Square Butte is a sandstone summit located on

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...

land, in

Coconino County Coconino County is a county in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. Its population was 145,101 at the 2020 census. The county seat is Flagstaff. The county takes its name from ''Cohonino'', a name applied to the Havasupai p ...

of northern

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. It is situated 35 miles (56 km) southeast of the town of Page, and east of Kaibito, where it towers over above the surrounding terrain as a landmark alongside

Arizona State Route 98 State Route 98 (SR 98) is a state highway in Coconino County in the U.S. state of Arizona. Route description SR 98 begins at an intersection with US 89 just south of the Glen Canyon Dam along the Colorado River. It runs along the southern porti ...

. Square Butte is known as ''Tsé Dikʼání'' in

Navajo language Navajo or Navaho (; Navajo: or ) is a Southern Athabaskan language of the Na-Dené family, through which it is related to languages spoken across the western areas of North America. Navajo is spoken primarily in the Southwestern United States ...

, meaning "square rock." Its nearest higher neighbor is White Mesa, to the south. 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 Square Butte drains to northwest into Square Butte Wash or northeast into Potato Canyon, then ultimately Lake Powell, all part of the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

drainage basin. According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Square Butte is located in an

arid climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

zone with hot, very dry summers, and chilly winters. Spring and fall are the most favorable seasons to visit. The top of Square Butte is composed of

Entrada Sandstone The Entrada Sandstone is a formation in the San Rafael Group found in the U.S. states of Wyoming, Colorado, northwest New Mexico, northeast Arizona, and southeast Utah. Part of the Colorado Plateau, this formation was deposited during the Jur ...

including the Cow Springs Member, and it overlays

Carmel Formation The Carmel Formation is a geologic formation in the San Rafael Group that is spread across the U.S. states of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, north east Arizona and New Mexico. Part of the Colorado Plateau, this formation was laid down in the Middle J ...

, all of which was deposited in the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

period.Donald L. Baars, ''A Traveler's Guide to the Geology of the Colorado Plateau'', 2002, University of Utah Press, page 210.

Gallery

File:Square Butte and road.jpg, From Highway 98, with Setting Red Rocks to right File:Square Butte in Arizona.jpg, Note exposed Carmel Formation

References

{{reflist

External links

* Weather forecast
National Weather Service
* Weather
Square Butte
Colorado Plateau Landforms of Coconino County, Arizona Geography of the Navajo Nation North American 2000 m summits Sandstone formations of the United States

See also

Gallery

References

External links