Plants of the Gila Wilderness

Diatoms are unicellular eukaryotic life forms (one-celled organism with a nucleus and membrane-bound intracellular organelles) that are found in bodies of water worldwide. They are variously called stramenopiles, brown algae, or protists. These small organisms make a cell wall out of silica-- it is basically glass. The different ornamentations of the cell wall, called the frustule, can be used to differentiate the species. There are about 20,000 species known worldwide.
Over geologic time-- millions of years-- the frustules accumulate on the bottom of the bodies of water giving rise to diatomaceous earth. This white material is easily pulverized into a fine powder.
One way diatoms can be seen is by looking through a microscope at sediments from the bottom of lakes or rivers of New Mexico.
Another way to see diatoms is to add a little bit of water to diatomaceous earth and view this slurry under a microscope. The pics below are of diatoms found in diatomaceous earth that is easily visible as a bright white road cut along the west side of U.S. Highway 180 north of Buckhorn, N.M. (NAD83 12S 0709956 3660661 el 4857 ft). "This area was a Pliocene to early Pleistocene alkaline lake that gradually became ‘fresher’ before draining when the Gila cut through the middle box," according to Dr. Mary Dowse. That would put the age of these diatoms at one to two million years old! They are not fossils though-- they have not been replaced by minerals. Rather we are actually seeing the remnants of the glass frustules themselves preserved in the roadside.
Please click on an image for a larger file.

Diatomacous earth, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, road cut along Hwy 180N near Buckhorn, February 6, 2021

Diatomacous earth, closeup, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, road cut along Hwy 180N near Buckhorn, February 6, 2021

Diatom in diatomaceous earth, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, road cut along Hwy 180N near Buckhorn, February 6, 2021

Diatom in diatomaceous earth, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, road cut along Hwy 180N near Buckhorn, February 6, 2021

Diatom in diatomaceous earth, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, road cut along Hwy 180N near Buckhorn, February 6, 2021

Diatom in diatomaceous earth, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, road cut along Hwy 180N near Buckhorn, February 6, 2021

Diatom in diatomaceous earth, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, road cut along Hwy 180N near Buckhorn, February 6, 2021

Diatom in diatomaceous earth, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, road cut along Hwy 180N near Buckhorn, February 6, 2021

Diatom in diatomaceous earth, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, road cut along Hwy 180N near Buckhorn, February 6, 2021