FLOOD09816

• County: Statewide
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: Forest- Fire Devegetation and Drainage Basin Adjustments in Mountenous Terrain
• Date: 1/1/1977
• Prepared By: Department of Geology University of New Mexico
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Educational/Technical/Reference Information

Forest-Fire Devegetation and Basin Adjustments

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Figure 1. Study areas within Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico.

moderate = destruction of the ground foliage, leaving only the crowns of
tall trees (fig. 2B);

light = destruction of the ground foliage and small shrubs; larger shrubs
and_ trees not destroyed.

These watersheds carry water only during precipitation events or s~owme1t.
'Streams draining these watersheds are tributary to the major perennial, base-
level stream, Rito de los Frijoles. Rito de los Frijoles is incised into the
Bandelier Tuff I a welded ash-flow deposit consisting of rhyolite ash and
pumice. These volcanic rocks are derived from the Pleistocene Valles Caldera.
All the study watersheds are developed on the Bandelier Tuff. Apache
Springs basins are on. the caldera rim. and Burnt Mesa watersheds are on the
eastward-sloping volcanic plateau that flanks the caldera.

The fluvial systems consist of long, parallel trunk streams which dis-
charge into the Rio Grande Valley. Three types of watersheds contribute

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