The Geologic Story of Canyonlands National ParkLohman, Stanley William
Science
The Geologic Story of Canyonlands National Park
Lohman, Stanley William
Canyonlands National Park (Utah) -- Guidebooks; Geology -- Utah -- Canyonlands National Park -- Guidebooks
About a quarter mile west of the Y, a left fork of the road goes about a
mile and a half to Green River Overlook, which provides a superb view of
Stillwater Canyon of the Green River, the Orange Cliffs beyond, and the
Henry Mountains in the extreme distance (fig. 23). Note that here the
White Rim Sandstone is much thicker than in preceding views. The
prominent butte enclosed by the loop of the river is known as Turks Head
and is better seen from the air (fig. 24). The light-colored band near
the base of the cliffs in the background of figure 24 is characteristic
of the bleached upper part of the Moenkopi Formation in this part of the
park. According to F. A. McKeown and P. P. Orkild (U.S. Geol. Survey,
unpub. data, Feb. 16, 1973), petroliferous material or odor generally
occurs in this bleached zone and in the basal beds of the Moenkopi.
The campground just north of Green River Overlook has no water at this
writing (1973), but water from wells in Taylor Canyon will eventually be
piped to nearby parts of Island in the Sky.
UPHEAVAL DOME
Five miles northwest of the Y we come to Upheaval Dome, one of the most
unusual geographic and geologic features of the park. Viewed from the
air (fig. 25), it resembles somewhat a volcanic or meteor crater and has
been called such by some. Because beds of salt are known to underlie the
park, some have suggested that the salt may have thickened and welled
upward to form a salt dome, similar to domes along the Gulf Coast
(Mattox, 1968). However, only 1,470 feet of salt was encountered in an
oil test just east of Upheaval Dome (Robert J. Hite, U.S. Geol. Survey,
oral commun., Feb. 13, 1973); so although salt may have played a role,
Upheaval Dome clearly is not a salt dome with dimensions similar to the
Gulf Coast types. It may be related to a mound on the deep-seated
Precambrian rocks (Joesting and Plouff, 1958, fig. 3; Joesting and
others, 1966, p. 13, 14, 17), but the exact origin of the dome is not
clear.
The central part has the structure of a dome, in that the strata dip
downward away from the middle. A ringlike syncline, or downward fold in
the rock layers (fig. 26), surrounds the dome, beyond which the strata
resume their nearly flat position. The white rock in the bottom of the
craterlike depression is not salt, but jumbled large fragments of the
White Rim Sandstone. Surrounding that are slopes of the Moenkopi and
Chinle Formations, cliffs of the Wingate Sandstone, a circular bench of
the Kayenta Formation, and outer ramparts of the Navajo Sandstone.
Upheaval Canyon leads to Stillwater Canyon of the Green River at the
upper left.
[Illustration: STILLWATER CANYON AND GREEN RIVER, looking southwest
from Green River loop of river. Brown material covering nearby parts
of the White Rim is lower part of Overlook. Orange Cliffs in
background, Henry Mountains on right skyline, Turks Head in Moenkopi
Formation. (Fig. 23)]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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