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Chipeta Mountain
Chipeta Mountain is a mountain summit in the Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The mountain is located in Chaffee County, Colorado, and in the San Isabel National Forest. The mountain is named after Chipeta, a Native American leader known for her courageous efforts to mediate between Native Americans and European settlers. Nearby Mount Ouray, just southeast of Chipeta Mountain, is named after Chipeta's husband, Chief Ouray. Geology Chipeta Mountain is dominated by Paleoproterozoic gneisses. These dark rocks were subsequently intruded by magma, and lighter-colored igneous intrusions are visible on the ridges extending below the peak. The building of the Ancestral Rocky Mountains during the Paleozoic and the Laramide Orogeny and the formation of the current Rocky Mountains 80 and 55 million years ago lifted these ancient basement rocks to lofty heights. Erosion has removed the overlying sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Along the northeast flank of Chipe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sawatch Range
The Sawatch Range or Saguache RangeThe place name "Saguache” is pronounced “Sawatch” . This name derives from the Ute language noun "''sawup''" meaning "sand dunes" and is spelled using the Spanish language version of this name "Saguache".''Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary'', Third Edition (1997), p. 1060 s.v. Sawatch Range. is a high and extensive mountain range in central Colorado which includes eight of the twenty highest peaks in the Rocky Mountains, including Mount Elbert, at elevation, the highest peak in the Rockies. The range is oriented along a northwest–southeast axis, extending roughly from in the north to in the south. The range contains fifteen peaks in excess of , also known as fourteeners. The range forms a part of the Continental Divide, and its eastern side drains into the headwaters of the Arkansas River. The western side of the range feeds the headwaters of the Roaring Fork River, the Eagle River, and the Gunnison River, tributaries ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rio Grande Rift
The Rio Grande rift is a north-trending continental rift zone. It separates the Colorado Plateau in the west from the interior of the North American craton on the east. The rift extends from central Colorado in the north to the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, in the south. The rift zone consists of four basins that have an average width of . The rift can be observed on location at Rio Grande National Forest, White Sands National Park, Santa Fe National Forest, and Cibola National Forest, among other locations. The Rio Grande rift has been an important site for humans for a long time, because it provides a north–south route that follows a major river. The Rio Grande follows the course of the rift from southern Colorado to El Paso, where it turns southeast and flows toward the Gulf of Mexico. Important cities, including Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos, Española, Las Cruces, El Paso, and Ciudad Juárez, lie within the rift. Geology The Rio Grande rift represents the easternmost m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Board On Geographic Names
The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a Federal government of the United States, federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geography, geographic names throughout the federal government of the United States. History Following the American Civil War, more and more American pioneer, American settlers began moving westward, prompting the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government to pursue some sort of consistency for referencing landmarks on maps and in official documents. As such, on January 8, 1890, Thomas Corwin Mendenhall, superintendent of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Office, wrote to 10 noted geographers "to suggest the organization of a Board made up of representatives from the different Government services interested, to which may be referred any disputed question of geographical orthography." President Benjamin Harrison si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yosemite Decimal System
The Yosemite Decimal System (YDS) is a five-part Grade (climbing), grading system used for rating the difficulty of rock climbing climbing routes, routes in the United States and Canada. It was first devised by members of the Sierra Club in Southern California in the 1950s as a refinement of earlier systems from the 1930s, and quickly spread throughout North America. Description The class 5 portion of the class scale is primarily a rock climbing classification system, while classes 1–4 are used for hiking and scrambling. The current definition for each class is: ; Class 1:Hiking or trail running, running on a trail. ; Class 2:Simple scrambling, with the possibility of occasional use of the hands. ; Class 3: Scrambling. A rope could be carried. ; Class 4: Simple climbing, possibly with exposure (heights), exposure. A rope is often used. Falls could be fatal. Natural protection (climbing), protection can easily be found. ; Class 5: It is considered technical roped free climbing; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Continental Divide Of The Americas
The Continental Divide of the Americas (also known as the Great Divide, the Western Divide or simply the Continental Divide; ) is the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas. The Continental Divide extends from the Bering Strait to the Strait of Magellan, and separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain into the Atlantic and Arctic Ocean, including those that drain into the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and Hudson Bay. Although there are many other hydrological divides in the Americas, the Continental Divide is by far the most prominent of these because it tends to follow a line of high peaks along the main ranges of the Rocky Mountains and Andes, at a generally much higher elevation than the other hydrological divisions. Geography Beginning at the westernmost point of the Americas, Cape Prince of Wales, just south of the Arctic Circle, the Continental Divide's geographic path runs th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marshall Pass
Marshall Pass, elevation , is a mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of central-southern Colorado, US. It lies in northern Saguache County on the Continental Divide between the Sawatch Range to the north and the Cochetopa Hills to the south. The pass is part of a backcountry alternative to U.S. Highway 50 between Salida and Gunnison. Marshall Pass was discovered by and named for Lt. William L. Marshall, of the Wheeler Survey, in 1873. History When William Marshall first crossed the pass he realized that it would be a good route for a road, and shortly after this a company was organized to build a toll road. The Marshall Pass Toll Road was completed in 1880, with stagecoach service from Gunnison to the Arkansas River where it connected with the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. The new road at the pass summit was barely passable, and the grades on both sides of the pass were reported to be very steep. In 1881, the narrow gauge mainline of the Denver and Rio Grande ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alpine Climate
Alpine climate is the typical climate for elevations above the tree line, where trees fail to grow due to cold. This climate is also referred to as a mountain climate or highland climate. Definition There are multiple definitions of alpine climate. In the Köppen climate classification, the alpine and mountain climates are part of group ''E'', along with the polar climate, where no month has a mean temperature higher than . According to the Holdridge life zone system, there are two mountain climates which prevent tree growth : a) the alpine climate, which occurs when the mean biotemperature of a location is between . The alpine climate in Holdridge system is roughly equivalent to the warmest tundra climates (ET) in the Köppen system. b) the alvar climate, the coldest mountain climate since the biotemperature is between 0 °C and 1.5 °C (biotemperature can never be below 0 °C). It corresponds more or less to the coldest tundra climates and to the ice cap cli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (temperate), ''D'' (continental), and ''E'' (polar). Each group and subgroup is represented by a letter. All climates are assigned a main group (the first letter). All climates except for those in the ''E'' group are assigned a seasonal precipitation subgroup (the second letter). For example, ''Af'' indicates a tropical rainforest climate. The system assigns a temperature subgroup for all groups other than those in the ''A'' group, indicated by the third letter for climates in ''B'', ''C'', ''D'', and the second letter for climates in ''E''. Other examples include: ''Cfb'' indicating an oceanic climate with warm summers as indicated by the ending ''b.'', while ''Dwb'' indicates a semi-Monsoon continental climate, monsoonal continental climate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tundra Climate
The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. It is classified as ET according to the Köppen climate classification. It is a climate which at least one month has an average temperature high enough to melt snow (), but no month with an average temperature in excess of . If the climate occurs at high elevations, it is known as alpine climate. Despite the potential diversity of climates in the ''ET'' category involving precipitation, extreme temperatures, and relative wet and dry seasons, this category is rarely subdivided. Rainfall and snowfall are generally slight due to the low vapor pressure of water in the chilly atmosphere, but as a rule potential evapotranspiration is extremely low, allowing soggy terrain of swamps and bogs even in places that get precipitation typical of deserts of lower and middle latitudes. The amount of native tundra biomass depends more on the local temperature than the amount of precipitation. Tundra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moraine
A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice sheet. It may consist of partly rounded particles ranging in size from boulders (in which case it is often referred to as boulder clay) down to gravel and sand, in a groundmass of finely-divided clayey material sometimes called glacial flour. Lateral moraines are those formed at the side of the ice flow, and terminal moraines are those formed at the foot, marking the maximum advance of the glacier. Other types of moraine include ground moraines (till-covered areas forming sheets on flat or irregular topography) and medial moraines (moraines formed where two glaciers meet). Etymology The word ''moraine'' is borrowed from French language, French , which in turn is derived from the Savoyard dialect, Savoyard Italian ('mound of e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tarns
A tarn (or corrie loch) is a mountain lake, pond or pool, formed in a cirque (or "corrie") excavated by a glacier. A moraine may form a natural dam below a tarn. Etymology The word is derived from the Old Norse word ''tjörn'' ("a small mountain lake without tributaries") meaning pond. In parts of Northern England – predominantly Cumberland and Westmorland (where there are 197), but also areas of North Lancashire and North Yorkshire – 'tarn' is widely used as the name for small lakes or ponds, regardless of their location and origin (e.g. Talkin Tarn, Urswick Tarn, Malham Tarn). Similarly, in Scandinavian languages, a ''tjern'' or ''tjørn'' (both Norwegian) or ''tjärn'' or ''tärn'' (both Swedish) is a small natural lake, often in a forest or with vegetation closely surrounding it or growing into the tarn. The name of the Tjörnin in Reykjavik, Iceland is also from a related word. The specific technical use for a body of water in a glacial corrie comes from the hig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cirque
A (; from the Latin word ) is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by Glacier#Erosion, glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from , meaning a pot or cauldron) and ; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform arising from fluvial erosion. The concave shape of a glacial cirque is open on the downhill side, while the cupped section is generally steep. Cliff-like slopes, down which ice and glaciated debris combine and converge, form the three or more higher sides. The floor of the cirque ends up bowl-shaped, as it is the complex convergence zone of combining ice flows from multiple directions and their accompanying rock burdens. Hence, it experiences somewhat greater erosion forces and is most often overdeepening, overdeepened below the level of the cirque's low-side outlet (stage) and its down-slope (backstage) valley. If the cirque is subject to seasonal melting, the floor of the cirque most often forms a tarn (lake), tarn (small lake) behind a d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
