Genesis of Mount McDowell

By James Taysom

993869537

Fall 08

December 10, 2008

Figure 1. This is a view of Mount McDowell across the salt river.

Just Southwest of the junction of the Verde River and the Salt River there is a small

but impressive mountain called Mount McDowell. Although it should not be confused

with the McDowell Mountain Range, it is also commonly called Red Mountain (one of

the many Red Mountains in Arizona). To the casual observer it is nothing more than a

beautiful landscape, but its true beauty can only be ascertained by understanding what all

it took for us to see this scene.

Figure 2. This is the overall geological map of the area. Mount McDowell would be

found in the beige section labeled Tsm just southwest of where the two rivers join

together. The rock type is mostly conglomerate made up of the eroded material of the

weathered granitic mountain ranges.

The nickname of Red Mountain says a lot about its composition. One of the most

common sources of red colored rock is sandstone. It is a weak rock formed from either

ancient rivers or beaches and it covers much of Arizona. Once deposited, the sand

solidifies and over time becomes sandstone. The reddish color would mean that the

sandstone possibly contains some sort of iron oxide which would give the over all

formation the red color.

Figure 3. This is a geological profile showing the three main rock types in Mount

McDowell. Tc is layered sedimentary rock comprising mostly of sandstone and various

conglomerates. Tts is ash-flow tuff. Tm is a mafic igneous rock which on the left is most

likely intrusive while in the top center it may be extrusive. The solid black lines are faults

and the faulting can be best seen on the left center where the mafic rock is slightly offset.

There are several other types of rocks that are often found with sandstone. These

include conglomerate, mudstone and even limestone. As oceans, lakes and rivers change

in elevation or the intensity of rivers the type of sediment deposited also changes. If after

the elevation of the water rose after a period of sandstone deposition there might be

layers of mudstone or possibly limestone on top of the sandstone. If the elevation

dropped there could be larger particles deposited creating a layer of conglomerate on top

of the sandstone. This layering pattern can be seen easily in the top section of the

mountain where there are distinct layers of rock running parallel to the top of the

mountain.
 Figure 4. This contains the same rock type as figure 1 but here it is easier to see some

of the layering that is so distinct in Mount McDowell. Again in this figure it is wasy to see

the effects of the faulting as the Tts layer is greatly offset in the center of the figure.

There is also a lighter colored rock that can be seen on the far right of the mountain.

This could be some of the ash-flow tuff that is found in the mountain as seen in figures 3

and 4 (Skotnicki 25). This igneous rock type is from the ash after an eruption that welds

together to form this light colored rock. There also is a mafic igneous rock that may

possibly be intrusive sills as seen in figures 3 and 4.

The weathering of Mount McDowell is primarily from two sources. The first is salt

weathering that undercuts the cliffs and creates the taffoni on the cliff sides. The second

form of weathering is that of the lichens that grow on the rocks and especially in areas

where there is high moisture content. These two types of weathering are the main reason

that Mount McDowell has weathered and eroded to its current position.

Salt weathering is a type of mechanical weathering that can have very powerful

effects on rock; especially in deserts where salt is often found. There are several ways

that salt will help in the decomposition of rocks. First just by the salt crystals growing,
the rock starts to be forced apart. Then as there is expansion from the salt heating up or as

it becomes hydrated the rock is further pushed apart. In the case of Mount McDowell, salt

weathering is the cause of the taffoni such as is seen in figure 5 below. As salt breaks the

rocks apart, wind and rain erode the weathered material leaving room for more rock to be

weathered and eventually eroded. If there is salt weathering at the base of a cliff it will

begin to create a notch that will eventually lead to the undercutting and destabilization of

the cliff and a rock fall will soon follow.

Figure 5. This is a diagram of how taffoni form. As shown above salt and moisture

start the process of weathering through salt efflorescence. Then as wind and rain erode

the material the taffoni grows until it becomes the larger cavernous features that can be

seen on Mount McDowell.

 The second main form of weathering is that of lithobionts; or more specifically

lichens. The lichens as they grow on the rock will slowly weather the rock that they cover

as seen in figure 6. Then as the lichen dies it will reveal an area of weak deteriorated

material that will quickly erode away. This will leave lithobiont pitting behind which is a

rough surface that appears to be covered in small holes. The North side of Mount

McDowell is heavily covered in lichens, but the entire area shows some lichen growth.

This contributes to the overall weathering of the mountain (Paradise 3).

Figure 6. This four step process shows how lichens are weathering Mount McDowell.

As it grows the lichen disintegrates the rock underneath. As time passes by the lichen dies

off in that particular area exposing the weathered material to be eroded.

There are several things that happen after the rock is weathered to move it away

from the cliff face. The first erosion process that will usually occur is rock fall. This is

where gravity has enough effect on the cliff to break off a section at natural area of

weakness in the rock and cause those rocks to fall as is seen in figure 7. The rocks fall

and form talus cones or small slopes of colluvial material. In figure 1 there can be seen

several different levels where cliffs are found. This is because the top layer is a resistant

layer of rock called a capstone. This layer of rock protects the rocks underneath from
weathering and slows down the mass wasting process. It is not until the softer rock

underneath is sufficiently weathered and weakened that the undercutting will collapse the

area and the capstone falls with the other material.

Figure 7. This shows the process of cliff retreat. The slope of eroded material starts

off with a shallow slope. As the material is washed away the slope increases until the

point where gravity overcomes the weaknesses in the cliff face and causes a rock fall. The

newly fallen rocks decrease the slope of the hill and re-stabilize the cliff.

Once the material has fallen to the cliff side, it takes another erosional process to

move that talus away from the cliffs. The rocks will be moved away through fluvial

processes every time it rains. As the water runs down the sides of the mountain it will

carry with it the weathered particles and sweep the mountainside clean. As seen in figure

1 there are certain areas that have little to no debris at the base. There are others, like in

the center, that have a talus cone. The smaller weathered material is easily swept away in

the rills that line the mountain. In the cases of larger rock falls however, the cobbles

would be too big to be moved by the small amounts of water that could run off the

mountain and so the talus cone remains.

 Figure 8. This is a diagram of the ancient and modern floodplains of the Salt River.

Each time the relative base level dropped a new floodplain was cut which has left a series

of floodplain terraces.

Fluvial processes from the Salt River are the last process that was involved in both

erosion and deposition. Before dams were built upstream to create reservoirs, the stream

would have seasons of flooding. During a flood any of the smaller weathered material at

the base of Mount McDowell would be swept away in the torrential currents. At the same

time there would be material deposited on the banks, which over time created river

terraces. One of these terraces can be seen in the center of figure 1. This terrace can be

identified as the mesa river terrace. The fluvial processes have not done much to shape

this mountain in recent history but it did play a major part.

The last thing that should be addressed is something that gives Mount McDowell

such an interesting look. As can be seen very easily in figure 1, the mountain slopes

gently on one side giving it a unique look and exposing many layers of strata. This is

from the faulting that occurred during the expansion of the basin and range. After the

different levels of rock solidified, the tectonic action in the area tilted all of the rock. So

as seen in figures 3 and 4 there are even areas within Mount McDowell that have been

offset by this tectonic action.

 Figure 9. Shown here is the end result of the tectonic activity in the area. After the

area was compressed there was a period of time when the pressure subsided allowing for

the expansion in the basin and range region. The granitic core tilted as seen and the

mountains ranges began to erode away and filled in the basins. The inverted beige

triangles represent the sediment layers.

It took millions of years of deposition, faulting, weathering and mass wasting to

create this beautiful landscape that we see today. It is made up of the conglomerates and

igneous rock that has been deposited. Salt and lichens are weathering Mount McDowell,

and continue to reshape the cliffs and slopes. As the materials weather, gravity moves the

material through rock falls and fluvial processes. All of this creates what is seen today as

a tranquil landscape.
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