Album: Glen Canyon Geologic Resources

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Images from the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Geologic Resources Inventory Report Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/GRD/NRR—2016/1264

45 items. Showing page 1 of 1, items 1 through 45

Photograph of Horseshoe Bend, a dramatic entrenched meander carved into tall cliffs by the Colorado River within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Cover

Photograph of steep orange-and brown sandstone cliff with prominent streaks of dark desert varnish. Cross beds are well defined. Large boulders have fallen from the cliff onto the slickrock surface.

Inside Cover

Exaggerated geologic cross-sections for Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Cross Section

Stratigraphic column for Glen Canyon Recreation Area and vicinity. The TR-1 unconformity is between the Permian White Rim Sandstone and the Triassic Moenkopi Formation. The TR-3 unconformity is between the Triassic Moenkopi Formation and the Triassic Chine Formation. The J-1 unconformity is between the Jurassic Navajo Sandstone and the Jurassic Page Sandstone (many of these rocks are now called the Temple Cap Formation). The J-3 unconformity is between the Jurassic Entrada Sandstone and the Jurassic Romana Sandstone/Summerville Formation. The J-5 unconformity is between the Jurassic Romana Sandstone/Summerville Formation and the Jurassic Morrison Formation. The K-0 unconformity is between the Jurassic Morrison Formation and the Cretaceous Dakota Formation.

Stratigraphic Column

Geologic time scale. Time periods represented in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area are the Pennsylvanian Period and Permian Period of the Paleozoic Era, which together span from 323.2 to 252.2 million years ago. Rocks from the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods of the Mesozoic Era (spanning from 252.2 to 66 million years ago) are also mapped in the recreation area. Cenozoic rocks and deposits mapped in the recreation area are from the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs and range in age from 2.6 million years ago through the present.

Geologic Time Scale

Map of physiographic provinces of the western United States. The Colorado Plateau is relatively undeformed area rough centered on the Four Corners area where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona come together. The map labels the high mountains of the Rocky Mountain province east of the Colorado Plateau, the parallel valleys and mountains of the Basin and Range province west and south of the Colorado Plateau. National parks adjacent to Glen Canyon National Recreation Area are Canyonlands National Park, Rainbow Bridge National Monument, Grand Canyon National Park, and Capitol Reef National Park.

Physiographic Provinces

Historic photograph of ferryboat at Lees Ferry. The boat is relatively small. Five people and two horses or mules are on board. The ferry is guided by wires spanning the river.

Historic Lees Ferry

Photograph of buttes, alcoves, and outcrop patterns. The rocks exposed as steep cliffs include Navajo Sandstone, Entrada Sandstone, Romana Sandstone, and Morrison Formation. The Carmel Formation forms slopes.

Outcrop

Photograph of Reflection Canyon in Lake Powell with a houseboat navigating the curves of entrenched meanders among steep cliffs.

Reflection Canyon in Lake Powell

Photograph of slickrock in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The cliff is orange-and brown sandstone with prominent cross beds.

Slickrock

Photograph of Broken Bow arch, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Broken Bow Arch

Photograph of Rainbow Bridge, Rainbow Bridge National Monument. The bridge is 88 m (290 ft) tall from its base to the top of the arch, and spans 84 m (275 ft) across the creek channel. The top of the arch measures 13 m (42 ft) thick and 10 m (33 ft) wide. It is nearly as tall as the Statue of Liberty.

Rainbow Bridge

Two photographs of fluidized injections of sandstone into Entrada Sandstone and a weathering pit that formed on a sandstone pipe.

Entrada Sandstone Features

Photograph of Navajo Sandstone alcove with a hanging garden in Knowles Canyon, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Hanging Gardens

Photograph of Horseshoe Bend, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Horseshoe Bend

Schematic illustrating the Interfingering of the Elephant Canyon and the Halgaito Formations, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Cedar Mesa Sandstone and Halgaito Formation are clastic, primarily terrestrial rocks. The Elephant Canyon is dominantly carbonate, marine rocks.

Elephant Canyon and the Halgaito Formations

Two photographs of features typically found in the “oasis” deposits in the Navajo Sandstone.

“Oasis” Deposits in the Navajo Sandstone

Schematic cross-section of a sand dune.

Sand Dune

Photograph of cross-bedding in Jurassic Navajo Sandstone sand dunes. The cross beds are visible as bands of white, orange, and red layers that truncate each other.

Crossbeds

Photograph of dinosaur tracks in the Powell Fossil Track Block tracksite, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Powell Fossil Track Block

Photograph of cross-section of mudcracks, Red Canyon, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Mud Cracks

Five photographs of unusual sedimentary features in the Navajo and Entrada sandstones, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Sedimentary Features

Schematic diagram across the Circle Cliffs anticline, which trends north–south to northwest–southeast through Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Circle Cliffs Anticline

Schematic illustrations of three primary fault types.

Fault Types

Photograph of mottled greenish paleosols in the Chinle Formation, between Twomile and Fourmile Canyons, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Paleosols

Photograph of Bechan Cave, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The recessed alcove is 53 m (170 ft) deep, 32 m (100 ft) wide, and up to 9 m (30 ft) high.

Bechan Cave

Photograph of Navajo Mountain looming over tall cliffs above Lake Powell.

Navajo Mountain

Photograph of clasts of river alluvium south of Antelope Island.

Clasts

Photograph of a collapsed mud volcano on the Hite delta, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The feature is about 2 m across.

Collapsed Mud Volcano

Photograph of river-cut terrace near Oak Canyon, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

River-Cut Terrace

Photograph of landslide scarp along the east shore of Good Hope Bay, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The scarp appears as a “fresh” surface above the talus slope.

Scarp

Photograph of cliff along the west shore between Twomile and Fourmile Canyons, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Large boulders are piled at the base of the cliff.

Chinle Erosion

Photograph of a mud volcano on the Hite delta, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Mud volcano is about 0.5 m across.

Mud Volcano

Map showing the location of the Tar Sand Triangle and road access. The Tar Sand Triangle ia approximately located between Panorama Point to the east, Cove Canyon to the south, and Dirty Devil River to the west.

Tar Sand Triangle

Photograph of the Page Sandstone at its type locality on Manson Mesa, Arizona.

Unconformity

Photograph of a cloud of dust from a rockfall.

Rockfall

Schematic geologic cross-section through the Tar Sand Triangle.

Cross Section

Photograph of visitors overlooking the popular Horseshoe Bend, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Visitors are standing on a ledge over a precipitous drop. Two photographs of signs at the trailhead are inset.

Overlook

Photograph of moqui marbles. The hundred or more marbles in this photo are a few millimeters in diameter.

Moqui Marbles

Photograph of boulders and mud covering the road to Lees Ferry following the September 2013 flood. Boulders are large, up to car sized.

Lees Ferry Damage

Map of probability for an earthquake of magnitude greater than 5.0 in the next 100 years for Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Highest probability in the recreation area near Page with a 0.30 to 0.40 probability. Probability decreases to the northernmost extent of the recreation area, where it is between 0.04 and 0.06. Outside the park to the west and north, probability increases to between 0.80 and 0.90.

Earthquake Probability

Map of Slick George Dinosaur Tracksite, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Two photographs show the locations of crack monitors.

Slick George Dinosaur Tracksite

Photographs of mitigation work at the Jomac Mine, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Jomac Mine

Middle Pennsylvanian (308 million years ago) and Early Permian (280 million years ago) paleogeographic maps of North America. The maps show the relative locations of Africa, South America, North America, and an Oceanic Plate. The area that would become Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is near the Paradox Basin and the Ancestral Rocky Mountains. The figure summary states: “During the middle Pennsylvanian, North America, Africa, and South America were colliding to form Pangea. By the Early Permian, the Paradox Basin closed and the Ancestral Rockies and Appalachian mountains formed.

Paleogeography

Mesozoic Era paleogeographic maps of North America. Three maps show the relative location of Africa, South America, and North America. The figure summary states: “In the Triassic Period, Pangea began to split apart; the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean opened. In the Jurassic, coastal mountains rose along the western coast of North America. Shallow seas began to encroach from the north. By the Late Cretaceous, the entire continent was bisected by the Western Interior Seaway.

Paleogeography