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El Elegante (Spanish for elegant one) is a maar (a type of volcanic crater) located in the Gran Desierto de Altar in the Sonoran Desert, Mexico.
At 250 metres (820 ft) deep and 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) across, it is the largest in the volcanic complex of Pinacate Peaks.
The crater was formed about 32,000 years ago when groundwater seeping down into the earth came into contact with magma rising from beneath the crust. The hot magma instantly turned the water to steam, and the sudden high pressure triggered a phreatomagmatic explosion, blowing a huge hole in the ground, and blasting out rocks, magmatic material and ash, forming the crater. Ejecta was spread out to a distance of about 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the crater over what is now the desert floor. [1] The crater rim is higher than the surrounding desert and shows layers of rock built up from the ejecta. [2]
El Elegante contained a lake during the pluvial period preceding the last altithermal period. [3]
The crater is located in an important area and nature reserve called El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2012. It functions as a natural park; El Elegante is the crater most visited by tourists. [4]
The Sonoran Desert is a hot desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States. It is the hottest desert in both Mexico and the United States. It has an area of 260,000 square kilometers (100,000 sq mi).
A maar is a broad, low-relief volcanic crater caused by a phreatomagmatic eruption. A maar characteristically fills with water to form a relatively shallow crater lake, which may also be called a maar.
The Yuma Desert is a lower-elevation section of the Sonoran Desert in the southwestern United States and the northwest of Mexico. It lies in the Salton basin. The desert contains areas of sparse vegetation and has notable areas of sand dunes. With an average rainfall less than 8 inches (200 mm) each year, it is among the harshest deserts in North America. Human presence is sparse throughout, the largest city being Yuma, Arizona, on the Colorado River and the border of California.
Tejeda is a village and a municipality in the mountainous central part of the island of Gran Canaria in the province of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.
Federal Highway 8 is a free part of the federal highways corridors in Sonora. It is connected to the roadway that transitions from the border post at Lukeville, Arizona where it connects with Arizona State Route 85, proceeds south through Puerto Peñasco with Sonoyta, Sonora, and intersects with Fed. 2. It continues through the El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve until ending at Puerto Peñasco, a length of 100 km (62 mi).
Juan María de Salvatierra, S.J., was a Catholic missionary to the Americas.
The Lechuguilla Desert is a small desert located in southwestern Arizona near the U.S.-Mexico border. It is considered to be part of the Lower Colorado Valley region of the Sonoran Desert. It lies in a north–south direction between the Gila Mountains and the Cabeza Prieta Mountains, and almost entirely in the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range. The desert is named after the lechuguilla plant, known scientifically as Agave lecheguilla, which occurs exclusively in the Chihuahuan desert many hundreds of miles to the east. The desert is also on the north border of the Gran Desierto de Altar of Sonora, Mexico.
The Gran Desierto de Altar is one of the major sub-ecoregions of the Sonoran Desert, located in the State of Sonora, in northwest Mexico. It includes the only active erg dune region in North America. The desert extends across much of the northern border of the Gulf of California, spanning more than 100 kilometres (62 mi) east to west and over 50 kilometres (31 mi) north to south. It constitutes the largest continuous wilderness area within the Sonoran Desert.
The Tinajas Altas Mountains are an extremely arid northwest–southeast trending mountain range in southern Yuma County, Arizona, approximately 35 mi southeast of Yuma, Arizona. The southern end of the range extends approximately one mile into the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora on the northern perimeter of the Gran Desierto de Altar. The range is about 22 mi in length and about 4 mi wide at its widest point. The highpoint of the range is unnamed and is 2,766 feet above sea level and is located at 32°16'26"N, 114°02'48"W. Aside from the portion of the range in Mexico, the entirety of the range lies within the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range. They lie at the heart of the traditional homeland of the Hia C-eḍ O'odham people.
The Cabeza Prieta Mountains are a mountain range in the northwestern Sonoran Desert of southwest Arizona. It is located in southern Yuma County, Arizona.
Pinacate may refer to:
The Sierra Pinta or Sierra Pintas are a narrow remote block faulted northwest-southeast trending mountain range, about 22 miles (35 km) long located in southwestern Arizona in the arid northwestern Sonoran Desert, just north of the Pinacate Reserve of northern Sonora, Mexico. The mountains derive their name from visitor descriptions of its multicolored hues when viewed at sunrise and sunset.
The Pinacate Peaks are a group of volcanic peaks and cinder cones located mostly in the Mexican state of Sonora along the international border adjacent to the U.S. state of Arizona, surrounded by the vast sand dune field of the Gran Desierto de Altar, at the desert's southeast.
Tajik National Park is a national park and nature reserve in eastern Tajikistan. It was established in 1992 and expanded in 2001 to include parts of the Pamir Mountains. The park covers 26,116.74 square kilometres (10,083.73 sq mi) or a little over 18 percent of Tajikistan's total area.
Puerto Peñasco Municipality is a municipality in the Mexican state of Sonora in north-western Mexico. As of 2015, the municipality had a total population of 62,177 inhabitants. The only locality with a significant population is the municipal seat, also named Puerto Peñasco, which contains almost 99% of the municipality's population.
A tinaja is a surface pocket (depression) formed in bedrock that occurs below waterfalls, that is carved out by spring flow or seepage, or that is caused by sand and gravel scouring in intermittent streams (arroyos). Tinajas are an important source of surface water storage in arid environments.
El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve is a biosphere reserve and UNESCO World Heritage Site managed by the federal government of Mexico, specifically by Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources, in collaboration with the state governments of Sonora and the Tohono O'odham.
Alto Golfo de California Biosphere Reserve is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve located in the state of Sonora in extreme northwestern Mexico. The 1,652,110 hectares (6,378.8 sq mi) reserve comprises the El Pinacate y Gran Desierto reserve and the Bahia Adair on the Gulf of California border. Geological volcanic formations with craters, dunes, oasis and beaches, and the diversity of plant associations determine its special landscape. The reserve was established in 1993 by the President of Mexico as Reserva de la Biosfera del Alto Golfo de California y Delta del Río Colorado and extended in 1995.
Exequiel Ezcurra is an Argentine-Mexican plant ecologist and conservationist. His highly interdisciplinary work spans desert plant ecology, mangroves, island biogeography, sea birds, fisheries, oceanography, and deep-sea ecosystems.
The biosphere reserves of Mexico are protected natural areas. Some are designated by the national government, while others are internationally designated by UNESCO.