Castle Reef
Description
Castle Reef is located in the Rocky Mountain Front, which is a subset of the Rocky Mountains. It is situated 26 miles west-southwest of Choteau, in Lewis and Clark National Forest. Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains into tributaries of the Sun River. Topographic relief is significant as the east aspect rises nearly 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) above the prairie. Neighbors include Sawtooth Ridge seven miles to the south, and Ear Mountain 11 miles to the north.
Geology
Castle Reef is composed of sedimentary rock laid down during the Precambrian to Jurassic periods. Formed in shallow seas, this sedimentary rock was pushed east and over the top of younger rock during the Laramide orogeny. The Lewis Overthrust extends over 280 miles (450 km) from Mount Kidd in Alberta, south to Steamboat Mountain which is located 25 miles south of Castle Reef, which places Castle Reef within the southern extent of the Lewis Overthrust. The Castle Reef Formation takes its name from Castle Reef, as it is the type locality.
Climate
Based on the Köppen climate classification, Castle Reef is located in a subarctic climate zone characterized by long, usually very cold winters, and mild to warm summers. Winter temperatures can drop below −10 °F with wind chill factors below −30 °F.
See also
References
- ^ "Castle Reef, Montana". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2021-11-06.
- ^ "Castle Reef - 8,330' MT". listsofjohn.com. Retrieved 2021-11-06.
- ^ "Castle Reef". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2021-11-06.
- ^ Gadd, Ben (2008). "Geology of the Rocky Mountains and Columbias".
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(help) - ^ Feinstein, Shimon; Kohn, Barry; Osadetz, Kirk; Price, Raymond A. (2007-01-01). "Thermochronometric reconstruction of the prethrust paleogeothermal gradient and initial thickness of the Lewis thrust sheet, southeastern Canadian Cordillera foreland belt". Geological Society of America Special Papers. 433: 167–182. doi:10.1130/2007.2433(08). ISBN 978-0-8137-2433-1. ISSN 0072-1077.
- ^ Geologic Unit: Castle Reef, USGS.gov
- ^ Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L.; McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification". Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11 (5): 1633–1644. Bibcode:2007HESS...11.1633P. doi:10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007. ISSN 1027-5606. S2CID 9654551.
External links
- Weather: Castle Reef
- NGS Data Sheet