| Mount Taylor | |
|---|---|
| Tsoodził(in Navajo) | |
 | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 11,305 ft (3,446 m) NAVD 88[1] |
| Prominence | 4,094 ft (1,248 m)[2] |
| Coordinates | 35°14′19″N107°36′31″W / 35.238691747°N 107.608519189°W /35.238691747; -107.608519189[1] |
| Geography | |
  Mount Taylor | |
| Location | Cibola County,New Mexico,U.S. |
| Parent range | San Mateo Mountains |
| Topo map | USGS Mount Taylor |
| Geology | |
| Mountain type | Stratovolcano |
| Climbing | |
| Easiest route | Hike |
Mount Taylor (Navajo:Tsoodził,Navajo pronunciation:[tsʰòːtsɪ̀ɬ] means "The Great Mountain"[3]) is a dormantstratovolcano in northwestNew Mexico, northeast of the town ofGrants.[4] It is the high point of theSan Mateo Mountains[a] and the highest point in theCibola National Forest.
It was renamed in 1849 for thenpresidentZachary Taylor. Previously, it was calledCebolleta (tender onion) by theSpaniards; the name persists as one name for the northern portion of the San Mateo Mountains, a largemesa. TheNavajo, for whom the mountain is sacred, still call it Turquoise Mountain (Tsoodził).
Mount Taylor is largely forested with somemeadows, rising above the desert below. The mountain is heavilyeroded to the east. Its slopes were an important source of lumber for neighboringpueblos.
Mount Taylor volcano is a prominent volcano that is part of a larger volcanic field that trends to the northeast.[5] The Mount Taylor volcanic field includes Mesa Chivato to the northeast and Grants Ridge to the southwest.[6][5] The Mount Taylor volcanic field is composed primarily of silica-poor (mafic) lava (with 80% by volume), most of which istrachybasalt.Basalt andbasanite are present in much smaller amounts.[7] The field straddles theextensional transition zone between theColorado Plateau and theRio Grande rift.[6] The largest volcanic plug in the volcanic field isCabezon Peak, which rises nearly 2,000 feet above the surrounding plain.
Mount Taylor is sacred to the pueblos ofAcoma,Laguna andZuni, and theHopi andNavajo people.[8] Mount Taylor isTsoodził, the blue bead mountain, sometimes translated as Turquoise Mountain, one of the four sacred mountains marking the cardinal directions and the boundaries of theDinetah, the traditional Navajo homeland. Mount Taylor marks the southern boundary, and is associated with the direction south and the color blue; it is gendered female. In Navajo mythology, First Man created the sacred mountains from soil from the Fourth World, together with sacred matter, as replicas of mountains from that world. He fastened Mount Taylor to the earth with a stone knife. The supernatural beings Black God, Turquoise Boy, and Turquoise Girl are said to reside on the mountain.[9] According to Robert Julyan'sThe Place Names of New Mexico, the Navajos identify Cabezon Peak "as the head of a giant killed by the Twin War Gods" with the lava flow to the south ofGrants believed to be the congealed blood of the giant.[10]
The mountain is heavily eroded to the east, exposing a large amphitheater that is approximately 5 square miles.[11] Estimates vary about how high the mountain was at its highest. An extreme estimate places it near 4,270 meters (14,000 ft), but it is more likely the volcano was never higher than 3,800 meters (12,000 ft).[12] The mountain is surrounded by a great volume of volcanic debris, but the debris field and the natural amphitheater in the central part of the mountain are attributed to erosion rather than a late stage explosion similar toValles Caldera,Mount St. Helens or theSan Francisco Peaks.[13] Downcutting has been great enough to exposeCretaceous sedimentary rocks at the core of the cone.[14]
The Mount Taylor Volcanic Field is a series of UpperCenozoic volcanic beds that overlies Cretaceous sedimentary rocks in central New Mexico.[15] This volcanic field is part of theJemez Lineament, which is associated with relatively young volcanism (< 5 Mya) due to an ancient suture in theProterozoic basement rock.[15] The generalstratigraphy of the volcanic field starts with a more intermediate (rhyolitic) lava composition and transitions to a more mafic (basaltic) composition as more eruptions occurred.[16] The transition of this magma from alkalic to basaltic eruptions is thought to have resulted form multiple, short-lived magma chambers within Mount Taylor, instead of one long-lived chamber that experiencedfractional crystallization.[16]
Mount Taylor was active during thePliocene toPleistocene, and is surrounded by a field of smaller inactive volcanoes.[17]Potassium-argon (K-Ar) dating showed that a large majority of the volcanic activity from Mount Taylor occurred between 4.3 and 1.5 million years ago, with the peak of the volcanism occurring between 3.0 mya and 2.5 mya.[18] Mount Taylor volcano was the leading source of volcanism in this area for this time period, aside from some local basalt eruptions.[11]
The trend of Mount Taylor eruptions can be divided into four sequences or phases.[19] The first phase, from 3.74 to 2.93 million years ago, was mostly basanite with some alkali basalt which formed mesa caps. This was accompanied by small volumes of more silicic volcanism, producingtrachyte,trachydacite, andrhyolitetuffs,domes, and plugs. The second phase, from 2.88 to 2.78 million years ago, built up much of the stratovolcano and consisted oftrachyandesite, trachydacite, and dacite. The uppermost flows of this phase are mostly a rock previously identified asplagioclase basalt, but now reclassified frombasaltic trachyandesite to trachyandesite. The third phase, from 2.75 to 2.52 million years ago, completed the construction of the stratovolcano and formed the flows capping its peak. These are mostly trachyandesite and trachydacite with very little tuff or pyroclastic rock. The fourth and final pulse was mostly flank eruptions of trachybasalt.[20]
The alkaline nature of this lava is unique in North America, as alkaline magma is typically found in continental rifts or ocean islands, such as Hawaii.[17]
| Climate data for Mount Taylor 35.2398 N, 107.6112 W, Elevation: 10,876 ft (3,315 m) (1991–2020 normals) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 35.4 (1.9) | 36.1 (2.3) | 41.3 (5.2) | 47.7 (8.7) | 56.8 (13.8) | 68.2 (20.1) | 69.5 (20.8) | 67.0 (19.4) | 61.9 (16.6) | 53.1 (11.7) | 43.1 (6.2) | 35.6 (2.0) | 51.3 (10.7) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 24.9 (−3.9) | 25.3 (−3.7) | 29.8 (−1.2) | 34.3 (1.3) | 43.1 (6.2) | 53.5 (11.9) | 56.2 (13.4) | 54.4 (12.4) | 49.2 (9.6) | 40.3 (4.6) | 32.4 (0.2) | 25.4 (−3.7) | 39.1 (3.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 14.4 (−9.8) | 14.5 (−9.7) | 18.4 (−7.6) | 20.9 (−6.2) | 29.4 (−1.4) | 38.7 (3.7) | 42.8 (6.0) | 41.8 (5.4) | 36.5 (2.5) | 27.5 (−2.5) | 21.7 (−5.7) | 15.3 (−9.3) | 26.8 (−2.9) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 2.01 (51) | 2.17 (55) | 2.53 (64) | 1.86 (47) | 2.03 (52) | 1.22 (31) | 5.46 (139) | 6.74 (171) | 4.20 (107) | 2.66 (68) | 2.47 (63) | 2.47 (63) | 35.82 (911) |
| Source: PRISM Climate Group[21] | |||||||||||||
Mount Taylor is the site of the Mount Taylor Winter Quadrathlon, an endurance event which has been held at this location for over thirty years, with the 2025 event being the 42nd. The event includes bicycling, running, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing for 44 miles from the town of Grants to the summit and back. Since 2012 there has also been a 50-kilometer running race on Mount Taylor, sponsored by the Albuquerque Roadrunners club.[22] Competitors who complete the 50 km run in the fall and the Quadrathlon in the following winter are known as 'Doublers' and earn a special award.[23]
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(April 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Mount Taylor and the surrounding area is home to largeelk herds,mule deer,black bear,mountain lion andwild turkey. Bird species are particularly diverse in the area and includegreat blue heron,white-faced ibis,canvasback,common merganser,rough-legged hawk,red-tailed hawk,ferruginous hawk,sharp-shinned hawk,osprey,golden eagle,barn owl,great horned owl,kestrel,whip-poor-will,white-throated swift,western kingbird,warbling vireo,western meadowlark,house finch,swifts,swallows,prairie falcon,gray-headed junco,Steller's jay, andpinyon jay. Furthermore, the area offers excellent raptor-nesting habitat on the various cliffs that spill down into the Rio Puerco valley below.
.jpg)
The area around Mount Taylor is very rich in auranium-vanadium bearing mineral, and was mined extensively for it from 1951 to 1989. The hundreds of uranium mines on Pueblo lands have provided over thirteen million tons of uranium ore to the United States since 1945.[24]
Concern has arisen regarding the impact of future mining activities on the site. In June 2008 the New Mexico Cultural Properties Review Committee voted in favor of a one-year emergency listing of more than 422,000 acres (171,000 ha) surrounding the mountain's summit on the state Register of Cultural Properties. "The Navajo Nation, the Acoma, Laguna and Zuni pueblos, and the Hopi tribe of Arizona asked the state to approve the listing for a mountain they consider sacred to protect it from an anticipated uranium mining boom, according to the nomination report."[25] In April 2009, Mount Taylor was added to theNational Trust for Historic Preservation's list ofAmerica's Most Endangered Places.
On 3 September 1929, theTranscontinental Air TransportFord 5-AT-B Tri-MotorCity of San Francisco struck Mount Taylor during athunderstorm while on a scheduled passenger flight fromAlbuquerque Airport inAlbuquerque, New Mexico, toLos Angeles,California, killing all eight people on board.[26]
On 7 April 1961, B-52B (53‑0380, call sign "Ciudad Juarez") from the 95th Bombardment Wing out of Biggs AFB was accidentally shot down by the launch of an AIM-9 Sidewinder from a F-100A Super Sabre (tail number 53-1662) from the 188th Tactical Fighter Squadron, New Mexico Air National Guard fighter jet during a practice intercept. The missile struck the engine pylon on the B-52 resulting in separation of the wing. The aircraft crashed on Mount Taylor, New Mexico with three of the eight crew on board killed. An electrical fault in the firing circuit caused the inadvertent launch of the missile.[27][28]
To find the table data on the PRISM website, start by clickingCoordinates (underLocation); copyLatitude andLongitude figures from top of table; clickZoom to location; clickPrecipitation, Minimum temp, Mean temp, Maximum temp; click30-year normals, 1991-2020; click800m; clickRetrieve Time Series button.
Definitions from Wiktionary
Media from Commons
News from Wikinews
Quotations from Wikiquote
Texts from Wikisource
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Resources from Wikiversity| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
