Lonesome Valley is a 23-mile (37 km) long valley located in central-north Yavapai County , Arizona ; the valley is an extension southeastwards from Chino Valley (Arizona) , the location of the Big Chino Wash, which becomes the Verde River at Paulden, Arizona ; Paulden is located at the northwest terminus of Lonesome Valley. A small sub-valley is located on the northeast perimeter of Chino Valley, Arizona , located in the center-northwest of Lonesome Valley. The valley is named Little Chino Valley , and is the small valley link between Chino Valley, northwest, and Lonesome Valley, southeast.
17-609: The notable landforms of Granite Mountain lie west-southwest, and Granite Dells are at the southwest perimeter. The massif of the Black Hills (Yavapai County) form the east border of Lonesome Valley. An important water divide is at the south terminus region of the valley at the north of Prescott Valley, Arizona , separating the Verde River watershed from the Agua Fria River watershed ; both watersheds are north tributaries to
34-523: Is a 7,628-foot (2,325 m) mountain located in Yavapai County, Arizona that covers roughly 12 square miles (31 km ). It was once known as Mount Gurley, for the first governor of the Arizona Territory, John A. Gurley . Its southwest face has a sheer granite cliff approximately 500 feet (150 m) high that is one of the best locations for rock climbing in the state of Arizona. It is located in
51-483: Is less than 2 mm (0.079 in) in size. The Mint Wash Granodiorite is almost everywhere undeformed. The porphyritic granite was named the Mint Wash Granodiorite by DeWitt and others for exposures along Mint Wash east of Granite Mountain. In composition, it is an alkali-calcic granodiorite to granite. Zircons from this granite yielded a U-Pb date of 1680 +/- 16 Ma. The Mint Wash Granodiorite comprises
68-534: Is to the south, where Lynx Creek flows north from the Bradshaw Mountains , turns east, then the Agua Fria turns southeast and south. Coyote Wash and a second unnamed wash west-(flowing south from the water divide, with the lineage of Lonesome Valley), flow south into the Agua Fria. Arizona 69 , and routes through Prescott Valley, access the southern region of Lonesome Valley, or Glassford Hill, west, or regions of
85-563: The Gila River , flowing west across central-south Arizona. Lonesome Valley is an approximately north-northwest trending valley. It is dissected in its center by an upside-down V-shaped , double watercourse. Granite Creek –(Granite Creek Wash) is west, and an unnamed wash is east-(a tributary to Granite Wash); both flow north to meet the Verde River, at the north of Little Black Mesa. The unnamed wash at Lonesome Valley's south end flows south from
102-730: The Grand Canyon . The rocks intruded by the Mint Wash Granodiorite are also part of the same tectonostratigraphic terrane , Yavapai tectonic province. The rocks that are part of the Yavapai tectonic province and intruded by the Mint Wash Pluton formed in volcanic island arcs overlying one or more subduction systems, similar to modern volcanic arcs in the Aleutian Islands , the Philippines , and Indonesia . Then, granitic igneous rock, e.g.
119-721: The Granite Mountain Wilderness , which is managed as a part of the Prescott National Forest . The mountain stands at the northern end of the Sierra Prietas , and borders Skull Valley on the west, on the northwest by the Santa Maria Mountains , and east by the Williamson Valley. Granite Mountain is composed of Paleoproterozoic biotite granodiorite to granite that is known by geologist as
136-505: The Mint Wash Granodiorite . The Mint Wash Granodiorite consists of medium to coarse-grained, weakly to strongly porphyritic granite with phenocrysts of gray to pink potassium feldspar up to 3 cm (1.2 in) in length and as much as eight percent biotite that is less than 8 mm (0.31 in) in size. This granite grades laterally into a fine grained, equigranular leucogranite with less than two percent biotite that
153-670: The water divide , north of Prescott Valley, to meet the Agua Fria River . Coyote Wash courses southwesterly just east, (see satellite photo). Lonesome Valley appears somewhat circular, but the Chino Valley townsite is on a flatland region at the northwest. Alluvial fans lie at the east with the west flank of the Black Hills. The Granite Mountain (Arizona) region at the west-southwest, has a large dissected alluvial section at its northeast. The southwest perimeter of Lonesome Valley borders
170-699: The Mint Wash Pluton that has intruded into Paleoproterozoic sedimentary , metasedimentary , and metavolcanic rocks . On the northern end of Granite Mountain, these strata include weakly to moderately metamorphosed mudstone , siltstone , and fine-grained sandstone ; basalt lava flows ; ferruginous, white and dark laminated silica rock; infrequently laminated, epidote-silica rock; thinly interlayered silica and carbonate; laminated, highly platy, talc and/or pyrophyllite schist . Some of siliceous rock types are suspected of being primary chemical precipitates from Paleoproterozoic ocean water. The south end of
187-540: The Mint Wash Pluton, has intruded into Paleoproterozoic mafic , metavolcanic rocks that include basalt lava flows and Paleoproterozoic intrusive rocks , hornblende -rich gabbro - norite , gabbro, and gabbro- diorite . These sedimentary, metasedimentary, and metavolcanic rocks were deposited, deformed, and intruded contemporaneously with the Paleoproterozoic schists of the Vishnu Basement Rocks found in
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#1732859023955204-413: The Mint Wash Pluton, were later intruded into them when these volcanic arcs collided with and welded to Laurentia and each other ca. 1.7–1.66 Ga during the Yavapai and Mazatzal orogenies. The biotic communities at Granite Mountain range from montane conifer forest and juniper pinyon woodland, to interior chaparral . Granite Mountain is a nesting site for the peregrine falcon ( Falco peregrinus ), and
221-508: The north of Granite Dells , where Granite Creek exits flowing north. Watson Lake is at the south of the Dells, where Granite Creek enters. The highpoint of the valley is Black Hill, 5,030 feet (1,533 m)), on the east bank of Granite Creek, and at valley center-southwest. (on satellite photo: black, at southeast of Chino Valley, northeast of the green, Antelope Hills Golf Course -(note also black shadows; sun, from southeast)) The southwest of
238-408: The outfall site of Granite Creek with the Verde River. At Granite Dells, Arizona State Route 89A , exits from Arizona 89 and traverses east, northeast to the Black Hills, and Route 89A is the route to Jerome on the east flank of the mountains. Arizona 89A is at the south Lonesome Valley terminus region, and traverses adjacent the water divide region north of Prescott Valley . The Agua Fria River
255-477: The southwest its route comes from Presott, passes Watson Lake , and then exits the Granite Dells to traverse to Chino Valley, Arizona . It continues to Paulden, Arizona the northwest perimeter of Lonesome Valley. Paulden is the site of Sullivan Lake-(at northeast Sullivan Buttes ), and it is a small reservoir on the Verde River . The small canyon below the reservoir is at the west end of Little Black Mesa, and
272-474: The valley is bordered by the north of Granite Dells . Attached at the east of the Dells is Glassford Hill , at 6,177 feet (1,883 m)). The prominent hill forms the west perimeter of the Prescott Valley townsite. Granite Creek flows north (slightly north-northeast) from the west, and the 'unnamed wash' flows northwest at the hill's east. Arizona State Route 89 traverses the west of Lonesome Valley. From
289-624: The west flank of the Black Hills to the northeast. A route, Perkinsville Road from Chino Valley, Arizona exits east from Arizona 89 to the Lonesome Valley center, then turns north through the north valley, then the Little Black Mesa to Perkinsville, Arizona on the Verde River; the route continues north from Perkinsville to meet South Road, to reach Williams , about 30 miles (48 km) north. Granite Mountain (Arizona) Granite Mountain ( Yavapai : ʼWi:kvte:wa )
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