Sierra Ancha
{{Short description|Mountain range in Gila County, Arizona}}
Image:Grantham-peak.jpg, the main road leading into the Sierra Ancha mountains from the south.]]
The Sierra Ancha ("broad range" in Spanish, in Western Apache: Dził Nteel - "Wide Flat Mountain") is a mountain range in Gila County, in central Arizona. It lies between Roosevelt Lake to the south, the Tonto Basin to the west, Cherry Creek to the east, and Pleasant Valley to the north. The range is one of several, including the Bradshaw Mountains, Mingus Mountain of the Black Hills, and the Mazatzal Mountains, which form a transitional zone between the lowland deserts of southern Arizona and the Colorado Plateau of northeastern Arizona. The highest point in the range is Aztec Peak, at an elevation of 2345 m (7694 ft).
The Sierra Ancha is penetrated by few improved roads, and the range is cut by numerous deep, spectacular canyons, particularly on its eastern flank. Little agricultural, commercial, or residential development has taken place, though in the past asbestos mining was carried out at a mine between Asbestos and Zimmerman Points. Cattle ranching is still practiced in the area. Nearby communities include Roosevelt, Tonto Basin, Punkin Center, and Young, Arizona. The Sierra Ancha lies completely within Arizona's Tonto National Forest.
Image:Aztec-peak-lookout-tower.jpg fire lookout once staffed by noted Arizona essayist and novelist Edward Abbey.]]
Two U.S. Wilderness Areas lie within the Sierra Ancha — the Salome Wilderness, encompassing Salome Creek and its canyon on the southern edge of the range, and the Sierra Ancha Wilderness, protecting the high peaks and deep canyons of the eastern flank of the range. The range also includes the U.S. Forest Service's Sierra Ancha Experimental Forest, a tract on which research on the characteristics of Southwestern U.S. watersheds has been conducted.
The Sierra Ancha includes abundant archaeological remains, especially in the form of cliff dwellings in the rugged canyons opening eastward toward Cherry Creek. The identity of the American Indian builders of these structures remains uncertain, but the sites show characteristics of both the Salado and Mogollon cultures. Tree-ring dating of roof beams from the sites suggests that construction began in about 1280 AD, and that the structures were abandoned by 1350 AD.
Ecology
Prominent streams within the Sierra Ancha are Workman Creek and Salome Creek. The classic Sonoran Desert floristic community of saguaro, palo verde, and creosote bush can be found in the southern foothills above Roosevelt Lake (650–1000 m / 2133–3281 ft), while in the range's middle elevations (1200–1800 m / 3937–5906 ft) oak scrub and juniper predominate. Above 6000 feet (1829 m), the Sierra Ancha has extensive stands of ponderosa pine, with Douglas-fir on the highest, coolest slopes. The Sierra Ancha holds a disjunctive population of coastal woodfern, Dryopteris arguta,C. Michael Hogan. 2008 which is typically found closer to the Pacific Ocean,Jepson Manual. 1993 owing to the relatively humid climate of the upper elevations of the range.
{{Weather box
|location = Sierra Ancha, Arizona
Altitude: {{convert|5100|ft|m|-1}}
|single line = N
|Jan record high F = 76
|Feb record high F = 79
|Mar record high F = 84
|Apr record high F = 91
|May record high F = 97
|Jun record high F = 105
|Jul record high F = 104
|Aug record high F = 103
|Sep record high F = 103
|Oct record high F = 96
|Nov record high F = 83
|Dec record high F = 78
|year record high F = 105
|Jan high F = 53.0
|Feb high F = 56.7
|Mar high F = 61.6
|Apr high F = 69.9
|May high F = 78.1
|Jun high F = 88.5
|Jul high F = 91.5
|Aug high F = 89.0
|Sep high F = 85.2
|Oct high F = 75.0
|Nov high F = 62.9
|Dec high F = 54.9
|year high F = 72.2
|Jan low F = 30.3
|Feb low F = 32.6
|Mar low F = 35.6
|Apr low F = 41.7
|May low F = 48.5
|Jun low F = 57.7
|Jul low F = 62.6
|Aug low F = 61.7
|Sep low F = 58.3
|Oct low F = 48.4
|Nov low F = 37.6
|Dec low F = 31.8
|year low F = 45.6
|Jan record low F = 0
|Feb record low F = 10
|Mar record low F = 11
|Apr record low F = 16
|May record low F = 22
|Jun record low F = 30
|Jul record low F = 34
|Aug record low F = 38
|Sep record low F = 29
|Oct record low F = 20
|Nov record low F = 12
|Dec record low F = 2
|year record low F = 0
|precipitation colour=green
|Jan precipitation inch = 3.29
|Feb precipitation inch = 2.57
|Mar precipitation inch = 2.78
|Apr precipitation inch = 1.24
|May precipitation inch = 0.53
|Jun precipitation inch = 0.45
|Jul precipitation inch = 2.95
|Aug precipitation inch = 3.46
|Sep precipitation inch = 2.10
|Oct precipitation inch = 1.96
|Nov precipitation inch = 1.90
|Dec precipitation inch = 3.29
|Jan snow inch = 7.1
|Feb snow inch = 4.2
|Mar snow inch = 3.5
|Apr snow inch = 0.7
|May snow inch = 0.5
|Jun snow inch = 0.0
|Jul snow inch = 0.0
|Aug snow inch = 0.0
|Sep snow inch = 0.0
|Oct snow inch = 0.0
|Nov snow inch = 0.6
|Dec snow inch = 3.8
|Jan precipitation days = 7
|Feb precipitation days = 6
|Mar precipitation days = 6
|Apr precipitation days = 3
|May precipitation days = 2
|Jun precipitation days = 2
|Jul precipitation days = 9
|Aug precipitation days = 10
|Sep precipitation days = 6
|Oct precipitation days = 4
|Nov precipitation days = 4
|Dec precipitation days = 6
|unit precipitation days = 0.01 in
{{cite web
| url = http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?az7876
| title = SIERRA ANCHA, ARIZONA (027876)
| publisher = Western Regional Climate Center
| access-date = 2010-02-27
}}
|date=December 2011
}}
Geology
Image:South Fork Parker Canyon, Sierra Ancha, Arizona.jpg
The Sierra Ancha features significant exposures of the Apache Group, a complex consisting of Proterozoic conglomerate, shale, dolomitic limestone, and quartzite, with large-scale intrusions of diabase. The purplish Dripping Spring Quartzite and white-pinkish Troy Quartzite are much more resistant to weathering than the surrounding strata and form the Sierra Ancha's spectacular cliffs. In lower Parker Canyon, on the range's south face, the Dripping Springs Quartzite forms precipices with a {{convert|200|m|-2|abbr=on}} vertical drop. The light-colored cliffs topping upper Parker Canyon have been formed from the Troy Quartzite. The basement (lowest) rock throughout the range consists of the Proterozoic Ruin Granite. The top of Aztec Peak is capped with a coarse-grained, brown, Cambrian sandstone analogous to the Tapeats Sandstone of the Grand Canyon. The Tapeats Sandstone lies on an unconformity at {{convert|850|m|abbr=on}} in the Grand Canyon, whereas at Aztec Peak it appears at about {{convert|2350|m|abbr=on}}, a vertical displacement from which can be inferred about {{convert|1500|m|abbr=on}} of ancient uplift, implying that the Sierra Ancha once stood at least 1500 m higher than the range does today, and that the Paleozoic strata which overlie the Tapeats in the Grand Canyon have been removed in the Sierra Ancha through erosion. Gravels consistent with erosional removal and deposition can be found on top of the Colorado Plateau to the north of the Sierra Ancha.Ivo Lucchitta. 2001
References
- C. Michael Hogan. 2008. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110711102430/http://www.globaltwitcher.com/artspec_information.asp?thingid=88976 Coastal Woodfern (Dryopteris arguta), GlobalTwitcher, ed. N. Stromberg]
- Jepson Manual. 1993. [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?19,27,28 Dryopteris arguta, University of California Press, Berkeley, California]
- Ivo Lucchitta. 2001. Hiking Arizona's Geology, The Mountaineers Books, Seattle, Wash., pp. 145–149.
Line notes
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Sierra Ancha}}
- [http://www.topoquest.com/map.asp?z=12&n=3741401&e=508499&s=100&size=l&datum=nad83&layer=DRG100 Topographic map from TopoQuest]
- [http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/tonto/specialplaces/?cid=fsbdev3_018738 Tonto National Forest—Sierra Ancha Wilderness]
- [http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/tonto/specialplaces/?cid=fsbdev3_018737 Tonto National Forest—Salome Wilderness]
- [http://www.gorp.com/parks-guide/travel-ta-tonto-national-forest-arizona-sidwcmdev_069079.html Sierra Ancha Wilderness at GORP]
- [http://www.gorp.com/parks-guide/travel-ta-tonto-national-forest-arizona-sidwcmdev_069076.html Salome Wilderness at GORP]
- [http://www.fs.fed.us/rmrs/experimental-forests/sierra-ancha-experimental-forest/ Sierra Ancha Experimental Forest (USFS)]
{{Mountains of Arizona}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|33|57|27|N|111|11|12|W|display=title}}
Category:Arizona transition zone mountain ranges
Category:Archaeological sites in Arizona
Category:Mountain ranges of Gila County, Arizona