| Monument Valley | |
|---|---|
| Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii | |
.jpg) View of West Mitten Butte, East Mitten Butte, and Merrick Butte in northeasternArizona | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 5,000 to 6,000 ft (1,500 to 1,800 m) |
| Coordinates | 36°59′N110°6′W / 36.983°N 110.100°W /36.983; -110.100 |
| Naming | |
| Native name | Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii (Navajo) |
| Geography | |
  Monument Valley Monument Valley (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Geology | |
| Mountain type | Butte |
| Rock type | Siltstone |
Monument Valley (Navajo:Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii,pronounced[tsʰépìːʔǹtsɪ̀skɑ̀ìː], meaning "valley of the rocks") is a region of theColorado Plateau characterized by a cluster ofsandstonebuttes, with the largest reaching 1,000 ft (300 m) above the valley floor.[1] The most famous butte formations are located in northeastern Arizona along theUtah–Arizona state line. The valley is consideredsacred by theNavajo Nation, theNative American people within whose reservation it lies.[2]
Monument Valley has beenfeatured in many forms of media since the 1930s. Famed directorJohn Ford used the location for a number of hisWesterns. Film criticKeith Phipps wrote that "its five square miles [13 km2] have defined what decades of moviegoers think of when they imagine theAmerican West".[3]
Monument Valley is part of theColorado Plateau. The elevation of the valley floor ranges from 5,000 to 6,000 feet (1,500 to 1,800 m) above sea level. The floor is largelysiltstone of theCutler Group, or sand derived from it, deposited by the meandering rivers that carved the valley. The valley's vivid red coloration comes fromiron oxide exposed in the weathered siltstone. The darker, blue-gray rocks in the valley get their color frommanganese oxide.
Thebuttes arising from the valley floor are clearlystratified, with three principal layers. The lowest layer is theOrgan Rock Shale, the middle isde Chelly Sandstone, and the top layer is theMoenkopi Formation capped byShinarump Conglomerate. Major rock formations includeWest and East Mitten Buttes,Merrick Butte,Hunts Mesa,Eagle Mesa,Sentinel Mesa,Brighams Tomb,Castle Rock,Stagecoach,Big Indian,Rain God Mesa,Spearhead Mesa,Mitchell Mesa,Mitchell Butte,Gray Whiskers,Elephant Butte,Camel Butte,Cly Butte,King-on-his-Throne,Rooster Rock, andSetting Hen. Another notable formation isTotem Pole, a highly eroded butte remanent. The valley also includes large stone structures, such as the "Eye of the Sun".
Between 1945 and 1967, the southern extent of the Monument Upwarp was mined foruranium, which occurs in scattered areas of the Shinarump Conglomerate;vanadium andcopper are associated with uranium in some deposits.[4]
Monument Valley includes much of the area surrounding Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, a Navajo Nation equivalent to anational park.Oljato, for example, is also within the area designated as Monument Valley.[citation needed]
Visitors may pay an access fee and drive through the park on a 17-mile (27 km) dirt road. Parts of Monument Valley, such as Mystery Valley andHunts Mesa, are accessible only by guided tour.
Monument Valley experiences a desert climate with cold winters and hot summers. While the summers may be hot, the heat is tempered by the region's high altitude. Although the valley experiences an average of 54 days above 90 °F (32 °C) annually, summer highs rarely exceed 100 °F (38 °C). Summer nights are comfortably cool, and temperaturesdrop quickly after sunset. Winters are cold, but daytime highs are usually above freezing. Even in the winter, temperatures below 0 °F (−18 °C) are uncommon, although possible. Monument Valley receives an occasional light snowfall in the winter, but it usually melts within a day or two.[citation needed]
| Climate data for Monument Valley, Arizona | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 60 (16) | 69 (21) | 77 (25) | 90 (32) | 99 (37) | 101 (38) | 107 (42) | 100 (38) | 97 (36) | 86 (30) | 73 (23) | 62 (17) | 107 (42) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 52.07 (11.15) | 59.41 (15.23) | 70.37 (21.32) | 80.04 (26.69) | 88.27 (31.26) | 96.64 (35.91) | 99.44 (37.47) | 96.13 (35.63) | 90.48 (32.49) | 80.36 (26.87) | 65.18 (18.43) | 51.89 (11.05) | 100.17 (37.87) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 40.6 (4.8) | 47.3 (8.5) | 58.2 (14.6) | 67.3 (19.6) | 77.6 (25.3) | 88.1 (31.2) | 92.0 (33.3) | 88.8 (31.6) | 80.6 (27.0) | 67.9 (19.9) | 51.5 (10.8) | 40.9 (4.9) | 66.7 (19.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 24.3 (−4.3) | 28.2 (−2.1) | 35.5 (1.9) | 42.4 (5.8) | 52.3 (11.3) | 63.1 (17.3) | 67.0 (19.4) | 63.9 (17.7) | 57.3 (14.1) | 45.1 (7.3) | 32.9 (0.5) | 24.6 (−4.1) | 44.7 (7.1) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | 12.25 (−10.97) | 15.25 (−9.31) | 22.04 (−5.53) | 28.69 (−1.84) | 35.24 (1.80) | 47.08 (8.38) | 57.58 (14.21) | 54.73 (12.63) | 44.72 (7.07) | 32.61 (0.34) | 18.75 (−7.36) | 12.78 (−10.68) | 11.50 (−11.39) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −8 (−22) | −4 (−20) | 9 (−13) | 15 (−9) | 20 (−7) | 31 (−1) | 49 (9) | 38 (3) | 33 (1) | 22 (−6) | 6 (−14) | −9 (−23) | −9 (−23) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 0.26 (6.6) | 0.19 (4.8) | 0.19 (4.8) | 0.24 (6.1) | 0.30 (7.6) | 0.10 (2.5) | 0.54 (14) | 0.79 (20) | 0.73 (19) | 0.68 (17) | 0.32 (8.1) | 0.19 (4.8) | 4.54 (115) |
| Source: The Western Regional Climate Center[5] | |||||||||||||
Monument Valley has been featured in numerous computer games, in print, and in motion pictures, including multiple Westerns directed by John Ford that influenced audiences' view of the American West, such as:Stagecoach (1939),My Darling Clementine (1946),Fort Apache (1948),She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), andThe Searchers (1956).[3][6][7][8]
Many more recent movies, with other directors, were also filmed in Monument Valley, including Sergio Leone'sOnce Upon a Time in the West (1968), the firstSpaghetti Western to be filmed (in 1967) outside Europe, andGore Verbinski'sThe Lone Ranger (2013).[9]
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