Tinajas Altas Mountains - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Tinajas Altas Mountains (O'odham

O'odham language

O'odham is an Uto-Aztecan language of southern Arizona and northern Sonora where the Tohono O'odham and Pima reside. As of the year 2000, there were estimated to be approximately 9750 speakers in the United States and Mexico combined, although there may be more due to underreporting...

: Uʼuva:k or Uʼuv Oopad) are an extremely arid northwest-southeast trending mountain range in southern Yuma County, Arizona

Yuma County, Arizona

-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*70.4% White*2.0% Black*1.6% Native American*1.2% Asian*0.2% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.8% Two or more races*20.8% Other races*59.7% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...

, approximately 35 mi southeast of Yuma, Arizona

Yuma, Arizona

Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of the state, and the population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2008 Census Bureau estimated population of 90,041....

. The southern end of the range extends approximately one mile into the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora

Sonora

Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....

on the northern perimeter of the Gran Desierto de Altar

Gran Desierto de Altar

The Gran Desierto de Altar is one of the major portions of the Sonoran Desert of Mexico, including the only active erg dune region in North America. It extends across much of the northern border of the Gulf of California, reaching more than 100 kilometers east to west, and over 50 km north to...

. The range is about 22 mi in length and about 4 mi wide at its widest point. The highpoint of the range is unnamed and is 2,766 feet (843 meters) above sea level and is located at 32°16'26"N, 114°02'48"W (NAD 1983 datum). Aside from the portion of the range in Mexico, the entirety of the range lies within the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range

Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range

The Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range is a bombing range in the U.S. state of Arizona that runs along the Mexican border....

. They lie at the heart of the traditional homeland of the Hia C-ed O'odham

Hia C-ed O'odham

The Hia C-eḍ O'odham , also known as Areneños, Sand Papagos, or Sand Pimas are a Native American peoples whose traditional homeland lies between the Ajo Range, the Gila River, the Colorado River, and the Gulf of California...

people.

Geology and geography

Geologically, the Tinajas Altas Mountains are a southeastward extension of the block faulted Gila Mountains

Gila Mountains (Yuma County)

The Gila Mountains is a mountain range in southwestern Arizona in the northwestern Sonoran Desert.The Gila Mountains of Yuma County are a northwest-southeast trending mountain system, about 26 miles long; the fault-blocked mountain range is attached on the south to the Tinajas Altas Mountains...

, and what are now the Tinajas Altas Mountains were actually considered part of the Gila Mountains until about the middle of the 20th century. The two ranges are separated by Cipriano Pass, also referred to as "Smugglers Pass," about two miles northwest of Raven Butte, 2694 feet (821 m) which is a notable dark-colored volcanic feature on the eastern flank of the otherwise light-colored granitic range.

The range is named for Tinajas Altas (High Tanks), which are a series of perched waterholes on the range's eastern side approximately four miles north of the international boundary. The waterholes figured prominently in the history of the area as they were for many years the only reliable source of water for many miles. Native Americans, principally the Hia C-ed O'odham

Hia C-ed O'odham

, also utilized the waterhole

Depression (geology)

A depression in geology is a landform sunken or depressed below the surrounding area. Depressions may be formed by various mechanisms.Structural or tectonic related:...

s as an important camp prior to European settlement.

The range lies in the Lower Colorado

Lower Colorado River Valley

The Lower Colorado River Valley is the river region of the lower Colorado River of the southwestern United States in North America that rises in the Rocky Mountains and has its outlet at the Colorado River Delta in the northern Sea of Cortez in northwestern Mexico, between the states of Baja...

subdivision of the Sonoran Desert

Sonoran Desert

The Sonoran Desert is a North American desert which straddles part of the United States-Mexico border and covers large parts of the U.S. states of Arizona and California and the northwest Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. It is one of the largest and hottest...

. This subdivision is sometimes referred to as the Colorado Desert

Colorado Desert

California's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert, which extends across southwest North America. The Colorado Desert region encompasses approximately , reaching from the Mexican border in the south to the higher-elevation Mojave Desert in the north and from the Colorado River in...

and encompasses much of southeastern California, southwestern Arizona, northwestern Sonora, and northeastern Baja California. The subdivision is characterized by minimal precipitation, and the area around the Tinajas Altas Mountains averages only about three inches of rainfall per year.

Mexican topographic maps and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maps of the region disagree on the name of an adjacent range lying to the southeast of the Tinajas Altas Mountains. In the United States this small range is referred to as the Sierra de la Lechuguilla, but in Mexico they are called the Sierra Tinajas Altas which would suggest that they are a longer extension of the Tinajas Altas Mountains into Mexico. The two ranges, however, share no surface connection so they are not the same. The Sierra de la Lechuguilla/Sierra Tinajas Altas range are instead on a parallel alignment to the southeast of the Tinajas Altas Mountains proper.

The closest community to the Tinajas Altas Mountains is Fortuna Foothills

Fortuna Foothills, Arizona

Fortuna Foothills is a census-designated place in Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The population was 20,478 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Yuma Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

in the east of the Yuma Valley adjacent to the Gila Mountains.

Ecology

The Tinajas Altas Mountains exhibit a variety of flora

Flora

Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...

and fauna

Fauna

Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...

species. Among the notable flora present is the Elephant tree, Bursera microphylla
Bursera microphylla
Bursera microphylla, known by the common name Elephant Tree, is a tree in genus Bursera. It grows into a distinctive sculptural form, with a trunk resembling that of an elephant. The Elephant Tree is quite rare...

, which species exhibits a contorted multi-furcate architecture.

Geology and geography

Ecology

See also