Salt Lake | |
|---|---|
 c. 2000 | |
  Zuñi Salt Lake  Zuñi Salt Lake | |
| Location | Catron County,New Mexico, United States |
| Coordinates | 34°27.0′N108°46.1′W / 34.4500°N 108.7683°W /34.4500; -108.7683 |
| Type | Maar |
| Primary outflows | Evaporation |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface elevation | 6,224 ft (1,897 m)[1] |
| References | [1] |
Zuni Salt Lake and Sanctuary | |
| Nearest city | Quemado, New Mexico |
| NRHP reference No. | 98000238[2] |
| Added to NRHP | 1999 |
| Location | |
 Interactive map of Zuñi Salt Lake | |
Zuñi Salt Lake, alsoZuni Salt Lake is a rare high desert lake, and a classicmaar, located inCatron County,New Mexico, United States,[3] about 60 miles (97 km) south of theZuni Pueblo, New Mexico.
Zuñi Salt Lake is extremely shallow, with a depth of only 4 feet (1.2 m) in the wet season. During the dry season, much of the water evaporates leaving behindsalt flats. The lake contains brine shrimp (Artemia salina), alkali flies (Ephydra hians) andcyanobacteria (Anacystis) that are able to endure the extreme fluctuations in conditions between the wet and dry seasons.[4]
The lake fills amaar, a kind of shallow volcanic crater formed whenmagma (molten rock) comes into contact withgroundwater. The groundwater explodes into steam, shattering the surrounding rock and blasting particles of rock and magma into the air. The maar erupted in theLate Pleistocene, between 114 and 86 thousand years ago.[5] The salt comes from bothsurface runoff into the lake and buried salt beds of thePermianSupai Formation underneath the maar. Groundwater rises through the salt beds and emerges along fractures in the volcanic conduits beneath the maar. Salt accumulates because the maar has no natural outlet.[4]
The lake was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1999.[6] It is part of theRed Hill volcanic field.[7]
For centuries, thePueblo people of the Southwest, including the Zuni,Acoma,Laguna,Hopi andTaos pueblos, have made annual pilgrimages to Zuñi Salt Lake to harvest salt, for both culinary and ceremonial purposes. Ancient roadways radiate out from the lake to the variouspueblos and ancient pueblo sites, such asChaco. The lake itself is considered sacred, home of the Salt Motherdeity, known to the Zuñi as Ma'l Okyattsik'i.[8]
Salt from Zuñi Salt Lake was traded extensively within theChaco culture, and salt grains matching those from Zuñi Salt Lake have been found in corn husk wrappings in archaeological sites in theSan Juan Basin. Salt from the lake was still being traded extensively by theZuni at the time of the first Spanish contact.[9]
Juan de Oñate sent Captain Marcos Farfán to investigate the lake in 1598, and the captain reported that he was "certain that neither in all Christendom nor outside of it, is there anything so grand, nor has the kind anything to equal it."[10] To later Hispanic explorers and settlers, such asBernardo de Miera y Pacheco andJosé de Züñiga, the lake was known as Salinas.[11][12]
FamousApache chief Geronimo, inGeronimo's Story of His Life reported the following about the lake: "We obtained our salt from a little lake in the Gila Mountains.... When visiting this lake our people were not allowed to even kill game or attack an enemy. All creatures were free to go and come without molestation."
The Zuñi Salt Lake was not part of the Zuñi reservation originally recognized by the U.S. government, but the U.S. returned the lake itself, and 5,000 acres (2,000 ha; 20 km2) surrounding it, to Zuni control in 1985.[8]
From 1994 to 2003, there was a proposal to develop a coal mine near the Zuñi Salt Lake.[8][13] It would have involved extraction of water from theaquifer below the lake as well as construction between the lake and the Pueblo of Zuñi.[14][15] The proposal was withdrawn after several lawsuits, and is regarded as an important exercise ofnative rights in the United States.
Media related toZuñi Salt Lake at Wikimedia Commons
Lakes ofNew Mexico | |
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| International | |
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| National | |
