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Sierra Madre Occidental
The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera that traverses northwest to southeast through northwestern and western Mexico and along the Gulf of California.
The North American Cordillera is part of a larger system called the American Cordillera which is a chain of almost continuous mountains ranges forming the western backbone of North America, Central America, South America and West Antarctica.
The occidental range runs parallel to the Pacific coast of Mexico form just south of the Arizona and Sonora border in a southeast direction through the Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Durango, Zacatecas, Nayarit, Jalisco, Aguascalientes and Guanajuato to join with the Transcontinental Volcanic mountain range and the Southern Sierra Madre.
The mountain range is about 190 miles from the Pacific coast in the north but this distance decreases as it traverses southward to within 30 miles in the southern part of the range.
The highest elevation are in the Tarahumara range in Durango state and reach a height of near 10,000 feet at Cerro Mohinora, Cerro Barajas and Cerro Gordo.
Sierra Madre Occidental Information:
Description:
The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that which traverses northwest-southeast through western Mexico and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre range is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consist of an almost continuous sequence that form the westernmost ranges of North America, Central America, South America, and West Antarctica.
Geology
The Sierra Madre Occidental is a high plateau of volcanic rock that is eroded in areas to reveal a basement composed of plutonic and sedimentary rocks underlying the two groups of extrusive volcanics. The lower of these groups is a series of volcanic rocks formed by lava flows. The surface of the plateau is made up of a second series of volcanic ignimbrites, covered mostly by clay rich organic soils. Some intrusions in the area have deposited ore veins that are commercially viable.
The landscape was shaped after rock placement. Rivers cut valleys into the plateau, following folds in the rocks. Rocks have broken off of the slopes, forming rocky sides. The bedrock is covered by the clay rich soils, except in eroded areas, where water carries away deposits leaving a stony surface.
Location:
Cerro Mohinora Coordinates:
25.956111, -107.047778
Elevation:
10,863 feet (3,311 meters)
Geographical Region:
Northern Sierra Madre
The Ancients
First Wayƒarer
The Earth
The Modern Man
The Steps
Steps Afoot
Steps Afield
The Appendixes
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