The Geologic Story of Arches National Park 12

The Geologic Story of Arches National Park 12

Now let us consider other areas with only one or few players in the

cast, beginning at the bottom of the time spiral. Black Canyon of the

Gunnison N.M., cut entirely in rocks of early Precambrian age with only

a veneer of much younger rocks, obviously has but one star in its cast.

Colorado N.M. contains rocks ranging from Precambrian to

Cretaceous—equal to Dinosaur in this respect, but Colorado is unique in

that all the rocks of the long Paleozoic Era and some others are missing

from the cast; of those that remain, the Triassic Wingate and the

Triassic(?) Kayenta are the stars, with strong support from the Jurassic

Entrada Sandstone.

 

All the bridges in Natural Bridges N.M. were carved from the Permian

Cedar Mesa Sandstone Member of the Cutler Formation, also one of the

stars in Canyonlands N.P. In Canyon de Chelly (pronounced dee shay) N.M.

and Monument Valley (neither a national park nor a national monument, as

it is owned and administered by the Navajo Tribe), the De Chelly

Sandstone Member of the Cutler Formation—a Permian member younger than

the Cedar Mesa—plays the starring role.

 

Wupatki N.M. near Flagstaff, Ariz., stars the Triassic Moenkopi

Formation. Petrified Forest N.P. (which now includes part of the Painted

Desert) has but one star—the Triassic Chinle Formation, in which are

found many petrified logs and stumps of ancient trees. The

Triassic-Jurassic Glen Canyon Group (fig. 19), which includes the

Triassic Wingate Sandstone, the Triassic(?) Kayenta Formation, and the

Triassic(?)-Jurassic Navajo Sandstone, receives top billing in recently

enlarged Capitol Reef N.P., but the Triassic Moenkopi and Chinle

Formations enjoy supporting roles.

 

The Triassic(?)-Jurassic Navajo Sandstone, which has a supporting role

in Arches N.P., is the undisputed star of Zion N.P., Rainbow Bridge

N.M., and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, despite the fact that

the latter is the type locality of the entire Glen Canyon Group. The

Navajo also forms the impressive reef at the east edge of the beautiful

San Rafael Swell, a dome, or closed anticline, now crossed by Highway

I-70 between Green River and Fremont Junction, Utah.

 

As we journey upward in the time spiral (fig. 59), we come to the

Jurassic Entrada Sandstone, which stars in Arches N.P., with help from

the underlying Navajo Sandstone, and a supporting cast of both older and

younger rocks. The Entrada also forms the grotesque erosion forms called

“hoodoos and goblins” in Goblin Valley State Park, north of Hanksville,

Utah.

 

Moving ever upward in the spiral, we come to the Cretaceous—the age of

the starring Mesaverde Group, in which the caves of Mesaverde N.P. were

formed, and which now house beautifully preserved ruins once occupied by

the Anasazi, the same ancient people who once dwelt in Arches N.P. and

nearby areas.

 

This brings us up to the Tertiary Period, during the early part of which

the pink limestones and shales of the Paleocene and Eocene Wasatch

Formation were laid down in inland basins. Beautifully sculptured

cliffs, pinnacles, and caves of the Wasatch star in Bryce Canyon N.P.

and in nearby Cedar Breaks N.M. This concludes our climb up the time

spiral, except for Quaternary volcanoes and some older volcanic features

at Sunset Crater N.M., near Flagstaff, Ariz.

 

Thus, one way or another, many rock units formed during the last couple

of billion years have performed on the stage of the Colorado Plateau

and, hamlike, still lurk in the wings eagerly awaiting your applause to

recall them to the footlights. Don’t let them down—visit and enjoy the

national parks and monuments of the Plateau, for they probably are the

greatest collection of scenic wonderlands in the world.

 

 

 

 

Additional Reading

 

 

Many reports covering various aspects of the area have been cited in the

text by author and year, and these plus a few additional ones are listed

in “Selected References.” A few works of general or special interest

should be mentioned, however.

 

Between 1926 and 1929 the entire area now included in the park was

mapped geologically in classic reports by Dane (1935) and by McKnight

(1940). These men and their field assistants mapped the area by use of

the plane-table and telescopic alidade without benefit of modern

topographic maps or aerial photographs, except for topographic maps of

the narrow stretch along the Colorado River mapped under the direction

of Herron (1917). Only small sections could be reached by automobile, so

nearly all the area was traversed using horses and mules or by hiking.

This work plus mapping done in nearby areas to the south and to the

north (Stokes, 1952) during the uranium boom of the mid-fifties was used

by Williams (1964) in compiling a geologic map of the Moab quadrangle at

a scale of 1:250,000.

 

Several early reports on the Colorado River and its potential

utilization contain a wealth of information and many fine photographs,

including two by La Rue (1916, 1925) and one by Follansbee (1929).

 

You may be interested in brief accounts of the geology of other national

parks and monuments, or other areas of special interest, such as the

reports on the Uinta Mountains by Hansen (1969), Mount Rainier by

Crandell (1969), Yellowstone National Park by Keefer (1971), and ones by

me on Colorado National Monument (Lohman, 1965) and Canyonlands National

Park (1974).

 

For those who wish to learn more about the science of geology, I suggest

the textbook by Gilluly, Waters, and Woodford (1968).

 

 

 

 

Acknowledgments

 

 

I am greatly indebted to Bates Wilson, former Superintendent, and to

former Assistant Superintendent Joe Carithers, for their splendid

cooperation in supplying data and information; to Chuck Budge, former

Chief Ranger; Dave May, Assistant Chief of Interpretation and Resource

Management; Joe Miller, former Maintenance Engineer; Bob Kerr, new

Superintendent; Maxine Newell, Park Historian and member of the staff at

Arches National Park; Jerry Banta, former Park Ranger at Arches; and

Carl Mikesell, Park Ranger at Arches, for their many favors.

 

I am grateful to several colleagues and friends for the loan of

photographs, for geologic help and data, and for reviewing this report.

I am also deeply grateful to my wife, Ruth, for accompanying me on all

the fieldwork and for her help and encouragement.

 

 

 

 

Selected References

 

 

Abbey, Edward, 1971, Desert solitaire, a season in the wilderness: New

York, Ballantine Books, 303 p.

Baker, A. A., 1933, Geology and oil possibilities of the Moab

district, Grand and San Juan Counties, Utah: U.S. Geol. Survey

Bull. 841, 95 p.

Baker, Pearl, 1971, The Wild Bunch at Robbers Roost: New York,

Aberlard-Schuman, 224 p.

Beckwith, Frank, 1934, A group of petroglyphs near Moab, Utah: Santa

Fe, N. Mex., El Palacio, v. 36, p. 177-178.

Breed, Jack, 1947, Utah’s arches of stone: Natl. Geog. Mag., p.

173-192, August.

Case, J. E., and Joesting, H. R., 1972, Regional geophysical

investigations in the central Colorado Plateau: U.S. Geol.

Survey Prof. Paper 736, 34 p.

Cater, F. W., 1970, Geology of the salt anticline region in

southwestern Colorado: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 637, 80

p.

—— 1972, Salt anticlines within the Paradox Basin, _in_ Geologic atlas

of the Rocky Mountain region, United States of America:

Denver, Colo., Rocky Mtn. Assoc. of Geologists, p. 137, 138,

fig. 4.

Cleland, H. F., 1910, North American natural bridges, with a

discussion of their origins: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 21,

p. 313-338.

Crandell, D. R., 1969, The geologic story of Mt. Rainier: U.S. Geol.

Survey Bull. 1292, 43 p.

Dane, C. H., 1935, Geology of the Salt Valley anticline and adjacent

areas, Grand County, Utah: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 863, 184 p.

Dellenbaugh, F. S., 1902, The romance of the Colorado River: New York,

G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 399 p. [reprinted 1962 by Rio Grande

Press, Chicago, Ill.]

Everhart, W. C., 1972, The National Park Service, Praeger Library of

U.S. Government Departments and Agencies No. 13: New York,

Praeger Publishers, p. i-xii, 1-276.

Follansbee, Robert, 1929, Upper Colorado River and its utilization:

U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 617, 394 p.

Gilluly, James, Waters, A. C., and Woodford, A. O., 1968, Principles

of geology [3d ed.]: San Francisco, W. R. Freeman & Co., 685

p.

Hansen, W. R., 1969, The geologic story of the Uinta Mountains [with

graphics by John R. Stacy]: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 1291, 144

p.

Herron, W. R., 1917, Profile surveys in the Colorado River Basin in

Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico: U.S. Geol. Survey

Water-Supply Paper 396, 6 p., 43 pls.

Hite, R. J., 1972, Pennsylvanian rocks, _in_ Geologic atlas of the

Rocky Mountain region, United States of America: Denver,

Colo., Rocky Mtn. Assoc. of Geologists, p. 133-137.

Hite, R. J., and Lohman, S. W., 1973, Geologic appraisal of Paradox

basin salt deposits for waste emplacement: U.S. Geol. Survey

open-file report, 75 p.

Hunt, Alice, 1956, Archeology of southeastern Utah, _in_ Geology and

economic deposits of east-central Utah: Salt Lake City,

Intermountain Assoc. of Petroleum Geologists, 7th Ann. Field

Conf., p. 13-18.

Hunt, C. B., 1956, Cenozoic geology of the Colorado Plateau: U.S.

Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 279, 99 p.

—— 1969, Geologic history of the Colorado River, _in_ The Colorado

River region and John Wesley Powell: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof.

Paper 669, p. I-IV, 59-130.

Jennings, J. D., 1970, Canyonlands-Aborigines: Naturalist, v. 21,

Summer, Special Issue no. 2, p. 10-15.

Joesting, H. R., Case, J. E., and Plouff, Donald, 1966, Regional

geophysical investigations of the Moab-Needles area, Utah:

U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 516-C, 21 p.

Keefer, W. R., 1971, The geologic story of Yellowstone National Park,

illustrated by John R. Stacy: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 1347, 92

p. [1972].

Lansford, Henry, 1972, Boatman in the desert, a passenger-carrying

sternwheeler in canyon country: “Empire” [magazine of the

Denver Post], Nov. 5, p. 18, 19.

La Rue, E. C., 1916, Colorado River and its utilization: U.S. Geol.

Survey Water-Supply Paper 395, 231 p.

—— 1925, Water power and flood control of Colorado River below Green

River, Utah, with a foreword by Hubert Work, Secretary of the

Interior, p. 1-100. [Appendix A, A report on water supply, by

E. C. La Rue and G. F. Holbrook, p. 101-123; and Appendix B, A

geologic report on the inner gorge of the Grand Canyon of

Colorado River, by R. C. Moore, p. 125-171]: U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 556, 176 p.