How do you see the Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef?
Driving the Burr Trail from Capitol Reef through Grand Staircase-Escalante highlights red Wingate Sandstone. Once the Burr Trail intersects Scenic State Route 12, panoramic overlooks like Larb Hollow offer a bird’s eye view of the rugged terrain and Waterpocket Fold.
Why is it called Capitol Reef?
The park takes its name from one of the most interesting rock formations along the ridge: Capitol Reef. At the summit of the ridge, which runs through the center of this image, sit distinctive White Navajo Sandstone formations shaped like capitol domes.
What formed Moab?
Geological Setting The Moab Fault was active during a period between the Triassic and early Tertiary, with a break from mid-Jurassic until at least mid-Cretaceous. It is associated with two salt anticlines formed within the Fold and Fault Belt of the Paradox Basin in east-central Utah.
Where is the Chinle Formation?
The Chinle Formation is an Upper Triassic continental geological formation of fluvial, lacustrine, and palustrine to eolian deposits spread across the U.S. states of Nevada, Utah, northern Arizona, western New Mexico, and western Colorado.
What makes the rock red in Utah?
So basically what we have in red rock country is a lot of rusting sandstones and shales. Hematite is an especially common mineral form of iron oxide in Utah, the name coming from the Greek word “heama” or red blood. It only takes a tiny bit of hematite make a lot of red rock.
When was Navajo sandstone formed?
~180 million years ago
Depiction of the Colorado Plateau region during the deposition of the Navajo Sandstone, ~180 million years ago.
What kind of landform is monocline?
folds
A monocline is a single, sharp, moderate to steep dip in otherwise nearly flat-lying layers. These folds are less common than the anticlinal folds, but are well developed on the Colorado Plateau.
Who made Capitol Reef?
Roosevelt signed a proclamation creating Capitol Reef National Monument on August 2, 1937. In Proclamation 2246, President Roosevelt set aside 37,711 acres (15,261 ha) of the Capitol Reef area.
What is special about Capitol Reef?
What makes the landscape of Capitol Reef so unique is the presence of the Waterpocket Fold. This “wrinkle” in the landscape formed millions of years ago and caused the rocky landscape that inspired the “reef” part of the park’s name.
How was corona arch formed?
This pothole arch formed when a pothole above, usually filled with water, eroded down into a cave below. Continue hiking along a sloping sandstone slab and reach Corona Arch after 1.5 miles. Corona Arch is a spectacular span composed of Navajo sandstone.
How was Chinle formed?
The layers of brightly-colored mudstone are composed largely of bentonite clay, the result of weathering of volcanic ash. The volcanoes that produced this ash were located west and south of the Colorado Plateau, but the ash was transported by rivers and streams to be deposited where we find the Chinle Formation today.
When was Chinle Formation formed?
200 million years ago
The Chinle Formation was deposited over 200 million years ago during the Late Triassic Period.