The Canelo Hills are a range of low mountains or hills in eastern

Santa Cruz County, Arizona Santa Cruz is a County (United States), county in southern Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population is 47,669. The county seat is Nogales, Arizona, Nogales. The county was established in 1899. It b ...

. The range consists of a series of northwest–southeast trending ridges extending from the

Sonoita Creek Sonoita Creek is a tributary stream of the Santa Cruz River in Santa Cruz County, Arizona. It originates near and takes its name from the abandoned Pima mission in the high valley near Sonoita. It flows steadily for the first of its westwa ...

valley southwest of Sonoita to the

Parker Canyon Lake Parker Canyon Lake is located in southeastern Arizona, southwest of Sierra Vista around the Huachuca Mountains and about north of the border with Mexico. The lake is a reservoir formed by a dam in Parker Canyon in the south end of the Canelo Hi ...

area in southwest Cochise County, Arizona. The Canelo Hills merge with the

Huachuca Mountains The Huachuca Mountains are part of the Sierra Vista Ranger District of the Coronado National Forest in Cochise County in southeastern Arizona, approximately south-southeast of Tucson and southwest of the city of Sierra Vista. Included in this ar ...

to the southeast. The

San Rafael Valley The San Rafael Valley is a high intermontane grass valley in eastern Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The valley is bounded to the west by the Patagonia Mountains, to the north and northeast by the Canelo Hills and to the east by the Huachuca Mountain ...

lies to the southwest of the range and the Patagonia Mountains lie to the west across the Harshaw Creek valley. The

Canelo Hills Cienega Reserve The Canelo Hills Cienega Reserve, is a nature preserve southeast of Sonoita, Arizona on the east side of the Canelo Hills. The area's are a mix of rare cienega wetland and black oak and Arizona fescue fields. The preserve is notable for the ext ...

and the ghost town of

Canelo, Arizona Canelo is a ghost town in eastern Santa Cruz County, Arizona, between the Canelo Hills and the northern end of the Huachuca Mountains. The site lies along Turkey Creek on Arizona State Route 83, between Sonoita and Parker Canyon Lake, which is ab ...

, are located on the eastern side of the hills.

Geology

The Canelo Hills are underlain by northwest striking folded and faulted

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 ...

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

s and

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 ...

–

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...

volcanic rock Volcanic rock (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) is a rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano. In other words, it differs from other igneous rock by being of volcanic origin. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic r ...

s. The southwest margin extending toward the Patagonias is underlain by

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

–

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

volcanics.Mark W. Bultman, 1999, ''Geometry, Structure, and Concealed Lithology of the San Rafael Basin, Southeastern Arizona,'' USGS Open-File Report 99-399
/ref> The southern end of the Canelo Hills contain evidence for a

volcanic caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

, the Parker Canyon Caldera. This caldera is mapped as a kidney shaped feature stretching from just north of Canelo Pass some to the southeast into the Huachucas and underlying the eastern portion of the San Rafael Valley.Houser, B. B., et al., ''Historic Mining Camps of Southeastern Arizona: a Road Log with Geologic and Historic Highlights,'' in ''USGS Researches on Mineral Resources – 1994 Part B Guidebook for Field Trips, U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1103–B'' p. 26 (map) & pp. 46–47 The Jurassic volcanics in the area consist of

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 ...

welded

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 ...

containing large exotic blocks of

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 ...

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...

and other rock types interpreted as "intercaldera megabreccia lenses".

Picture gallery

Canelo Hills (8550788564).jpg Canelo Hills & Bullfrog Pond.jpg Cattle Grazing In San Rafael Valley Arizona 2014.JPG San Rafael Valley Arizona 2014.JPG

References

* * {{coord, 31, 31, 55, N, 110, 35, 19, W, display=title, source:GNIS Hills of Arizona Mountain ranges of Santa Cruz County, Arizona Mountain ranges of Arizona Geology of Arizona

Geology

See also

Picture gallery

References