Topographic map of Arizona

Source: mapsof.net annotations by Bob Scarborough

Map Legend:
A Ajo; AM Ajo mountains; AS Arizona Strip north of Grand Canyon; B Baldy Peak near Show Low; BA Baboquivari mountains; BC Bullhead City; BM Black Mesa; C Chuska mountains; Ca Carrizo mountains; CC Canyon de Chelly; CM Chiricahua mountains papa volcano; D Douglas;E Echo cliffs; F Flagstaff and San Francisco peaks just north; Fr Fredonia; G Gila Bend; GC Grand Canyon Village; GT Gila trough or Gila low; H Hopi Buttes volcanic field; H2 Hopi Second Mesa; Ha Harquahala mountains; Hc Harcuvar mountains; HF Hurricane fault line (recent major movement); K Kingman; KA Kaibab arch or plateau; Ko Kofa mountains; KP Kitt Peak; L Lee's Ferry; Little Colorado; LR Lake Roosevelt; LV Las Vegas; MR Mogolion Rim mear Payson; N Navajo mountain; P Pinaleno mountains; Pa Parker; PH Phoenix valley; PN Pinacate volcanic field; PP Paria Plateau; Pr Prescott; S Safford; SA Sauceda mountains; SB San Bernardino volcanic field; SP San Pedro River valley; Su Superstition mountains volcanic field - 3 papas; SV Springerville volcanic field; SW Shivwits plateau; T Tucson Valley; VV Verde Valley; W Wilcox; Y Yuma; White dotted line shows Pinacate volcanic field

Elevations are color-coded.

Figure 31. Topographic Map of Arizona.

The three provinces are distinguishable - Basin & Range in the south, a central mountainous belt, and the Colorado Plateau region in the north, cut through by the Grand Canyon. Some places are keyed into the diagram with an index. Compare this illustration with Figure 27, the map of regional drainage basins.

Obvious is the Hurricane fault (labeled) that cuts through the Grand Canyon and extends south from there. This is the most active current fault zone in Arizona. This fault merges with the Grand Wash cliffs that form the downstream boundary of the Colorado Plateau where the Colorado River exits into Lake Mead. And this fault basically forms the imposing mountain front just east of Salt Lake City called the Wasatch Front, where it is rightly the exact boundary in Utah between the Colorado Plateau and busted-up Basin & Range country to the west. I-15 traverses along it between Las Vegas and Salt Lake City.

The Mogollon Rim is obvious in the central part of the state. It is best seen along highway 87 linking Payson and Winslow. A great view of the Rim, the tall south-facing cliff, is seen very near the entrance road to Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, that has on display a curious natural bridge of special limestone called travertine formed by a spring along the canyon bottom which the stream then undercut, forming a bridge. North of the town of Pine the highway climbs (going north) through most of the entire Paleozoic section, then flattens out on top of the Kaibab Limestone. This is the southern lip of the saucer that is the Colorado Plateau.

I have seen it recently announced that the famous Four corners monument, north of the Carrizo Mts, is not in the right place - it is out by better than a mile. Oh well. If you go there, be sure to make a side trip to the goosenecks of the San Juan River, a great case of entrenched meanders of the river that begins in the Durango area of SW Colorado. No one has yet to explain why rivers meander. It is a complex way for flowing water to use up gravitational energy in moving its sediment load downstream. If there's no gradient down to the ocean then the stream valley fills with sediment.

Section 32. Life on Earth flow chart

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