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 ...

. The range consists of a series of northwest–southeast trending ridges extending from the Sonoita Creek valley southwest of Sonoita to the Parker Canyon Lake area in southwest

Cochise County, Arizona Cochise County ( ) is a county in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is named after Cochise, a Chiricahua Apache who was a key war leader during the Apache Wars. The population was 125,447 at the 2020 census. The count ...

. The Canelo Hills merge with the Huachuca Mountains to the southeast. The San Rafael Valley 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 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, Arizona, Sonoita and Parker Canyon ...

, 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 System (stratigraphy), 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 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock formed by the cementation (geology), cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or de ...

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 143.1 Mya. ...

–

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

volcanic rock Volcanic rocks (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) are rocks formed from lava erupted from a volcano. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic rock is artificial, and in nature volcanic rocks grade into hypabyssal and me ...

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

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

–

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

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, 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 (geology), texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained matri ...

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 co ...

containing large exotic blocks of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock that 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 tecton ...

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