A compendium of glacigenic features of the Truchas Peaks area of northern New Mexico, informed by LiDAR and other remote methods

Abstract

Features of the cirques and contiguous valleys of the Truchas Peaks area show anomalous features in remote images, many of which do not fit a conventional valley-glacial model. Indeed some cirque lakes of the area are impounded not by moraines but by mass movements of various sorts, which probably result from previous glaciation. The combination of LiDAR and Google Earth is powerful in describing these features, the former for dynamic description and the latter for detailed vertical control. In this report I describe twenty cirque/valley combinations, hoping to elecit interest in field description of pertinent features.