The hills around this part of the I-15 have some interesting features. The deposits are made up of fine grained sediments of the Muddy Creek formation, these sediments are made up mostly of fine grained sandstone and some mudstones from Miocene-Pliocene age alluvial fans. The Miocene was 23 to 5.3 million years old and the Pliocene is 5.3 to 2.5 million years old. These are fairly young rocks.
BUTTES and MESAS
These features look very similar as rock landforms. They both require “Caps” made up of resistant rock (some tight grained Sandstone or Limestone). You’ll notice these because they stand above the surrounding plain.
Now comes the question, are they Buttes or Mesas? It’s really simpler than you might think.
Buttes are taller than they are wide, whereas MESAS are wider than they are tall.
Cliff retreat also helps make these either or one of the two!
Sedimentary rocks are worn away by rain, wind and just general weather. In this area, fairly resistant Sandstones and limestone’s often cap mesas or buttes and help in preventing Cliff retreat and changing one to the other.
The following Material were used for Reference:
- AZGS.AZ.GOV and UCSB Geology Department
- U.S. Department of the Interior, Professional papers and Geological surveys
- California Institute of Technology
- Roadside Geology Nevada and the Nevada Division of Mines and Geology
- Universities Space Research Association
Logging Requirements: Please E-Mail me the answers, don't post any pictures of the site itself.
1. Type in GC7Bw02 Buttes, wait or Mesas?.
2. How wide is one of these ? Just est.
3. How tall is the same one? Just est.
4. Is it wider than it is tall or the other way around?
5. Now what is it?.