Table Top Mountain
Rankin, Upton County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Round, flat-topped mesa rising 475 feet above its base; part of an uplift in Permian Basin, which was once a prehistoric sea. The limestone-topped buttes and mesas in this area are remnants of rock that covered county 115 million years ago, but has now been mostly eroded.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This round, flat-topped mesa rises some 475 feet above the surrounding plain, a remnant of a vast limestone cap that once blanketed the region. It belongs to the great geologic uplift of the Permian Basin, an area that was a shallow prehistoric sea more than a hundred million years ago. Erosion has since stripped away most of that ancient rock, leaving buttes and mesas like this one standing above the West Texas landscape.
Why it matters
The mesas of the Permian Basin are open pages of deep geologic time and served as landmarks that helped orient travelers across an otherwise featureless plain.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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