Sierra Grande

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Sierra Grande
Sierra Grande volcano.jpg
Sierra Grande seen from the top of Capulin Volcano.
Highest point
Elevation 8,723 ft (2,659 m)  NAVD 88 [1]
Prominence 1,880 ft (570 m) [1]
Coordinates 36°42′20″N103°52′36″W / 36.7055807°N 103.8766323°W / 36.7055807; -103.8766323 [2]
Geography
Location Union County, New Mexico, U.S.
Topo map USGS Capulin
Geology
Mountain type Stratovolcano
Volcanic field Raton-Clayton volcanic field
Climbing
Easiest route Hike

Sierra Grande is an extinct stratovolcano in northeastern New Mexico that rises 2,200 feet above the surrounding plain. It is part of the inactive Raton-Clayton volcanic field.

Contents

Geography

On a clear day, Sierra Grande can be seen from as far away as Texline, Texas, as well as from the summits of the Culebra Range in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. The eastern slopes of Sierra Grande are the easternmost point in the United States with an elevation of more than 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above sea level, [3] and the peak is the highest in the United States east of 104 degrees west.

U.S. Highway 64, U.S. Highway 87 and the Colorado and Southern Railway run along the north and east of the volcano. The town of Des Moines is just to the northeast. To the northwest is Capulin Volcano National Monument featuring Capulin Volcano, an extinct cinder cone also in the Raton-Clayton volcanic field.

Numerous watercourses form on and around the flanks of the volcano, including Pinabete Creek (which feeds into the Dry Cimarron River to the northeast), [4] North Branch Corrumpa Creek [5] and South Branch Corrumpa Creek [6] (which join and become Corrumpa Creek to the east at Weatherly Lake), [7] [8] Seneca Creek, [9] and Carrizo Creek. [10]

Geology

Sierra Grande is the largest volcano in the Raton-Clayton volcanic field. Its flows range in age from 3.8 to 2.6 million years. The volcano is largely composed of two-pyroxene andesite, a rock type found almost nowhere else in the Raton-Clayton volcanic field. [11]

Sierra Grande as seen from the north along US Highways 64 and 87 Sierra Grande 221.jpg
Sierra Grande as seen from the north along US Highways 64 and 87
Andesite from a 1.9 million year old lava flow, on the eastern side of Sierra Grande. Sierra Grande Andesite.jpg
Andesite from a 1.9 million year old lava flow, on the eastern side of Sierra Grande.

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Carrizozo Creek is a watercourse in the northeast corner of New Mexico, with a small portion extending into the northwestern Oklahoma Panhandle. The creek originates northwest of Clayton Lake State Park and northeast of Grenville, New Mexico about halfway to the Colorado border, being just north of Corrumpa Creek and just west of New Mexico State Road 370. It meanders generally east-northeast into Oklahoma, loops northwest heading back into New Mexico, and then turns generally east flowing into Oklahoma again. Where Carrizozo Creek and the Dry Cimarron River come together in Cimarron County, Oklahoma west of Kenton, the Cimarron River is formed.

Corrumpa Creek is a watercourse in New Mexico and Oklahoma. It originates at Weatherly Lake, located 9 miles east-southeast of Des Moines in Union County, New Mexico. It results from the South Branch Corrumpa Creek, which originates south-southwest of Des Moines and travels generally east, and the North Branch Corrumpa Creek, which originates southwest of Des Moines but passes northeast through the town before continuing generally east-southeast, having their confluence at Weatherly Lake. From that location, Corrumpa Creek meanders in every direction but generally east before turning southeast near the Oklahoma border. It continues into Oklahoma where, at the point where it is joined by Seneca Creek about 4.5 miles northwest of Felt, Oklahoma, it officially becomes the Beaver River.

Seneca Creek, also known as Cienequilla Creek, is a watercourse in New Mexico and Oklahoma. Running south of, and roughly parallel to, Corrumpa Creek, it originates south-southeast of Des Moines, New Mexico and east-northeast of Grenville, and travels generally east, eventually crossing into Oklahoma. Where it finally joins Corrumpa Creek about 4.5 miles northwest of Felt, Oklahoma, the combined stream becomes the Beaver River.

References

  1. 1 2 "Sierra Grande, New Mexico". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  2. "Sierra Grande". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  3. DeLorme Topo 6.0
  4. "Pinabete Creek". Natural Atlas. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  5. "North Branch Corrumpa Creek". Natural Atlas. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  6. "South Branch Corrumpa Creek". Natural Atlas. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  7. "Corrumpa Creek". Natural Atlas. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  8. "Beaver-Canadian-River". Where Eagles Fly. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  9. "Seneca Creek". Natural Atlas. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  10. "Carrizo Creek". Natural Atlas. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  11. Ziegler, Kate E.; Ramos, Frank C.; Zimmerer, Matthew J. (2019). "Geology of Northeastern New Mexico, union and Colfax Counties, New Mexico: A Geologic Summary" (PDF). New Mexico Geological Society Field Conference Series. 70 (4): 47–54. Retrieved 1 September 2020.