White Tank Mountains
Encyclopedia
The White Tank Mountains is a mountain range
located in central Arizona
. The mountains are on the western periphery of the Phoenix metropolitan area
, primarily flanked by the suburb
an cities of Buckeye
to the south and west, and Surprise
to the north and east. The mountain range is home to the White Tank Mountain Regional Park
and is a regional recreation hub.
The range, often referred to simply as the White Tanks, is a moderate sized mountain range whose peaks rise to an elevation of around 4000 feet (1,219 m). The range consists of a series of numerous ridges and canyons and as such lacks a single, prominent peak. The highest point in the range, at an altitude of 4083 feet (1,244 m), is Barry Goldwater Peak.
The mountain range was formed through tectonic activities as part of a detachment fault
sometime in the mid Tertiary
period, about 30 million years ago. As a fairly young (in geologic terms) mountain range it has not been subject to the forces of erosion
for long and retains an extremely rugged topography composed of rocky fault ridges and deep canyons. During seasonal heavy rainfall, accumulated water tends to rush rapidly through the steep canyons, over time scouring out a number of depressions or "tanks" in the white granite
near the base of the mountains. These white "tanks" are the source of the mountains' name.
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
located in central Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. The mountains are on the western periphery of the Phoenix metropolitan area
Phoenix Metropolitan Area
The Phoenix metropolitan area, often referred to as The Valley of the Sun, is a metropolitan area, centered on the city of Phoenix, that includes much of the central part of the US state of Arizona...
, primarily flanked by the suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
an cities of Buckeye
Buckeye, Arizona
Buckeye is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States and is the westernmost suburb in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The population of the town as of Census 2010 was 50,876, a 678% increase from the 2000 population of 6,537.-Geography:...
to the south and west, and Surprise
Surprise, Arizona
Surprise is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA. The population was 30,848 at the 2000 census; however, rapid growth has boosted the city's population to 117,517 at the 2010 census, an increase of 281%...
to the north and east. The mountain range is home to the White Tank Mountain Regional Park
White Tank Mountain Regional Park
The White Tank Mountain Regional Park is a large regional park located in west-central Maricopa County, Arizona. Encompassing of desert and mountain landscape, it is the largest regional park in the county...
and is a regional recreation hub.
The range, often referred to simply as the White Tanks, is a moderate sized mountain range whose peaks rise to an elevation of around 4000 feet (1,219 m). The range consists of a series of numerous ridges and canyons and as such lacks a single, prominent peak. The highest point in the range, at an altitude of 4083 feet (1,244 m), is Barry Goldwater Peak.
The mountain range was formed through tectonic activities as part of a detachment fault
Detachment fault
Detachment faulting is associated with large-scale extensional tectonics. Detachment faults often have very large displacements and juxtapose unmetamorphosed hanging walls against medium to high-grade metamorphic footwalls that are called metamorphic core complexes...
sometime in the mid Tertiary
Tertiary
The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...
period, about 30 million years ago. As a fairly young (in geologic terms) mountain range it has not been subject to the forces of erosion
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
for long and retains an extremely rugged topography composed of rocky fault ridges and deep canyons. During seasonal heavy rainfall, accumulated water tends to rush rapidly through the steep canyons, over time scouring out a number of depressions or "tanks" in the white granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
near the base of the mountains. These white "tanks" are the source of the mountains' name.