Shiprock #6

Shiprock (Navajo: Tse Bit a i, rock with wings or winged rock) is a monadnock rising nearly 1,583 feet (482.5 m) above the high-desert plain on the... more

by Robert J Caputo

Title

Shiprock #6

Artist

Robert J Caputo

Medium

Photograph

Description

Shiprock (Navajo: Tse Bit a i, "rock with wings" or "winged rock") is a monadnock rising nearly 1,583 feet (482.5 m) above the high-desert plain on the Navajo Nation in San Juan County, New Mexico, USA. It has a peak elevation of 7,177 feet (2,187.5 m) above sea level. It lies about 10.75 miles (17.30 km) southwest of the town of Shiprock, which is named for the peak. Governed by the Navajo Nation, the formation is in the Four Corners region and plays a significant role in Navajo religion, mythology and tradition. It is located in the center of the Ancient Pueblo People or Ancestral Puebloan civilization, a prehistoric Native American culture of the Southwest United States often referred to as the Anasazi. Shiprock is a point of interest for rock climbers and photographers and has been featured in several film productions and novels. It is the most prominent landmark in northwestern New Mexico.
Shiprock is composed of fractured volcanic breccia and black dikes of igneous rock called minette. It is the erosional remnant of the throat of a volcano, and the volcanic breccia formed in a diatreme.

Uploaded

December 10th, 2015