Flat Iron Mesa in San Juan County

Questions and charts are from Geoscience Laboratory, 5th ed. (p. 133-150), by T. Freeman, 2009, New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Reprinted with permission.

The objective of the trip to Blount Springs, Alabama was to observe and gather data on the geological structure of the area. Blount Springs is located in the northern part of Alabama just 33 miles north of Birmingham, and lies on the southernmost part of the Appalachian fold belt. The field work began on the morning of Saturday April, 7th at 8:50am. The weather was cloudy with temperatures in the mid 40’s, and the area was wet from rain the previous night. Our materials included a map of the area, list of formations, a Brunton compass, and a Rite in the Rain field book. The procedure of the field work involved 12 stops at outcrops to gather data, one stop was omitted from the original plans. This data gathered included bedding and joint orientations

The formation or complex responsible for the spectacular scenery of the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest is the:

Questions and charts are from Geoscience Laboratory, 5th ed. (p. 155–167), by T. Freeman, 2009, New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Reprinted with permission.

Our hike will start here, at the north rim of the Grand Canyon. We will go all the way to the bottom of the canyon. But first, a description of this area. The Grand Canyon is one on the most visited and studies sites for geologists on Earth. There are almost forty major sedimentary rock layers exposed in the Grand Canyon. Some of these rocks layers are two hundred million years old or two billion years old. Most of the sediment that makes up the rocks was deposited by oceans and seas, which now, are long gone. We know this because there are many fossils and and other records on large bodies of water in the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is found in the Colorado Plateau. The Colorado Plateau is lifted almost two miles, or four and a fifth kilometers. It started to lift up seventy-five million years ago. This started a mountain-building period of time called the Laramide orogeny. During this period, the Rocky Mountains were created. The main types of rocks found in the Grand Canyon are limestone, siltstone, shale, and sandstone. Many of the layers are made up of limestone. Some examples of these are the Kaibab Limestone, the Redwall Limestone the Temple Butte Limestone, and the Muav

The rich “pancakes” of layers the Grand Canyon presents, allows relative dating to occur. Even though there are many deposits of sandstone and other similar deposits throughout the layers, the groupings of fossils assist the geologist in determining the age. Due to the work of William “Strata” Smith, the different layers or strata is determined by the fossil within the rocks, and the geologic map created. This application of dating was not the only source used.

Around 650 A.D., the Mesa Verdean peoples initiated construction of apartment-style homes, termed by Spanish explorers as pueblos. The Puebloan architecture is original in that it utilized the local stone and mud deposits of the region to maintain the structural integrity of their burgeoning developments. As this community evolved into the twelfth century, Mesa Verdeans further integrated the geology of their environment into their lifestyles by building homes, known as cliff dwellings, within the naturally formed alcoves of Mesa Verde. By the thirteenth century, the Mesa Verdeans vacated this region due to severe droughts and subsequent social instability. Despite the later abandonment of their cliff dwellings, it is clear that the geology of Mesa Verde National Park impacted the lives of the Ancestral Puebloans significantly. The following sections provide detailed information regarding the rock formations that make up the geological

Have you ever wondered how landmarks like the “The Tepees” in the Painted Desert of Arizona came to be? Erosion and weathering are the main culprits behind the creation of these unique and beautiful attractions. The mechanical and chemical procedure that modify objects on Earth’s surface over time are called weathering. Erosion is the method of taking weathered material from one region to another. Weathering is the breaking down of rock, soil, and minerals. Erosion is the development of being eroded by wind, water, or other natural causes. Weathering is grinding out of man-made or natural landforms. Erosion is the weathering out of surface soil and rock worn way through natural causes like water and wind for example.

Mesa Verde National Park on the Colorado Plateau contains many geological aspects of interest, including its sedimentary rock layers, its canyons, its alcoves utilized by ancient people and how these alcoves were formed. Mesa Verde National Park is located in the southwest corner of Colorado, close to the Four Corners area, on top of a high mesa overlooking the Mancos River (Harris et al. 2004). The park, covering 81 square miles, consists of several main sedimentary formations that are characteristic to the park (Encyclopedia Britannica 2015). Canyons are carved into the sedimentary rock, with the cave dwellings found high on their steep walls. These dwellings are an especially unique aspect to the Mesa Verde National Park, and are built out of large alcoves. The alcoves were produced by weathering and erosion of the sedimentary rock type. To better understand how these alcoves formed, we must understand the geology of Mesa Verde National Park and how it has developed over history.

The state of Texas is the second largest state in the United States. Due to its location and size, it covers different geographical areas and climates. These areas support different ecosystems from deserts to coastal wetlands, with local wildlife varying with the environment. With such varied climates and yearly rainfall, it is easy to have crops growing in the east and little rainfall and an open rocky desert with cacti in the west. The geological history is also varied across the state leading to different mineral deposits by region. It is easy to see that Texas is a state with many unique areas that provide a wide variety of natural resources, native crops, and wildlife.

The Grand Canyon has plenty of volcanic rocks near the bottom and the top. ICR, Institute for Creative Research, has been involved in a project for years to date these volcanic rocks. this study has come a long way to show that many of the Grand Canyon strata could have formed rapidly, and that the erosion of the Canyon by the Colorado River has not been going on for millions of years.

The soil and biotic/abiotic features of the park vary greatly depending on the area of park being studied. The volcanic rock that underlies the

The Purisima Formation is extensively allocated “in central California from coastal exposures at Point Reyes in Marin County to more extensive exposures in the Santa Cruz Mountains from the coast in San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties inland to the San Andreas Fault.” These scattered visible rock formations are part of the Purisima Formation because they all share a few specific characteristics: They all have interbedded mudstone, siltstones, and very fine-grained sandstones, with abundant shell debris. The Purisima formation was created “about 3 to 7 million years ago during the late Miocene and the Pliocene through a 4 million year period of deposition: The deposited rocks record a shift from deeper offshore conditions (primarily siltstone

Evidence in the Mosaic Canyon; however, do suggest that the area was covered by a warm

The episode I watched from “How the Earth Was Made” was the Sahara Desert episode. In this episode I found it shocking how much the landscape has changed in the past millions of years. By studying the landscape, erosion of rocks, fossil records, and ocean floor sediment scientists have discovered many things about how and why the landscape has changed. Scientists have discovered that over four million years ago the Sahara Desert was originally an ocean. Fossils of whales, other sea creatures, and mangrove tree roots were found on the site. Scientists predict that because of plate tectonics the ocean started to dry up and trapping ocean creatures in bodies of salt water that were slowly shrinking. By observing ocean sediment scientist could