tinaja

{{merge|Tenaja|target=Tinaja|discuss=Talk:Tinaja#Merge proposal|date=April 2025}}

{{Short description|Depression landform in bedrock}}

File:Tinajas.jpg]]

A tinaja {{IPA|es|tiˈnaxa|}} is a surface pocket (depression) formed in bedrock that occurs below waterfalls, that is carved out by spring flow or seepage,Osterkamp, W. R. 2008. Annotated Definitions of Selected Geomorphic Terms and Related Terms of Hydrology, Sedimentology, Soil Science and Ecology: Reston, Virginia, Open File Report 2008-1217, pp 49 or that is caused by sand and gravel scouring in intermittent streams (arroyos).{{Cite book|author=Fox, William|year=2005|title=Desert Water|location=Portland, Oregon|publisher=Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=L2huBuA4THAC&pg=PT12 12]|isbn=978-1-55868-858-2}}{{Cite book|author=Mabbutt, J. A.|year=1977|title=Desert Landforms|location=Canberra|publisher=Australian National University Press|page=182|isbn=978-0-7081-0437-8}} Tinajas are an important source of surface water storage in arid environments.Brown, T. B. and R. R. Johnson. 1983. The distribution of bedrock depressions (tinajas) as sources of surface water in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science 18: 61-68.

These relatively rare landforms are important ecologically, because they support unique plant communities and provide important services to terrestrial wildlife.National Park Service (NPS). 2006. [https://www.nps.gov/orpi/learn/nature/orpi-ecological-monitoring-report.htm Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument Ecological Monitoring Report], 1997–2005, Chapter 14: Water Quality.https://www.nps.gov/orpi/learn/nature/orpi-ecological-monitoring-report.htm

The term originates in Spain, being Spanish for "clay jar", and is used in the American Southwest.