Tower of Ra explained

Tower of Ra
Label:Tower of Ra
Label Position:bottom
Elevation Ft:6129
Elevation Ref:[1]
Prominence Ft:709
Isolation Mi:0.97
Parent Peak:Osiris Temple (6,613 ft)
Country:United States
State:Arizona
Region:Coconino
Region Type:County
Part Type:Protected area
Part:Grand Canyon National Park
Range:Kaibab Plateau
Colorado Plateau
Map:Arizona#USA
Map Size:230
Coordinates:36.1408°N -112.2038°W
Coordinates Ref:[2]
Topo:USGS Shiva Temple
Rock:sandstone, siltstone, mudstone
First Ascent:1977
Easiest Route: climbing

Tower of Ra is a 6129feet 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 3700abbr=offNaNabbr=off 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

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Tower of Ra – 6,129' AZ . Lists of John . December 23, 2020 .
  2. 12655 . Tower of Ra . 2020-12-23.
  3. Gregory McNamee, Grand Canyon Place Names, 1997, Mountaineers Publisher,, 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 . 1027-5606.
  6. N.H. Darton, Story of the Grand Canyon of Arizona, 1917, page 37.