Strata exposed along the mesa below the basalt and Ogallala include the Cretaceous Dakota Sandstone and the Jurassic Morrison Formation. During the millions of years since the eruption, the adjacent rock of the Ogallala and older formations have been removed leaving the valley filling basalt perched atop a long ridge. The erupting lava filled a stream channel in the Pliocene age Ogallala Formation. The visual and map view appearance of Black Mesa is as an "inverted valley" because erosion has removed the relatively soft sedimentary strata from either side of the resistant Raton basalt of the lava which originally had occupied and filled a river valley. īlack Mesa is found on six adjacent United States Geological Survey (USGS) 7.5 Minute (1:24,000) topographic maps (Dennis Canyon, Furnish Canyon West, Furnish Canyon East, Wedding Cake Butte, Goodson School, and Kenton ). In northwestern Cimarron County, Oklahoma, Black Mesa reaches 4,973 feet (1,516 m), the highest point in Oklahoma. US State High Point of Oklahoma (at 4,973 feet/1,516 m)ģ6★5′55″N 102★9′51″W / 36.93185, -102.997368 Coordinates: 36★5′55″N 102★9′51″W / 36.93185, -102.997368īlack Mesa is a mesa that extends from Mesa de Maya in Colorado southeasterly 28 miles (45 km) along the north bank of the Cimarron River, crossing the northeast corner of New Mexico to end at the confluence of the Cimarron and Carrizo Creek near Kenton in the Oklahoma panhandle.
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