The Geologic Story of Arches National Park: Geological Survey Bulletin 1393Lohman, Stanley William
Science
The Geologic Story of Arches National Park: Geological Survey Bulletin 1393
Lohman, Stanley William
Arches National Park (Utah); Geology -- Utah -- Arches National Park -- Guidebooks
[Illustration: THREE PENGUINS, viewed westward from park road about
1 mile above entrance station. Penguins are carved in massive Slick
Rock Member seen resting upon thin-bedded Dewey Bridge Member. (Fig.
24)]
[Illustration: MOAB VALLEY, viewed southeastward from park road
about 1 mile above entrance station. Moab fault in about middle of
valley, hidden beneath recent (Holocene) valley fill and slope wash,
separates unnamed upper member of Hermosa Formation just above U.S.
Highway 163 on right from Navajo Sandstone forming hills on left and
ledges in foreground. Park Service residences at base of hill. White
patch bordering Colorado River on northwest is tailings pile of
Atlas Corporation’s uranium mill. Moab and Spanish Valley are beyond
river, and south end of La Sal Mountains forms distant skyline.
(Fig. 25)]
[Illustration: FAULTED WALL OF ENTRADA SANDSTONE, north of park road
about 1 mile above entrance station. Fault is nearly vertical and
normal (fig. 6), but fault trace slopes steeply downward to right,
separating upthrown Slick Rock and Dewey Bridge Members on left from
downthrown Slick Rock Member on right. Light-colored rock in
foreground is Navajo Sandstone. Displacement probably does not
exceed 50 feet. (Fig. 26)]
[Illustration: PARK AVENUE, viewed to the north along trail. (Fig.
27)]
Courthouse Towers Area
About 2.3 miles from the entrance station is a turnoff and parking area
at the south end of the Park Avenue trail (stop 2), which is about 1
mile long and ends at another parking area 1.7 miles farther north. An
interesting hike is best made from south to north in a downhill
direction, and hikers generally meet the cars of relatives or friends
awaiting them at the northern parking area. The trail begins in a canyon
cut in the soft Dewey Bridge Member and walled by high fins of the Slick
Rock Member (fig. 27), but farther north the canyon is floored by the
bare Navajo Sandstone. The avenue was named from the resemblance of the
east wall to a row of tall buildings. Atop the west wall, just to the
left of the view in figure 27, are two balanced rocks (fig. 28). The one
on the left, which resembles somewhat the head of an Egyptian queen, is
offset to the right along a bedding plane, and this offset may have been
caused by an earthquake.
As we progress toward Courthouse Towers proper, lofty fins and monoliths
lie mostly on our left, and to the right are fine distant views of the
La Sal Mountains (stop 4). A general view of the Courthouse Towers is
shown in figure 29, and closeups of two of the named rock sculptures—the
Three Gossips and Sheep Rock—are shown in figures 30 and 31. Just beyond
Sheep Rock, which some think resembles the Sphinx, we see “Baby Arch,”
shown in figure 15.
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