Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Digital database for the Geologic map of the Mohave Mountains area, Mohave County, western Arizona

January 25, 2026

This geologic database is a digitized version of the original 1:48,000-scale analog geologic map titled "Geologic map of the Mohave Mountains area, Mohave County, western Arizona", published by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 1999. The Mohave Mountains area surrounds Lake Havasu City, Arizona, in the Basin and Range physiographic province. The Mohave Mountains and the Aubrey Hills form two northwest-trending ranges adjacent to Lake Havasu (elevation 132 m; 448 ft) on the Colorado River. The low Buck Mountains lie northeast of the Mohave Mountains in the alluviated valley of Dutch Flat. Lowlands at Standard Wash separate the Mohave Mountains from the Bill Williams Mountains to the southeast. The highest point in the area is Crossman Peak in the Mohave Mountains, at an elevation of 1519 m (5148 ft). Arizona Highway 95 is now rerouted in the northwestern part of the map area from its position portrayed on the base map; it now also passes through the southern edge of the map area. Geologic mapping was begun in 1980 as part of a program to assess the mineral resource potential of Federal lands under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (Light and others, 1983). Mapping responsibilities were as follows: Proterozoic and Mesozoic rocks, K.A. Howard; dikes, J.K. Nakata; Miocene section, J.E. Nielson; and surficial deposits, H.G. Wilshire. Earlier geologic mapping includes reconnaissance mapping by Wilson and Moore (1959). The present series of investigations has resulted in reports on the crystalline rocks and structure (Howard and others, 1982a), dikes (Nakata, 1982), Tertiary stratigraphy (Pike and Hansen, 1982; Nielson, 1986; Nielson and Beratan, 1990), surficial deposits (Wilshire and Reneau, 1992), tectonics (Howard and John, 1987; Beratan and others, 1990), geophysics (Simpson and others, 1986), mineralization (Light and McDonnell, 1983; Light and others, 1983), field guides (Nielson, 1986; Howard and others, 1987), and geochronology (Nakata and others, 1990; Foster and others, 1990).

Publication Year 2026
Title Digital database for the Geologic map of the Mohave Mountains area, Mohave County, western Arizona
DOI 10.5066/P14LPYPV
Authors Morgan W Nasholds, Keith A Howard
Product Type Data Release
Record Source USGS Asset Identifier Service (AIS)
USGS Organization National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program
Rights This work is marked with CC0 1.0 Universal
Was this page helpful?