Thor Temple is a -elevation summit located in the Grand Canyon, in Coconino County of northern Arizona, United States. It is situated west-northwest of Cape Royal on the canyon's North Rim, east of Brahma Temple, and north-northwest of Wotans Throne. It rises above the Colorado River in . According to the Köppen climate classification system, Thor Temple is located in a cold semi-arid climate zone.
Thor Temple is named for Thor, the hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, and storms in Germanic mythology, and son of Wotan.N.H. Darton, Story of the Grand Canyon of Arizona, 1917, page 81. This name was applied by geologist François E. Matthes, in keeping with Clarence Dutton's practice of naming geographical features in the Grand Canyon after mythological deities.Stephen J. Pyne, Voyager: Seeking Newer Worlds in the Third Great Age of Discovery, 2010, Penguin Group.Randy Moore and Kara Felicia Witt, The Grand Canyon: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture, 2018, ABC-CLIO Publisher, p. 151. A variant name for this landform is "Thors Hammer." This geographical feature's name was officially adopted in 1906 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.
Geology
Thor Temple is composed of strata of the Pennsylvanian-Permian Supai Group. Further down are strata of Mississippian Redwall Limestone, Cambrian Tonto Group, and finally Proterozoic Unkar Group at creek level.N.H. Darton, Story of the Grand Canyon of Arizona, 1917. Precipitation runoff from Thor Temple drains southwest to the Colorado River via Clear Creek.
See also Geology of the Grand Canyon area
References
External links
Weather forecast: National Weather Service Thor Temple from Francois Matthes Point. 1969 photo