Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Franklin Mountains (Texas)

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Peak
  
North Franklin Peak

Country
  
United States

Orogeny
  
Laramide orogeny

Elevation
  
7,192 ft (2,192 m)

States
  
Texas and New Mexico

Age of rock
  
Cretaceous

Franklin Mountains (Texas)

The Franklin Mountains of Texas are a small range (23 miles long, 3 miles (4.8 km) wide) that extend from El Paso, Texas north into New Mexico. The Franklins were formed due to crustal extension related to the Cenozoic Rio Grande rift. Although the present topography of the range and adjoining basins is controlled by extension during rifting in the last 10 million years, faults within the range also record deformation during the Laramide orogeny, between 85 and 45 million years ago.

The highest peak is North Franklin Peak at 7,192 feet (2,192 m). Much of the range is part of the Franklin Mountains State Park. The mountains are composed primarily of sedimentary rock with some igneous intrusions. Geologists refer to them as tilted-block fault mountains and in them can be found 1.25 billion-year-old Precambrian rocks, the oldest in Texas.

References

Franklin Mountains (Texas) Wikipedia