Much of the course of the Colorado River was established in the Miocene Epoch, with some additional adjustments in the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene Epochs (Hunt, 1969, p. 67). Erosion during much of the Tertiary Period and all of the Quaternary Period, combined with some sagging and breaking of the crust brought on by solution and lateral squeezing of salt beds beneath The Needles, The Grabens, and the Meander anticline, produced the landscape as we now see it. The Precambrian rocks beneath the area are about 1.5 billion years old, so an enormous span of time is represented by the rocks and events in and beneath Canyonlands National Park. If we consider the geologic formations that make up the Colorado Plateau—including national parks (N.P.), national monuments (N.M.) (excluding small historical or archeological ones), Monument Valley, San Rafael Swell, and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area—certain formations or groups of formations play starring roles in some parks or monuments, some play supporting roles, and in a few places the entire cast of rocks gets about equal billing. Let us compare them and see how and where they fit into the geologic time spiral (fig. 80). Dinosaur N. M., with exposed rocks ranging in age from Precambrian to Cretaceous, represents the greatest time span (nearly 2 billion years) but has one unit—the Jurassic Morrison Formation—in the starring role, for this unit contains the many dinosaur fossils that give the monument its name and fame; several older units have supporting roles. Grand Canyon N. P. and N. M. are next, with rocks from Precambrian through Permian (excluding the Quaternary lava flows in the N. M.), but here there is truly a team effort, for the entire cast gets about equal billing. Canyonlands N. P. stands third in size of cast, with rocks ranging from Pennsylvanian to Jurassic, but we would have to give top billing to the Permian Cedar Mesa Sandstone Member of the Cutler Formation, from which The Needles, The Grabens, and most of the arches were sculptured; the Triassic Wingate Sandstone and Kayenta Formation get second billing for their roles in forming and preserving Island in the Sky and other high mesas. Now let us consider those 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 (except for 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 it 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 Kayenta are the stars, with strong support from the Jurassic Entrada Sandstone.