This calm scene bespeaks potent natural violence. Shortly before mostly dry Cave Creek exits its canyon in the Chiricahua Mountains, a deposited load of botanic and geologic material speaks to the power of the infrequent but intense flash floods that can surge through here. Stones of all sizes, from pea gravel to boulders the size of small cars, roll along within the water’s turbulent surge, smoothed by contact with each other, before they stall when the flow no longer is deep and strong enough to push them along. Then atop that, floating plant detritus, up to the size of logs, settles as the water recedes. All of this may happen in under an hour each time. Such infrequent events, when multiplied through millions of years, carve the rugged canyons of Arizona’s “sky islands”.
3 SW Portal AZ (12 Jul 21) Looking WSW
31.8901, -109.1687Dry Water Works
This calm scene bespeaks potent natural violence. Shortly before mostly dry Cave Creek exits its canyon in the Chiricahua Mountains, a deposited load of botanic and geologic material speaks to the power of the infrequent but intense flash floods that can surge through here. Stones of all sizes, from pea gravel to boulders the size of small cars, roll along within the water’s turbulent surge, smoothed by contact with each other, before they stall when the flow no longer is deep and strong enough to push them along. Then atop that, floating plant detritus, up to the size of logs, settles as the water recedes. All of this may happen in under an hour each time. Such infrequent events, when multiplied through millions of years, carve the rugged canyons of Arizona’s “sky islands”.
3 SW Portal AZ (12 Jul 21) Looking WSW
31.8901, -109.1687