Rooster Butte

Last updated
Rooster Butte
Petard Tower
Valley of the Gods - Rooster Butte.jpg
North aspect
Highest point
Elevation 5,145 ft (1,568 m) [1]
Prominence 360 ft (110 m) [2]
Parent peak Bears Ears [2]
Isolation 1.12 mi (1.80 km) [2]
Coordinates 37°16′34″N109°48′40″W / 37.2761965°N 109.8112047°W / 37.2761965; -109.8112047 [1]
Geography
USA Utah relief location map.svg
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Rooster Butte
Location in Utah
Usa edcp relief location map.png
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Rooster Butte
Rooster Butte (the United States)
Location Valley of the Gods
San Juan County, Utah, U.S.
Parent range Colorado Plateau
Topo map USGS Cigarette Spring Cave
Geology
Age of rock Permian
Mountain type Butte
Type of rock Sandstone
Climbing
First ascent 1977
Easiest route class 5.9 climbing [2] [3]

Rooster Butte is a 5,145-foot-elevation (1,568-meter) summit in San Juan County, Utah, United States.

Contents

Description

Rooster Butte is situated 14 miles (23 km) west of Bluff, Utah, in the Valley of the Gods, on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management. [4] Precipitation runoff from this iconic landform's slopes drains to the San Juan River via Lime Creek. Access to the butte is via the 17-mile Valley of the Gods Road which passes east of this butte. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 400 feet (122 meters) above the surrounding terrain in 0.1 mile (0.16 km). This landform's toponym has been officially adopted as Rooster Butte by the United States Board on Geographic Names, [1] however it is also known as "Petard Tower" and "Prairie Dog on a Mound" by some rock climbers and locals. [2] [3] The first ascent of the summit was made on May 23, 1977, by George Hurley and Dave Rearick. [5]

Geology

Rooster Butte is composed of two principal strata of the Cutler Formation. The bottom layer is slope-forming Halgaito Formation and the upper stratum is cliff-forming Cedar Mesa Sandstone. [6] Cedar Mesa Sandstone is the remains of coastal sand dunes deposited about 270 to 300 million years ago, during the Wolfcampian (early Permian). [7] The buttes of Valley of the Gods are the result of the Halgaito Formation being more easily eroded than the overlaying sandstone. The valley floor is Honaker Trail Formation. [8]

Climate

Spring and fall are the most favorable seasons to visit Rooster Butte. According to the Köppen climate classification system, it is located in a cold semi-arid climate zone with cold winters and hot summers. [9] Summers highs rarely exceed 100 °F (38 °C). Summer nights are comfortably cool, and temperatures drop quickly after sunset. Winters are cold, but daytime highs are usually above freezing. Winter temperatures below 0 °F (−18 °C) are uncommon, though possible. This desert climate receives less than 10 inches (250 millimeters) of annual rainfall, and snowfall is generally light during the winter.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Rooster Butte". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Rooster Butte - 5,140' UT". listsofjohn.com. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  3. 1 2 Cameron Burns, Selected Climbs in the Desert Southwest: Colorado and Utah, The Mountaineers Books, 1999, ISBN   9780898866575, p. 153.
  4. ↑ Valley of the Gods, Bureau of Land Management, Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  5. ↑ First Ascent Timeline, deserttowersbook.com, Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  6. ↑ Robert Brett O'Sullivan, Geology of the Cedar Mesa-Boundary Butte Area, San Juan County, Utah, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1965, p. 34.
  7. ↑ Baars, D.L. (1962). "Permian System of Colorado Plateau". AAPG Bulletin. 46 (2): 149–218. doi:10.1306/BC74376F-16BE-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
  8. ↑ Dan S. Chaney, The Carboniferous-Permian Transition, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, 2013, p. 64.
  9. ↑ Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L. & McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification". Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11 (5): 1633–1644. Bibcode:2007HESS...11.1633P. doi: 10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007 . ISSN   1027-5606. S2CID   9654551.
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