Rock Canyon in Utah

At Laurel Hill Duke Forest there is a large granodiorite cliff adjacent to a river on one side. This cliff is not smooth and has several parallel fractures instead of one steep slope. Observations of this cliff were taken in order to gather data and find possible explanations for why this cliff is where it is located and why the river adjacent to it follows a V-shaped path. One observation was that the range of the strikes and dips of the fractures facing river were all near parallel ranging from strike of 170-190 degrees and dips ranging from 70-90 degrees. There were other fractures oriented differently on other sides of the outcrop. Also, the surface of the outcrop was highly weathered in some parts where the rock type was not distinguishable without using a rock hammer and had moss growing over it.

AMS analyses were useful in redefining the principal foliation, but did not aid in determining lineations or direction of shear sense. Nevertheless, these analyses in combination with local mapping tentatively point to the following sequence of events: 1) deposition of the Westboro; 2) greenschist facies metamorphism forming the principal foliation; 3) contact metamorphism, recorded by the formation of large cordierite porphyblasts; 4) mylonitization; 5) extrusion and deposition of overlying felsic flows and pyroclastic deposits; 6) intrusion of the Dedham granite (ca. 610 Ma) and possible retrograde metamorphism of porphryblasts; 7) additional contact metamorphism, recorded by unaltered cordierite aggregates rimming porphyroblasts; and 8) brittle deformation evidenced by thin bands of cataclasite in the Dedham. Rotated porphyroblasts and S-C fabrics in the mylonites record a dextral transpressive sense of motion possibly along a restraining bend of a transcurrent system. Therefore mylonite blocks in the debrite are not easily explained by simple resedimentation in a rift

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

Little Cottonwood Canyon is a site bursting with geological history, rock formations earthquake potential on the fault, prehistoric glacial formations, landslides, and many hazards associated with it. The Wasatch fault is bound to have a enormous earthquake in the future and has left behind numerous scars. The mountains have been engraved by glacial formations dated back to the Ice Age (~14,000 years ago). Rock falls and landslides have left hefty boulders as indication of erosion and moisture in the rocks. The hazards on this mountain range are mass wasting, radon, earthquakes, and flooding of Little Cottonwood Creek.

Weathering, geologic processes such as erosion, and climatic shifts allow for this immense desert ecosystem to continually evolve and change which has taken place for millions of years. This geologically wealthy environment is composed of alternating flat-lying layers of soft and hard deposits of mostly sedimentary rocks. Interchanging slopes and cliffs along the landscape helped form these layers of rock which can be seen fully exposed in areas of the mesa. Deposition of this landscape mainly occurred during the Permian, Pennsylvanian, Triassic and Jurassic time periods. The assortment of warm hues of sandstone were produced by varying levels of iron oxide minerals during formation.

Our third stop was along the interstate, right between two formations of Washita Valley. The formation on the north of us was represented by Pennsylvanian Collings Ranch Conglomerate (around 350 million years old), which is shown with blue color on the map and the formation on the south of us was represented by Ordovician Kindblade Limestone (around 450mil years old), shown by the pink color on the map. There is a huge time gap between these two formations. The Collings Ranch Conglomerate is outstandingly exposed along Interstate 35 near the top of Arbuckle Mountains. It was formed during late Pennsylvanian and is slightly younger than Devil’s Kitchen Conglomerate. Large size of grains, conglomerate boulders and cobbles, indicate high energy

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

A description of the grand canyon rock layers would include the Colorado River running at the bottom of the inner gorge with flats on both sides which consist of tapeat sandstone layers. There is also the Vishnu Complex, consisting of rocks that have been changed by heat and are buried at the lowest layers. These are tilted and are called the “Grand Canyon Supergroup” the Grand Canyon supergroups are at least 12,000 ft in thickness. These rocks or (the “Inner Gorge”) are usally steep and narrow with hard deep cuts in the lower tilted layers which raise above sea level.

In the eastern part of the plateau most of the carbonate strata is Fredericksburg and Washita rock (Barker and Ardis 1996, 5). The plateau is dominated by a flat undistinguished plain, with the exception of the caprock mesas, the broad alluvial fans and the Balcones fault zone (Barker and Ardis 1996, 5). During the Paleozoic era the Ouachita Orogeny tectonic event occurred depositing marine sea deposits of upper Permian sediments and evaporates into the Permian basin, which is above parts of the Edwards-Trinity plateau aquifer (Anaya 2001, 107). Another prominent structural feature is the Llano uplift which is comprised of Precambrian rock mostly granite, located in the northern Hill Country area (Anaya 2001, 107). The Balcones fault zone was created from tensional stress from the uplift and deposition of sediments into the Gulf of Mexico, along the Ouachita belt, forming the faults by displacing the sediment 900 to 1200 feet (Anaya 2001, 109). The Edwards-Trinity plateau has two regional confining layers, Navarro-Del Rio, which confines the Edwards aquifer, and the Hammett that confines the Trinity and the Edward-Trinity aquifers (Barker and Ardis 1996, 2). The Navarro-Del Rio confining unit is regionally continuous within the Balcones Fault Zone; it is comprised of Buda limestone, Navarro Group,

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.

The land rose up and created a precipitous eastern edge of the batholith and a gentle western edge. 10 million years ago, uplift, which is the vertical rise of Earth’s surface due to natural causes, started to occur and accelerated quickly. Soon, the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range that we know today towered 14,000 feet in elevation. Throughout uplift, cracks formed in the granite of the mountains. They formed due to the pressure that came with the uplift. The erosion that stripped away most of the overlying rocks caused the remaining rock to expand and crack. These cracks are still forming today and they provide a template for future erosion.

Mesa Verde National Park, located in Montezuma County, Colorado, was established in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt. This United States landmark was designated for the preservation of several Puebloan archeological sites and the vast geologic history exhibited within the 52,485 acres of land occupied by Mesa Verde. The Ancestral Puebloans, or Mesa Verdeans, associated with the archeological sites of Mesa Verde National Park, lived in the Mesa Verde region from the mid-sixth century to the end of the thirteenth century.[3]

In addition, per my knowledge none of the western US geologists have documented passive margin deposits as young as of upper Paleozoic age or younger. Therefore, Hildebrand (2009, 2013) hypothesis faces deficiency to explain the thrusting of Roberts Mountain and the emplacement of the Proterozoic rocks over the rocks of Lower Paleozoic age.

Here are some reasons that the government should make Providence Canyon a national park. The first reason I think they should make it a national park is because it could help students learn more about it and it could help them in the future. Another reason is that people could go there to see the amazing sites and to be entertained. The last reason I think the government should make the Providence Canyon a national park is because it is very historical and it needs to be shown off to the world.

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.