what mountains run through the center of new mexico
The Tallest Part of the Sandia Mountains. Albuquerque sits in the Middle Rio Grande Valley, which is part of the great Rio Grande Rift. The rift zone begins in Colorado, run southward through the center of New Mexico, and ends in the state of Chihuahua in Mexico. About 30 million years ago New Mexico began to pull apart. The rift zone is bounded by two parallel faults that are still in motion. The center of the rift area dropped downward more than 30,000 feet, while the sides uplifted. Volcanoes also formed along the edge of the rift zone, especially in the Jemez area.