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
At about the mouth of Millard Canyon, we leave Labyrinth Canyon and
enter Stillwater Canyon, aptly named by members of the 1869 Powell
voyage (Dellenbaugh, 1902, p. 276). The beginning of Stillwater Canyon
is marked by vertical walls of the White Rim Sandstone. From here
Powell’s men observed a butte to the southwest thought to resemble a
fallen cross and named it “Butte of the Cross.” Farther downstream they
realized they had been looking at two buttes, a small one in front of a
larger one, so the feature was renamed “Buttes of the Cross.” An aerial
view of Buttes of the Cross is shown in figure 64.
[Illustration: BUTTES OF THE CROSS, looking southwest from the air.
Millard Canyon enters Green River in foreground, North Point is in
right middle ground, Orange Cliffs are in background, and Henry
Mountains form right skyline. White Rim Sandstone forms White Rim
near mouth of Millard Canyon and near Anderson Bottom at left
middle. (See fig. 65.) Buttes are Wingate Sandstone capped by
Kayenta Formation; slopes down to prominent ledge are Chinle
Formation, Moss Back Member forming the ledge; steep and gentle
slopes between ledge and White Rim are Moenkopi Formation.
Photograph by National Park Service. (Fig. 64)]
About 2 miles below the mouth of Millard Canyon, at Anderson Bottom, we
reach one of the most interesting features on the river—the most recent
rincon of a major river in the park, if not in the entire canyon
country. Although some rincons are more recent, they are along minor
tributaries such as Indian Creek (fig. 73). The cutoff at Anderson
Bottom probably took place during the Pleistocene Epoch, whereas most of
the others along the main rivers probably occurred during the Tertiary
Period (fig. 80). An aerial view of the Anderson Bottom rincon is shown
in figure 65, and a sketch of the drainage change is shown in figure 66.
This feature was noted and correctly interpreted by Powell and his men,
who applied the name Bonita Bend to the sharp new course the river took
after the cutoff.
Continuing through Stillwater Canyon, we pass Turks Head (figs. 23, 24)
and head for the confluence of the Green River with the Colorado River.
Figure 67 shows the canyon just west of the confluence. The lowest and
largest cliff above the river is the upper member of the Hermosa
Formation, overlain by the slopes and thin ledges of the Rico Formation.
The massive sandstone at the top of the canyon wall is the Cedar Mesa.
Junction Butte and Grand View Point are on the right skyline.
We have already viewed the confluence and Cataract Canyon from the land
and from the air (figs. 59-61); soon we will see them from the Colorado
River.
[Illustration: Petroglyph]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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