View source for Caprock Escarpment

{{Short description|Geographical transition in Texas and New Mexico}}
{{Refimprove|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox landform
|name = Caprock Escarpment
|type = [[Escarpment]]
|photo = Caprock Escarpment Garza County Texas 2010.jpg
|caption = Caprock Escarpment, Garza County, Texas
|photo_width = 300
|location=[[New Mexico]] and [[Texas]], [[United States]]
|elevation_ft = 1647
|coordinates = {{coord|34|54|35|N|104|04|08|W|display=inline,title}}
|geology = [[Caliche (mineral)|Caliche]]
|age = [[Quaternary]]
|map_image = LlanoEstacadoShadedRelief.jpg
|map_caption = The Caprock Escarpment marking the edge of the [[Llano Estacado]] is clearly visible in this shaded relief image. The escarpment can be seen on the eastern edge of the Llano, running roughly in a north–south line through the middle of the Panhandle of Texas.
}}
[[File:Northwest Escarpment Llano Estacado 2003.jpg|thumb|right|305px|Northwest escarpment of the [[Llano Estacado]] overlooking Alamogordo Valley of [[Quay County, New Mexico|Quay]] and [[Guadalupe County, New Mexico|Guadalupe]] Counties, [[New Mexico]].]]

The '''Caprock Escarpment''' is a term used in [[West Texas]] and [[Eastern New Mexico]] to describe the geographical transition point between the level [[High Plains (United States)|High Plains]] of the [[Llano Estacado]] and the surrounding rolling terrain.<ref name=Handbook>{{cite web| url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rxc01 |title=Caprock |work=Handbook of Texas Online|accessdate=March 1, 2013 |author= Carroll, H.B.}}</ref> 

In Texas, the escarpment stretches around {{convert|200|mi|km|abbr=on}} south-southwest from the northeast corner of the [[Texas Panhandle]] near the [[Oklahoma]] border. The escarpment is especially notable, from north to south, in [[Briscoe County, Texas|Briscoe]], [[Floyd County, Texas|Floyd]], [[Motley County, Texas|Motley]], [[Crosby County, Texas|Crosby]], [[Dickens County, Texas|Dickens]], [[Garza County, Texas|Garza]], and [[Borden County, Texas|Borden]] Counties. 

In New Mexico,  a prominent escarpment exists along the northernmost extension of the Llano Estacado, especially to the south of [[San Jon, New Mexico|San Jon]] and [[Tucumcari, New Mexico|Tucumcari]], both in [[Quay County, New Mexico]]. Along the western edge of the Llano Estacado, the portion of the escarpment that stretches from [[Caprock, New Mexico|Caprock]] to [[Maljamar, New Mexico]], is called the [[Mescalero Ridge]].<ref>Price, A.P. 1977. Mescalero Sandhills of Cochran and Yoakum Counties, Texas. Master's thesis, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, 253 pp.</ref><ref>Henderson, D. 2006. An Introduction to the Mescalero Sands Ecosystem. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University, 42 pp.</ref>

==Description==
The escarpment is made of [[Caliche (mineral)|caliche]]—a layer of [[calcium carbonate]] that resists erosion.<ref name=Handbook/> In some places, the escarpment rises around {{convert|1000|ft|m|abbr=on}} above the plains to the east. The escarpment's features formed by erosion from rivers and streams, creating [[Arroyo (watercourse)|arroyos]] and highly diverse terrain, including the large [[Palo Duro Canyon]] southeast of [[Amarillo, Texas]].<ref name=Handbook/> One will notice the change in elevation of several hundred feet while crossing the Caprock Escarpment on [[Interstate 40]] between [[Adrian, Texas]] and [[San Jon, New Mexico]].

The overall slight upslope, and in some areas, convergent, terrain of the Caprock is implicated in altering local weather and climate, such as enhancing [[precipitation]] and promoting [[thunderstorm]] initiation and organization.<ref>{{cite conference |first = Kevin R. |last = Walter |author2=C. C. Weiss |author3=A. H.P. Swift  |title = The Moisture Route of Palo Duro Canyon |book-title = 11th Conference on Mesoscale Processes / 32nd Conference on Radar Meteorology |publisher = American Meteorological Society |date = 25 Oct 2005 |location = Albuquerque, NM |url = https://ams.confex.com/ams/32Rad11Meso/techprogram/paper_95884.htm }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last = Marshall |first = Timothy P. |author-link = Timothy P. Marshall |title = Topographic Influences on Amarillo Radar Echo Climatology |publisher = Texas Tech University |series = M.S. thesis |date = 1980 |location = Lubbock, TX |hdl = 2346/22163 }}</ref>

==Parks==
[[Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailway]], located near [[Quitaque, Texas]], opened in 1982. A 65-mi (105-km) trail was developed within the park in 1992. Along the trail is Clarity Tunnel, home to a large colony of [[Mexican free-tailed bat]]s.

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*[[Blanco Canyon]]
*[[Canyon Valley, Texas|Canyon Valley]]
*[[Caprock Chief]]
*[[Double Mountain Fork Brazos River|Double Mountain Fork]]
*[[Duffy's Peak]]
*[[Eastern New Mexico]]
*[[List of escarpments]]
*[[List of geographical regions in Texas|Geographical regions in Texas]]
*[[Little Red River (Texas)|Little Red River]]
*[[Mount Blanco]]
*[[Mushaway Peak]]
*[[Palmer Divide]]
*[[Palo Duro Canyon]]
*[[Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River]]
*[[Ransom Canyon, Texas|Ransom Canyon]]
*[[Salt Fork Brazos River]]
*[[Yellow House Canyon]]
*[[West Texas]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* {{commons-inline}}
* {{Handbook of Texas|id=rxc01|name=Caprock}}
* [https://www.ars.usda.gov/plains-area/lubbock-tx/cropping-systems-research-laboratory/wind-erosion-and-water-conservation-research/docs/llano/ Public domain images of the Llano Estacado, West Texas, and Eastern New Mexico]

[[Category:Escarpments of the United States]]
[[Category:Landforms of Texas]]
[[Category:Landforms of New Mexico]]
[[Category:Llano Estacado]]