Picuris Mountains

The Picuris Mountains are a mountain range in northern New Mexico. They are considered a subrange of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.[1] The mountains are located to the east of Dixon and surround Picuris Pueblo to the west, north, and east.

Picuris Mountains
Picuris Mountains north of Picuris Pueblo, New Mexico
Highest point
Peak10,801 ft (3,292 m), Picuris Peak
Dimensions
Length15 mi (24 km) east-west
Width10 mi (16 km) north-south
Naming
EtymologyKeres Pee-koo-ree-a, "those who paint"[1]
Geography
CountryUnited States
StateNew Mexico
Range coordinates36°14′46″N 105°49′30″W

The range resembles a triangle with its base to the east, along the valley of the Rio Grande del Rancho. The northwest face lies along the valley of the Rio Grande and the southern face lies along Rio Pueblo and Embudo River.

The area was first visited by Europeans on July 13, 1598, when Juan de Oñate visited Picuris Pueblo.

The range is underlain by Precambrian rock beds of the Hondo Group and Vadito Group.[2] It is the namesake for the Picuris orogeny.

References

  1. Julyan, Robert (1998). The Place Names of New Mexico (2 ed.). Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. p. 266. ISBN 0-8263-1689-1.
  2. Jones, James V., III; Daniel, Christopher G.; Frei, Dirk; Thrane, Kristine (2011). "Revised regional correlations and tectonic implications of Paleoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks in northern New Mexico, USA: New findings from detrital zircon studies of the Hondo Group, Vadito Group, and Marqueñas Formation". Geosphere. 7 (4): 974–991. doi:10.1130/GES00614.1. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
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