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Mitten buttes in Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Arizona. Sandstone buttes and pinnacles, Monument Valley, Arizona
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Mitten buttes in Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Arizona.
Mitten buttes in Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Arizona.

butte

geology
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Also known as: bute
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French:
hillock or rising ground
Also spelled:
bute
Sandstone buttes and pinnacles, Monument Valley, Arizona
Sandstone buttes and pinnacles, Monument Valley, Arizona

butte, flat-topped hill surrounded by a steep escarpment from the bottom of which a slope descends to the plain. The term is sometimes used for an elevation higher than a hill but not high enough for a mountain. Buttes capped by horizontal platforms of hard rock are characteristic of the arid plateau region of the western United States. See also mesa.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.