Third-Day Road Log: From Washington Ranch to the Seven Rivers Embayment and Bottomless Lakes State Park
— Lewis Land

Day 3 (Saturday, 10/7/2023): Carbonate-evaporite facies changes in the Seven Rivers Formation and giant gypsum cenotes at Bottomless Lakes State Park.

Day 3 of the conference begins with a drive up the Queen Highway north of Carlsbad, passing Quaternary tufa deposits in Rocky Arroyo and stromatolite beds formed in the carbonate facies of the Seven Rivers Formation. After crossing Rocky Arroyo, the route begins a traverse through the Seven Rivers carbonate-to-evaporite transition, a facies change that occurs over the course of just one mile and concludes at the famous Tepee structure in the Seven Rivers Embayment. Returning to US 285, the trip proceeds north toward Roswell and ends at Bottomless Lakes State Park, where giant gypsum cenotes are formed in the Seven Rivers Escarpment at the downgradient end of the Roswell Artesian Basin, fed by upwelling groundwater from the underlying artesian aquifer. Refer to Day 2 road log for more details of the route from Washington Ranch through the city of Carlsbad.