This fan-piedmont gently slopes eastward from
the Doña Ana Mountains.
The
land surface is sculpted through time by wind, water, and earthquakes. Landscapes with similar shapes, the same origin and the same age are called
geomorphic surfaces. For example, the fan-piedmont (in
the photo to the right) is a gently sloping landform that extends from
the base of the Doña Ana Mountains to the basin floor. The
mountains are the source of the gravel, sand, silt, and clay that were
carried by water to form the fan-piedmont.