Alluvial fills near Gallup, New Mexico

Valleys near Gallup, N. Mex., similar to many in the Southwest, were filled in Recent time with alluvium. This material is now being eroded by systems of gullies, and the walls of these gullies provide exposures by which the history of the deposition of the alluvium can be traced.

Alluvial fills near Gallup have been eroded at least twice previously within Recent time. The middle fill of the three that are recognizable contains potsherds of Pueblo II age, indicating that deposition was occurring as late as A. D. 1200.

The chronology of alluviation and degradation for valleys in the Gallup area appears to agree with that for other valleys in the Southwest which have been studied.