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31-789: The west and southwest of the plateau region borders the east, southeast of the Painted Desert , where the Puerco River enters the desert, flowing southwest from New Mexico then meeting the Little Colorado River which flows northwest through the Painted Desert – (light tan & arc-shaped), to the Colorado River (at the northeast of the Grand Canyon ). The Puerco River is the plateau's border on

62-934: A key problem in such canals is ensuring a sufficient water supply. Important examples are the Chicago Portage , connecting the Great Lakes and Mississippi by the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal , and the Canal des Deux Mers in France, connecting the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The name is enshrined at the Height of Land Portage on the route from the Great Lakes in the Atlantic drainage basin to

93-610: A low point on a divide where it is possible to portage a canoe from one river system to another. Drainage divides can be divided into three types: A valley-floor divide occurs on the bottom of a valley and arises as a result of subsequent depositions, such as scree , in a valley through which a river originally flowed continuously. Examples include the Kartitsch Saddle in the Gail valley in East Tyrol , which forms

124-599: Is Oak Creek Mountain, where the plateau highpoint is located, Fluted Rock, 4-mi southwest of Sawmill, Arizona . The northwest of the Defiance Plateau merges into the southeast of the Black Mesa , (southeast-trending, the same trendline as the Painted Desert). Black Mesa is also the west border of Chinle Valley , where the south-center, and southeast of the valley becomes part of the north perimeter of

155-576: Is a low drainage divide that runs across a valley , sometimes created by deposition or stream capture . Major divides separating rivers that drain to different seas or oceans are continental divides . The term height of land is used in Canada and the United States to refer to a drainage divide. It is frequently used in border descriptions, which are set according to the "doctrine of natural boundaries ". In glaciated areas it often refers to

186-759: Is about 120 miles (190 km) long by about 60 miles (100 km) wide, making it roughly 7,500 square miles (19,420 km ) in area. Bordering southwest and south is the Mogollon Plateau , and on the plateau's south border the Mogollon Rim , the north border of the Arizona transition zone . Owing to the strong rain shadow of the Mogollon Rim, the Painted Desert has a cold desert climate ( Köppen BWk ), with hot, dry summers and chilly (though virtually snow-free) winters. The annual precipitation

217-652: Is asymmetric, dipping steeply into the Defiance monocline on its eastern boundary but gently (with dip angles typically less than three degrees) to the west. The uplift is relatively unfaulted, except for local faulting at Tsaile graben in the northwestern part of the uplift and the Wide Ruins fault zone across the southern part of the uplift. The uplift is separated from the Zuni uplift by the Gallup sag. The central part of

248-784: Is difficult to find a meaningful definition of a watershed. A bifurcation is where the watershed is effectively in a river bed, in a wetland, or underground. The largest watershed of this type is the bifurcation of the Orinoco in the north of South America , whose main stream empties into the Caribbean , but which also drains into the South Atlantic via the Casiquiare canal and Amazon River . Since ridgelines are sometimes easy to see and agree about, drainage divides may form natural borders defining political boundaries, as with

279-431: Is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins . On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges , and may be in the form of a single range of hills or mountains , known as a dividing range . On flat terrain, especially where the ground is marshy , the divide may be difficult to discern. A triple divide is a point, often a summit , where three drainage basins meet. A valley floor divide

310-521: Is in the center-southwest plateau region, where the mesas trend northwesterly along the northeast perimeter of the Painted Desert. The west terminus of AZ 264 is Tuba City, Arizona adjacent U.S. 89 . Painted Desert, Arizona The Painted Desert is a United States desert of badlands in the Four Corners area, running from near the east end of Grand Canyon National Park and southeast into Petrified Forest National Park . It

341-522: Is most easily accessed from the north portion of Petrified Forest National Park. The Painted Desert is known for its brilliant and varied colors: these include the more common red rock, but also shades of lavender. The Painted Desert was named by a Spanish expedition under Francisco Vázquez de Coronado during his 1540 quest to find the Seven Cities of Cibola . He located these some 40 miles (60 km) east of Petrified Forest National Park . Finding

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372-664: Is the central area of an uplifted region. To the north/northeast are the Lukachukai Mountains , part of the Defiance Plateau border; they form a southeast section of Chinle Valley 's border. South of the Lukachukais is the rest of the east border of the Defiance Plateau, the Chuska Mountains ; the Chuskas trend northwest in the north; at the plateaus east, the Chuskas trend more southerly, and attached at

403-554: Is the lowest in northern Arizona and in many places is lower even than Phoenix . Much of the region is accessible only by foot or unpaved road though major highways and paved roads cut across the area. The towns of Cameron and Tuba City , both on the Navajo Nation, are two major settlements. A permit is required for all backroad travel on the Navajo Nation. Water divide A drainage divide , water divide , ridgeline , watershed , water parting or height of land

434-563: The Canyon de Chelly National Monument ; two other canyons are southwest, part of the five canyon system, Little White House and Three Turkey Canyons. The Defiance Plateau is part of the Navajo Nation . At the plateau's southeast, on Black Creek lies the site of Window Rock, Arizona , the Navajo Nation capitol. The highpoint of the plateau is Fluted Rock, southwest of Sawmill, Arizona , 8,304 feet (2,531 m). The Defiance Plateau

465-571: The Chuska Mountains , turning east to meet U.S. 491 . IR-12, exits from NM 134 going north then northeast following the west flank of the Chuskas to meet US 191 north of Canyon de Chelly in the Chinle Valley-(at Lukachukai Creek, eventually reaching Round Rock, Arizona ). The center-south of the Defiance Plateau is traversed east-west by Arizona State Route 264 . Window Rock is at the southeast, on Black Creek, (southern Chuskas, Manuelito Plateau); Ganado, Arizona

496-882: The Royal Proclamation of 1763 in British North America which coincided with the ridgeline of the Appalachian Mountains forming the Eastern Continental Divide that separated settled colonial lands in the east from Indian Territory to the west. Another instance of a border matching a watershed in modern times involves the western border between Labrador and Quebec , as arbitrated by the privy council in 1927. Drainage divides hinder waterway navigation . In pre-industrial times, water divides were crossed at portages . Later, canals connected adjoining drainage basins;

527-614: The Defiance Plateau, from Interstate 40 on the south and southeast plateau perimeter, following the course of the Puerco River from New Mexico. At the plateaus southeast, IR-12-(BIA-12) traverses north from I-40 to follow the Black Creek rivercourse, in Arizona. At the north, IR-12 meets Red Lake (Arizona - New Mexico) and Navajo, NM in Red Valley; IR-12 then traverses northeast, intersecting with New Mexico Road 134 through

558-531: The Little Colorado runs directly northwest (then due-north, and then back to northwest) to eventually meet the Colorado River. Numerous mesas trend from the northeast (west and southwest sides of the Black Mesa ) as drainage basin perimeters feeding the Little Colorado. At the southwest of the Defiance Plateau, is Padre Mesa; north is Ganada Mesa, ( Ganado, Arizona ), and northeast of Grand Mesa

589-514: The cities were not made of gold, Coronado sent an expedition to find the Colorado River to gain supplies. Passing through the wonderland of colors, they named the area El Desierto Pintado ("The Painted Desert"). Much of the Painted Desert within Petrified Forest National Park is protected as Petrified Forest National Wilderness Area , where motorized travel is limited. The park offers both easy and longer hikes into

620-481: The colored hills. The Painted Desert continues north into the Navajo Nation , where off-road travel is allowed only by permit. The desert is composed of stratified layers of siltstone , mudstone , and shale of the Triassic Chinle Formation , which erode easily. These fine-grained rock layers contain abundant iron and manganese compounds, which provide the pigments for the various colors of

651-553: The face of the landscape by shifting sediment and exposing layers of the Chinle Formation. An assortment of fossilized prehistoric plants and animals are found in the region, as well as ancient dinosaur tracks and evidence of early human habitation. The Painted Desert extends roughly from Cameron – Tuba City southeast to past Holbrook and the Petrified Forest National Park . The desert

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682-424: The plateau. Northeast and east are the mountain ranges that trend southward, and become the eastern parts of the Defiance Plateau. The Carrizo Mountains stand alone northeast; the Lukachukai Mountains are connected to the north Chuskas, and the extensive Chuska Mountains are attached to the Defiance Plateau at the east, with headwaters flowing west, or northwest into Canyon de Chelly or southeast Chinle Valley. In

713-567: The region. Thin, resistant lacustrine limestone layers and volcanic flows cap the mesas . Numerous layers of silicic volcanic ash occur in the Chinle and provide the silica for the petrified logs of the area. The erosion of these layers has resulted in the formation of the badlands topography of the region. In the southern portions of the desert, the remains of a Triassic period coniferous forest have fossilized over millions of years. Wind, water and soil erosion continue to change

744-491: The south Chuskas, the Black Creek, and Red Lake , at the Red Valley region, southeast of Sawmill, form the final southeast perimeter region of the Defiance Plateau. The center region is near Sawmill, Arizona. Beautiful Valley to the northwest contains Nazlini Wash, where the wash is a southwest-tributary to the due-north flowing Chinle Creek system. The watershed origins also come from the southwest near Ganado, closer to

775-537: The south and southeast; at the northwest, the Black Mesa is the northwest border, and the north of the Defiance Plateau is bounded by the south of the Chinle Valley , where Chinle Creek flows north to meet the San Juan River in southeast Utah . The north terminus region of the Defiance Plateau contains three canyons, with watercourses flowing due-west, as headwaters of Chinle Creek. The canyons are

806-537: The south is Manuelito Plateau, in New Mexico, the east border of the south-flowing Black Creek at the southeast perimeter region of the Defiance Plateau. The south perimeter of the Defiance Plateau is bordered by the Puerco River , flowing southwest from the Continental Divide in northwest New Mexico. The Puerco intersects the Little Colorado River at the southeast edge of the Painted Desert, where

837-627: The southwest Defiance Plateau perimeter. At Sawmill, northeast of Ganado is Bonito Canyon a northwest tributary to south-flowing Black Creek. The water divide separating the Chinle Creek watershed, (southeast, with Canyon de Chelly), is 3-mi north-northeast of Sawmill. The Defiance Plateau is the topographic expression of the Defiance Uplift , a block of the Earth's crust that has been repeatedly elevated through geologic time. The uplift

868-639: The uplift existed in the Pennsylvanian and was stripped of sedimentary cover by erosion. The uplift was subsequently buried by sediments during the Mesozoic but was again uplifted and partially stripped in the late Jurassic or early Cretaceous, possibly contributing significant sediments to the Morrison , Dakota , or Cedar Mountain Formations . US 191 traverses mesas on the west perimeter of

899-487: The uplift exposes Permian beds ( Supai Group and Coconino Sandstone ) while the outer portions of the uplift, particularly to the north, expose Triassic Chinle Formation . Strata as young as the Cretaceous Mesaverde Group are found around the flanks of the uplift, particularly on the Defiance monocline. The Permian beds rest unconformably on Proterozoic gneiss and granite , showing that

930-886: The watershed between the Drau and the Gail, and the divides in the Toblacher Feld between Innichen and Toblach in Italy , where the Drau empties into the Black Sea and the Rienz into the Adriatic . Settlements are often built on valley-floor divides in the Alps. Examples are Eben im Pongau , Kirchberg in Tirol and Waidring (In all of these, the village name indicates the pass and

961-719: The watershed is even explicitly displayed in the coat of arms). Extremely low divides with heights of less than two metres are found on the North German Plain within the Urstromtäler , for example, between Havel and Finow in the Eberswalde Urstromtal . In marsh deltas such as the Okavango , the largest drainage area on earth, or in large lakes areas, such as the Finnish Lakeland , it

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