[3] The lake was subdivided into three basins (east, central and west) by upthrust Cretaceous mountains and Tertiary intrusives.

[1] None of these basins were very deep during the history of Lake Palomas; the deepest point during La Mota time was in Salinas de Unión where the current basin floor is 120 metres (410 ft) beneath the La Mota shoreline.

[6] Part of the water entering into Lake Palomas seeped into the ground, nourishing aquifers in the Paso del Norte region.

[7] The catchment of Lake Palomas covered about 60,000 square kilometres (23,000 sq mi),[2] and was fully developed by about 200,000 years ago.

The La Mota shorelines are noticeable on the northeastern side of the lake between Columbus, New Mexico, and Villa Ahumada, Chihuahua, where they are over 180 kilometres (110 mi).

[9] Shoreline features include beach ridges, river deltas, spits and wavecut platforms.

[14] The large size of Lake Palomas and its subsequent fragmentation had strong effects on the development of animal species inhabiting its basin, forming isolated clades.

Named after Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, this lake covered a surface area of 23,000–26,000 square kilometres (9,000–10,000 sq mi) in Chihuahua and New Mexico.

[4] It was nourished by the Rio Grande through the Mesilla Valley[4] and its shores approximately followed the present-day 1,300 metres (4,250 ft) contours.

[5] Lake Palomas reformed during the early Holocene, covering a surface area of 5,650 square kilometres (2,180 sq mi) at that point.

[9] The Bolsón de Los Muertos is the largest present-day basin in the area of Lake Palomas.

This dust is swept up by dry season storms and can heavily pollute El Paso and Ciudad Juárez.

[20] The formation of this dust is facilitated by the texture of the clay and silt deposits, which are easily eroded by the wind in the flat land of the playas.