Zeller Peak is a 7,426-foot elevation (2,263 m) mountain summit located in Hidalgo County, New Mexico, United States.

Zeller Peak
North aspect, centered
(Big Hatchet Peak to the left)
Highest point
Elevation7,426 ft (2,263 m)[1]
Prominence746 ft (227 m)[2]
Parent peakBig Hatchet Peak (8,359 ft)[3]
Isolation1.91 mi (3.07 km)[3]
Coordinates31°39′47″N 108°23′49″W / 31.6631566°N 108.3969863°W / 31.6631566; -108.3969863[4]
Naming
EtymologyRobert Allen Zeller
Geography
Zeller Peak is located in New Mexico
Zeller Peak
Zeller Peak
Location in New Mexico
Zeller Peak is located in the United States
Zeller Peak
Zeller Peak
Zeller Peak (the United States)
LocationBig Hatchet Mountains Wilderness Study Area
CountryUnited States of America
StateNew Mexico
CountyHidalgo
Parent rangeBig Hatchet Mountains
Topo mapUSGS Big Hatchet Peak
Geology
Rock agePaleozoic
Mountain typeFault block
Rock typeLimestone

Description

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Zeller Peak is located at the northern end of the Big Hatchet Mountains which are set in the New Mexico Bootheel. It is set within the Big Hatchet Mountains Wilderness Study Area, on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The remote mountain is situated 70 miles southwest of the town of Deming, two miles north of Big Hatchet Peak, and can be seen from Highway 81. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 2,400 feet (730 meters) above the Playas Valley in one mile, and 2,000 feet (610 meters) above the Hachita Valley in one-half mile.

Etymology

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This landform's toponym was officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1979 to honor Dr. Robert A. Zeller Jr. (1921–1970).[5] Zeller was a geologist and naturalist who spent more than 10 years studying the geology of the Big Hatchet Mountains,[5] and wrote his Ph.D. dissertation about these mountains.[6] Following his death in an airplane crash in Arizona, he was remembered as one of the most able geologists to ever live and work in the state of New Mexico.[7]

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ United States Geological Survey topographical map - Big Hatchet Peak
  2. ^ "Zeller Peak, New Mexico". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  3. ^ a b "Zeller Peak - 7,426' NM". listsofjohn.com. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  4. ^ "Zeller Peak". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  5. ^ a b United States Board on Geographic Names (1979), Decisions on Names in the United States, Decision List 7903, Department of the Interior, p. 16
  6. ^ Robert Julyan (2006), The Mountains of New Mexico, University of New Mexico Press, ISBN 9780826335166, p. 261
  7. ^ Robert Julyan (1996), The Place Names of New Mexico, University of New Mexico Press, ISBN 9780826351142, p. 384
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