Damon Mcknight
A butte is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, flat top. The word butte comes from the French word for knoll or small hill. Buttes are formed by weathering and erosion when hard caprock overlies a layer of less resistant rock that is eventually worn away. They are found in the Western United States, including in Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington State, and Wyoming. Outside of the US, buttes can be found in Azerbaijan.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Definition | A butte is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top |
| Formation | Buttes are formed through weathering and erosion |
| Height | Generally, a butte is more than 100 feet high and should be taller than it is wide |
| Notable Locations | Scotts Bluff in Nebraska, Crested Butte in Colorado, Elephant Butte in New Mexico, Bear Butte in South Dakota, Black Butte in Oregon, Sutter Buttes in California, Mitten Buttes in Arizona, and Courthouse Rock in California and Nebraska |
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Mitten Buttes in Monument Valley, Arizona, USA
In geomorphology, a butte is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top. The word "butte" comes from the French word for "knoll" or "small hill". Buttes are formed by weathering and erosion when hard caprock overlies a layer of less resistant rock that is eventually worn away.
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Scotts Bluff in Nebraska, USA
Geographically, buttes are isolated hills with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top. They are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word "butte" comes from the French word for "knoll" and is prevalent in the Western United States. Scotts Bluff fits this description, standing as a distinctive natural landmark in Nebraska.
The town of Gering was founded at the base of Scotts Bluff in 1887, and the city of Scottsbluff was established across the North Platte River in 1900. Together, these two cities form Nebraska's seventh-largest urban area and serve as a central retail hub for a 150-mile radius. The economy of Scotts Bluff County is largely based on agriculture, with crops like sugar beets, corn, and beans.
Scotts Bluff is recognised as a significant geographical feature, and it is included in the Scottsbluff, NE Micropolitan Statistical Area. The area boasts natural beauty and offers opportunities for camping, hiking, and stargazing. The Scotts Bluff National Monument is a notable attraction, providing visitors with a glimpse of Nebraska's unique landscape.
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Devil's Tower, Black Hills, Wyoming, USA
Devils Tower, located in the Bear Lodge Ranger District of the Black Hills in northeastern Wyoming, is a butte composed of igneous rock. It rises 1,267 feet (386 m) above the Belle Fourche River, with a height of 867 feet (264 m) from its base to its summit. The summit of Devils Tower sits at 5,112 feet (1,558 m) above sea level. This geologic feature, with its hundreds of parallel cracks, is considered sacred by Northern Plains Indians and indigenous people and is a popular destination for crack climbing.
The name Devils Tower originated from a misinterpretation of a native name during an expedition led by Colonel Richard Irving Dodge in 1875. His interpreter translated a native name to mean "Bad God's Tower", when it was actually known as Mato Tipila or Bear Lodge to the indigenous people. Devils Tower National Monument was established on September 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt, making it the first United States National Monument.
The landscape surrounding Devils Tower is composed primarily of sedimentary rocks, with the oldest rocks dating back to the Triassic period. These dark red sandstone and maroon siltstone layers, known as the Spearfish Formation, were formed in a shallow sea. Above this lies a thin band of white gypsum called the Gypsum Springs Formation, followed by the Sundance Formation. The Rocky Mountains and the Black Hills were uplifted during the Paleocene Epoch, approximately 56 to 66 million years ago. The distinctive shape of Devils Tower is a result of magma intrusion into the existing sedimentary rock layers.
Devils Tower holds significant cultural and spiritual importance for Native American tribes, including the Kiowa and Lakota. According to traditional beliefs, Devils Tower was formed when a group of girls, chased by giant bears, climbed atop a rock and prayed to the Great Spirit to save them. The bears' attempts to climb the rock left deep claw marks on its sides. The girls were then turned into the stars of the Pleiades. Devils Tower continues to be a sacred site for Native American ceremonies, including sweat lodges and sun dances.
Buttes, in general, are isolated hills with steep, often vertical sides and relatively small, flat tops. They are formed through the weathering and erosion of rock formations. The cap rock, or surface material, of a butte resists physical weathering, while the underlying softer rock is eroded away over time. Notable buttes can be found in various states across the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, and Washington.
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Kachaghakaberd Fortress, Azerbaijan
In geomorphology, a butte is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top. They are formed by weathering and erosion when hard caprock overlies a layer of less resistant rock that is eventually worn away. The word "butte" comes from the French word for knoll or small hill. They are prevalent in the Western United States, including states like California, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, and Utah.
Buttes are also found outside the US, including in Australia, where the term covers isolated, steep-sided hills with pointed or craggy, rather than flat, tops.
Now, on to the Kachaghakaberd Fortress in Azerbaijan. This mountain-top fortress is located in the Martakert Province of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic within Azerbaijan, in the Tartar Rayon. It was an important fortification of the medieval Armenian Principality of Khachen and sits at a height of more than 1700 meters, surrounded by vertical limestone cliffs. The fortress has a hard-to-reach entrance from its southern side and has never been conquered. It features many rooms, secret passages cut into the cliffs, and special loopholes for throwing stones at enemies. Kachaghakaberd, which translates from Armenian as "magpie's fortress," also had a unique water supply system, with two rock-cut reservoirs storing rainwater and meltwater at its center.
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Courthouse Rock and Jail Rock, California, USA
Buttes are found in many places outside of the US and Australia. For example, in geomorphology, a butte is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top. They are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus and tablelands. The word 'butte' comes from the French word for knoll (or small hill). They are formed by weathering and erosion when hard caprock overlies a layer of less resistant rock that is eventually worn away.
Some notable buttes include Scotts Bluff in Nebraska, Crested Butte in Colorado, and Mitten Buttes in Monument Valley, Arizona.
Now, on to Courthouse Rock and Jail Rock. These buttes rise 400 feet (120 m) above the North Platte Valley and are composed of Brule clay, Gering sandstone, and volcanic ash. They are the remnants of an ancient plateau that was split by the North Platte River. They are also remnants of the nearby hills that have become separated over time. They were first recorded by Robert Stuart, an explorer, in 1812. By the time of the 1849 California Gold Rush, the promontories had been described using a variety of names, including Castles, a Church, and Coffins. The name 'Courthouse' and 'Jail' became the most common.
Pumpkin Creek forms an oxbow near the buttes, and there is evidence that fur trappers, Native Americans, gold seekers, and the military once camped in this bend. The rock formations are listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the Nebraska Natural Areas Register.
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