1.
Summit
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A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically, a summit is a maximum in elevation. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak, and zenith are synonymous, the UIAA definition is that a summit is independent if it has a prominence of 30 metres or more, it is a mountain if it has a prominence of at least 300 metres. This can be summarised as follows, A pyramidal peak is an exaggerated form produced by ice erosion of a mountain top, Summit may also refer to the highest point along a line, trail, or route. In many parts of the western United States, the term refers to the highest point along a road, highway. For example, the highest point along Interstate 80 in California is referred to as Donner Summit while the highest point on Interstate 5 is Siskiyou Mountain Summit, geoid Hill List of highest mountains Maxima and minima Nadir Summit accordance Peak finder
2.
North American Vertical Datum of 1988
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NAVD88 was established in 1991 by the minimum-constraint adjustment of geodetic leveling observations in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. It held fixed the height of the tidal bench mark, referenced to the International Great Lakes Datum of 1985 local mean sea level height value, at Rimouski, Quebec. The definition of NAVD88 uses the Helmert orthometric height, which calculates the location of the geoid from modeled local gravity, the NAVD88 model is based on then-available measurements, and remains fixed despite later improved geoid models. NAVD88 replaced the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929, previously known as the Sea Level Datum of 1929, the elevation difference between points in a local area will show negligible change from one datum to the other, even though the elevation of both does change. NGVD29 used a model of gravity based on latitude to calculate the geoid and did not take into account other variations. Thus, the difference for points across the country does change between datums. Altitude Geodesy Sea Level Datum of 1929 Topographic elevation Topography Reference ellipsoid Geoid United States Geological Survey home page, U. S. National Geodetic Survey home page
3.
Topographic prominence
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It is a measure of the independence of a summit. A peaks key col is a point on this contour line. By convention, the prominence of Mount Everest, the Earths highest mountain, is taken to equal the elevation of its summit above sea level, if the peaks prominence is P metres, to get from the summit to any higher terrain one must descend at least P metres. Together with the convention for Mount Everest, this implies that the prominence of any island or continental highpoint is equal to its elevation above sea level, for every ridge connecting the peak to higher terrain, find the lowest point on the ridge. The key col is defined as the highest of these cols, the prominence is the difference between the elevation of the peak and the elevation of the key col. The following mental exercise may illustrate the meaning of topographic prominence, imagine you are standing at the top of a peak and imagine that an imaginary sea level rises to your feet. Now slowly lower the sea level and an imaginary island appears beneath your feet. Your island will grow and will merge with other islands that emerge, the parent peak may be either close or far from the subject peak. The summit of Mount Everest is the parent peak of Aconcagua at a distance of 17,755 km, the key col may also be close or far from the subject peak. The key col for Aconcagua is the Bering Strait at a distance of 13,655 km, the key col for the South Summit of Mount Everest is about 100 m distant. Prominence is interesting to many mountaineers because it is a measurement that is strongly correlated with the subjective significance of a summit. Peaks with low prominences are either subsidiary tops of some higher summit or relatively insignificant independent summits, peaks with high prominences tend to be the highest points around and are likely to have extraordinary views. Only summits with a sufficient degree of prominence are regarded as independent mountains, for example, the worlds second-highest mountain is K2. While Mount Everests South Summit is taller than K2, it is not considered an independent mountain because it is a subsummit of the main summit, many lists of mountains take topographic prominence as a criterion for inclusion, or cutoff. John and Anne Nuttalls The Mountains of England and Wales uses a cutoff of 15 m, in the contiguous United States, the famous list of fourteeners uses a cutoff of 300 ft /91 m. Also in the U. S.2000 feet of prominence has become a threshold that signifies that a peak has major stature. This generates lists of peaks ranked by prominence, which are different from lists ranked by elevation. Such lists tend to emphasize isolated high peaks, such as range or island high points, one advantage of a prominence-ranked list is that it needs no cutoff, since a peak with high prominence is automatically an independent peak
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
Tucson, Arizona
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Tucson is a city and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States, and home to the University of Arizona. The 2010 United States Census put the population at 520,116, the Tucson MSA forms part of the larger Tucson-Nogales combined statistical area, with a total population of 1,010,025 as of the 2010 Census. Tucson is the second-largest populated city in Arizona behind Phoenix, both of which anchor the Arizona Sun Corridor, the city is located 108 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 mi north of the U. S. –Mexico border. Tucson is the 33rd largest city and the 53rd largest metropolitan area in the United States, Major incorporated suburbs of Tucson include Oro Valley and Marana northwest of the city, Sahuarita south of the city, and South Tucson in an enclave south of downtown. Communities in the vicinity of Tucson include Casas Adobes, Catalina Foothills, Flowing Wells, Midvale Park, Tanque Verde, Tortolita, towns outside the Tucson metro area include Benson to the southeast, Catalina and Oracle to the north, and Green Valley to the south. The Spanish name of the city, Tucsón, is derived from the Oodham Cuk Ṣon, meaning base of the black, Tucson is sometimes referred to as The Old Pueblo. Tucson was probably first visited by Paleo-Indians, known to have been in southern Arizona about 12,000 years ago, recent archaeological excavations near the Santa Cruz River have located a village site dating from 2100 BC. The floodplain of the Santa Cruz River was extensively farmed during the Early Agricultural Period and these people constructed irrigation canals and grew corn, beans, and other crops while gathering wild plants and hunting. The Early Ceramic period occupation of Tucson saw the first extensive use of vessels for cooking. The groups designated as the Hohokam lived in the area from AD600 to 1450 and are known for their vast irrigation canal systems and their red-on-brown pottery. Jesuit missionary Eusebio Francisco Kino visited the Santa Cruz River valley in 1692, a separate Convento settlement was founded downstream along the Santa Cruz River, near the base of what is now A mountain. Hugo OConor, the father of the city of Tucson, Arizona authorized the construction of a military fort in that location, Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón. During the Spanish period of the presidio, attacks such as the Second Battle of Tucson were repeatedly mounted by Apaches, eventually the town came to be called Tucson and became a part of Sonora after Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821. Tucson was not included in the Mexican Cession and Cookes road through Tucson became one of the important routes into California during the California Gold Rush, Arizona, south of the Gila River, was obtained via treaty from Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase on June 8,1854. Tucson became a part of the United States of America, although the American military did not formally take control until March 1856. In 1857, Tucson became a station on the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line. The Overland Mail Corporation attempted to continue running, however, following the Bascom Affair, devastating Apache attacks on the stations, from August 1861 to mid-1862, Tucson was the western capital of the Confederate Arizona Territory, the eastern capital being Mesilla. In 1862, the California Column drove the Confederate forces out of Arizona, Tucson and all of what is now Arizona were part of New Mexico Territory until 1863, when they became part of the new Arizona Territory
6.
Pima County, Arizona
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Pima County /ˈpiːmə/ is a county in the south central region of the U. S. state of Arizona. As of the 2010 census, the population was 980,263, the county seat is Tucson, where nearly all of the population is centered. The county is named after the Pima Native Americans who are indigenous to this area, Pima County comprises the Tucson, AZ Metropolitan Statistical Area. The vast majority of the county lies in and around the city of Tucson. Tucson, Arizonas second largest city, is a major commercial, other urban areas include the Tucson suburbs of Oro Valley, Marana, Sahuarita, and South Tucson, a large ring of unincorporated urban development, and the growing satellite town Green Valley. The rest of the county is sparsely populated, the largest towns are Sells, the capital of the Tohono Oodham Nation, and Ajo in the countys far western region. Pima County, one of the four counties in Arizona, was created by the 1st Arizona Territorial Legislature with land acquired through the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico in 1853. The original county consisted of all of Arizona Territory east of longitude 113°20, soon thereafter, the counties of Cochise, Graham and Santa Cruz were carved from the original Pima County. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 9,189 square miles. As of the 2000 census, there were 843,746 people,332,350 households, the population density was 92 people per square mile. There were 366,737 housing units at a density of 40 per square mile. 29. 34% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,22. 80% reported speaking Spanish at home. 28. 50% of all households were made up of individuals and 9. 40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.06. In the county, the population was out with 24. 60% under the age of 18,10. 90% from 18 to 24,28. 40% from 25 to 44,21. 90% from 45 to 64. The median age was 36 years, for every 100 females there were 95.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.70 males, the median income for a household in the county was $36,758, and the median income for a family was $44,446. Males had an income of $32,156 versus $24,959 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,785, about 10. 50% of families and 14. 70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19. 40% of those under age 18 and 8. 20% of those age 65 or over
7.
Arizona
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Arizona is a state in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the Western United States and the Mountain West states and it is the sixth largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix, Arizona is one of the Four Corners states. It has borders with New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California, and Mexico, Arizonas border with Mexico is 389 miles long, on the northern border of the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California. Arizona is the 48th state and last of the states to be admitted to the Union. Historically part of the territory of Alta California in New Spain, after being defeated in the Mexican–American War, Mexico ceded much of this territory to the United States in 1848. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the Gadsden Purchase, Southern Arizona is known for its desert climate, with very hot summers and mild winters. There are ski resorts in the areas of Flagstaff, Alpine, in addition to the Grand Canyon National Park, there are several national forests, national parks, and national monuments. To the European settlers, their pronunciation sounded like Arissona, the area is still known as alĭ ṣonak in the Oodham language. Another possible origin is the Basque phrase haritz ona, as there were numerous Basque sheepherders in the area, There is a misconception that the states name originated from the Spanish term Árida Zona. See also lists of counties, islands, rivers, lakes, state parks, national parks, Arizona is in the Southwestern United States as one of the Four Corners states. Arizona is the sixth largest state by area, ranked after New Mexico, of the states 113,998 square miles, approximately 15% is privately owned. The remaining area is public forest and park land, state trust land, Arizona is well known for its desert Basin and Range region in the states southern portions, which is rich in a landscape of xerophyte plants such as the cactus. This regions topography was shaped by volcanism, followed by the cooling-off. Its climate has hot summers and mild winters. The state is well known for its pine-covered north-central portion of the high country of the Colorado Plateau. Like other states of the Southwest United States, Arizona has an abundance of mountains, despite the states aridity, 27% of Arizona is forest, a percentage comparable to modern-day France or Germany. The worlds largest stand of pine trees is in Arizona
8.
Mountain range
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A mountain range is a geographic area containing numerous geologically related mountains. A mountain system or system of ranges, sometimes is used to combine several geological features that are geographically related. Mountain ranges are usually segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys, individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geologic structure or petrology. They may be a mix of different orogenic expressions and terranes, for example thrust sheets, uplifted blocks, fold mountains, most geologically young mountain ranges on the Earths land surface are associated with either the Pacific Ring of Fire or the Alpide Belt. The Andes is 7,000 kilometres long and is considered the worlds longest mountain system. The Alpide belt includes Indonesia and southeast Asia, through the Himalaya, the belt also includes other European and Asian mountain ranges. The Himalayas contain the highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest, mountain ranges outside of these two systems include the Arctic Cordillera, the Urals, the Appalachians, the Scandinavian Mountains, the Altai Mountains and the Hijaz Mountains. If the definition of a range is stretched to include underwater mountains. The mountain systems of the earth are characterized by a tree structure, the sub-range relationship is often expressed as a parent-child relationship. For example, the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Blue Ridge Mountains are sub-ranges of the Appalachian Mountains, equivalently, the Appalachians are the parent of the White Mountains and Blue Ridge Mountains, and the White Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains are children of the Appalachians. The position of mountains influences climate, such as rain or snow, when air masses move up and over mountains, the air cools producing orographic precipitation. As the air descends on the side, it warms again and is drier. Often, a shadow will affect the leeward side of a range. Mountain ranges are constantly subjected to forces which work to tear them down. Erosion is at work while the mountains are being uplifted and long after until the mountains are reduced to low hills, rivers are traditionally believed to be the principle erosive factor on mountain ranges, with their ability of bedrock incision and sediment transport. The rugged topography of a range is the product of erosion. The basins adjacent to a mountain range are filled with sediments which are buried and turned into sedimentary rock. The early Cenozoic uplift of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado provides an example and this mass of rock was removed as the range was actively undergoing uplift
9.
Tucson Mountains
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The Tucson Mountains are a minor mountain range west of Tucson, Arizona. The Tucson Mountains, including Wasson Peak, are one of four mountain ranges surrounding the Tucson Basin. The Santa Catalina Mountains lie to the northeast, the Rincon Mountains are to the east of Tucson, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is located on the west flank of the Tucson Mountains. Much of the range is protected by Saguaro National Park and Tucson Mountain County Park, old Tucson Studios are located just west of the Tucson Mountains. Tucson Mountain Park was established April 1929, the Pima County Parks Commission, with C. B. Brown as its chairman, was established to oversee the park. At approximately 20,000 acres, the park is one of the largest natural resource areas owned and managed by a government in the U. S. The park has approximately 62 miles of non-motorized shared-use trails, the area is popular with hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians. Saguaro National Park was created as a National Monument in 1933, the Tucson Mountain District of Saguaro National Park ranges from an elevation of 2,180 ft to 4,687 ft and contains 2 biotic communities, desert scrub, and desert grassland. Average annual precipitation is approximately 10.27 in, common wildlife include the coyote, Gambel’s quail, and desert tortoise. Kinney who worked with Brown in the creation of the park and McCain Loop was named for J. C. McCain, the first park ranger. Old Yuma Mine Madrean Sky Islands Tucson Mountain Park official site David Leighton, Street Smarts, Successful cattleman the namesake for Kinney Road, Arizona Daily Star, April 22,2014
10.
Topographic map
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Traditional definitions require a topographic map to show both natural and man-made features. A topographic map is published as a map series, made up of two or more map sheets that combine to form the whole map. A contour line is a line connecting places of equal elevation, however, in the vernacular and day to day world, the representation of relief is popularly held to define the genre, such that even small-scale maps showing relief are commonly called topographic. The study or discipline of topography is a broader field of study. Topographic maps are based on topographical surveys, performed at large scales, these surveys are called topographical in the old sense of topography, showing a variety of elevations and landforms. This is in contrast to older cadastral surveys, which primarily show property, the first multi-sheet topographic map series of an entire country, the Carte géométrique de la France, was completed in 1789. Topographic surveys were prepared by the military to assist in planning for battle, as such, elevation information was of vital importance. As they evolved, topographic map series became a resource in modern nations in planning infrastructure. Excluding borders, each sheet was 44 cm high and up to 66 cm wide, although the project eventually foundered, it left an indexing system that remains in use. TIGER was developed in the 1980s and used in the 1990, digital elevation models were also compiled, initially from topographic maps and stereographic interpretation of aerial photographs and then from satellite photography and radar data. Since all these were government projects funded with taxes and not classified for security reasons. Initial applications were mostly professionalized forms such as innovative surveying instruments, by the mid-1990s, increasingly user-friendly resources such as online mapping in two and three dimensions, integration of GPS with mobile phones and automotive navigation systems appeared. As of 2011, the future of standardized, centrally printed topographical maps is left somewhat in doubt, the various features shown on the map are represented by conventional signs or symbols. For example, colors can be used to indicate a classification of roads and these signs are usually explained in the margin of the map, or on a separately published characteristic sheet. Topographic maps are commonly called contour maps or topo maps. In the United States, where the national series is organized by a strict 7. 5-minute grid. Topographic maps conventionally show topography, or land contours, by means of contour lines, contour lines are curves that connect contiguous points of the same altitude. In other words, every point on the line of 100 m elevation is 100 m above mean sea level
11.
United States Geological Survey
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The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its resources. The organization has four science disciplines, concerning biology, geography, geology. The USGS is a research organization with no regulatory responsibility. The USGS is a bureau of the United States Department of the Interior, the USGS employs approximately 8,670 people and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia. The USGS also has major offices near Lakewood, Colorado, at the Denver Federal Center, the current motto of the USGS, in use since August 1997, is science for a changing world. The agencys previous slogan, adopted on the occasion of its anniversary, was Earth Science in the Public Service. Prompted by a report from the National Academy of Sciences, the USGS was created, by a last-minute amendment and it was charged with the classification of the public lands, and examination of the geological structure, mineral resources, and products of the national domain. This task was driven by the need to inventory the vast lands added to the United States by the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the legislation also provided that the Hayden, Powell, and Wheeler surveys be discontinued as of June 30,1879. Clarence King, the first director of USGS, assembled the new organization from disparate regional survey agencies, after a short tenure, King was succeeded in the directors chair by John Wesley Powell. Administratively, it is divided into a Headquarters unit and six Regional Units, Other specific programs include, Earthquake Hazards Program monitors earthquake activity worldwide. The National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colorado on the campus of the Colorado School of Mines detects the location, the USGS also runs or supports several regional monitoring networks in the United States under the umbrella of the Advanced National Seismic System. The USGS informs authorities, emergency responders, the media, and it also maintains long-term archives of earthquake data for scientific and engineering research. It also conducts and supports research on long-term seismic hazards, USGS has released the UCERF California earthquake forecast. The USGS National Geomagnetism Program monitors the magnetic field at magnetic observatories and distributes magnetometer data in real time, the USGS operates the streamgaging network for the United States, with over 7400 streamgages. Real-time streamflow data are available online, since 1962, the Astrogeology Research Program has been involved in global, lunar, and planetary exploration and mapping. USGS operates a number of related programs, notably the National Streamflow Information Program. USGS Water data is available from their National Water Information System database
12.
Santa Cruz River (Arizona)
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The Santa Cruz River is a river in southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico. It is approximately 184 miles long, between Nogales and Tucson the river valley is flanked by the San Cayetano and Santa Rita Mountains on the east and the Atascosa, Tumacacori, and Sierrita Mountains on the west. Most of the Santa Cruz River is usually a dry riverbed and this was not always the case, as it was a combination of human errors and natural catastrophes in the late nineteenth century that led to the decline of the Santa Cruz. The city of Nogales, Sonora, has been releasing treated sewage into the Santa Cruz River and this has resulted in the revival of several miles of riverbank within and north of the city of Nogales, Arizona. The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail parallels much of the Santa Cruz, in Marana, there are approximately ten paved miles of multi-use recreational path along the Santa Cruz, located on Tangerine Road and through the Gladden Farms community park
13.
University of Arizona
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The University of Arizona is a public research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885, the UA was the first university in the Arizona Territory, the university operates two medical schools and is affiliated with the regions only academic medical centers. The university is home to the James E. Rogers College of Law and numerous other nationally ranked graduate. During the 2015-2016 academic year, there was an enrollment of 43,088 students. The University of Arizona is governed by the Arizona Board of Regents, the University of Arizona is one of the elected members of the Association of American Universities and is the only representative from the state of Arizona to this group. Known as the Arizona Wildcats, the teams are members of the Pac-12 Conference of the NCAA. UA athletes have won titles in several sports, most notably mens basketball, baseball. The official colors of the university and its teams are UA Red. After the passage of the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862, the push for a university in Arizona grew, the University of Arizona was approved by the Arizona Territorys Thieving Thirteenth Legislature in 1885, which also selected the city of Tucson to receive the appropriation to build the university. Tucson had hoped to receive the appropriation for the mental hospital. Tucson was largely disappointed with receiving what was viewed as an inferior prize. Construction of Old Main, the first building on campus, began on October 27,1887, and classes met for the first time in 1891 with 32 students in Old Main, which is still in use today. Because there were no schools in Arizona Territory, the university maintained separate preparatory classes for the first 23 years of operation. The University of Arizona offers 334 fields of study leading to bachelors, masters, doctoral, academic departments and programs are organized into colleges and schools. Currently, grades are given on a strict 4-point scale with A worth 4, B worth 3, C worth 2, D worth 1 and E worth zero points. In 2004, there were discussions with students and faculty that may lead the UA towards eventual usage of the grading system in future years. As of December 2015, the university uses the 4-points scale. The Center for World University Rankings in 2015 ranked Arizona 68th in the world, the 2015–16 Times Higher Education World University Rankings rated University of Arizona 163rd in the world and the 2016/17 QS World University Rankings ranked it 233rd
14.
Basalt
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Basalt is a common extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of basaltic lava exposed at or very near the surface of a planet or moon. Flood basalt describes the formation in a series of basalt flows. By definition, basalt is an igneous rock with generally 45-55% silica and less than 10% feldspathoid by volume. Basalt commonly features a very fine-grained or glassy matrix interspersed with visible mineral grains, the average density is 3.0 gm/cm3. Basalt is defined by its content and texture, and physical descriptions without mineralogical context may be unreliable in some circumstances. Basalt is usually grey to black in colour, but rapidly weathers to brown or rust-red due to oxidation of its mafic minerals into hematite, although usually characterized as dark, basaltic rocks exhibit a wide range of shading due to regional geochemical processes. Due to weathering or high concentrations of plagioclase, some basalts can be quite light-coloured and these phenocrysts usually are of olivine or a calcium-rich plagioclase, which have the highest melting temperatures of the typical minerals that can crystallize from the melt. Basalt with a texture is called vesicular basalt, when the bulk of the rock is mostly solid. Gabbro is often marketed commercially as black granite and these ultramafic volcanic rocks, with silica contents below 45% are usually classified as komatiites. Agricola applied basalt to the black rock of the Schloßberg at Stolpen. Tholeiitic basalt is relatively rich in silica and poor in sodium, included in this category are most basalts of the ocean floor, most large oceanic islands, and continental flood basalts such as the Columbia River Plateau. Basalt rocks are in some cases classified after their content in High-Ti and Low-Ti varieties. High-Ti and Low-Ti basalts have been distinguished in the Paraná and Etendeka traps and it has greater than 17% alumina and is intermediate in composition between tholeiite and alkali basalt, the relatively alumina-rich composition is based on rocks without phenocrysts of plagioclase. Alkali basalt is relatively poor in silica and rich in sodium and it is silica-undersaturated and may contain feldspathoids, alkali feldspar and phlogopite. Boninite is a form of basalt that is erupted generally in back-arc basins. Ocean island basalt Lunar basalt On Earth, most basalt magmas have formed by melting of the mantle. Basalt commonly erupts on Io, the third largest moon of Jupiter, and has formed on the Moon, Mars, Venus. The crustal portions of oceanic tectonic plates are composed predominantly of basalt, produced from upwelling mantle below, the mineralogy of basalt is characterized by a preponderance of calcic plagioclase feldspar and pyroxene
15.
Eusebio Kino
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Eusebio Francisco Kino, was an Italian Jesuit, missionary, geographer, explorer, cartographer and astronomer. For the last 24 years of his life he worked in the then known as the Pimería Alta, modern-day Sonora in Mexico. He explored the region and worked with the indigenous Native American population, including primarily the Tohono OOdham, Sobaipuri and he proved that the Baja California Peninsula is not an island by leading an overland expedition there. By the time of his death he had established 24 missions, Kino was born Eusebius Chinus in the village of Segno, then in the sovereign Prince-bishopric of Trent, a part of the Holy Roman Empire. Other sources cite his name as Eusebio Francesco Chini and his parents were Franciscus Chinus and Margherita Luchi. The exact date of his birth is unknown but he was baptized on 10 August 1645 in the parish church, Kino was educated in Innsbruck, Austria, and after recuperating from a serious illness, he joined the Society of Jesus on 20 November 1665. From 1664-69, he received training as a member of the Society at Freiburg, Ingolstadt. After completing a stage of training in the Society, during which he taught mathematics in Ingolstadt. Although Kino wanted to go to the Orient, he was sent to New Spain, due to travel delays while crossing Europe, he missed the ship on which he was to travel and had to wait a year for another ship. While waiting in Cádiz, Spain, he wrote some observations, done during late 1680 and early 1681, about his study of a comet, which he published as the Exposición astronómica de el cometa. This publication was later the subject of a sonnet by the noted colonial nun and poet of New Spain, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, kinos first assignment was to lead the Atondo expedition to the Baja California peninsula of Las Californias Province of New Spain. He established the Misión San Bruno in 1683, after a prolonged drought there in 1685, Kino and the Jesuit missionaries were forced to abandon the mission and return to the viceregal capital of Mexico City. See also Spanish missions in the Sonoran Desert Father Kino began his career in the Pimería Alta on the morning of 14 March 1687,24 years and this was the morning he left Cucurpe, a town once considered the Rim of Christendom. Once Father Kino arrived in the Pimería Alta, at the request of the natives, subsequently Kino traveled across northern Mexico, and to present day California and Arizona. He followed ancient trading routes established millennia prior by the natives and these trails were later expanded into roads. His many expeditions on horseback covered over 50,000 square miles, Kino was important in the economic growth of the area, working with the already agricultural indigenous native peoples and introducing them to European seed, fruits, herbs and grains. He also taught them to raise cattle, sheep and goats, kinos initial mission herd of twenty cattle imported to Pimería Alta grew during his period to 70,000. Historian Herbert Bolton referred to Kino as Arizonas first rancher, in his travels in the Pimería Alta, Father Kino interacted with 16 different tribes
16.
Mission San Xavier del Bac
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Mission San Xavier del Bac is a historic Spanish Catholic mission located about 10 miles south of downtown Tucson, Arizona, on the Tohono Oodham San Xavier Indian Reservation. It was founded in 1692 by Padre Eusebio Kino in the center of a centuries-old Indian settlement of the Tohono O’odham, the mission was named for Francis Xavier, a Christian missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus in Europe. The mission was built at a site near the historic 1700 church first constructed here and this served the mission until being razed during an Apache raid in 1770. Todays Mission was built between 1783-1797, it is the oldest European structure in Arizona, the labor was provided by the Oodham, widely considered to be the finest example of Spanish Colonial architecture in the United States, it hosts some 200,000 visitors each year. The site is known in Tohono Oodham language as the “place where the water appears. The Santa Cruz River, once critical to the communitys survival, the Mission is a pilgrimage site, with thousands visiting each year on foot and on horseback, in what are called cabalgatas in Spanish. San Xavier Mission was established in 1692 by Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, the little hill is believed to be that southeast of San Xavier del Bac. Charles III of Spain distrusted Jesuits and in 1767 banned them from Spanish lands in the Americas and he installed what he considered the more pliable and “reliable” Franciscans as replacements. The original church proved vulnerable to Apache attacks, which destroyed it in about 1770. The present Mission building was constructed under the direction of Franciscan fathers Juan Bautista Velderrain, with 7,000 pesos borrowed from a Sonoran rancher, they hired architect Ignacio Gaona, who employed a large workforce of Oodham to create todays church. Following Mexican independence in 1821, what was known as Alta California was administered from Mexico City. In 1822, the Mission was included under the jurisdiction of the Catholic Diocese of Sonora, in 1828, the Mexican government banned all Spanish-born priests, with the last resident Franciscan departing San Xavier for Spain in 1837. Left vacant, the Mission began to decay, concerned about their church, local Indians began to preserve what they could. With the Gadsden Purchase in 1854, San Xavier was brought under U. S. rule as part of the Territory of Arizona, the church was re-opened in 1859 when the Santa Fe Diocese added the Mission to its jurisdiction. It ordered repairs paid for with money, and assigned a priest to serve the community. In 1868 the Diocese of Tucson was established and it provided for regular services to be held again at the church. In 1872 the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet opened a school at the Mission for the Tohono O’odham children, in 1895 a grant of $1,000 was given to repair the building. More classrooms were added in 1900, the Franciscans returned to the Mission in 1913
17.
Igneous rock
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Igneous rock, or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava, the magma can be derived from partial melts of existing rocks in either a planets mantle or crust. Typically, the melting is caused by one or more of three processes, an increase in temperature, a decrease in pressure, or a change in composition, solidification into rock occurs either below the surface as intrusive rocks or on the surface as extrusive rocks. Igneous rock may form with crystallization to form granular, crystalline rocks, Igneous and metamorphic rocks make up 90–95% of the top 16 km of the Earths crust by volume. Igneous rocks form about 15% of the Earths current land surface, most of the Earths oceanic crust is made of igneous rock. In terms of modes of occurrence, igneous rocks can be either intrusive or extrusive, the mineral grains in such rocks can generally be identified with the naked eye. Intrusive rocks can also be classified according to the shape and size of the intrusive body, typical intrusive formations are batholiths, stocks, laccoliths, sills and dikes. When the magma solidifies within the earths crust, it cools slowly forming coarse textured rocks, such as granite, gabbro, the central cores of major mountain ranges consist of intrusive igneous rocks, usually granite. When exposed by erosion, these cores may occupy huge areas of the Earths surface, intrusive igneous rocks that form at depth within the crust are termed plutonic rocks and are usually coarse-grained. Intrusive igneous rocks that form near the surface are termed subvolcanic or hypabyssal rocks, hypabyssal rocks are less common than plutonic or volcanic rocks and often form dikes, sills, laccoliths, lopoliths, or phacoliths. Extrusive igneous rocks, also known as rocks, are formed at the crusts surface as a result of the partial melting of rocks within the mantle. Extrusive igneous rocks cool and solidify quicker than intrusive igneous rocks and they are formed by the cooling of molten magma on the earths surface. The magma, which is brought to the surface through fissures or volcanic eruptions, hence such rocks are smooth, crystalline and fine-grained. Basalt is an extrusive igneous rock and forms lava flows, lava sheets. Some kinds of basalt solidify to form long polygonal columns, the Giants Causeway in Antrim, Northern Ireland is an example. The molten rock, with or without suspended crystals and gas bubbles, is called magma and it rises because it is less dense than the rock from which it was created. When magma reaches the surface from beneath water or air, it is called lava, eruptions of volcanoes into air are termed subaerial, whereas those occurring underneath the ocean are termed submarine. Black smokers and mid-ocean ridge basalt are examples of volcanic activity
18.
Volcano
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A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. Earths volcanoes occur because its crust is broken into 17 major, therefore, on Earth, volcanoes are generally found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging. This type of volcanism falls under the umbrella of plate hypothesis volcanism, Volcanism away from plate boundaries has also been explained as mantle plumes. These so-called hotspots, for example Hawaii, are postulated to arise from upwelling diapirs with magma from the boundary,3,000 km deep in the Earth. Volcanoes are usually not created where two plates slide past one another. Erupting volcanoes can pose hazards, not only in the immediate vicinity of the eruption. Historically, so-called volcanic winters have caused catastrophic famines, the word volcano is derived from the name of Vulcano, a volcanic island in the Aeolian Islands of Italy whose name in turn comes from Vulcan, the god of fire in Roman mythology. The study of volcanoes is called volcanology, sometimes spelled vulcanology, at the mid-oceanic ridges, two tectonic plates diverge from one another as new oceanic crust is formed by the cooling and solidifying of hot molten rock. Most divergent plate boundaries are at the bottom of the oceans, therefore, most volcanic activity is submarine, black smokers are evidence of this kind of volcanic activity. Where the mid-oceanic ridge is above sea-level, volcanic islands are formed, for example, subduction zones are places where two plates, usually an oceanic plate and a continental plate, collide. In this case, the plate subducts, or submerges under the continental plate forming a deep ocean trench just offshore. In a process called flux melting, water released from the subducting plate lowers the temperature of the overlying mantle wedge. This magma tends to be very viscous due to its high content, so it often does not reach the surface. When it does reach the surface, a volcano is formed, typical examples of this kind of volcano are Mount Etna and the volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire. Because tectonic plates move across them, each volcano becomes dormant and is eventually re-formed as the plate advances over the postulated plume and this theory is currently under criticism, however. The most common perception of a volcano is of a mountain, spewing lava and poisonous gases from a crater at its summit, however. The features of volcanoes are more complicated and their structure. Some volcanoes have rugged peaks formed by lava domes rather than a summit crater while others have features such as massive plateaus
19.
Year
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A year is the orbital period of the Earth moving in its orbit around the Sun. Due to the Earths axial tilt, the course of a year sees the passing of the seasons, marked by changes in weather, the hours of daylight, and, consequently, vegetation and soil fertility. In temperate and subpolar regions around the globe, four seasons are recognized, spring, summer, autumn. In tropical and subtropical regions several geographical sectors do not present defined seasons, but in the seasonal tropics, a calendar year is an approximation of the number of days of the Earths orbital period as counted in a given calendar. The Gregorian, or modern, calendar, presents its calendar year to be either a common year of 365 days or a year of 366 days, as do the Julian calendars. For the Gregorian calendar the average length of the year across the complete leap cycle of 400 years is 365.2425 days. The ISO standard ISO 80000-3, Annex C, supports the symbol a to represent a year of either 365 or 366 days, in English, the abbreviations y and yr are commonly used. In astronomy, the Julian year is a unit of time, it is defined as 365.25 days of exactly 86400 seconds, totalling exactly 31557600 seconds in the Julian astronomical year. The word year is used for periods loosely associated with, but not identical to, the calendar or astronomical year, such as the seasonal year, the fiscal year. Similarly, year can mean the period of any planet, for example. The term can also be used in reference to any long period or cycle, west Saxon ġēar, Anglian ġēr continues Proto-Germanic *jǣran. Cognates are German Jahr, Old High German jār, Old Norse ár and Gothic jer, all the descendants of the Proto-Indo-European noun *yeh₁rom year, season. Cognates also descended from the same Proto-Indo-European noun are Avestan yārǝ year, Greek ὥρα year, season, period of time, Old Church Slavonic jarŭ, Latin annus is from a PIE noun *h₂et-no-, which also yielded Gothic aþn year. Both *yeh₁-ro- and *h₂et-no- are based on verbal roots expressing movement, *h₁ey- and *h₂et- respectively, the Greek word for year, ἔτος, is cognate with Latin vetus old, from the PIE word *wetos- year, also preserved in this meaning in Sanskrit vat-sa- yearling and vat-sa-ras year. Derived from Latin annus are a number of English words, such as annual, annuity, anniversary, etc. per annum means each year, anno Domini means in the year of the Lord. No astronomical year has an number of days or lunar months. Financial and scientific calculations often use a 365-day calendar to simplify daily rates, in the Julian calendar, the average length of a year is 365.25 days. In a non-leap year, there are 365 days, in a year there are 366 days
20.
Tuff
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Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is compacted into a rock in a process called consolidation. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly used as construction material. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered tuffaceous, Tuff is a relatively soft rock, so it has been used for construction since ancient times. Since it is common in Italy the Romans used it often for construction, the Rapa Nui people used it to make most of the moai statues in Easter Island. Tuff can be classified as either sedimentary or igneous rocks and they are usually studied in the context of igneous petrology, although they are sometimes described using sedimentological terms. The material that is expelled in a volcanic eruption can be classified into three types, Volcanic gases, a mixture mostly of water vapour, carbon dioxide. Lava, the name of magma when it emerges and flows over the surface, and tephra, chunks of solid material of all shapes and sizes ejected and thrown through the air. Tephra is made when magma inside the volcano is blown apart by the expansion of hot volcanic gases. It is common for magma to explode as the gas dissolved in it comes out of solution as the pressure decreases when it flows to the surface and these violent explosions produce solid chunks of material that can then fly from the volcano. When these chunks are smaller than 2 mm in diameter they are called volcanic ash and it is made of small, slaggy pieces of lava and rock that have been tossed into the air by outbursts of steam and other gases. Among the loose beds of ash that cover the slopes of many volcanoes, in addition to true ashes of the kind described above, there are lumps of the old lavas and tuffs forming the walls of the crater, etc. In some great volcanic explosions nothing but materials of the kind were emitted. The ashes vary in size from large blocks twenty feet or more in diameter to the minutest impalpable dust, the large masses are called volcanic bombs, they have mostly a rounded, elliptical or pear-shaped form owing to rotation in the air before they solidified. Many of them have ribbed or nodular surfaces, and sometimes they have a crust intersected by many cracks like the surface of a loaf of bread, any ash in which they are very abundant is called an agglomerate. But many volcanoes stand near the sea, and the ashes cast out by them are mingled with the sediments that are gathering at the bottom of the waters, in this way ashy muds or sands or even in some cases ashy limestones are being formed. As a matter of fact most of the found in the older formations contain admixtures of clay, sand, and sometimes fossil shells. The showers of ashes often follow one another after longer or shorter intervals, the coarsest materials or agglomerates show this least distinctly, in the fine beds it is often developed in great perfection
21.
Arizona Daily Star
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The Arizona Daily Star is the major morning daily newspaper that serves Tucson and surrounding districts of southern Arizona in the United States. The paper was purchased by Pulitzer in 1971, Lee Enterprises bought Pulitzer in 2005, at present, the papers business operations are owned jointly by Lee Enterprises and the Gannett Company. In 1981, Star reporters Clark Hallas and Robert B, lowe won a Pulitzer Prize for their stories about recruiting violations by University of Arizona football coach Tony Mason
22.
American Civil War
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The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America, the Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U. S. history. Among the 34 U. S. states in February 1861, War broke out in April 1861 when Confederates attacked the U. S. fortress of Fort Sumter. The Confederacy grew to eleven states, it claimed two more states, the Indian Territory, and the southern portions of the western territories of Arizona. The Confederacy was never recognized by the United States government nor by any foreign country. The states that remained loyal, including border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North, the war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865. The war had its origin in the issue of slavery. The Confederacy collapsed and 4 million slaves were freed, but before his inauguration, seven slave states with cotton-based economies formed the Confederacy. The first six to declare secession had the highest proportions of slaves in their populations, the first seven with state legislatures to resolve for secession included split majorities for unionists Douglas and Bell in Georgia with 51% and Louisiana with 55%. Alabama had voted 46% for those unionists, Mississippi with 40%, Florida with 38%, Texas with 25%, of these, only Texas held a referendum on secession. Eight remaining slave states continued to reject calls for secession, outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected secession as illegal. Lincolns March 4,1861 inaugural address declared that his administration would not initiate a civil war, speaking directly to the Southern States, he reaffirmed, I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States where it exists. I believe I have no right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. After Confederate forces seized numerous federal forts within territory claimed by the Confederacy, efforts at compromise failed, the Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on King Cotton that they would intervene, but none did, and none recognized the new Confederate States of America. Hostilities began on April 12,1861, when Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter, while in the Western Theater the Union made significant permanent gains, in the Eastern Theater, the battle was inconclusive in 1861–62. The autumn 1862 Confederate campaigns into Maryland and Kentucky failed, dissuading British intervention, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal. To the west, by summer 1862 the Union destroyed the Confederate river navy, then much of their western armies, the 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River. In 1863, Robert E. Lees Confederate incursion north ended at the Battle of Gettysburg, Western successes led to Ulysses S. Grants command of all Union armies in 1864
23.
Arizona Wildcats football
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The Arizona Wildcats football program represents University of Arizona in the sport of American college football. Arizona competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, Arizona officially began competing in intercollegiate football in 1889. The Wildcats joined the Pac-10 Conference in 1978 as one of the members of the conference. Arizona has won six championships, along with first ever divisional championship. The Wildcats have made thirty-eight post season bowl appearances, Arizonas home stadium is Arizona Stadium, which opened in 1939 and becomes Arizonas fifth largest city on gamedays with a capacity of 87,451. Arizonas archrival is in-state foe Arizona State Sun Devils, the Wildcats and Sun Devils meet annually in the Territorial Cup, one of the biggest rivalries in all of sports. The Wildcats are currently led by head coach Rich Rodriguez, at the completion of the 2016 season, Arizonas all-time win/loss/tie record is 601–552–33. With the recent tenure of Rich Rodriguez starting in 2012, the Wildcats have compiled a 36–29 record including 3 bowl wins, the varsity football program at the University of Arizona began in 1899, though the Wildcats nickname was not adopted until later. Stuart Forbes became the first head coach of Arizona football history, from 1900 to 1901, William W. Skinner served as head football coach at the University of Arizona. While there, he studied geology. He guided Arizona to 3–1 and 4–1 records, respectively, on November 7,1914, the team traveled to the west coast to play Occidental, then one of the reigning gridiron powers in California. Arizona later received the name Wildcats after a Los Angeles Times correspondent, Bill Henry, Pop McKale was a very successful high school coach in the Tucson area when he was hired at UA. In 1921, Drop-kicker/receiver Harold Nosey McClellan led the nation in scoring with 124 points, the Wildcats did not compete in football in 1918 due to World War I. On October 18,1926 UA quarterback and student body president John Button Salmon died from injuries sustained in a car wreck and his final words, spoken to coach Pop McKale, were, Tell them. tell the team to Bear Down. Soon thereafter, the UA student body adopted Bear Down as the schools athletic motto, on October 18,1929, Arizona opened up Arizona Stadium for college football play. They won their first game against Caltech with a score of 25–0. McKale retired after sixteen seasons at Arizona, the McKale Center, the University of Arizonas home basketball venue, was opened in 1973 and named in McKales honor. Fred Enke replaced McKale as head coach of the Wildcats and in one season as head coach, gus Farwick served as the head football coach at the University of Arizona in 1932, compiling a record of 4–5 before his resignation
24.
Pomona College
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Pomona College is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational, liberal arts college located in Claremont, California, United States. Established in 1887, it is the member of the Claremont Colleges consortium. Pomona is a selective, four-year undergraduate institution, and enrolled approximately 1,660 students representing 49 states and 63 countries in Fall 2016. The college maintains 48 majors and 600 courses, though students have access to nearly 2000 additional courses at the other Claremont Colleges, the colleges 140-acre main campus is located in a residential community near the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. The campus is located adjacent to the Village, an area of Claremont that has grown around the college. Pomona College is currently ranked seventh among all institutions in the United States by Forbes. And seventh among all liberal arts colleges by U. S. News & World Report, 70% of enrolled students hail from out of state, 56% receive need-based financial aid, and 57% self-identify as domestic students of color or international students. Pomona College was established as an institution on October 14,1887. The group’s goal was to create a college in the mold as small New England institutions. The College was originally formed in Pomona, California, classes first began in a house on September 12,1888. The next year, the moved to Claremont, at the site of an unfinished hotel. This building would eventually become Sumner Hall, current location of the Admissions, the name Pomona College remained after the relocation. The College’s first graduating class had ten members in 1894 and its founders’ values led to the College’s belief in educational equity. Like other Congregationalist-founded colleges such as Harvard, Dartmouth, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Pomona received its own governing board, ensuring its independence. The board of trustees was composed of graduates of Williams, Dartmouth, Bates and Yale, among others. This would allow Pomona to retain its small, liberal arts-focused teaching while gaining the resources of a larger university, on October 14,1925, Pomona College’s 38th anniversary, the Claremont Colleges were incorporated. By 1997, the consortium reached its present membership of five undergraduate, Pomona ranks eighth in the country for graduates receiving the most competitive graduate fellowships per capita. In 2013, Pomona students received the most Goldwater Scholarships of any liberal arts college, nearly 85% of recent alumni attend graduate or professional school within ten years
25.
Civil engineering
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Civil engineering is traditionally broken into a number of sub-disciplines. It is the second-oldest engineering discipline after military engineering, and it is defined to distinguish non-military engineering from military engineering, Civil engineering takes place in the public sector from municipal through to national governments, and in the private sector from individual homeowners through to international companies. Engineering has been an aspect of life since the beginnings of human existence, during this time, transportation became increasingly important leading to the development of the wheel and sailing. The construction of pyramids in Egypt were some of the first instances of large structure constructions, the Romans developed civil structures throughout their empire, including especially aqueducts, insulae, harbors, bridges, dams and roads. In the 18th century, the civil engineering was coined to incorporate all things civilian as opposed to military engineering. The first self-proclaimed civil engineer was John Smeaton, who constructed the Eddystone Lighthouse, in 1771 Smeaton and some of his colleagues formed the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers, a group of leaders of the profession who met informally over dinner. Though there was evidence of some meetings, it was little more than a social society. In 1818 the Institution of Civil Engineers was founded in London, the institution received a Royal Charter in 1828, formally recognising civil engineering as a profession. The first private college to teach engineering in the United States was Norwich University. The first degree in engineering in the United States was awarded by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1835. The first such degree to be awarded to a woman was granted by Cornell University to Nora Stanton Blatch in 1905, throughout ancient and medieval history most architectural design and construction was carried out by artisans, such as stonemasons and carpenters, rising to the role of master builder. Knowledge was retained in guilds and seldom supplanted by advances, structures, roads and infrastructure that existed were repetitive, and increases in scale were incremental. Brahmagupta, an Indian mathematician, used arithmetic in the 7th century AD, based on Hindu-Arabic numerals, Civil engineers typically possess an academic degree in civil engineering. The length of study is three to five years, and the degree is designated as a bachelor of engineering. The curriculum generally includes classes in physics, mathematics, project management, design, after taking basic courses in most sub-disciplines of civil engineering, they move onto specialize in one or more sub-disciplines at advanced levels. In most countries, a degree in engineering represents the first step towards professional certification. After completing a degree program, the engineer must satisfy a range of requirements before being certified. Once certified, the engineer is designated as a engineer, a chartered engineer
26.
Professor
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Professor is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a person who professes being usually an expert in arts or sciences, in much of the world, the unqualified word professor is used formally to indicate the highest academic rank, informally known as full professor. Professors conduct original research and commonly teach undergraduate, graduate, or professional courses in their fields of expertise, in universities with graduate schools, professors may mentor and supervise graduate students conducting research for a thesis or dissertation. Professors typically hold a Ph. D. another doctorate or a different terminal degree, some professors hold a masters degree or a professional degree, such as an M. D. as their highest degree. The term professor was first used in the late 14th century to one who teaches a branch of knowledge. As a title that is prefixed to a name, it dates from 1706, the hort form prof is recorded from 1838. The term professor is used with a different meaning, ne professing religion. This canting use of the word comes down from the Elizabethan period, a professor is an accomplished and recognized academic. In most Commonwealth nations, as well as northern Europe, the professor is the highest academic rank at a university. In the United States and Canada, the title of professor is also the highest rank, in these areas, professors are scholars with doctorate degrees or equivalent qualifications who teach in four-year colleges and universities. An emeritus professor is a given to selected retired professors with whom the university wishes to continue to be associated due to their stature. Emeritus professors do not receive a salary, but they are often given office or lab space, and use of libraries, labs, the term professor is also used in the titles assistant professor and associate professor, which are not considered professor-level positions in some European countries. In Australia, the associate professor is used in place of reader, ranking above senior lecturer. However, such professors usually do not undertake academic work for the granting institution, in general, the title of professor is strictly used for academic positions rather than for those holding it on honorary basis. Other roles of professorial tasks depend on the institution, its legacy, protocols, place, a professor typically earns a base salary and a range of benefits. In addition, a professor who undertakes additional roles in her institution earns additional income, some professors also earn additional income by moonlighting in other jobs, such as consulting, publishing academic or popular press books, or giving speeches or coaching executives. Some fields give professors more opportunities for outside work, the anticipated average earnings with performance-related bonuses for a German professor is €71,500. The salaries of civil servant professors in Spain are fixed in a basis, but there are some bonus related to performance and seniority
27.
Iraq War
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The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that toppled the government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces. An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first 3–4 years of conflict and it became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition, the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil armed conflict continue. The invasion began on 20 March 2003, with the U. S. joined by the United Kingdom and several allies, launching a shock. Iraqi forces were overwhelmed as U. S. forces swept through the country. The invasion led to the collapse of the Baathist government, President Hussein was captured during Operation Red Dawn in December of that same year, the United States responded with a troop surge in 2007. The winding down of U. S. involvement in Iraq accelerated under President Barack Obama, the U. S. formally withdrew all combat troops from Iraq by December 2011. Select U. S. officials accused Saddam of harboring and supporting al-Qaeda, while others cited the desire to end a repressive dictatorship, after the invasion, no substantial evidence was found to verify the initial claims about WMDs. The rationale and misrepresentation of pre-war intelligence faced heavy criticism within the U. S. in the aftermath of the invasion, Iraq held multi-party elections in 2005. Nouri al-Maliki became Prime Minister in 2006 and remained in office until 2014, the al-Maliki government enacted policies that were widely seen as having the effect of alienating the countrys Sunni minority and worsening sectarian tensions. The Iraq War caused hundreds of thousands of civilian, and thousands of military casualties, the majority of casualties occurred as a result of the insurgency and civil conflicts between 2004 and 2007. A1990 Frontline report on The arming of Iraq said, Officially, most Western nations participated in an arms embargo against Iraq during the 1980s. Western companies, primarily in Germany and Great Britain, but also in the United States, sold Iraq the key technology for its chemical, missile, any Western governments seemed remarkably indifferent, if not enthusiastic, about those deals. N Washington, the government consistently followed a policy which allowed and perhaps encouraged the growth of Saddam Husseins arsenal. The Western arming of Iraq took place in the context of the Iran-Iraq War, prior to September 2002, the CIA was the George W. Bush administrations main provider of intelligence on Iraq. The agency was out to disprove linkage between Iraq and terrorism the Pentagon adviser told me, the U. N. had prohibited Iraq from developing or possessing such weapons after the Gulf War and required Iraq to permit inspections confirming compliance. This was confirmed by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, during 2002, Bush repeatedly warned of military action against Iraq unless inspections were allowed to progress unfettered. In accordance with U. N. Security Council Resolution 1441, Iraq agreed to new inspections under United Nations Monitoring, as part of its weapons inspection obligations, Iraq was required to supply a full declaration of its current weapons capabilities and manufacturing
28.
St. Patrick's Day
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Saint Patricks Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick, is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick, the foremost patron saint of Ireland. The day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals, cèilidhs, and the wearing of green attire or shamrocks. Saint Patricks Day is a holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is also celebrated by the Irish diaspora around the world, especially in Great Britain, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia. Saint Patricks Day is celebrated in more countries than any other national festival, modern celebrations have been greatly influenced by those of the Irish diaspora, particularly those that developed in North America. In recent years, there has been criticism of Saint Patricks Day celebrations for having become too commercialised, Patrick was a 5th-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Much of what is known about Saint Patrick comes from the Declaration and it is believed that he was born in Roman Britain in the fourth century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest in the Christian church, according to the Declaration, at the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Gaelic Ireland. It says that he spent six years working as a shepherd. The Declaration says that God told Patrick to flee to the coast, after making his way home, Patrick went on to become a priest. According to tradition, Patrick returned to Ireland to convert the pagan Irish to Christianity, the Declaration says that he spent many years evangelising in the northern half of Ireland and converted thousands. Patricks efforts against the druids were eventually turned into an allegory in which he drove out of Ireland. Tradition holds that he died on 17 March and was buried at Downpatrick, over the following centuries, many legends grew up around Patrick and he became Irelands foremost saint. Todays St Patricks Day celebrations have been influenced by those that developed among the Irish diaspora. Until the late 20th century, St Patricks Day was often a celebration among the diaspora than it was in Ireland. Celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals, Irish traditional music sessions, there are also formal gatherings such as banquets and dances, although these were more common in the past. St Patricks Day parades began in North America in the 18th century, the participants generally include marching bands, the military, fire brigades, cultural organisations, charitable organisations, voluntary associations, youth groups, fraternities, and so on. However, over time, many of the parades have become akin to a carnival
29.
Arizona State University
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Arizona State University is a public metropolitan research university on five campuses across the Phoenix, Arizona, metropolitan area, and four regional learning centers throughout Arizona. The 2016 university ratings by U. S. News & World Report rank ASU No.1 among the Most Innovative Schools in America for the year in a row. ASU is the largest public university by enrollment in the U. S and it had approximately 82,060 students enrolled in 2014, including 66,309 undergraduate and 15,751 graduate students. ASUs charter, approved by the board of regents in 2014, is based on the New American University model created by ASU President Crow, ASU is classified as a research university with very high research activity by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The Center for Measuring University Performance ranks ASU 31st among top U. S. public research universities, ASU was classified as a Research I institute in 1994, making it one of the nations newest major research universities. Students compete in 25 varsity sports, the Arizona State Sun Devils are members of the Pac-12 Conference and have won 23 NCAA championships. Along with multiple clubs and recreational facilities, ASU is home to more than 1,100 registered student organizations. To keep pace with the student populations growth, the university continuously renovates, the demand for new academic halls, athletic facilities, student recreation centers, and residential halls is being addressed with donor contributions and public-private investments. The campus consisted of a single, four-room schoolhouse on a 20-acre plot largely donated by Tempe residents George, classes began with 33 students on February 8,1886. The school accepted high school students and graduates, and awarded high school diplomas, in 1923 the school stopped offering high school courses and added a high school diploma to the admissions requirements. In 1925 the school became the Tempe State Teachers College and offered four-year Bachelor of Education degrees as well as two-year teaching certificates, in 1929, the legislature authorized Bachelor of Arts in Education degrees as well, and the school was renamed the Arizona State Teachers College. Under the 30-year tenure of president Arthur John Matthews the school was given all-college student status, the first dormitories built in the state were constructed under his supervision. Of the 18 buildings constructed while Matthews was president, six are still in use, Matthews envisioned an evergreen campus, with many shrubs brought to the campus, and implemented the planting of Palm Walk, now a landmark of the Tempe campus. His legacy is being continued to this day with the campus having been declared a nationally recognized arboretum. During the Great Depression, Ralph W. Swetman was hired as president for a three-year term, although enrollment increased by almost 100 percent during his tenure due to the depression, many faculty were terminated and faculty salaries were cut. In 1933, Grady Gammage, then president of Arizona State Teachers College at Flagstaff, became president of ASU, like his predecessor, Gammage oversaw construction of a number of buildings on the Tempe campus. He also oversaw the development of the graduate programs. The schools name was changed to Arizona State College in 1945, at the time, two other names considered were Tempe University and State University at Tempe
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Tempe Butte
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Tempe Butte is the official name of an andesite butte of volcanic origin, located partially on Arizona State Universitys Tempe campus in Tempe, Arizona. It is often referred to by locals as A Mountain, after the 60-foot-tall gold-painted letter A near the top, another name for the area, used by the City of Tempe, is Hayden Butte. The highest point of Tempe Butte stands at 1,398 feet in elevation, Tempe Butte is most often seen as the backdrop to games held in Sun Devil Stadium, including until recently the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, as well as Super Bowl XXX. Native wildlife include jackrabbits, and small desert-adapted species such as pack rats, signs of early habitation by the Hohokam people have been found on Tempe Butte, including petroglyphs, pot shards, scrapers, and metate. The area just west of the butte would be settled by the 1870s in an area first known as Haydens Ferry, then a major crossing for the Salt River which flows just north of the butte. The proximity of the community to the butte prompted Darrell Duppa to fancifully compare the area to the Vale of Tempe near Mount Olympus in Greece, therefore, the remains of the Hayden Flour Mill still stand near the western edge of the butte. More recent alterations include two water tanks on the flank of the butte, and several trails, at least one paved. The east side of the butte was partially excavated in order to accommodate the construction of Sun Devil Stadium in 1958, a 50-foot-tall radio tower was built on the top of the mountain in 1962 for the Salt River Project. Recent development along the adjacent stretch of the Salt River has prompted several grassroots movements to preserve the butte from further environmental damage, originally, the letter on Tempe Butte was an N, built by Tempe Normal Schools class of 1918. It wasnt until 1938 that an “A” first appeared and it was formed from loose rocks and soon after, the fall ritual of whitewashing the A began. In 1952, the A was dynamited into tiny bits and completely annihilated by vandals, in 1955, when the college was named Arizona State University, a new A was built. The reinforced steel and poured concrete A measures 60 feet from base to top. Due to the existence of an A Mountain for the University of Arizona which predates the A on Tempe Butte, Guarding the A is an annual ritual in the week leading up to the annual ASU-UA football game, the Territorial Cup. The A has been painted in other colors for various causes, and is painted white at the beginning of school year. Most recently, UA students painted the A blue and white following Arizonas victory in the 2011 Duel in the Desert, the A has also been painted colors by other schools, such as green by Oregon Ducks fans and purple by Grand Canyon University fans. A tradition called Guarding of the A started in order to prevent the A from being painted the color of the rival schools, the A is annually guarded the two nights leading up to the UofA v. ASU football game. ASU Campus Tour, A Mountain Overview of Tempe Butte physical geography Description of Tempe Butte by Tempe Historic Property Register Tempe Butte on LoJ Lists of Peak
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U.S. National Geodetic Survey
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United States Coast Survey and United States Coast and Geodetic Survey redirect here. Since its foundation in its present form in 1970, it has been part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Geodetic Surveys history and heritage are intertwined with those of other NOAA offices. As the U. S. Coast Survey and U. S, upon the creation of the Environmental Science Services Administration in 1965, the commissioned corps was separated from the Survey to become the Environmental Science Services Administration Corps. Thus, the National Geodetic Surveys ancestor organizations are also the ancestors of todays NOAA Corps, in addition, todays National Institute of Standards and Technology, although long since separated from the Survey, got its start as the Surveys Office of Weights and Measures. The National Geodetic Survey is an office of NOAAs National Ocean Service, NGS is responsible for defining the NSRS and its relationship with the International Terrestrial Reference Frame. The NSRS enables precise and accessible knowledge of things are in the United States. The NSRS may be divided into its geometric and physical components, the official geodetic datum of the United States, NAD83 defines the geometric relationship between points within the United States in three-dimensional space. The datum may be accessed via NGSs network of marks or through the Continuously Operating Reference Station network of GPS reference antennas. NGS is responsible for computing the relationship between NAD83 and the ITRF, the physical components of the NSRS are reflected in its height system, defined by the vertical datum NAVD88. This datum is a network of orthometric heights obtained through spirit leveling, NGS will release new datums in 2022. The North American Terrestrial Reference Frame of 2022 will supersede NAD83 in defining the relationship between the North American plate and the ITRF. United States territories on the Pacific, Caribbean, and Mariana plates will have their own respective geodetic datums, the North American-Pacific Geopotential Datum of 2022 will separately define the height system of the United States and its territories, replacing NAVD88. It will use a geoid model accurate to 1 centimeter to relate orthometric height to ellipsoidal height measured by GPS, NGS provides a number of other public services. The Online Positioning and User Service processes user-input GPS data and outputs position solutions within the NSRS, the agency offers other tools for conversion between datums. A Swiss immigrant with expertise in surveying and the standardization of weights and measures, Ferdinand R. Hassler, was selected to lead the Survey. Hassler departed on August 29,1811, but eight months later, while he was in England, Hassler did not return to the United States until August 16,1815. The Survey finally began surveying operations in 1816, when Hassler started work in the vicinity of New York City, the first baseline was measured and verified in 1817. S. S. Army and U. S. Navy responsibility for coastal surveys, Hassler was reappointed as the Surveys superintendent that year
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Black Hills (Yavapai County)
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The Black Hills of Yavapai County are a large mountain range of central Arizona in southeast Yavapai County. It is bordered by the Verde Valley to the east, the northwest section of the range is bisected from the southeast section by Interstate 17, which is the main route connecting Phoenix to Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon, and Flagstaff. This bisection point is the center of the mostly northwest by southeast trending range. The northwest section contains an escarpment on the northeast with the Verde Valley. The range is also the first major fault-blocked range west of the Mogollon Rim on the southwest margin of the Colorado Plateau in Arizona, the range is at the northwest-center of the Arizona transition zone which extends diagonally across central Arizona. The highest point of the Black Hills is Mingus Mountain at 7,815 feet, Mingus Mountain lies 4.0 miles south of Woodchute Mountain with historic Cherry 8.7 miles further to the southeast. Three wilderness areas are located in the range, the Woodchute Wilderness in the northwest, and the Cedar Bench and Pine Mountain Wildernesses in the southeast
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Mingus Mountain
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Mingus Mountain is a mountain located in the U. S. state of Arizona in the Black Hills mountain range. It is located within the Prescott National Forest traversed by State Route 89A approximately midway between Cottonwood and Prescott, the summit can be reached via Forest Service roads that branch off from State Route 89A. From the mountain, there are views of the Verde Valley, Sycamore Canyon Wilderness and the towns of Cottonwood, Jerome, the Woodchute Wilderness, north of the summit of 89A, also offers views and hiking trails. Mingus Mountain is also the premier flying site of the Arizona Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, another source attributes the name to William Mingus, a pioneer prospector who lived and worked on Mingus Mountain in the 1870s. The Mingus Lookout Complex is a complex of tower and associated buildings at the top of the mountain. The ACA Retreat on Mingus Mountain
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Black Mountains (Arizona)
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For other mountain ranges named Black Mountains, see, Black Mountains The Black Mountains of northwest Arizona are an extensive, mostly linear, north-south 75-mile long mountain range. It forms the border of southwest Mohave County as it borders the eastern shore of the south-flowing Colorado River from Hoover Dam. The northwest, and parts of the west of the range are located in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, the mountain range is generally 10-15 mi wide, narrower in the north, and west of the Detrital Valley northeast. The high point of the range is Mount Perkins at 5,456 feet, located west of the divide of the Detrital Valley northeast. Mount Perkins, in the center-north of the range, is located at 35. 56999°N114. 50858°W /35.56999, the Black Mountains are in four watersheds. The north and northeast contain the Lake Mead Watershed, and the north-flowing Detrital Wash Watershed
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Boundary Cone
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Boundary Cone is a geologic promontory located in the western foothills of the Black Mountains in Mohave County, Arizona. The peak is to the east of the Mohave Valley, northeast of Needles, California, the peak is about 4 miles southwest of the mountain community of Oatman and 12 miles east of the Colorado River. Several Indian tribes attach religious and cultural significance to Boundary Cone as well as much of the surrounding landscape, Boundary Cone was a prominent landmark for early travelers in this region
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Mount Wilson (Arizona)
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Mount Wilson is a mountain in Mohave County, Arizona, U. S. At 5,456 feet, it is the second highest point of the Black Mountains after Mount Perkins
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Bradshaw Mountains
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The first known settlements in the Bradshaws were a group of Yavapai people, called the Kwevkapaya who built forts and mined copper from around AD1100 to 1600. Apaches occupied the area around 1800 as a means of keeping White settlers out, but by 1863, a party led by William Bradshaw was in the area, followed by the Walker party. In 1864, a group of five white settlers was attacked by Apaches at what is now called Battle Flat, one of the settlers went for help, but upon his return found the Apaches had left. The Walker party found gold, and within a few years, the Bradshaws were filling up with mining for gold, silver. In the early part of the 20th century, most of the towns that had sprung up were little more than ghost towns. Located approximately 5 miles south of Prescott, Arizona, between the Agua Fria River on the east, and the Hassayampa River on the west, the range is 40 miles long, and almost 25 miles wide. Mount Union, named during the Civil War, is the highest, mount Davis – second highest at 7,897 feet, named for Jefferson Davis. Spruce Mountain –7,696 feet, misnamed for Douglas firs mistaken for Spruces, mount Tritle –7,793 feet, named for Frederick Augustus Tritle Governor of Arizona Territory. The Bradshaw Mountains consist primarily of Precambrian granite, gneiss and schist, the biotic community of the Bradshaws ranges from interior chaparral and montane conifer forest, to plains and desert grassland, and Sonoran desert scrub. Many species of trees are found in the Bradshaws, including Piñon, Alligator Juniper, Ponderosa pine, Blue Spruce, Quaking Aspen, White fir, and Douglas fir. Several creeks have been dammed to form reservoirs, including Lynx Lake, Goldwater Lake, Lake Marapai, Hassayampa Lake, Horsethief Lake, gold was first discovered in the Bradshaws in the 1863, over $2,000,000 worth being taken from just the Crown King Mine. Copper and silver were mined in the early part of the 20th century. There are over 40 ghost towns in the Bradshaw Mountains, including Crown King, Bumble Bee, Goodwin, Bradshaw City, Alexandra, much of the Bradshaw Mountains are on Prescott National Forest land. Other parks include Horsethief Basin Recreational Area, Lynx Lake Recreational Area, and the Castle Creek Wilderness
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Castle Dome Mountains
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The Castle Dome Mountains are a mountain range in Yuma County, Arizona, within the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. Castle Dome Peak, the point of the range, is a prominent butte. The peak is 3,776 feet high, and is located at 33°05′04″N 114°08′36″W, Castle Dome was named by American soldiers at old Fort Yuma in the 1880s. Early Spanish explorers called the same peak Cabeza de Gigante, Giants Head, the Castle Dome mining district is one of Yuma Countys oldest and most productive mining locations. Its proximity to the Colorado River and relatively low rates of freight at the time permitted the mining of low grades of ore which wouldnt have been profitable at other locations. In addition to silver and lead, the area is rich in other minerals, including zinc, copper, gold. The area was home to the town and mining camp of Castle Dome based around the Castle Dome Mine which first produced silver and later lead, the post office opened in 1875 and closed in 1876. Castle Dome ghost town is now a site, the Castle Dome Mines Museum. Castle Dome Landing was the port and supply point nearby on the Colorado River, the townsite is now submerged beneath the Imperial Dam reservoir. The Castle Dome mining district is a district for mineral collectors. The region is known for striking combinations of cerussite, fluorite, vanadinite, wulfenite, barite, the Hull Mine and Puzzler Mine in particular have produced atypical green vanadinite and mimetite as well as yellow-hued wulfenite. Castle Dome ghost town museum photo gallery Forgotten mining era revived, Arizona Republic article on Castle Dome ghost town Famous mineral localities, The Castle Dome District, Yuma County, summary -- US library card required for full article. Castle Dome Mines Museum & Ghost Town at Trip Advisor
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Castle Dome (butte)
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Castle Dome, or Castle Dome Peak is a prominent butte and high point of the Castle Dome Mountains northeast of Yuma, Arizona, in the northwestern Sonoran Desert. The butte lies approximately 22 miles east of the historical Castle Dome Landing of the Colorado River and it is located above and east of US Route 95 and the Castle Dome mining district. Castle Dome is noteworthy for its use for day hiking. It is also coated in winter or spring snowstorms as a white landform. Castle Domes height is 3,788 feet, some noteworthy minerals from the Castle Dome Mountains region are vanadinite, wulfenite, baryte, and fluorite. Some of the trails are, King Valley Road, McPherson Pass Trail, Big Eye Wash Trail, Castle Dome Mountains. Castle Dome Landing, Arizona Castle Dome Mountains Castle Dome, Peak-, Plants and Animals, Old Collecting Reports
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Cerbat Mountains
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The Cerbat Mountains is a mountain range in Mohave County in northwest Arizona immediately north of Kingman. The Cerbat Mountains and the White Hills adjacent north, are the ranges between the Detrital Valley west, and the Hualapai Valley east. It is a 23 mi long range trending slightly northwest-southeast, a series of peaks can be found towards the southern end of the range, including Packsaddle Mountain at 6,431 feet, and Cherum Peak at 6,983 feet. The northern section of the Cerbat Mountains is composed mostly of the Mount Tipton Wilderness, the Dolan Springs community is at the base of the wilderness on the northwestern side of the Cerbat Mountains. The Mineral Park mine, a copper and turquoise mine, is located in the Cerbat Mountains 14 miles northwest of Kingman. List of mountain ranges of Arizona List of LCRV Wilderness Areas
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Chiricahua Mountains
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The highest point, Chiricahua Peak, rises 9,759 feet above sea level, approximately 6,000 feet above the surrounding valleys. The Pedregosa Mountains are found at the end of the Chiricahua Mountains. The northwest end of the Chiricahua mountains continue as the Dos Cabezas Mountains beyond Apache Pass, access to the Chiricahua Mountains and Coronado National Forest is through Willcox from the north, Douglas from the south, and Rodeo from the east. The earliest evidence of humans in the vicinity of the Chiricahua Mountains are Clovis archeological sites such as Double Adobe Site in the Whitewater Draw tributary of Rucker Creek north of Douglas. Subsequently, the Cochise culture another pre-ceramic based culture spanning 3000 -200 BCE was defined from sites around the Chiricahua Mountains, including Cave Creek Canyon. Following the transition to ceramics diagnostic ceramics characteristic of Mogollon culture and its local variants, the influx of other indigenous peoples, such as the Chiricahua Apaches, including the leaders Cochise and Geronimo occupied the area until forced removal in the late 19th century. More recently, the Chiricahuas have fallen into use by smugglers and the drug cartels. The Chiricahua Mountains are an uplifted block of the Basin. The mountains contain Precambrian basement rocks, Paleozoic and Cretaceous sedimentary rocks around a complex formed by volcanic eruptions and intrusions 35 -25 million years ago. The last major eruption,27 million years ago, created the Turkey Creek Caldera, subsequent erosion has created mountain ridges covered in stone spires and stone columns, hoodoos, that rise up out of the forest. These natural features, preserved in the Chiricahua National Monument, are composed of Rhyolite Canyon Tuff, a one to two mile wide band of sedimentary rock running southeast to northwest from south of Portal through Paradise and up to the Dos Cabezas Mountains is the source of mineralized deposits. The largest of the mines developed in the California district of the Chiricahua Mountains was the Hilltop mine which consisted of 3 interconnected levels totaling 6,098 metres, the Chiricahua Mountains are a bio-diverse area which are composed of numerous sky islands. Five of the 9 life zones are found in the Chiricahua Mountains, three hundred and seventy-five avian species have been recorded from the Chiricahua Mountains, some are largely Mexican species for which southern Arizona is the northern limits of their ranges. Other animals of note include ocelots, jaguars, mountain lions, nine-banded armadillo, black bears, with the base of the Chiricahuas at about 3,600 feet, the range covers about 6,000 feet in elevation. Grasslands and desert cover the base of the range, with ponderosa pine, Cave Creek Canyon on the east side is home to the American Museum of Natural History Southwest Research Station and the small towns of Portal and Paradise. Chiricahua National Monument Dos Cabezas Mountains Shootout at Wilson Ranch Gleeson Gunfight The Nature Explorers Chiricahua Expedition A 2-hour 49 minute ecosystem video
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