Needle Mountains

Last updated
Needle Mountains [1]
SanJuanCO.JPG
Needle Mountains seen from the San Juan Skyway.
Highest point
Peak Mount Eolus
Elevation 14,089 ft (4,294 m)
Listing Mountain ranges of Colorado
Coordinates 37°37′19″N107°37′22″W / 37.62194°N 107.62278°W / 37.62194; -107.62278 Coordinates: 37°37′19″N107°37′22″W / 37.62194°N 107.62278°W / 37.62194; -107.62278
Dimensions
Length54 mi (87 km)N-S
Width21 mi (34 km)E-W
Area728 sq mi (1,890 km2)
Geography
USA Colorado relief location map.svg
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Needle Mountains [4]
CountryUnited States
StateColorado
Parent range
  • San Juan Mountains
  • Rocky Mountains

The Needle Mountains are a subrange of the San Juan Mountains of the Rocky Mountains located in the southwestern part of the U.S. State of Colorado. Much of the range is protected in the Weminuche Wilderness of the San Juan National Forest. The range is notable for having some of the most rugged mountains in the state, and includes many technical climbs and scrambles. A small but dramatic east–west subrange in the northern section is known as the Grenadier Range.

Contents

Geology

Unlike the rest of the San Juan Mountains, which are volcanic in origin, the Needle Mountains (along with the Grenadier Range) are a mass of uplifted Precambrian rocks. They consist chiefly of quartzite, granite, and amphibolite. The mountains are referred to as the Needle Mountains Uplift. [5] [6]

Notable peaks

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Arrow Peak is a high mountain summit in the Grenadier Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 13,809-foot (4,209 m) thirteener is located in the Weminuche Wilderness of San Juan National Forest, 8.7 miles (14.0 km) south-southeast of the Town of Silverton in San Juan County, Colorado, United States.

The bedrock of Colorado was assembled from island arcs accreted onto the edge of the ancient Wyoming Craton. The Sonoma orogeny uplifted the ancestral Rocky Mountains in parallel with the diversification of multicellular life. Shallow seas covered the regions, followed by the uplift current Rocky Mountains and intense volcanic activity. Colorado has thick sedimentary sequences with oil, gas and coal deposits, as well as base metals and other minerals.

The Irving Formation is a Precambrian geologic formation found in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado, US. It is thought to be Statherian in age

References

  1. "Needle Mountains". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. "Needle Mountains". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  3. "Needle Mountains". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  4. "Needle Mountains". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  5. Barker, Fred (1969). Precambrian Geology of the Needle Mountains, Southwestern Colorado (PDF). Washington: United States Government Printing Office.
  6. Barker, Fred (1969). "A brief geological history of the Precambrian rocks of the Needle Mountains, southwestern Colorado". In Shomaker, J.W. (ed.). San Juan, San Miguel, La Plata Region (New Mexico and Colorado). Fall field conference guidebook ; 19. New Mexico Geological Society. pp. 148–149.