Quartz Mountain (also called Baldy Point) is located in
Greer County in southwest Oklahoma. It is the namesake of
Quartz Mountain Nature Park
Quartz Mountain State Park is located in southwest Oklahoma at the western end of the Wichita Mountains, east of Mangum, Oklahoma and north of Altus, Oklahoma. The nearest community is Lone Wolf, Oklahoma, about northeast of the park. It is op ...
and its eastern flank is enclosed by the park boundaries. It is near the cities of
Mangum, Oklahoma and
Altus, Oklahoma
Altus () is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 19,813 at the 2010 census, a loss of 7.7 percent compared to 21,454 in 2000.
Altus is home to Altus Air Force Base, the United States Air F ...
. The park is open to the public year-round for rock climbing, hiking, boating, camping, nature observation and photography, and environmental education and interpretation. The mountain overlooks scenic
Lake Altus-Lugert
Lake Altus-Lugert, also known as Lake Altus, Lake Lugert, Lake Lugert-Altus, and Lugert Lake, is a reservoir located on the North Fork Red River, about 17 miles (27 km) north of Altus, Oklahoma on the former site of the town of Lugert, Okla ...
.
[summitpost.org "Baldy Point (Quartz Mtn)"](_blank)
Retrieved April 13, 2014.
Geology
Quartz Mountain is one of the westernmost peaks in the
Wichita Mountains
The Wichita Mountains are located in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the principal relief system in the Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen, being the result of a failed continental rift. The mountains are a northwest-southea ...
. In simplest terms, the Wichita Mountains are rocky promontories and rounded hills made of red and black
igneous
Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or ...
rocks, light-colored
sedimentary
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic matter, organic particles at Earth#Surface, Earth's surface, followed by cementation (geology), cementation. Sedimentati ...
rocks, and boulder conglomerates. The Wichita Mountains were formed in four distinct geologic episodes.
:1.
Magmatism induced by continental
rifting just prior to and in the
Cambrian
The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...
Period produced the
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
s and
rhyolite
Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral ...
s (the red rocks),
gabbroic rocks,
anorthosites, and
diabase
Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro,
is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-graine ...
s (the black rocks).
:2. Subsidence resulted in burial by
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
s and
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
(the light-colored rocks) during the early
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon.
The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838
by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...
.
:3. Uplift during the
Pennsylvanian Ouachita Orogeny
The Ouachita orogeny was a mountain-building event that resulted in the folding and faulting of strata currently exposed in the Ouachita Mountains. The more extensive Ouachita system extends from the current range in Arkansas and Oklahoma south ...
brought these rocks to the surface as mountains.
:4. Weathering and
erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...
during the
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...
Period flattened the mountains and produced a mantle of
conglomerates.
The mountains themselves are
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...
landforms covered and preserved by river-borne sediments in the
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...
and partially excavated only in recent geological times. Exposure of these fossil mountains is greatest towards the southeast; much of the western part of the Permian range remains buried under
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
s and
shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...
s.
Quartz Mountain is made of
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
emplaced during the early
Cambrian
The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...
period. Like the other granite knobs nearby, and the larger masses of granite in the eastern Wichita Mountains, these rocks are part of the Wichita Granite Group.
[M. Charles Gilbert, 1982, ''Geologic setting of the eastern Wichita Mountains with a brief discussion of unresolved problems'', in Gilbert, M.C. and Donovan, R.N., eds., Geology of the Eastern Wichita Mountains, Southwestern Oklahoma, Oklahoma Geological Survey Guidebook 21, p. 1-30.] Most of Quartz Mountain and the other exposures in the park are homogeneous pink-red Lugert Granite. However, the flank of Quartz Mountain, as well as the adjacent peaks to the west are made of a coarser grained, red Reformatory Granite.
[M. Charles Gilbert and Powell, B.N., 1988, ''Igneous Geology of the Wichita Mountains, southeastern Oklahoma,'' in Hayward, O.T., ed., Geological Society of America, Centennial Field Guide, 4, p. 109-126.] The Reformatory Granite is quarried locally in and around the appropriately named town of
Granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
; the park's numerous monuments are polished monoliths of the quarry products. A mixed zone between the two units reveals that these are two separate pulses of magma intruding the same level of the crust, and that the Lugert post-dates the intrusion of the Reformatory. Numerous
miarolitic cavities
Miarolitic cavities (or ''miarolitic texture'') are typically crystal-lined irregular cavities or vugs most commonly found in granitic pegmatites, and also in a variety of igneous rocks. The central portions of pegmatites are often miarolitic as ...
and
hydrothermal veins pervade this zone and its surroundings. Both contain appreciable amounts of
quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
.
Climbing
Climbing using modern techniques at Quartz Mountain began in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1978 and 1982, the majority of climbing routes were established. The property where the mountain is located was privately owned by Ted and Margaret Johnson, who had allowed access to the mountain for several decades. In an effort to ensure the area was preserved, it was purchased in 2001 by
The Access Fund {{Infobox organization
, name = The Access Fund
, image = The Access Fund Logo.jpg
, image_size = 200px
, caption =
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, map_size =
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, map_caption =
, type ...
and the Wichita Mountains Climbers Coalition (WMCC), then donated to the State of Oklahoma. In 2002 the area was designated Quartz Mountain Nature Park.
There is no fee charged to climb the mountain. Activities at Baldy Point are only permitted during daytime. Climbers must be off the mountain and out of the parking lot by dusk.
One source reports that Quartz Mountain climbing is very strenuous and that this mountain is not recommended for beginners. It has been compared to climbing at
Joshua Tree National Park. Most of the climbing is done on the south face of the mountain, so summer is not a recommended time for climbing. Spring and fall are the best times for this activity.
Camping is not allowed at the climbing area (which is normally called Baldy Point area). Camping is available at Quartz Mountain park campground, about from the climbing area, where there are 100 RV hookups plus a number of tent sites. Fires, firearms, paintball guns, mountain bikes, and dirt bikes are prohibited at the climbing area.
See also
*
Quartz Mountain Nature Park
Quartz Mountain State Park is located in southwest Oklahoma at the western end of the Wichita Mountains, east of Mangum, Oklahoma and north of Altus, Oklahoma. The nearest community is Lone Wolf, Oklahoma, about northeast of the park. It is op ...
*
Quartz Mountain Resort Arts and Conference Center
The Quartz Mountain Resort Arts and Conference Center is a resort located 17 miles north of Altus in the Wichita Mountains
The Wichita Mountains are located in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the principal reli ...
References
{{Mountains of Oklahoma
Mountains of Oklahoma
Climbing areas of the United States
Landforms of Greer County, Oklahoma
Cambrian magmatism