Willow Mountain

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Willow Mountain
Big Bend National Park, Texas 251.JPG
Southwest aspect
Highest point
Elevation 3,826 ft (1,166 m) [1]
Prominence 824 ft (251 m) [1]
Parent peak Wildhorse Mountain (3,980 ft) [2]
Isolation 2.63 mi (4.23 km) [2]
Coordinates 29°21′55″N103°30′57″W / 29.3653572°N 103.5157089°W / 29.3653572; -103.5157089 [3]
Geography
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Willow Mountain
Location of Willow Mountain in Texas
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Willow Mountain
Willow Mountain (the United States)
CountryUnited States
State Texas
County Brewster
Parent range Christmas Mountains [1]
Topo map USGS Terlingua
Geology
Rock age Eocene
Mountain type Volcanic plug
Rock type Igneous rock

Willow Mountain is a 3,826-foot-elevation (1,166-meter) summit in Brewster County, Texas, United States.

Contents

Description

Willow Mountain is set in the Christmas Mountains and the Chihuahuan Desert. The mountain is composed of 43-million-year-old volcanic rock which formed columnar jointing as displayed on the west face. [4] [5] Although modest in elevation, topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 1,000 feet (305 m) above Highway 118 in one-half mile (0.8 km). Based on the Köppen climate classification, Willow Mountain is located in a hot arid climate zone with hot summers and mild winters. [6] Any scant precipitation runoff from the mountain's slopes drains to the Rio Grande via Bens Hole Creek and Terlingua Creek. [1] The mountain's toponym has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names, [3] and has been listed in publications since at least 1904. [7] The mountain may be named in association with Willow Spring at the south base of the mountain where the spring supports desert willows. [5]

Geology

Willow Mountain is the most spectacular display of rock joints in the southern Big Bend area. [8] The mountain mass is an intrusive plug, which cooled below the surface and was subsequently uncovered by erosion. On cooling, the rock mass contracted and was uniformly jointed. After erosion uncovered this mass, weathering and erosion removed the soft areas to expose the joint pattern.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Willow Mountain, Texas". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Willow Mountain - 3,830' TX". listsofjohn.com. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Willow Mountain". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  4. ↑ Charles E. Corry, Geology of the Solitario, Trans-Pecos Texas, Geological Society of America, 1990, ISBN   9780813722504, p. 95.
  5. 1 2 Willow Mountain, Texas State Historical Association, Retrieved 2024-11-07.
  6. ↑ Peel, M.C.; Finlayson, B.L. & McMahon, T.A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification" (PDF). Hydrology and Earth System Sciences . 11 (5): 1633–1644. Bibcode:2007HESS...11.1633P. doi: 10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007 . Archived (PDF) from the original on December 2, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2025.
  7. ↑ A Gazetteer of Texas, Henry Gannett, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1904, p. 174.
  8. ↑ The Big Bend of the Rio Grande: A Guide to the Rocks, Geologic History, and Settlers of the Area of Big Bend National Park, National Park Service, NPS.gov, Retrieved 2024-11-08.
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