Mitten Rock is a elevation summit located on
Navajo Nation land in
San Juan County of northwest
New Mexico, United States.
Mitten Rock is set in the northeastern part of the
Navajo Volcanic Field, a
volcanic field that includes intrusions and flows of
minette and other unusual igneous rocks which formed around 30 million years ago during the
Oligocene
The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...
.
[Steven C. Semken, ''The Navajo Volcanic Field'', in ''Volcanology in New Mexico'', New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 18, p. 79, 2001. ] Mitten Rock is one of the major
diatremes of the
Four Corners
The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area ...
area, and with significant
relief as it rises above the high-desert plain.
[Robert Julyan, ''The Mountains of New Mexico'', 2006, University of New Mexico Press, page 109.] It is situated about southwest of
Shiprock, the most famous of these diatremes. Mitten Rock has also been known as "Little Ship Rock."
This landmark is called ''Tséłkǫ'', meaning "Rock Is Fire" in the
Navajo language. This geographical feature's descriptive name was applied by the US Army in 1892, and was officially adopted in 1915 by the
U.S. Board on Geographic Names
The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...
.
Precipitation
runoff
Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to:
* RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program
* Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed
* Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...
from this feature drains into Little Shiprock Wash, which is part of the
San Juan River drainage basin. According to the
Köppen climate classification system, Mitten Rock is located in a
semi-arid climate zone with cold winters and hot summers.
Geology
Mitten Rock is composed of
felsic
In geology, felsic is a modifier describing igneous rocks that are relatively rich in elements that form feldspar and quartz.Marshak, Stephen, 2009, ''Essentials of Geology,'' W. W. Norton & Company, 3rd ed. It is contrasted with mafic rocks, whi ...
minette, unusual even for the Navajo volcanic field. Felsic minette has a
silica content of up to 60%, versus the more typical 48% to 52% silica content of the more typical
mafic minettes of most vents in the volcanic field. This magma was likely formed by
crystal fractionation of more typical mafic minette magma.
See also
*
Rock formations in the United States
The following is a partial list of rock formations in the United States, organized by state.
Arizona
* Antelope Canyon
*Canyon de Chelly National Monument
** Spider Rock
*Cathedral Rock, Red Rock State Park, Sedona
*Cathedral Rock (Cocon ...
*
Volcanic plug
A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcanic object created when magma hardens within a vent on an active volcano. When present, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of high gas pressure if rising volatile-charged mag ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
* Weather forecast
National Weather Service* Mitten Rock rock climbing
Mountainproject.com
Rock formations of New Mexico
Landmarks in New Mexico
Volcanic plugs of the United States
Diatremes of New Mexico
Landforms of San Juan County, New Mexico
Geography of the Navajo Nation
Oligocene volcanism
Volcanoes of New Mexico