Arizona transition zone

For the Earth's mantle zone, see Transition zone.

Simplified Arizona geographic regions.

The Arizona transition zone, or Transition zone is a diagonal northwest-by-southeast region across north central Arizona. The region is a transition from the higher elevation Colorado Plateau to the northeast in Arizona, (the Navajo Nation and Northeast Arizona), and the southwest and south regions of lower elevation deserts. Northwest Arizona transitions to the higher elevation Mojave Desert of southern California, Nevada and Utah, with an indicator species of Joshua trees and other species, and southwestwards regions of the Sonoran Desert, along the Lower Colorado River Valley; in Arizona's south, all of central and eastern desert Sonoran Desert regions merge southwards into Sonora Mexico. The transition zone and the White Mountains extend into western New Mexico where the north-south continental divide occurs.

Geography

The transition zone is dominated by the Mogollon Plateau at the southern edge of the Coconino Plateau of the Flagstaff region and the San Francisco volcanic field; the Mogollon Rim borders the plateau which extends from Oak Creek Canyon on the west, to the east at the highest elevations of Arizona in the central and western White Moutains.

• 
  central area of White Mountains (Arizona)

See also

• Arizona
• List of regions of Arizona