Geology of Granite Gap, Peloncillo Mountains

Above. A view looking west along Highway 80 bisecting the Peloncillo Mountains at Granite Gap. The entrance to Cave Creek Canyon can be seen on the right side of the photograph in the Chiricahua Mountains in the background.
Below. A view off the wingtip looking north from Highway 80 to Granite Peak which rises 1500' above the floor of the valley.


The intrusive granite in Granite Gap occupies approximately 1.5 square miles consisting of an east/west oriented upfaulted block. It is bounded by steeply dipping faults on the north and south but sinks beneath the valley aluvium on the east and west. It is presumably precambrian and is overlain by cambrian Bolsa quartzite. The granite has intruded into younger Mississippian aged sedimentary rocks and along the margins where numerous small mining operations removed copper, lead, zinc, silver, and tungsten.

References

Gillerman, E. Bulletin 57, Geology of the Peloncillo Mountains, Hidalgo Dounty, New Mexico and Cochise County, Arizona. 1958. State Bureau of mines and mineral resources New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology . Socorro, New Mexico pp 152.