TheKneeling Nun, SantaRita, NewMexico byBobeftW. Eveleth, Mining Engineer, and Glen R. jsburn,Volcanologist, NewMexico Bureau of Minesand Mineral Resources, Socorro, NM 87801

She kneels peacefully overlooking rolling in this manner; groups of columns and nu- age.By 1804he is saidto haveextracted 1,000 hills and meadowspartially coveredwith ju- merous other joint-bound blocks are clearly mule loads of 14arrobas each (1 arroba : 25 niper and pifion pine forest surrounding a visible in the cliffs (Fig. 3). Weatheringpro- lbs) of "extraordinarily rich ore" (Garcia,1965, modern open-pit mine. But things cesseshave altered the appearanceof the p. 5). Today the Chino mine is one of the have not alwaysbeen so placid here for vio- lower column to the present figure-likepro- world's great copper producers with a total lenceof nature was her creatorand may well file that has exerted a mvstical affect upon production sinceSpanish occupation that ex- signalher demise.She has also beenwitness man through the ages. ceeds7 billion lbs (NMBMMR file data). to violenceof another kind-that of human conflict. If she could only talk, we could learn A long history of folklore A look into the future much of what has transpired beneath her Legendsabound that date from about the The Kneeling Nun has changed in ap- regalgaze for uncounted millennia;but alas, late 18th century regarding the monolith. The pearanceduring geologic and recent time. she is only stone, and everyone knows that Kneeling Nun is uncannily reminiscent of a Earthquakesare doubtless the major geo- stonesdo not talk-or do they? clad, kneeling figure even from closerange. logic hazard that have affectedthe "nun," "She," of course, is the rock monolith at The Indians surely had legends of but simpleweathering has alsotaken its toll. SantaRita in southwestNew Mexico, one of their own about the figure although none are Although the Kneeling Nun has remained the most famous natural Iandmarks in the known to these authors. Early Spanish ex- virtually unchangedduring the 20thcentury American Southwest,that today we call the plorersare said to havenoted "the reluctance (a fact that is highly significant given the daily Kneeling Nun (Fig. 1). Known by at least of the . . . to camp in the vicinity blasting activity at the Chino mine), a nota- three different names, she has suffered (of the Kneeling Nun) despite the excellent ble event did occur in 1885.According to the somethingof an identity crisis (Fig. 2). How vantagepoint into the valley below" (Anon., Silver City Enterprise (June 26, 1885) old is the "nun?"; how was it created?;has 1968).True or not, it seems reasonableto ". . . about thirty feet of the Kneeling Nun it always appearedas it does now?; will it assumethat the superstitiousApaches were at Santa Rita has tumbled down. For years remain the same in the future? Answers to well awareof the imposing human-likemon- past this has been a prominent landmark in thesequestions follow. olith and avoided it accordingly. southernNew Mexico.A smallportion of the Spanishlegends about the Kneeling Nun needlestill remainsbut cannotbe seenat so Birth of the "nun" are steepedin religion and invariably refer greata distanceas of old." Unfortunately,no The KneelingNun is composedentirely of to a "young nun" (SisterTeresa, Sister Rita, pre-1885photos or sketchesare known to be a single volcanic unit. The ash-flow tuff or or RaquelMendoza de Alarcorn, depending extantso then-and-nowcomparisons are not ignimbrite was formed about 34 m.y. ago on the source)stationed at a localIndian mis- possible.Two yearslater on May 3, 1887,the during a cataclysmicpryoclastic eruption sionwho fallsin love with a handsomeSpan- SantaRita area was severelyshaken, along centeredin the southernBlack Range, north- ish soldier.She is ultimatelyoutcast foi her with the rest of southwesternNew Mexico eastof SantaRita. Severalhundred cubicmiles "sins," and, stricken with frief, she climbs and southeasternArizona, bv the Sonoran of magma were frothed from the top of a the mountain on a stormy day to pray. At earthquake.The epicenterof fhe earthquake largepluton by exolution of dissolvedgases, sunrise the following day the local people was about I70 mi southwestof the Kneeling broken to small ash and pumice as gas ex- are stunned to observeher pious, kneeling Nun and its magnitude was estimatedat7 2 pansion exceeded magma ductibility, and figure eternally castinto stone. carriedupward into a gigantic eruption col- umn perhapssimilar to that observedduring The Sierra del Cobre the eruption of Mount St. Helens. Contin- The Kneeling Nun has watched silently ued eruption overloadedthe column and the over another spectacularattraction at Santa hot incandescentmaterial cascadeddown to Rita-the copper deposit, known to the form hot ground-hugging, gravity-con- Spanishas the Sierradel Cobreand todav as trolled gas-and-particleslurries, which car- the Chino mine. The Apachesapparently had ried the material away from the eruption site. been working the deposits of easily mined These slurries were partly fluidized by the native copper for some generationswhen the gasand fine material,and thereforethey be- locationwas reportedly disclosedto Spanish came very mobile and travelled long dis- officer Colonel |ose Manuel Carrascoby an tances(tens of miles) at high velocities(tens Apache Chief with whom Carrascohad be- of miles per hour). At that time they were a comefriendly (Fig.4;Anon., 1884,p. 4; Rick- far cry from the friendly rocks we observe ard, 1923,p.75a).It is unlikely that the Indian today in the SantaRita area. foresawthe consequencesof his action. Car- Approximately 400 ft of Kneeling Nun Tuff rasco, who is said to have had first-hand were depositedin the SantaRita area(Elston knowledgeof other greatcopper deposits such eI al., 1,975; Glles,79 67, 1968), approximately as the one at Rio Tinto, Spain, immediately 9 mi from the nearestpart of the Emory caul- recognizedthe great potential of the Sierra dron vent source.The material was depos- del Cobre(Sully, 1916, p. 135)and proceeded ited originally as looseash, but intense heat to legitimize his claim under the Spanishle- and weight of overlying material quickly gal system. Carrasco soon convinced his FIGURE4-Artist's impressionof an Apache In- welded the masstogether to form denserock friend, a wealthv'Manuel Chihuahua merchant called dian Chief disclosingth-e location of the Sierradel throughout most of its thickness.Shrinkage Don Francisco Elguea, to obtain a Cobre, within view of the Kneeling Nun, to Span- fracturespropagated from top and bottom of concessionfrom the Spanishgovernment to ish Officer Col. JoseManuel Canascoin about 1800 the sheet-likedeposit as the welded mass the In fact, the Chief mav have onlv described the deposit.The result was the SantaRita del location.In any case,i"rrur.o'r khowledgeof the joint- cooled,resulting in the nearly vertical Cobregrant, the first documentbequeathing deposit initiated developmentof one of the world's bound columns that we seetoday. Thus, both title, and with it Elgueawas soon mining the truly great copper mines. Courtesy of Ward Ball- the "nun" and the lesser known "altar" are deposit on a relatively large scaleand sup- met Kennecott Minerals Co , Chino Mines Divi- large composite columns that were formed plying his government with metal for coin- slon.

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FIGURE 2-In addition to the currently acceptedname, the landmark has FIGURE 1-One of the most famous natural landmarks in the American also been called the Kneeling Virgin and Kneeling Jesus(see name on maP Southwest, the Kneeling Nun has stimulated the imaginations and su- above). The cliff itself was named Ben Moore or Old Ben Moore by Brevet perstitions of people for generations, and it is likely to do so for many Maior W. H. Emory "after my personal friend, the gallant Captain Moore, more. Sketch by E. O. Nielson, courtesy of Rio Grande Historical Col- of the 1st. dragoons" (Emory, 7848,p. 97). Map is frorn Outline mapof part lections, Boise papers, State University, Las Cruces. of southwesternNew Metico, by Lt. George M. Wheeler, Survey west of the 100th meridian, advanced copy subject to revision; courtesy of William T. Worthington.

FIGURE 3-Megacolumns of vertically jointed Kneeling Nun Tuff form the "nun," the "altar," and cliffs at Santa Rita, New Mexico. Seismic actMty and weathering have produced the immense boulder field surrounding the monolith. NMBMMR photo by R W Eveleth, 1984.

August 1985 Nm MexicoGeology on the modified Mercalli scale(DuBois and Smith, 1980,p. 7). Moreover, L. C. Graton, who was at SantaRita in 1914studying sec- ondary enrichment, reported "there is a tra- dition of an earthquake which resulted in [obliterating]a rich mine over to the north or northeastof the present (open-pit)work- ing" (Graton,1,914, p. 2). Earthquakedamage to underground mine workings is usually slight; the greatest damage is done at the surface.Thus, it is implied that the quake was an intense one. Graton's quake may or may not have been the Sonoranquake, but, in eithercase, it is significantthat no damage to the Kneeling Nun was noted. There is no doubt, however, that many isili previous events have modified both the t]:* ri]a.:].]:: kneeling Nun and the cliffs behind as evi- rialil:i denced by the extensiveboulder field that surrounds and extendsfar downslope from both the "nun" and the "altar." Most cliffsin fact degrade into rubble without forming pinnacles.So what is specialhere? First, the Kneeling Nun Tuff was pervasivelybroken into vertical columns by cooling. Megacol- umns formed first and these were further jointed intemally as cooling progressed.Both FIGURE 5-A nattily dressed group of hiker/picknickers poses near the "altar," about 1910. The gap the "nun" and the "altar" (Fig. 5) are prob- between the altar and the cliffs is clearly exposed in this view Photo courtesy of Silver City Museum, ably megacolumnsthat have eitherbeen ero- Harlan Collection. sionally isolated or separatedfrom the cliff and moved downslope.The centralquestion in either case is: why do they stand? The authors suggest that it is becausethe col- umns are rooted in the surrounding talus much like fenceposts, and they further spec- ulate that the "nun" is now moving slowly downslopewith the surrounding talus. Note that the joint surfacesin the "nun" tilt at an angle comparedto those in the in-placecliff (Fig.3). Perhapsthe "altar," now slightly separated from the cliff, mav continue to move down- slope and eventually provide a new figure as the "nun" erodes through the ages (Fig. 5). The talus, of course,is fairly stablein the southwesternclimate, and movementis very slow so, ifthe abovespeculations are correct, many generationswill pass before anyone witnessesthe birth of a new "nun." Quite a tale for rocks that cannot talk! ACKNOWLEDGMENTS-ThE AUthOTS ATC iN- debtedto the following peoplefor their kind- nessesand assistancein tracking down photos, sketches,and folklore: SusanBerry, FIGURE 6-Both the "nun" and the "a\tar" are rooted deeply in the surrounding talus director,Silver City Museum, and staff;Aus- much like fence posts The "nun" and perhaps the "altar" are moving slowly downslope tin Hoover,UniversityArchivist, Rio Grande along with the surrounding talus. Sketch by Linda Wells-McCowan Historical Collections, and staff; Paul No- votny, Chief Geologist, KennecottMinerals Anon , 1968,"Kneeling Nun" createdmany legends: Sil- Giles, D L , 1.967,A petrochemical study of composi- tionally zoned ash-flow tuffs: Unpublished Ph D dis- Mines Division; Donald Padilla, ver City Enterprise, July 25, 7958. Co., Chino DuBois,S M , and Smith, A W, 1980,The 1887earth- sertation, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, 175 archivist,New Mexico StateRecords Center quake in San Bernardino Valley, Sonora: Arizona Bu- PP. and Archives;William T. Worthington, Sharon reau of Geology and Mineral Technology, Tucson, Sprcial Giles,D. L.,1968,Ash flow tuffsof the CobreMountains; Steel Corp.; and Deborah Shaw, Assistant Paper No 3, December 1980, 1,12pp in Southem Arizona Guidebook III: Arizona Geologic Elston,W E, Seager,W R, and Clemons,R E ,7975, Society, pp 289-291. Editor, NMBMMR. We also thank Dr. Ger- Emory cauldron, Black Range,New Mexico-source of Graton, L C., 1914,Secondary enrichment study notes aldo Gross for translating a portion of Gar- the Kneeling Nun Tuff: New Mexico GeologicalSociety, on Santa Rita, New Mexico: Unpublished manuscript cia's (1965)book. Guidebook to 26th Field Conference, pp.283292 report, courtesy of Harvard Geological Library, Cam- Emory, W H, 1848,Notes of a military reconnoissance bridge, Massachusetts,121 PP from Fort Leavenworth,in Missouri, to San Diego, in Rickard, T A., 1923,The Chino enterprise-1-history of References Califom.ia,including a part of the Arkansas, Del Norie, the region and the beginning of mining at Santa Rita: Anon , 1884,The SantaRita native copper mines in Grant and Gila Rivers: H Long & Brother, New York, facsim- Engineering and Mining Journal-Press,November 3, County, New Mexico:Alfred Mudge & Son, Boston, 33 ile reprint UNM Press,Albuquerque, 1951 7923, pp.753-758 pp. (original courtesy of Huntington Library, rare book Garcia, Luis Navarro, 1965,Las provincias internas en el Sully,j M., 1916,The story of the SantaRita copper mine: #266762) siglo XIX: Publicacionesde la Escuelade Estudios His- Old Santa Fe Magazine, v 3, pp. 133-149 tr Anon , 1885:Silver City Enterprise, June 26, 1885 pano Americanos De Sevilla, Spain, pp. 4-10

August 1985 Nau MexicoGeology