Pollux Temple

Landform in the Grand Canyon, Arizona

Pollux Temple

Northeast aspect, from Tonto Trail

Highest point
Elevation| 6,251 ft (1,905 m)[1]
Prominence| 762 ft (232 m)[1]
Parent peak| Diana Temple (6,683 ft)[1]
Isolation| 1.91 mi (3.07 km)[1]
Coordinates| 36°07′14″N 112°18′09″W﻿ / ﻿36.1206359°N 112.3025778°W﻿ / 36.1206359; -112.3025778[2]
Geography

Pollux Temple

Location in Arizona

Show map of Arizona

Pollux Temple

Pollux Temple (the United States)

Show map of the United States

Country| United States
State| Arizona
County| Coconino
Protected area| Grand Canyon National Park
Parent range| Coconino Plateau
Colorado Plateau
Topo map| USGS Piute Point
Geology
Rock type(s)| limestone, sandstone, mudstone
Climbing
First ascent|  March 1969 by Alan Doty[3]
Easiest route| class 4 climbing[1]

Pollux Temple is a 6,251-foot-elevation (1,905-meter) summit in the Grand Canyon, in Coconino County of northern Arizona, US.[2] It is situated ten miles northwest of Grand Canyon Village, and less than one mile northeast of Jicarilla Point. Castor Temple is one mile northwest, and Diana Temple is one mile southeast. Topographic relief is significant as Pollux Temple rises nearly 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) above the Colorado River in less than two miles. Pollux Temple is named for Pollux, the divine son of Zeus according to Greek mythology.[4] Clarence Dutton began the practice of naming geographical features in the Grand Canyon after mythological deities.[5] According to the Köppen climate classification system, Pollux Temple is located in a Cold semi-arid climate zone.[6]

## Geology

[edit]

The top of Pollux Temple is composed of Permian Toroweap Formation overlaying cream-colored, cliff-forming, Permian Coconino Sandstone.[7] The sandstone, which is the third-youngest of the strata in the Grand Canyon, was deposited 265 million years ago as sand dunes. Below the Coconino Sandstone is reddish, slope-forming, Permian Hermit Formation, which in turn overlays the Pennsylvanian-Permian Supai Group.[8] Further down are strata of the conspicuous cliff-forming Mississippian Redwall Limestone, the Cambrian Tonto Group, and finally granite of the Paleoproterozoic Vishnu Basement Rocks at river level in Granite Gorge. Precipitation runoff from Pollux Temple drains north to the Colorado River via Agate and Sapphire Canyons.

## Gallery

[edit]

* Pollux Temple from Jicarilla Point. (Mencius Temple in upper right)

* Aerial of Pollux Temple centered, casting shadow onto Castor Temple (upper left)

* Pollux Temple (upper left), with Sapphire Canyon, from Tonto Trail

* Pollux Temple centered in distance, from Point Sublime.
Artwork by William Henry Holmes.

## See also

[edit]

* Geology of the Grand Canyon area
* Scorpion Ridge

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e "Pollux Temple – 6,251' AZ". Lists of John. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
2. ^ a b "Pollux Temple". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
3. ^ Todd R. Berger, Reflections of Grand Canyon Historians: Ideas, Arguments and First-Person Accounts, 2nd edition, 2008, Grand Canyon Association Publisher, ISBN 978-1934656006, page 197.
4. ^ N.H. Darton, Story of the Grand Canyon of Arizona, 1917, page 80.
5. ^ Randy Moore and Kara Felicia Witt, The Grand Canyon: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture, 2018, ABC-CLIO Publisher, page 151.
6. ^ 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. Bibcode:2007HESS...11.1633P. doi:10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007. ISSN 1027-5606.
7. ^ N.H. Darton, Story of the Grand Canyon of Arizona, 1917, page 67.
8. ^ William Kenneth Hamblin, Anatomy of the Grand Canyon: Panoramas of the Canyon's Geology, 2008, Grand Canyon Association Publisher, ISBN 9781934656013.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pollux Temple.

* Weather forecast: National Weather Service
* Pollux Temple from Piute Point: Flickr photo
* Pollux Temple photo by Harvey Butchart

* v
* t
* e

Grand Canyon

Facilities|

* Black Suspension Bridge
* Bridge Canyon Dam
* Grand Canyon Escalade
* Grand Canyon National Park
* Grand Canyon Skywalk
* Grand Canyon Village, Arizona
* Kolb Studio
* Marble Canyon Dam
* Maswik Lodge
* Phantom Ranch

Geology|

* Agave phillipsiana
* Apollo Temple
* Bat Cave mine
* Cardenas Basalt
* Dox Formation
* Ericameria arizonica
* Esplanade Sandstone
* Grand Canyon Caverns
* Grand Canyon Forest Reserve
* Grand Canyon–Parashant National Monument
* Grand Canyon Supergroup
* Chuar Group
* Nankoweap Formation
* Sixtymile Formation
* Unkar Group
* Bass Formation
* Shinumo Quartzite
* Grand Staircase
* Freya Castle
* Hakatai Shale
* Hermit Formation
* Hyaloclastite Dam
* Isis Temple
* Kanab Plateau
* Newton Butte
* Ochoa Point
* Prospect Dam
* Redwall Limestone
* Tanner Graben
* Temple Butte
* Tonto Group
* Bright Angel Shale
* Toroweap Fault
* Uinkaret volcanic field
* Vasey's Paradise
* Venus Temple
* Vishnu Temple
* Vulcan's Throne

Bodies of water|

* Colorado River
* Deer Creek
* Havasu Creek
* Havasu Falls
* Kanab Creek
* Little Colorado River
* Bright Angel Creek

People|

* Harvey Butchart
* Colin Fletcher
* Kenton Grua
* John Hance

Tribes|

* Havasupai
* Hualapai

Events|

* Powell Geographic Expedition of 1869
* 1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision
* Grand Canyon Airlines Flight 6

Related|

* Grand Canyon Backcountry Camping
* List of trails in Grand Canyon National Park
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Grand Canyon National Park
* Grand Canyon Conservancy
* Grand Canyon Suite
* Desert Wonderland
* Grand Canyon (1958 film)
* A Bigger Grand Canyon (1998 painting)
* Grand Canyon (2017 children's book)
* The Man Who Walked Through Time
* Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets
* Grand Canyon: A Different View
* Grand Canyon Escalade

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template