I29-22

Question

Beginning about 70 million years ago, pressure from colliding tectonic plates pushed up the land from what is now Colorado to northern Mexico. These forces eventually formed the Rocky Mountain range. About 30 million years ago, the plates began pulling in the opposite direction, stretching the crust to form mountains and low-lying basins along fault lines. The Tularosa Basin and its surrounding Sacramento and San Andres mountains formed at this time. Two to three million years ago, the ancient Rio Grande river began to flow along the southern edge of the Tularosa Basin, and only for approximately the last 12,000 years has the basin been inhabited by human groups.During the last ice age, from about 24,000 to 12,000 years ago, the climate in the Tularosa Basin region was considerably colder and wetter. As the Earth warmed approximately 11,000 years ago, ice melt and rain flowed down the mountains into the then 1,600-square-mile Lake Otero, which once covered much of the Tularosa Basin. Gradually, the climate in the basin became more arid, and Lake Otero receded, leaving large deposits of gypsum on the basin floor. The lake disappeared by about 10,000 years ago, and today all that remains of Lake Otero is a small remnant, Lake Lucero, at the foot of the San Andres Mountains.The entries below describe human groups that lived in the Tularosa Basin between approximately 10,000 BC and the late 1800s AD.
 
• Paleoindians (10000 BC – 2000 BC): Small bands of nomadic hunters who roamed the basin in search of large game animals such as mammoths and camels. Fossils of these animals have been found in modern times.
 
• Hunter-Gatherers (6000 BC – 200 AD): Descendants of Paleoindian hunters who turned to hunting smaller game and began to rely more heavily on plants for food. Over time, they began trading with other cultures and settled near water sources.
 
• Jornada Mogollon (200 AD – 1350 AD): Hunter-gatherers who settled in the Tularosa Basin at the time pottery and permanent living structures first appeared in the region. Their disappearance from the region is considered accurately dated to 1350 AD based on records of drought at the time.
 
• Apachean (1450 AD – Present): Descendants of Athabaskan speakers from Alaska and western Canada who established seasonal villages in the basin for hunting and gathering. They had few outside influences until the late 1800s, and some historians believe they may have arrived earlier than the consensus date.
 
• Spanish Colonials (1536 AD – 1800s AD): Explorers who came in search of fabled cities of gold. Although no gold was found, the horses and cattle they left behind gave rise to wild herds that still exist in the region today.

Bunuel · Answer

Official Solution:

• Water is Influential. It plays a clear role in all three time frames. In Tab 1, the Rio Grande appears and reshapes the basin’s geography. In Tab 2, Lake Otero forms and later recedes, leaving gypsum deposits — all due to water movement. In Tab 3, water affects human settlement patterns, as some groups settle near water sources. Since water is described as influential in each of the three time periods, it is Influential.
 
• Humans are Not Influential. Tularosa Basin Formation had no influence by humans during the events described in the tab itself. In Tab 2, humans are not mentioned at all. Only Tab 3 describes humans as shaping conditions in the basin. Since human influence is not described in all three time frames, the correct answer is Not Influential.
 
• Animals are Not Influential. Animals are mentioned only in Tab 3, where early humans hunt mammoths and camels, and later the Spanish introduce horses and cattle. But animals are not mentioned in either Tab 1 or Tab 2. So they are not described as influential across all three time frames.

Correct answer:

Water  "Influential"

Humans  "Not Influential"

Animals  "Not Influential"

SudsMeister · Answer

I don’t quite agree with the solution. The question states having bad influence on the basin. I don't think bad influence on the basin is discernible in tab 1 and 3 for water.

Also, explanation says not influential for humans and animals but answer shows influential as marked in yellow for those 2.

Bunuel · Answer

You may have misread the phrase “having  had  influence” as “having  bad  influence”, the question does not refer to negative impact, just any explicit influence. Also, the answer markings have been fixed: the correct responses are Water – Yes, Humans – No, Animals – No.

SudsMeister · Answer

I am very sorry for being so reckless with my comment without even double checking the wording.
Thank you for fixing the answer marking.

Bunuel · Answer

No problem at all, and thanks for bringing attention to the OA issue - much appreciated!

Karym · Answer

I like the solution - it’s helpful.

aliaseligendi · Answer

I did not quite understand the solution. Would the basin having wild herds in which they did not have them before be a condition that is influenced?

Reasoning was that it states that humans left behind horses and cattle which gave rise to wild herds. I read it as there is was change in the amount of wild herds or even started the rise of wild herds due to what the humans did.

Bunuel · Answer

For each of the following factors, select Influential if it is explicitly described as having had influence on conditions within the Tularosa Basin in each of the three time frames described in the three tabs. Otherwise, select Not Influential.

Yes, in Tab 3 that does show human influence.

But the answer must work for all three tabs, not just Tab 3. Humans are not described as influencing Tab 1 or Tab 2, so the overall answer is still Not Influential.

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