Earth:Tower of Ra

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Short description: Landform in the Grand Canyon, Arizona
Tower of Ra
Tower of Ra.jpg
South aspect, from Hermits Rest on South Rim
Highest point
Elevation6,129 ft (1,868 m) [1]
Prominence709 ft (216 m) [1]
Parent peakOsiris Temple (6,613 ft)[1]
Isolation0.97 mi (1.56 km) [1]
Coordinates [ ⚑ ] : 36°08′27″N 112°12′14″W / 36.1408150°N 112.2037831°W / 36.1408150; -112.2037831[2]
Geography
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LocationGrand Canyon National Park
Coconino County, Arizona, US
Parent rangeKaibab Plateau
Colorado Plateau
Topo mapUSGS Shiva Temple
Geology
Type of rocksandstone, siltstone, mudstone
Climbing
First ascent1977
Easiest routeclass 5.1 climbing[1]

Tower of Ra is a 6,129-foot-elevation (1,868-meter) pillar located in the Grand Canyon, in Coconino County of Arizona, US.[2] Its summit is situated five miles north of Pima Point overlook on the canyon's South Rim, three miles southeast of Confucius Temple, and two miles northwest of Tower of Set, where it towers over 3,700 feet (1,100 meters) above the Colorado River. Tower of Ra was named in 1879 by Thomas Moran, for Ra, the Egyptian deity of the sun.[2][3] This followed the naming convention of Clarence Dutton who began the tradition of naming geographical features in the Grand Canyon after mythological deities.[4] This mountain's name was officially adopted in 1906 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.[2] The first ascent was made in 1977 by Jim Haggart, Art Christiansen, and Barbara Zinn. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Tower of Ra is located in a cold semi-arid climate zone.[5]

Geology

The top of Tower of Ra is composed of the reddish Pennsylvanian-Permian Supai Group.[6] Further down are strata of Mississippian Redwall Limestone, the Cambrian Tonto Group, and finally granite of the Paleoproterozoic Vishnu Basement Rocks at river level. Precipitation runoff from Tower of Ra drains south to the Colorado River via Crystal and Ninetyfour Mile Creeks.

See also

  • Geology of the Grand Canyon area
Tower of Ra sunset

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Tower of Ra – 6,129' AZ". https://listsofjohn.com/peak/73508. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Tower of Ra". United States Geological Survey. https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:12655. 
  3. Gregory McNamee, Grand Canyon Place Names, 1997, Mountaineers Publisher, ISBN:9780898865332, page 110.
  4. Randy Moore and Kara Felicia Witt, The Grand Canyon: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture, 2018, ABC-CLIO Publisher, page 151.
  5. Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L.; McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification". Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11. ISSN 1027-5606. 
  6. N.H. Darton, Story of the Grand Canyon of Arizona, 1917, page 37.
Aerial view with Tower of Ra centered. Mencius and Confucius Temples top, Osiris Temple right

External links