The Pinacate Peaks (Sierra Pinacate, ood, Cuk Doʼag) are a group of volcanic peaks and

cinder cone A cinder cone (or scoria cone) is a steep conical hill A conical hill (also cone or conical mountain) is a landform with a distinctly conical shape. It is usually isolated or rises above other surrounding foothills, and is often of volcanic ...

s located mostly in the Mexican state of

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the ...

along the international border adjacent to the U.S. state of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

, surrounded by the vast sand dune field of the Gran Desierto de Altar, at the desert's southeast. The Spanish name for the ''Pinacate Peaks'' geographic feature is the Sierra Pinacate, which is used in their homeland of Mexico.

Location

The Pinacate Peaks lie just north of the fishing resort of

Puerto Peñasco Puerto Peñasco ( ood, Geʼe Ṣuidagĭ) is a small city located in Puerto Peñasco Municipality in the northwest of the Mexican state of Sonora, from the border with the U.S. state of Arizona. According to the 2020 census, it has a population ...

. The tallest of the peaks is Cerro del Pinacate (also called Volcan Santa Clara), elevation 3,904 feet (1,190 m). The

Mexican Spanish Mexican Spanish ( es, español mexicano) is the variety of Dialect, dialects and Sociolect, sociolects of the Spanish language spoken in Mexican territory. Mexico has the largest number of Spanish speakers, with more than twice as many as in a ...

word ''pinacate'' is derived from the

Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have small ...

word for the endemic desert stink beetle, ''pinacatl''.

Natural History

Geology

The volcanoes here have erupted here sporadically since about 4 million years ago, probably in association with the opening of the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja C ...

. The most recent volcanic activity was about 11,000 years ago. The Pinacate Desert is home to the largest sand

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

s of the Americas.

Flora and fauna

A variety of flora and fauna occur in the Pinacate Mountains, including the sculptural

Elephant Tree Elephant tree is a common name for several plants with swollen stems and may refer to: * ''Boswellia papyrifera'', a species in the family Burserceae native to northeastern Africa * ''Bursera microphylla'', a species in the family Burserceae native ...

, ''

Bursera microphylla ''Bursera microphylla'', known by the common name elephant tree in English or 'torote' in Spanish, is a tree in genus '' Bursera''. It grows into a distinctive sculptural form, with a thickened, water-storing or caudiciform trunk. It is found in ...

''.

Human history

Padre Eusebio Kino, founder of many

Spanish missions in the Sonoran Desert The Spanish missions in the Sonoran Desert ( es, Misiones jesuíticas en el desierto de Sonora) are a series of Jesuit Catholic religious outposts established by the Spanish Catholic Jesuits and other orders for religious conversions of the Pim ...

, explored here in 1698 and several times later.

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

sent astronauts here starting in 1965 for geologic training, given the similarity of the terrain to the lunar surface, and included training models of lunar surface equipment.

Apollo 14 Apollo 14 (January 31, 1971February 9, 1971) was the eighth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, the third to land on the Moon, and the first to land in the lunar highlands. It was the last of the " H missions", landings at s ...

Alan Shepard Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998) was an American astronaut, United States naval aviator, naval aviator, test pilot, and businessman. In 1961, he became the second person and the first American to travel int ...

and Ed Mitchell, and Apollo 17's

Jack Schmitt Harrison Hagan Schmitt (born July 3, 1935) is an American geologist, retired NASA astronaut, university professor, former U.S. senator from New Mexico, and the most recent living person—and only person without a background in military aviation� ...

trained here in Feb. 1970.

El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve

The El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve is a

biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

, in the

spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

Reserva de la Biosfera el Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar, managed by the Mexican Federal Government's SEMARNAT - the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, in collaboration with the government of the State of Sonora's IMADES agency. . accessed 7/22/2010

The reserve

Facts about the reserve: * Over * Over 400

s (caused by volcanic activity) * 9 massive

volcanic crater A volcanic crater is an approximately circular depression in the ground caused by volcanic activity. It is typically a bowl-shaped feature containing one or more vents. During volcanic eruptions, molten magma and volcanic gases rise from an und ...

s * Remains of volcanic activity (

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of a ...

rock,

lava field Lava fields are large, mostly flat areas of surface or subaquatic lava flows. Such features are generally composed of highly fluid basalt lava, and can extend for tens or hundreds of miles across the underlying terrain. Morphology and str ...

s) * Over 560 plant species * 56 mammal species * 43 reptile species * 222

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

species * 4

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% ...

species.

References

External links

Official Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve websiteGlobal Volcanism Program: Pinacate Mountains
{{Authority control *02 Cinder cones Natural history of Sonora Mountain ranges of Sonora Mountain ranges of the Sonoran Desert Gran Desierto de Altar Volcanoes of Sonora Volcanism of Mexico Volcanic groups Geology of Mexico Landforms of Sonora Lava fields