Chuar Butte

Last updated
Chuar Butte
Chuar Butte, east aspect.jpg
East aspect
Highest point
Elevation 6,500 ft (2,000 m) [1]
Prominence 1,513 ft (461 m) [1]
Parent peak Gunther Castle (7,199 ft) [1]
Isolation 2.95 mi (4.75 km) [1]
Coordinates 36°11′45″N111°49′29″W / 36.1958779°N 111.8248042°W / 36.1958779; -111.8248042 [2]
Geography
USA Arizona relief location map.svg
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Chuar Butte
Location in Arizona
Usa edcp relief location map.png
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Chuar Butte
Chuar Butte (the United States)
CountryUnited States
State Arizona
County Coconino
Protected area Grand Canyon National Park
Parent range Kaibab Plateau
Colorado Plateau
Topo map USGS Cape Solitude
Geology
Rock type sandstone, siltstone, limestone
Climbing
Easiest route class 5.2 climbing [1]

Chuar Butte is a prominent 6,500-foot-elevation (2,000-meter) summit located in the Grand Canyon, in Coconino County of northern Arizona, US. [2] It is situated 1.5 miles northwest of Cape Solitude on the canyon's East Rim, three miles southeast of Gunther Castle, and immediately west of the confluence of the Colorado River and Little Colorado River. This position also places it where Marble Canyon ends, and the Grand Canyon begins. Topographic relief is significant as it rises nearly 3,800 feet (1,200 meters) above the river in less than one mile. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Chuar Butte is located in a cold semi-arid climate zone. [3]

Contents

History

Chuar Butte was named by John Wesley Powell for Chuarrumpeak, or Chuar-ru-um-pik, a young Kaibabits tribal chief who assisted Powell and was known among early settlers as "Chuar" for short. [2] [4] [5] [6] A variant name for this butte is Chuarooum Peak. [2] This feature's name was officially adopted in 1906 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. [2]

Chuar Butte and adjacent Temple Butte are the historical site of wreckage from the 1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision, in which two commercial airliners collided, resulting in the deaths of all 128 on board both planes. This disaster was a catalyst that forced the government to overhaul airline regulation and to establish the Federal Aviation Administration. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark on April 22, 2014, and is in a remote area of the canyon that is only accessible to hikers.

Geology

The top of Chuar Butte is composed of Permian Kaibab Limestone, which overlays cream-colored, cliff-forming, Permian Coconino Sandstone. [7] The sandstone, which is the third-youngest of the strata in the Grand Canyon, was deposited 265 million years ago as sand dunes. Below the Coconino Sandstone is reddish, slope-forming, Permian Hermit Formation, which in turn overlays the Pennsylvanian-Permian Supai Group. Further down are strata of Mississippian Redwall Limestone, and finally Cambrian Tonto Group at river level. The Butte Fault is on the west side of Chuar Butte. Uplift along the fault has lifted the Neoproterozoic Chuar Group 3,000 feet relative to the limestone layer, exposing mudstone of the Chuar Group. [8]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vesta Temple</span> Landform in the Grand Canyon, Arizona

Vesta Temple is a 6,299-foot-elevation (1,920-meter) summit located in the Grand Canyon, in Coconino County of northern Arizona, US. It is situated eight miles west-northwest of Grand Canyon Village, and immediately northeast of Mimbreno Point. Marsh Butte is one mile northeast, Eremita Mesa immediately southeast, and nearest higher neighbor Diana Temple is one mile north. Topographic relief is significant as Vesta Temple rises 3,900 feet above the Colorado River in 2.5 miles. Vesta Temple is named for Vesta, the goddess of the hearth, home, and family according to Roman mythology. Clarence Dutton began the practice of naming geographical features in the Grand Canyon after mythological deities. This geographical feature's toponym was officially adopted in 1908 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Vesta Temple is located in a Cold semi-arid climate zone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinking Ship (Grand Canyon)</span> Landform in the Grand Canyon, Arizona

Sinking Ship is a 7,344-foot (2,238 m) elevation summit located in the Grand Canyon, in Coconino County of northern Arizona, United States. This butte is situated 1.7 miles (2.7 km) southeast of the Grandview Point overlook on the canyon's South Rim, and 1.25 miles (2.01 km) southwest of Coronado Butte. Topographic relief is significant as it rises 4,800 feet (1,500 m) above the Colorado River in 4 miles (6.4 km). According to the Köppen climate classification system, Sinking Ship is located in a cold semi-arid climate zone.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Chuar Butte – 6,500' AZ". Lists of John. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Chuar Butte". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved 2021-01-02.
  3. Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L.; McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification". Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11. ISSN   1027-5606.
  4. William Culp Darrah, Powell of the Colorado, 1951, Princeton University Press, page 155.
  5. Gregory McNamee, Grand Canyon Place Names, 1997, Mountaineers Publisher, ISBN   9780898865332, page 35.
  6. Powell’s Surveyors at Pipe Spring NPS.gov
  7. N.H. Darton, Story of the Grand Canyon of Arizona, 1917, page 62.
  8. William Kenneth Hamblin, Anatomy of the Grand Canyon: Panoramas of the Canyon's Geology, 2008, Grand Canyon Association Publisher, ISBN   9781934656013, page 70.