Shivwits Plateau

Shivwits Plateau
Plateau & Region
Shivwits Plateau, southeast terminus, showing finger-like plateau extensions, separated by 4 named canyons: Tincanebitts, Burnt Springs, Twin Springs, & Green Springs Canyons.
Country	United States
State	Arizona
Regions	(west & North Rim)-Grand Canyon- Parashant National Monument, (northwest)-Grand Canyon
County	Mohave County, Arizona
Borders on	Hurricane Cliffs-E Colorado River & Aubrey Cliffs-E & SE Colorado River & Peach Springs Rd from Peach Springs, Arizona-S (Sanup Plateau)-(southwest border) Colorado River & (southwest)- Hualapai Indian Reservation-SW Grand Wash Cliffs-W & NW Grand Wash Cliffs Wilderness-WNW Virgin Mountains-NNW Black Rock Mountain (Arizona) & Paiute Wilderness-N
Communities	Littlefield, AZ, Peach Springs, AZ
Landmark	Grand Wash Cliffs Wilderness Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument
River	Colorado River
Coordinates	36°06′31″N 113°32′29″W / 36.1085951°N 113.5413273°WCoordinates: 36°06′31″N 113°32′29″W / 36.1085951°N 113.5413273°W
Highest point	Mount Dellenbaugh
- location	(center-south)-Shivwits Plateau
- elevation	6,995 ft (2,132 m)
- coordinates	36°06′31″N 113°32′29″W / 36.1085951°N 113.5413273°W
Length	50 mi (80 km), NW x SE
Width	23 mi (37 km), E-W (at southeast terminus)
Shivwits Plateau (at Mount Dellenbaugh region) of Arizona

The Shivwits Plateau is a large plateau in northwest Arizona, and in the northwest of the Grand Canyon region. Just like the Kaibab Plateau in the east Grand Canyon forces the course of the Colorado River encircling it, the Shivwits Plateau is the major course changer of the Colorado in west Grand Canyon. The Colorado River goes due-south on the east perimeter of the plateau, goes west, then northwest to its outfall at Lake Mead. The southwest of the plateau borders the Colorado, but a lower elevation section is directly riverside; it is lower elevation hills and small canyons, called Sanup Plateau, and bordering the section of the Colorado called the Lower Granite Gorge. (The Lower Granite Gorge starts on the east side at the start of its due-south excursion around Shivwits Plateau.)

The Shivwits Plateau is named for the Shivwits section of the Paiute Indian tribes. The plateau is also one of the major areas of the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument that is bordered by the Lake Mead National Recreation Area (west), the Hualapai Indian Reservation (southeast), and Grand Canyon National Park (east).

The highpoint on the plateau is Mount Dellenbaugh, 6,995 feet (2,132 m).^[1]

Geography

An abbreviated description of the plateau's region: the entire southwest, south, and southeast around the plateau is composed of the Hualapai Indian Reservation; it is also the course of the Colorado River, the section named the Lower Granite Gorge. The north section (with the plateau) is enclosed within Grand Canyon National Park, but is the subsection named the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument.

Two series of major cliffs also form the east and west borders of the Shivwits Plateau, partially coming out of south Utah, extending south across the Colorado River, and ending in the mountain ranges, and bajadas southward. The Hurricane Cliffs are on the east, for hundreds(?) of miles, and the Grand Wash Cliffs are at the west. Geologically older sediments were deposited westwards at lower elevations below the Grand Wash Cliffs, by the Colorado and are now hidden mostly below Lake Mead.

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Slant view (aerial), looking southeastwards (over lower elevation Sanup Plateau) towards the plateau extensions, and intervening canyons of Shivwits Plateau. (The Colorado River in Lower Granite Gorge, photo upper-right) (high resolution, expandable photo)

(from space) The excursion of the Colorado River around the Shivwits Plateau. (about 50-mi from Lake Mead)

References

1. Mount Dellenbaugh, at topozone.com

• Arizona DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer, 5th Edition, c. 2002, 76 pages, p. 21, pp. 29-30.

See also

• Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument

External links

• Mount Dellenbaugh, coordinates & elevation at topozone.com