Redondo Peak is a conspicuous summit in the

Jemez Mountains The Jemez Mountains are a group of mountains in Rio Arriba, Sandoval, and Los Alamos counties, New Mexico, United States. Numerous Puebloan Indian tribes have lived in the Jemez Mountains region since before the Spanish arrived in New Mexico. T ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

, in the southwestern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is located entirely within the

Valles Caldera National Preserve Valles Caldera (or Jemez Caldera) is a wide volcanic caldera in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico. Hot springs, streams, fumaroles, natural gas seeps and volcanic domes dot the caldera floor landscape. The highest point in the caldera i ...

. It is the second highest summit in the Jemez after

Chicoma Mountain Chicoma Mountain (; also spelled Tschicoma or Tchicoma) is the highest point in the Jemez Mountains, a prominent mountain range in the U.S. State of New Mexico. The tree line in this area is exceptionally high, and the mountain is forested almos ...

. It is the most visually prominent peak in the range when viewed from the south, for example, from

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

. From many other directions it is less prominent or not visible, due to its location in the center of the

Valles Caldera Valles Caldera (or Jemez Caldera) is a wide volcanic caldera in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico. Hot springs, streams, fumaroles, natural gas seeps and volcanic domes dot the caldera floor landscape. The highest point in the caldera i ...

, well away from the caldera's rim. Redondo Peak is an example of the

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

feature known as a

resurgent dome In geology, a resurgent dome is a dome formed by swelling or rising of a caldera floor due to movement in the magma chamber beneath it. Unlike a lava dome, a resurgent dome is not formed by the extrusion of highly viscous lava onto the surfac ...

. It was formed shortly after the caldera-forming

eruption Several types of volcanic eruptions—during which lava, tephra (ash, lapilli, volcanic bombs and volcanic blocks), and assorted gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure—have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often ...

of 1.25 million years ago, but it is not itself an eruptive feature. The summit of the mountain is composed of

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...

ejected by the caldera-forming eruption, rather than of subsequent volcanic ejecta. It is forested all the way to its summit.

Cultural significance

Redondo Peak is sacred to various

Pueblo people The Puebloans or Pueblo peoples, are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Currently 100 pueblos are actively inhabited, among which Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Zun ...

s of New Mexico and, as a result,

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

and other recreational activities on the mountain are sharply restricted as of 2008. The summit area is occupied by a

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

that was studied and excavated by

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

William Boone Douglass William Boone Douglass was a lawyer, engineer, surveyor, genealogist, and founding President of the Boone Family Association. Earlier in his engineering career, he was active in New Mexico both as an engineer and as an anthropologist. He made a p ...

in the early 20th centuryDouglass, William Boone (1917), ''Notes on the Shrines of the Tewa and Other Pueblo Indians of New Mexico'', pp 344–378, in ''Proceedings of the Nineteenth International Congress of Americanists'',

Frederick W. Hodge Frederick Webb Hodge (October 28, 1864 – September 28, 1956) was an American editor, anthropologist, archaeologist, and historian. Born in England, he immigrated at the age of seven with his family to Washington, DC. He was educated at America ...

, ed., Washington, DC, 1917. and remained in use well into the 20th century. The shrine and its immediate surroundings are closed to visitors.

References

* *

External links

* * Mountains of New Mexico Religious places of the indigenous peoples of North America Landforms of Sandoval County, New Mexico Mountains of Sandoval County, New Mexico {{NewMexico-geo-stub