Colorado : The Mountain National Park

Rock Canyon is an excellent site for geologic research and has been investigated by geologists from around Utah and neighboring states. With outstanding extrusions of quartzite, tillite and limestone, it’s a favored destination for hikers, rock climbers and scientists. The quartzite is considered the most unique feature of Rock Canyon as it’s one of the few clear and distinct examples of the sedimentary processes involved with a shallow marine setting. The tillite beneath the quartzite draws attention to the ancient glaciers to the past. In conjunction with the active Wasatch Fault found at its doorstep, Rock Canyon is an important place in Utah for geologists.

So you now know how sedimentary rocks are formed and how the Colorado River majorly eroded all the rock creating canyons. But here comes the million dollar question: where did all the rocks come from? The answer to that question is The Continental Drift. The Earth's continents are not fixed in place, but rather float on a sea of molten rock, meaning that they move around quite a bit. Over 250 million years, that “quite a bit” can turn into land masses moving thousands of miles. Moreover, the Earth is made up of 20 Tectonic plates. Seven of these plates are very large and consist of entire continents or sea floors. The plate that the Grand Canyon is located on is called “The North American Plate”. At one time, this plate was considerably further south and consequently had a very different climate than

The Colorado Rocky Mountains are claimed to be one of the most intriguing and adventurous lands to visit nationally and globally. Primarily, the Rocky mountains are most visited for the skiing resorts, aside from the many other activities and locations to visit. I will persuade the audience what I believe an ideal weekend trip or vacation would be, and the steps and guidelines in making the vacation possible. The locations being covered would be some of the biggest attractions in the Colorado Rocky Mountains: the ski resorts. Some resorts credited with being the best that the Rockys can bring to a particular individual or group of people are: Keystone resort, Aspen, Loveland, Breckenridge, Ski Cooper. Although these are only a few of the locations the Colorado Rockies have to offer there are plenty more, thus I

We usually think of the Grand Canyon in terms of its rocks, and the story and history that they can contain, spanning as far back as half of the Earth’s age. There is more to this canyon though than the rocks, as it is still active as a forever changing landform, due to the power of running water. The Colorado River has carved out the Grand Canyon in just the last nine million years. In fact, the river itself carries about half a million tons of sediment through the Grand Canyon each and every day. There are a number of different river types that will be talked about, and how exactly they have effected their environment and made changes in the landscapes.

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.

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

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

In regards to the geologic components of Yosemite National Park, it essentially has two main parts. The first part is the deposition and deformation of the metamorphic rocks and the emplacement of the granitic rocks during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic periods. The second part is the uplift, erosion, and glaciation that took place with the rocks during the Cenozoic period. Yosemite National Park is relatively helpful in regards to observing the display of its geologic changes. When the Cretaceous period was ending which was roughly 65 million years ago, the granitic core of the range started to become

just wanting to go on a get away vacation. This state offers numerous things to

The state is known for its remarkable canyon, the Royal Gorge. Colorado is the home of famous rivers like Arkansas, Rio Grande, and South Platte. In spite of the fact that Colorado is popular on its great altitudes, its diverse landscape is not entirely full of peaks. It is considered a favorite tourist spot because of its beautiful

Within the layers of rock that form the Grand Canyon, a story is tolled of its own creation, a story that also gives us a great deal of understanding of the geological progress of the world to its present state.

After we had become dressed and had breakfast, my family and I departed the El Tovar Hotel to adventure around the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon was created by the mighty Colorado River over a period of five million years. The Grand Canyon measures at over two hundred and seventy miles long, and about eighteen miles wide at its widest point and over one mile deep! The Grand Canyon was instated as a national park in 1919. The Grand Canyon was made a national park because an early explorer of it left a journal and stated how “valueless” the canyon was, and President Theodore Roosevelt after visiting the canyon, thought it was necessary that the Grand Canyon was made a

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.

Boulder has a complex geologic history. The lithology of each formation in Boulder will be discussed along with the interpreted depositional environment explaining what we see in the present day.

It would be particularly difficult to name a place in the world that is equal in beauty to Colorado Springs. From the rolling mountain peaks to the swaying grasslands, to the red rock formations that shoot majestically from the earth, Colorado Springs has one of the most varied natural landscapes in all of the world. The seasons of spring and summer in the Springs beckon