Near Fredonia in Mohave County, Arizona — The American Mountains (Southwest)
How Can 10 Million Gallons of Water a Year Suddenly Appear in a Stony Desert?
— Pipe Spring National Monument —
Here about 90 percent of any rain and snow is absorbed by plants or quickly evaporates. Only 10 percent of Pipe Spring’s precipitation soaks into the light-colored rock you see at the top of the cliffs. Water can move easily but slowly through this fine-grained Navajo sandstone.
The red Kayenta mudstone you see in the cliff face blocks water from going deeper into the earth.
At the Sevier Fault, a great fracture thousands of feet deep, rocks west of Pipe Spring have slipped down relative to the rocks to the east.
Water in the sandstone follows the slope of the land, moving eastward.
Groundwater creeps downhill until it is blocked by the impermeable Chinle mudstone formation at the Sevier Fault.
The water then moves south in an underground trough created where the rock layers have bent along the fault line.
At Winsor Castle, where the porous sandstone has eroded away, the water is released to the surface.
Erected by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Natural Features.
Location. 36° 51.805′ N, 112° 44.425′ W. Marker is near Fredonia, Arizona, in Mohave County. Marker can be reached from North Pipe Spring Road, 0.3 miles north of Arizona Route 389, on the left when traveling north. Marker is located along the Ridge Trail in Pipe Spring National Monument. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 406 North Pipe Spring Road, Fredonia AZ 86022, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Yoowuv' (within shouting distance of this marker); When the Good Grass Goes (within shouting distance of this marker); 995 Miles of Wire (within shouting distance of this marker); Moamop' (within shouting distance of this marker); Skoomp (within shouting distance of this marker); Stephen Tyng Mather (within shouting distance of this marker); A New National Monument (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Pipe Springs National Monument (about 300 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Fredonia.
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Pipe Spring National Monument
Also see . . .
1. 10 Million Gallons of Water a Year. (A National Park Service link for this marker.) (Submitted on May 6, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
2. Pipe Spring National Monument Hydrogeology. Four water sources are recognized in the monument. Main Spring, also called Fort Spring, is the largest. It and Spring Room Spring emerge near or beneath a structure built in the 1870s. Tunnel Spring, located in an adit tunnel, and West Cabin Spring, are nearby. All four emerge at the base of the Vermilion Cliffs, sandstone strata to the north that overlie impermeable shale and mudstone layers. Main Spring flow decreased over the past 40 years, finally ceasing in the summer of 1999; however, the other springs continue to flow. (Submitted on May 6, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
Credits. This page was last revised on May 7, 2020. It was originally submitted on May 6, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 208 times since then and 13 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on May 6, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.