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56-507: Archaeological evidence has shown that people lived over 10,000 years ago in and among the many caves and alcoves . The first humans to live here were hunter-gatherers who followed large game and collected edible vegetation. Artifacts that support this include projectile points, baskets, pottery, and rock art. The first Europeans to arrive in the area were the Spaniards in the 16th century, but they did not make serious attempts to settle in

112-399: A combination of chemical processes, erosion by water, tectonic forces, microorganisms, pressure, and atmospheric influences. Isotopic dating techniques can be applied to cave sediments, to determine the timescale of the geological events which formed and shaped present-day caves. It is estimated that a cave cannot be more than 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) vertically beneath the surface due to

168-417: A contrast between active and relict: active caves have water flowing through them; relict caves do not, though water may be retained in them. Types of active caves include inflow caves ("into which a stream sinks"), outflow caves ("from which a stream emerges"), and through caves ("traversed by a stream"). Solutional caves or karst caves are the most frequently occurring caves. Such caves form in rock that

224-498: A cultural museum. In 1908, Williams Ranch House was built, and it was named after one of its inhabitants, James Adolphus Williams. Judge J.C. Hunter from Van Horn consolidated most of the smaller ranches in the area into the Guadalupe Mountain Ranch. In 1921, Wallace Pratt , a geologist for Humble Oil and Refining Company , was impressed by the beauty of McKittrick Canyon and bought the land to build two homes in

280-558: A hollow tube remains. Such caves can be found in the Canary Islands , Jeju-do , the basaltic plains of Eastern Idaho , and in other places. Kazumura Cave near Hilo , Hawaii is a remarkably long and deep lava tube; it is 65.6 km long (40.8 mi). Lava caves include but are not limited to lava tubes. Other caves formed through volcanic activity include rifts, lava molds, open vertical conduits, inflationary, blisters, among others. Sea caves are found along coasts around

336-420: A modern understanding of acoustics. Archaeologists have uncovered relationships between paintings of dots and lines, in specific areas of resonance, within the caves of Spain and France, as well as instruments depicting paleolithic motifs, indicators of musical events and rituals. Clusters of paintings were often found in areas with notable acoustics, sometimes even replicating the sounds of the animals depicted on

392-508: A pale or white coloration), a loss of eyes (or at least of optical functionality), an elongation of appendages, and an enhancement of other senses (such as the ability to sense vibrations in water). Aquatic troglobites (or stygobites), such as the endangered Alabama cave shrimp , live in bodies of water found in caves and get nutrients from detritus washed into their caves and from the feces of bats and other cave inhabitants. Other aquatic troglobites include cave fish, and cave salamanders such as

448-453: A range of early human species dating back to between three and one million years ago, including Australopithecus africanus , Australopithecus sediba and Paranthropus robustus . However, it is not generally thought that these early humans were living in the caves, but that they were brought into the caves by carnivores that had killed them. The first early hominid ever found in Africa,

504-519: A solutional cave that are below the water table or the local level of the groundwater will be flooded. Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico and nearby Carlsbad Cavern are now believed to be examples of another type of solutional cave. They were formed by H 2 S ( hydrogen sulfide ) gas rising from below, where reservoirs of oil give off sulfurous fumes. This gas mixes with groundwater and forms H 2 SO 4 ( sulfuric acid ). The acid then dissolves

560-547: Is a favorable environment for photosynthetic organisms and formation of carbonate reefs. As the organisms die and are buried, calcium carbonate incorporated from sea water into shells forms Limestone rock, preserving fossils and their ecology in the rock record. Carbonate production in the Delaware Basin formed the Capitan Reef , one of the most extensive and continuous prehistoric limestone reefs now exposed at

616-548: Is an aqueduct carrying irrigation water over the Pecos River. Construction took place from 1889 to 1890 and was part of the Pecos River Reclamation Project. It was originally constructed of wood and spanned 145 feet (44 m). It carried water at a depth of 8 feet (2.4 m). In 1902, a flood destroyed the flume and it was subsequently rebuilt using concrete. In 1902, it was identified as

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672-587: Is named for these mountains, and the Capitanian age within this epoch is named for the Capitan reef. For details on the area's geology, see Delaware Basin . As the range is built up almost entirely of limestone , upland areas have little or no surface water. The only significant surface water is McKittrick Creek, in McKittrick Canyon, which emerges from the eastern side of the massif, just south of

728-482: Is soluble; most occur in limestone , but they can also form in other rocks including chalk , dolomite , marble , salt, and gypsum . Except for salt caves , solutional caves result when rock is dissolved by natural acid in groundwater that seeps through bedding planes , faults , joints, and comparable features. Over time cracks enlarge to become caves and cave systems. The largest and most abundant solutional caves are located in limestone. Limestone dissolves under

784-668: The Basin and Range province , such as the Rio Grande rift west of the Guadalupe Mountains. A mechanism similar to extension in the Rio Grande rift is thought to have generated topographic relief in the Guadalupe Mountains, and the timing of topographic relief generation has been estimated to ~20 million years ago using cave speleothem records and interpreted to reflect drainage of subsurface aquifers as topographic relief

840-631: The Denisovans in southern Siberia. In southern Africa, early modern humans regularly used sea caves as shelter starting about 180,000 years ago when they learned to exploit the sea for the first time. The oldest known site is PP13B at Pinnacle Point . This may have allowed rapid expansion of humans out of Africa and colonization of areas of the world such as Australia by 60–50,000 years ago. Throughout southern Africa, Australia, and Europe, early modern humans used caves and rock shelters as sites for rock art, such as those at Giant's Castle . Caves such as

896-788: The Keresan (Native American language) term for the Pecos Pueblo , [p'æyok'ona] . The river was also historically referred to as the Río Natagés for the Mescalero people. The river was the eastern territory of the Faraon (‘Pharaoh’) Apache Indians, a tribe of Apache, probably closely related to the Mescalero Apache, if not part of them. Their divisions were Ancavistis, Jacomis, Orejones, Carlanes , and Cuampes, but of these

952-783: The Madagascar dry deciduous forests and parts of Brazil contain many documented caves. As the world's expanses of soluble bedrock are researched by cavers, the distribution of documented caves is likely to shift. For example, China, despite containing around half the world's exposed limestone—more than 1,000,000 square kilometres (390,000 sq mi)—has relatively few documented caves. Cave-inhabiting animals are often categorized as troglobites (cave-limited species), troglophiles (species that can live their entire lives in caves, but also occur in other environments), trogloxenes (species that use caves, but cannot complete their life cycle fully in caves) and accidentals (animals not in one of

1008-514: The Rio Grande . Its headwaters are on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County north of Pecos, New Mexico , at an elevation of over 12,000 feet (3,700 m). The river flows for 926 miles (1,490 km) before reaching the Rio Grande near Del Rio . Its drainage basin encompasses about 44,300 square miles (115,000 km ). The name "Pecos" derives from

1064-605: The Taung Child in 1924, was also thought for many years to come from a cave, where it had been deposited after being predated on by an eagle. However, this is now debated (Hopley et al., 2013; Am. J. Phys. Anthrop.). Caves do form in the dolomite of the Ghaap Plateau, including the Early, Middle and Later Stone Age site of Wonderwerk Cave ; however, the caves that form along the escarpment's edge, like that hypothesised for

1120-536: The olm and the Texas blind salamander . Cave insects such as Oligaphorura (formerly Archaphorura) schoetti are troglophiles, reaching 1.7 millimetres (0.067 in) in length. They have extensive distribution and have been studied fairly widely. Most specimens are female, but a male specimen was collected from St Cuthberts Swallet in 1969. Bats , such as the gray bat and Mexican free-tailed bat , are trogloxenes and are often found in caves; they forage outside of

1176-456: The very slow flow of the ice, which tends to collapse the caves again. Glacier caves are sometimes misidentified as " ice caves ", though this latter term is properly reserved for bedrock caves that contain year-round ice formations. Fracture caves are formed when layers of more soluble minerals, such as gypsum, dissolve out from between layers of less soluble rock. These rocks fracture and collapse in blocks of stone. Talus caves are formed by

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1232-518: The yaodong in China were used for shelter; other caves were used for burials (such as rock-cut tombs ), or as religious sites (such as Buddhist caves ). Among the known sacred caves are China's Cave of a Thousand Buddhas and the sacred caves of Crete . Paleolithic cave paintings have been found throughout the world dating from 64,800 years old for non-figurative art and 43,900 years old for figurative art. The importance of sound in caves predates

1288-782: The Carlanes at least belonged to the Jicarillas. The river later played a large role in the exploration of Texas by the Spanish . In the latter half of the 19th century, " West of the Pecos " was a reference to the rugged desolation of the Wild West . New Mexico and Texas disputed water rights to the river until the U.S. government settled the dispute in 1949 with the Pecos River Compact. The Pecos River Settlement Agreement

1344-842: The Carlsbad reclamation project (established in 1906). Texas has also dammed the river at the Red Bluff Dam in the western part of that state to form the Red Bluff Reservoir . The portion of the reservoir that extends into New Mexico forms the lowest point in that state. On June 6, 1990, 20.5 miles (33 km) of the Pecos River—;from its headwaters to the townsite of Tererro —received National Wild and Scenic River designation. It includes 13.5 miles (22 km) designated "wild" and 7 miles (11 km) designated "recreational". The Pecos River Flume

1400-477: The Guadalupe Mountains. The Spanish introduced horses into the area, and nomadic indigenous tribes of the area such as the Apaches soon found horses to be an asset for hunting and migrating. Mescalero Apaches were nomadic and followed the game and harvested the agave (or mescal) for food and fiber. Mescalero is Spanish for mescal-maker . Agave-roasting pits and other artifacts of Mescalero culture can be found in

1456-541: The Guadalupe Mountains; he worked cattle during the 1870s. McKittrick Canyon is thought to be named after him. Frijole Ranch was the first permanent ranch house; it was constructed in 1876 by the Rader brothers. Frijole Ranch House was the only major building in the region; it served as a community center and regional post office from 1916 to 1942. Today, the Frijole Ranch House has been restored and operates as

1512-753: The New Mexico border. Elevations at the base of the range vary from 4,000 feet (1,200 m) above sea level on the western side to 5,000 feet (1,500 m) on the east. Several peaks on the southern end exceed 8,000 feet (2,400 m). The Guadalupe Mountains experience relatively hot summers, calm, mild autumn weather, and cool to cold weather in winter and early spring. Snow storms, freezing rain, or fog may occur in winter or early spring. Frequent high-wind warnings are issued during winter through spring. Late summer monsoons produce thunderstorms. The nights are cool, even in summer. The Guadalupe Mountains are underlain by Permian aged sedimentary rocks . Although

1568-647: The Sacramento Mountains. The range is bounded on the north by Four Mile Canyon; on the east by the valley of the Pecos River ; and on the west by Piñon Creek, Big Dog Canyon, Valley Canyon, Middle Dog Canyon, and West Dog Canyon. Much of the range is built from the ancient Capitán Reef that formed at the margins of a shallow sea during the Permian period . The Guadalupian epoch of the Permian period

1624-780: The Taung Child, are formed within a secondary limestone deposit called tufa . There is numerous evidence for other early human species inhabiting caves from at least one million years ago in different parts of the world, including Homo erectus in China at Zhoukoudian , Homo rhodesiensis in South Africa at the Cave of Hearths ( Makapansgat ), Homo neanderthalensis and Homo heidelbergensis in Europe at Archaeological Site of Atapuerca , Homo floresiensis in Indonesia, and

1680-552: The action of rainwater and groundwater charged with H 2 CO 3 ( carbonic acid ) and naturally occurring organic acids . The dissolution process produces a distinctive landform known as karst , characterized by sinkholes and underground drainage. Limestone caves are often adorned with calcium carbonate formations produced through slow precipitation . These include flowstones , stalactites , stalagmites , helictites , soda straws and columns. These secondary mineral deposits in caves are called speleothems . The portions of

1736-664: The canyon. Both constructions were used as summer homes by Pratt and his family until 1960. Wallace Pratt donated about 6,000 acres (24 km) of McKittrick Canyon which became part of Guadalupe Mountains National Park . In 1978, the United States Congress designated 46,850 acres (190 km) of the Texan side of the range as a wilderness area , managed by the National Park Service . The Guadalupe Mountains reach their highest point at Guadalupe Peak,

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1792-586: The caves utilized for reverberation, but for the dampening qualities of their abnormal faces as well. The irregularities in the walls of the Cumberland Caverns diffuse sounds bouncing off the walls and give the space an almost recording studio-like quality. During the 20th century musicians began to explore the possibility of using caves as locations as clubs and concert halls, including the likes of Dinah Shore , Roy Acuff , and Benny Goodman . Unlike today, these early performances were typically held in

1848-565: The caves. Some species of cave crickets are classified as trogloxenes, because they roost in caves by day and forage above ground at night. Because of the fragility of cave ecosystems, and the fact that cave regions tend to be isolated from one another, caves harbor a number of endangered species, such as the Tooth cave spider , liphistius trapdoor spider , and the gray bat. Caves are visited by many surface-living animals, including humans. These are usually relatively short-lived incursions, due to

1904-602: The highest point in Texas, with an elevation of 8,751 feet (2,667 m). The range lies southeast of the Sacramento Mountains and east of the Brokeoff Mountains. The mountain range extends north-northwest and northeast from Guadalupe Peak in Texas into New Mexico. The northeastern extension ends about 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Carlsbad , near White's City and Carlsbad Caverns National Park ;

1960-562: The lack of light and sustenance. Cave entrances often have typical florae. For instance, in the eastern temperate United States, cave entrances are most frequently (and often densely) populated by the bulblet fern, Cystopteris bulbifera . People have made use of caves throughout history. The earliest human fossils found in caves come from a series of caves near Krugersdorp and Mokopane in South Africa. The cave sites of Sterkfontein , Swartkrans , Kromdraai B, Drimolen , Malapa , Cooper's D, Gladysvale, Gondolin and Makapansgat have yielded

2016-674: The land surface. Buried organic matter formed oil and natural gas resources, and ~250,000 wells have been drilled in the surrounding region. Bedrock that formed in shallow oceans of the Delaware Basin were likely uplifted during the Cenozoic period. Subduction of the Farallon Plate underneath the Western United States thickened buoyant continental crust and uplifted the Colorado Plateau across much of

2072-413: The limestone from below, rather than from above, by acidic water percolating from the surface. Caves formed at the same time as the surrounding rock are called primary caves . Lava tubes are formed through volcanic activity and are the most common primary caves. As lava flows downhill, its surface cools and solidifies. Hot liquid lava continues to flow under that crust, and if most of it flows out,

2128-464: The mouths of the caves, as the lack of technology made depths of the interior inaccessible with musical equipment. In Luray Caverns , Virginia, a functioning organ has been developed that generates sound by mallets striking stalactites, each with a different pitch. Pecos River The Pecos River ( / ˈ p eɪ k ə s / PAY -kəs ) ( Spanish : Río Pecos ) originates in north-central New Mexico and flows into Texas , emptying into

2184-476: The opening is wide are called endogene caves . Speleology is the science of exploration and study of all aspects of caves and the cave environment. Visiting or exploring caves for recreation may be called caving , potholing , or spelunking . The formation and development of caves is known as speleogenesis ; it can occur over the course of millions of years. Caves can range widely in size, and are formed by various geological processes. These may involve

2240-465: The openings among large boulders that have fallen down into a random heap, often at the bases of cliffs. These unstable deposits are called talus or scree , and may be subject to frequent rockfalls and landslides . Anchialine caves are caves, usually coastal, containing a mixture of freshwater and saline water (usually sea water). They occur in many parts of the world, and often contain highly specialized and endemic fauna. Caves are found throughout

2296-632: The park. The Mescalero Apaches remained in the mountains through the mid-19th century, but they were challenged by an American transportation route at the end of the American Civil War . During the 1840s and 1850s, many people immigrating west crossed the area. In 1858, Pinery station was constructed near Pine Springs for the Butterfield Overland Mail . The Butterfield Overland Mail traveled over Guadalupe Pass located at 5,534 ft (1,687 m) above sea level. A cavalry

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2352-602: The park. Groundwater circulating through deep fractures dissolves limestone and forms extensive cave networks, including the Carlsbad Caverns . Three major ecosystems are contained within the mountain range. First, deserts exhibit salt flats on the western side of the national park and creosote desert , with low elevations on the east covered with grassland , pinyon pine , and junipers such as alligator juniper and one-seeded juniper . Secondly, canyon interiors such as McKittrick, Bear, and Pine Springs Canyon on

2408-549: The pressure of overlying rocks. This does not, however, impose a maximum depth for a cave which is measured from its highest entrance to its lowest point, as the amount of rock above the lowest point is dependent on the topography of the landscape above it. For karst caves the maximum depth is determined on the basis of the lower limit of karst forming processes, coinciding with the base of the soluble carbonate rocks. Most caves are formed in limestone by dissolution . Caves can be classified in various other ways as well, including

2464-428: The previous categories). Some authors use separate terminology for aquatic forms (for example, stygobites , stygophiles , and stygoxenes ). Of these animals, the troglobites are perhaps the most unusual organisms. Troglobitic species often show a number of characteristics, termed troglomorphic, associated with their adaptation to subterranean life. These characteristics may include a loss of pigment (often resulting in

2520-577: The range includes occupation by ancient Pueblo and Mogollon peoples, and by the Apache and various Anglo outlaws in the 19th century. Caves A cave or cavern is a natural void under the Earth 's surface . Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance underground (such as rock shelters ). Caves which extend further underground than

2576-593: The rocks are now thousands of feet above sea level, sediments that form the rock were deposited in the Delaware Basin , which was a shallow marine coastal setting at the southern edge of what was then the North American craton . Sediments were deposited in an environment that is thought to be similar to present day environments in the Bahamas or southern Florida (U.S.), where warm climate and clear water

2632-612: The southeast end exhibit maple , ash , chinquapin oak , and other deciduous trees. These trees are able to grow in the desert due to springs of water recharged by wet uplands. Finally, alpine uplands known as "the Bowl" exceeding elevations of 7,000 ft (2,100 m) are covered with denser forests of ponderosa pine , southwestern white pine , and douglas-fir , with small stands of aspen . The range contains many world-class caves , including Carlsbad Caverns (the best known) and Lechuguilla Cave , discovered in 1986. The history of

2688-604: The southwest tip ends with El Capitan about 90 miles (140 km) east of El Paso. The mountains rise more than 3,000 feet (910 m) above the arid floor of the Chihuahuan Desert . The Guadalupe Mountains are surrounded by the South Plains to the east and north, Delaware Mountains to the south, and Sacramento Mountains to the west. The northwestern extension, bounded by a dramatic escarpment known as "The Rim", extends much further into New Mexico, to near

2744-648: The southwestern United States. Following complete subduction of the Farallon plate in the mid-late Cenozoic, lateral compression was released along the western margin of the North American tectonic plate, and a transform plate boundary formed on the western United States along the San Andreas Fault . Lateral extension of the Colorado Plateau occurred as a result, forming topographic relief and mountainous features along crustal extension features in

2800-462: The walls. The human voice was also theorized to be used as an echolocation device to navigate darker areas of the caves where torches were less useful. Dots of red ochre are often found in spaces with the highest resonance, where the production of paintings was too difficult. Caves continue to provide usage for modern-day explorers of acoustics. Today Cumberland Caverns provides one of the best examples for modern musical usages of caves. Not only are

2856-417: The water, such as a fault or joint. A subtype of the erosional cave is the wind or aeolian cave, carved by wind-born sediments. Many caves formed initially by solutional processes often undergo a subsequent phase of erosional or vadose enlargement where active streams or rivers pass through them. Glacier caves are formed by melting ice and flowing water within and under glaciers. The cavities are influenced by

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2912-667: The world, although the distribution of documented cave system is heavily skewed towards those countries where caving has been popular for many years (such as France, Italy, Australia, the UK, the United States, etc.). As a result, explored caves are found widely in Europe, Asia, North America and Oceania, but are sparse in South America, Africa, and Antarctica. This is a rough generalization, as large expanses of North America and Asia contain no documented caves, whereas areas such as

2968-791: The world. A special case is littoral caves, which are formed by wave action in zones of weakness in sea cliffs. Often these weaknesses are faults, but they may also be dykes or bedding-plane contacts. Some wave-cut caves are now above sea level because of later uplift. Elsewhere, in places such as Thailand 's Phang Nga Bay , solutional caves have been flooded by the sea and are now subject to littoral erosion. Sea caves are generally around 5 to 50 metres (16 to 164 ft) in length, but may exceed 300 metres (980 ft). Corrasional or erosional caves are those that form entirely by erosion by flowing streams carrying rocks and other sediments. These can form in any type of rock, including hard rocks such as granite. Generally there must be some zone of weakness to guide

3024-467: Was generated along the margin of the mountain range. The Guadalupe Mountains are mainly carved by a series of NW-SE trending canyons leading to exposure of marine rocks at their current elevation. In the dry, semi-arid environment, continuous limestone bedrock of the Capitan Reef forms large prominent cliffs traceable across the landscape. These cliffs are typically exposed along the eastern edge of

3080-471: Was known as the Buffalo Soldiers was ordered to the area to stop Indian raids on settlements and mail stage routes. During the winter of 1869, Lt. H.B. Cushing led his troops into the Guadalupe Mountains and destroyed two Mescalero Apache camps. The Mescalero Apache were eventually driven out of the area and into US Indian reservations . Felix McKittrick was one of the first European settlers in

3136-427: Was signed between New Mexico and Texas in 2003. Multiple dams have been built along the Pecos River. Santa Rosa Lake is 117 miles/188 km east of Albuquerque. Sumner Lake, formed by the 1939 Sumner Dam , is located between Santa Rosa and Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Two dams are located north of Carlsbad, New Mexico , at Avalon Dam and Brantley Dam , to help irrigate about 25,000 acres (10,000 ha) as part of

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