Kilbourne Hole: Difference between revisions

[[File:Kilbourne and Hunts Holes and White Sands.jpg|thumb|Kilbourne Hole (center) and Hunt's Hole (lower right), with [[White Sands National Park]] lit by the sun in the distance beyond the [[Organ Mountains]].]]

Estimates of the age of the crater vary from about 24,000 to about 80,000 years.<ref name="Cordell">{{cite journal|first=L. |last=Cordell |year=1975 |title=Combined Geophysical Studies at Kilbourne Hole Maar |publisher=[[University of New Mexico]] Press |workjournal=New Mexico Geological Society Guidebook: 26th Field Conference |pages=273–281}}</ref><ref name="wood">{{cite book |editor-last1=Wood |editor-first1=Charles A. |editor-last2=Kienle |editor-first2=Jürgen (eds.) |year=1990 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eyDRib-FJh4C&pg=PA310&lpg=PA310 |title=Volcanoes of North America: United States and Canada |publisher=[[Cambridge University]] Press |isbn=0-521-36469-8 |pages=310–311}}</ref><ref>

|url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nnlandmarks/site.htm?Site=KIHO-NM|title=National Natural Landmarks - National Natural Landmarks (U.S. National Park Service)|website=www.nps.gov|language=en|quote="Year designated: 1975"|access-date=2019-03-25}}</ref> It is now part of [[Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument]].

The crater is at an elevation of {{convert|4239|ft|abbr=on}}. It has a diameter of {{convert|1.5|mi|abbr=on}} by {{convert|2.1|mi||abbr=on}} and a depth of {{convert|443|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name = nlcd2016 >[https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/advanced-viewer/viewer/index.html?marker=-106.964722,31.971944,4326,from%20Kilbourne_Hole,,Kilbourne%20Hole&scale=10000 2016 National Land Cover (NLCD) dataset] Kilbourne Hole</ref>

The hole is over a mile wide, and over {{convert|300|ft|m}} deep, with crumbling [[basalt]] cliffs all around except at the southwest corner. The basaltrim cliffs, resemblemeasuring theabout cliffs{{convert|40|ft|m}} in height, are composed of the[[basalt]] and exhibit clear [[columnar jointing]] (a feature common to many basalt cliffs, including those of [[Devils Postpile National Monument]] near [[Yosemite National Park]], withand [[Moses Coulee]] in the [[Channeled Scablands]] of [[Washington (state)|Washington]]), with characteristic reddish -purple, polygonal (mostly [[Hexagonal_prism|hexagonal]]) columns,. except The base of the cliffs is obscured by [[scree]] composed of blocks of basalt that theyhave arebeen notdislodged asfrom tall.the columns Theabove cliffsby arethe aboutwork {{convertof [[erosion]] and [[Weathering#Physical_weathering|40|ft|m}}mechanical highweathering]]. The basalt [[Lava flow|flow]] chunksthat existcomprises inthese abundancecolumns [[Pinch-out|pinches out]] (thins) and eventually disappears as it approaches the southwestern rim of the maar.<ref name="padovani-reid-1989"/>

[[NASA]] geologically trained the [[Apollo Astronauts]] in April and Nov.November 1969, June 1970, and Jan.January and Dec.December 1971. Astronauts who would use this training on the Moon included [[Apollo 12]]'s [[Pete Conrad]] and [[Alan Bean]], [[Apollo 14]]'s [[Alan Shepard]] and [[Edgar Mitchell]], [[Apollo 15]]'s [[David Scott]] and [[James Irwin]], [[Apollo 16]]'s [[John Young (astronaut)|John Young]] and [[Charlie Duke]], and [[Apollo 17]]'s [[Gene Cernan]] and [[Jack Schmitt]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Phinney |first1=William |title=Science Training History of the Apollo Astronauts |date=2015 |publisher=NASA SP -2015-626 |pages=233, 235, 237, 241, 245, 251}}</ref>

Kilbourne Hole is located within [[Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument]] and administered by the [[Bureau of Land Management]].<ref name=BLM>{{cite web | url = https://www.blm.gov/visit/kilbourne-hole-volcanic-crater | title = Kilbourne Hole Volcanic Crater | accessdate = 10 September 2020 |publisher=Bureau of Land Management}}</ref> It is accessed via Doña Ana County Road A-011, driving {{Convert|8 miles|mi|km}} west from the railroad. The hole is "on the right, past the big tan dirt bank."<ref name=BLM/> Much of the land inside the hole is private property., and collecting rocks from the location is illegal. Hunt's Hole is about {{Convert|2 miles|mi|km}} south on A-013.

[[File:BLM Sign on the Road to Kilbourne Hole.jpg|thumb|right|BLM sign on the road to Kilbourne Hole.]]