page_title: Lake Alamosa
hierarchical_section_title: Lake Alamosa
caption_attribution_description: English: Re-creation of Lake Alamosa. View to the northeast from the area of stop B4. Highest peak in the background is Blanca Peak at 14,345 ft asl. Visualization created in Visual Nature Studio (v. 2.7, 3D Nature Co.) by Paco Van Sistine (USGS) using 30-m DEM and a lake elevation of 7,660 ft (2,335 m).
context_page_description: Lake Alamosa is a former lake in Colorado. It existed from the Pliocene to the middle Pleistocene in the San Luis Valley, fed by glacial meltwater from surrounding mountain ranges. Water levels waxed and waned with the glacial stages until at highstand the lake reached an elevation of 2,335 meters and probably a surface of over 4,000 square kilometers, but only sparse remains of the former waterbody are visible today. The existence of the lake was postulated in the early 19th century and eventually proven in the early 20th century.
  The lake eventually overflowed into the Rio Grande River system during the middle Pleistocene. The overflow cut down a valley that eventually drained the lake, leaving only the San Luis Closed Basin as a remnant. The Alamosa Formation is a rock formation left by the lake. Groundwater resources are contained trapped between sediments left by the former lake.
context_section_description: Lake Alamosa is a former lake in Colorado. It existed from the Pliocene to the middle Pleistocene in the San Luis Valley, fed by glacial meltwater from surrounding mountain ranges. Water levels waxed and waned with the glacial stages until at highstand the lake reached an elevation of 2,335 meters (7,661 ft) and probably a surface of over 4,000 square kilometers (1,500 sq mi), but only sparse remains of the former waterbody are visible today. The existence of the lake was postulated in the early 19th century and eventually proven in the early 20th century.
  The lake eventually overflowed into the Rio Grande River system during the middle Pleistocene. The overflow cut down a valley that eventually drained the lake, leaving only the San Luis Closed Basin as a remnant. The Alamosa Formation is a rock formation left by the lake. Groundwater resources are contained trapped between sediments left by the former lake.
caption: Simulation of Lake Alamosa's surface, looking towards Blanca Peak
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