View source for Butte

{{short description|Isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top}}
{{other uses|Butte (disambiguation)}}
{{pp-pc}}
[[File:Monument Valley, late afternoon.jpg|thumb|[[West and East Mitten Buttes|The Mittens]] and [[Merrick Butte]] in [[Monument Valley]], [[Utah]]–[[Arizona]]]]

In [[geomorphology]], a '''butte''' ({{IPAc-en|b|juː|t}} {{respell|BEWT}}) is an isolated [[hill]] with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller [[landform]]s than [[mesa]]s, [[plateau]]s, and [[table (landform)|tablelands]]. The word ''butte'' comes from the [[French language|French]] word {{wikt-lang|fr|butte}} ({{IPA|fr|byt|lang}}), meaning '[[hillock|knoll]]' (of any size); its use is prevalent in the [[Western United States]], including the [[Southwestern United States|Southwest]], where {{langnf|es|{{wikt-lang|es|mesa}}|table}} is used for the larger landform.

Due to their distinctive shapes, buttes are frequently landmarks in [[plain]]s and mountainous areas.<ref name=Jackson>{{cite book |editor1-last=Jackson |editor1-first=Julia A. |title=Glossary of Geology |date=1997 |publisher=[[American Geosciences Institute|American Geological Institute]] |location=[[Alexandria, Virginia]] |isbn=0922152349 |edition=4th |chapter=butte}}</ref> To differentiate the two landforms, geographers use the [[rule of thumb]] that a mesa has a top that is wider than its height, while a butte has a top that is narrower than its height.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Allaby |first1=Michael |title=A dictionary of geology and earth sciences |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780199653065 |edition=Fourth |chapter=butte}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Mesa and Butte |work=Science Clarified |year=2008 |url=http://www.scienceclarified.com/landforms/Faults-to-Mountains/Mesa-and-Butte.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202230831/http://www.scienceclarified.com/landforms/Faults-to-Mountains/Mesa-and-Butte.html |archive-date=2 December 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Formation==
Buttes form by [[weathering]] and [[erosion]] when hard [[caprock]] overlies a layer of less resistant [[rock (geology)|rock]] that is eventually worn away. The harder rock on top of the butte resists erosion. The caprock provides protection for the less resistant rock below from wind abrasion which leaves it standing isolated. As the top is further eroded by abrasion and weathering, the excess material that falls off adds to the [[scree]] or talus slope around the base.<ref name=Thornbury>{{cite book |last1=Thornbury |first1=William D. |title=Principles of geomorphology |date=1969 |publisher=Wiley |location=New York |isbn=0471861979 |page=133 |edition=2d}}</ref> On a much smaller scale, the same process forms [[Hoodoo (geology)|hoodoo]]s.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Davis, George Herbert|year=1999|title=Structural Geology of the Colorado Plateau Region of Southern Utah, with Special Emphasis on Deformation Bands|series=G.S.A. Special Paper 342|publisher=Geological Society of America|location=Boulder, Colorado|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=J3LPPrxrEaoC&pg=PA30 30]|isbn=978-0-8137-2342-6}}</ref>

==Notable buttes==
The [[West and East Mitten Buttes|Mitten Buttes]] of [[Monument Valley]] in the [[Utah]]–[[Arizona]] state line are two of the most distinctive and widely recognized buttes. Monument Valley and the Mittens provided backgrounds in the scenes of many [[Western (genre)|western-themed]] [[film]]s, including seven movies directed by [[John Ford]].{{refn|name=note1|group=note|The John Ford westerns with location work shot in Monument Valley were ''[[Stagecoach (1939 film)|Stagecoach]]'' (1939), ''[[My Darling Clementine]]'' (1946), ''[[Fort Apache (film)|Fort Apache]]'' (1948), ''[[She Wore a Yellow Ribbon]]'' (1949), ''[[The Searchers (film)|The Searchers]]'' (1956), ''[[Sergeant Rutledge]]'' (1960), and ''[[Cheyenne Autumn]]'' (1964).}}  Another very well-known and frequently photographed butte in northern Arizona is [[Sierra Prieta|Thumb Butte]], which overlooks the city of [[Prescott, Arizona|Prescott]] and is the most prominent and distinctive geologic landmark in the vicinity. The [[Devils Tower]] in northeastern [[Wyoming]] is a [[laccolith]]ic butte composed of [[igneous rock]] rather than [[sandstone]], [[limestone]] or other [[sedimentary rock]]s.<ref>{{cite web | title=Devils Tower National Monument – Geologic Formations | url=https://home.nps.gov/deto/learn/nature/geologicformations.htm | publisher=National Park Service | date=10 Mar 2014 | access-date=13 Mar 2014}}</ref>

[[File:B D - Devil's Tower select (3) 1.1 (by).jpg|thumb|left|[[Devils Tower]] in [[Wyoming]]]]

The term ''butte'' is sometimes applied more broadly to isolated, steep-sided hills with pointed or craggy, rather than flat, tops.<ref name=Jackson/> Three  notable formations that are either named ''butte'' or may be considered buttes even though they do not conform to the formal geographer's rule are [[Scotts Bluff National Monument|Scotts Bluff]] in [[Nebraska]] which is a collection of five bluffs, [[Crested Butte]], which is a {{convert|12168|ft|m|abbr=on}} mountain in [[Colorado]], and [[Elephant Butte (Sierra County, New Mexico)|Elephant Butte]], which is now an island in Elephant Butte Reservoir in [[New Mexico]].

Among the well-known non-flat-topped buttes in the United States are [[Bear Butte]], [[South Dakota]], [[Black Butte (Oregon)|Black Butte]], [[Oregon]], and the [[Sutter Buttes]] in [[California]]. In many cases, buttes have been given other names that do not use the word ''butte'', for example, [[Courthouse Rock]], Nebraska.  Also, some large hills that are technically not buttes have names using the word, examples of which are [[Kamiak Butte]], Chelan Butte and [[Steptoe Butte]] in [[Washington (state)|Washington state]].

{{clear}}

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Butte pdphoto roadtrip 24 bg 021604.jpg|[[Courthouse Butte]] near [[Sedona, Arizona]]
File:Вид на крепость Качахакаберд4.JPG|[[Kachaghakaberd|Qaxaç Qalası]] or Kachaghakaberd fortress, [[Khojali District]], [[Azerbaijan]]
File:Pawnee Buttes2010.jpg|[[Pawnee Buttes]], [[Pawnee National Grassland]], [[Colorado]]
File:Algérie 2009.jpg|[[Tamanrasset Province]], [[Algeria]]
File:Tacco di Perda 'e Liana.jpg|[[Monte Perda Liana]] in [[Sardinia]], [[Italy]].
</gallery>

==See also==
{{portal|Geography}}
{{div col}}
* {{annotated link|Caprock Escarpment}}
* {{annotated link|Megalith}}
* {{annotated link|Monadnock}}
* {{annotated link|Monolith}}
* {{annotated link|Potrero (landform)|Potrero}}
* {{annotated link|Table mountain (disambiguation)}}
* {{annotated link|Tepui}}
* {{annotated link|Tuya}}
* {{annotated link|Volcanic plug}}
{{end div col}}

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Buttes}}
{{wiktionary}}
* {{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Butte|short=x}}
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Butte|short=x}}

{{Earth's landforms|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Buttes| ]]
[[Category:Sandstone]]
[[Category:Geomorphology]]
[[Category:Geography terminology]]
[[Category:Erosion landforms]]
[[Category:Slope landforms]]
[[Category:Tables (landform)]]