Geologic map of the grand junction quadrangle, mesa county, colorado by robert b. Schist is formed when igneous or sedimentary rocks are put under pressure at high temperatures over a large area for a long period of time. Rock hounding in the bookcliffs andor photo outing meetup. This geological wonder cuts through beautiful desert terrain and parallels steep canyons and raging rivers, making it a yearround destination for scenic viewing, hiking, camping and rafting below. Baryte and calcite found in concretions ranging from a half an inch to over 6 feet with some concretions in a linear configuration, up to the size of a sedansaloon. These colorado cliffs look like books on a shelf outthere. Stretching 200 miles from grand junction, colorado to central utah, the book cliffs are the worlds largest continuous escarpment. It is bordered on the north by the bookcliffs and on the south by the. North of the grand river is a wide valley, in which are cretaceous rocks, the.
The book cliffs are one of the worlds best places to study sequence stratigraphy. Murray1 2002 geology south of the colorado river mapped by robert scott and william hood in 1998 and 1999. Beginning near helper, utah, and joined at green river, utah, by a second escarpment, the roan cliffs, the 2,000foot 610metre tall mountain wall, winds a 250mile 400km course along the tavaputs and roan plateaus, ending near grand junction, colorado. The geologic story of colorado national monument, by s. The book cliffs are a series of desert mountains and cliffs in western colorado and eastern utah, in the western united states. The bookcliffs define the skyline of grand junction. In fact, they form both the north wall of grand valleya broad floodplain of the colorado river formerly known as the grandand the southwest edge of the base of the roan.
The desert and castlegate sandstones, 2001 the aapgdatapages combined publications database. Now, take your picture with the rock and post it here on our facebook page. We meet once a month for an evening meeting during the months of september through may. Its generally accepted this area begins in the west on the wasatch plateau near the town of price and comes to a gradual conclusion out east in the arid canyons just north of grand junction, co. In 1907 otto got the grand junction chamber of commerce to petition. Cretaceous and tertiary formations of the book cliffs carbon. Detailed columnar sections of coalbearing rocks in book cliffs field 22. Areal geology 1 economic geology of energy sources. Viewed in oblique light, the cliffs resemble a book lying on its side. Digging into the pocket of a nodule in the book cliffs area, working hard trying not to damage any crystals.
The book cliffs appear mostly along the southern and western edge of the tavaputs plateau. Hummocky crossstratification from the book cliffs, grand junction, colorado. Dark rock flooring canyon is proterozoic metamorphic rock, red material in slope at base of cliffs is the chinle formation, vertical cliffs are wingate sandstone, thin protective caprock on. The geology of the book cliffs was first studied by a.
The cliffs are largely composed of sedimentary materials. The wild horse area north of grand junction is one of only three wild horse reserves in the country. The area is mostly badlands, so there are no trees and only small plants. Jan 24, 2019 apparently colorado is heaven for rock collectors. They everywhere form the southern rim of the great trough of rocks on the north known as the uinta basin. In the 1980s, exxon scientists used the cretaceous strata of the book cliffs to develop the science of sequence stratigraphy.
Geology rocks 50 handson activities to explore the. In exercise 2, students work either with polarized microscopic photographs linked online to specific units in their measured section or directly. Garfield on right, approximate altitude 6,600 in mesa county, colorado. This geological wonder cuts through beautiful desert terrain and parallels steep canyons and raging rivers, making it a yearround destination for. Geology rocks 50 handson activities to explore the earth kaleidoscope kids blobaum, cindy on.
Top of the castlegate sandstone, sagers canyon, book cliffs, eastern utah. In west central colorado, the imposing book cliffs form a remarkably straight 1,0002,000 high, 75 kmlong wall frames 14 trending northwest from grand junction. In addition, we maintain the moab movie museum, which tells the rich history of movie making in the region and features fascinating facts and memorabilia from those films. Red cliffs lodge moab lodging and adventure headquarters. In formations such as the book cliffs north of grand junction, massive cliffs tower like toppled tomes, with durable mesa covers binding pages of the earths history. The book cliffs begin at palisade and stretch westward to castlegate, utah, a distance of about 190 miles. They are so named because the cliffs of cretaceous sandstone that cap many of the southfacing buttes appear similar to a shelf of books. Hummocky crossstratification from the arisag formation silurian, nova scotia. Geological survey professional paper 1625b, assessment, chapter k of geologic assessment of coal in the colorado plateau. Find the best grand junction, co rock stone dealers on superpages.
Discover the geology and paleontology of the grand valley below. The stratum that is evidenced within the bookcliffs in ascending order is the dakota sandstone, mancos shale, the mesaverde group further subdivided into the castlegate and price river sandstone and ultimately, the north horn formation. Cretaceous and tertiary rocks of the southern colorado plateau, 1973 pages 148153. The book cliffs west of green river look different from those with which the traveler is. Significant ammonite finds in uppermost mancos shale and overlying formations between barker dome, new mexico, and grand junction, colorado. The book cliffs have preserved excellent strata of the foreland basin of the ancient western interior seaway that stretched north from the gulf of mexico to the yukon in the cretaceous time. Many times these concretions are quite fossiliferous while others contain beautiful crystals of barite andor calcite. A evidence for discrete parasequencescale, shorefaceincised channel fills. Well meet here to carpool and or share information about time and rock hounding location. Ancient anasazi cliff dwellings are preserved in an alcove in overhanging cretaceousage sedimentary rocks in mesa verde national park. The mancos formation and its stratigraphic equivalent to the east known as the pierre shale, often contain concretions. It extends from the grand mesa at the mouth of debeque canyon in the east into utah in the west. The groundwork articles provide indepth background on colorado geologic history, rocks and tectonics veins of lightcolored 1. The book cliffs are a series of desert mountains and cliffs in western colorado and eastern.
Gneiss is created when those same rocks are subjected to temperatures and pressures higher than those needed to make schist. We are a society of earth scientists interested in the natural resources, and geology of the region surrounding grand junction, colorado. The grand junction geological society foundation along with the blm and other organizations recently renewed the geological guide signs along the mike williams geology trail at devils canyon. Our program is very field oriented and includes field trips to places such as the rugged, glacially sculpted san juan mountains, the colorado river, the world renowned book cliffs, arches and canyonlands, black canyon of the. Hummocky crossstratification from the book cliffs, utah. Grand valley near palisade, colorado to price canyon near helper, utah. The distinctive formations offer plenty of hiking, camping and more. The oldest rocks in the grand valley are from the proterozoic. With fresh prose and more than 300 color photos, maps, and figures to boot, you too will become expert at reading utah s rocks. From the same vantage, the 2nd frame looks up and sw into the heart of the uncompahgre plateau, where the thin, hard triassic. Formation exposed in the book cliffs between price, utah and grand junction, colorado december 27 lakes deposited the multicolored rocks of bryce and cedar breaks december 30, 6. A nodule where a pocket of barite and calcite crystals may have been found, in the book cliffs area. Heidi schoenstein from gjgs along with students from the cma aapg student chapter assisted with the replacement effort.
Scenic vistas overlook the grand valley of the colorado river, providing distant views of the book cliffs and grand mesa. To modern geologists these are geologic misnomers although the dates for. Book cliffs geological feature, utah, united states. The photojournals feature discussion and annotated photographs of sites of geologic interest in colorado. Geologic map of the grand junction quadrangle, mesa county. See more ideas about geology, rocks and minerals and colorado. The aapgdatapages combined publications database grand junction geological society. Spire and rock are wingate sandstone resting on red chinle formation. See more ideas about grand junction colorado, utah and colorado plateau.
Gjgs member bill hood will discuss the involvement of the cmu geology programs xray lab. These cliffs consist of campanian upper cretaceous siliciclastic rocks. Eastern end of the book cliffs, located just northeast of grand junction, colorado. Significant ammonite finds in uppermost mancos shale and. Gjgs member bill hood will discuss the involvement of the cmu geology programs xray lab in the identification of cremation remains for the fbi. Jan 08, 2004 geology rocks 50 handson activities to explore the earth kaleidoscope kids blobaum, cindy on. The little book cliffs wild horse area grand junction. A large monoclinal fold along the north side of the uncompahgre plateau and the south side of the grand valley near grand junction in colorado national monument. Home to wild horses, theres always something new to see or do in the bookcliffs. They follow instructions to construct a measured section. My thought is to head to the bookcliffs off of cr 25.
On the north flank of the san juan basin, in the general area of barker dome in san juan county, n. Roan cliffs are white cliffs at extreme distance on right skyline. All trips begin and end in grand junction, colorado. Property of the book cliff mine company at the base of the cliffs north of grand junction 48 figukb 1. Arizona, colorado, new mexico, and utah edited by m. Colorado mesa university is situated in a geological paradise straddling the rocky mountains and the colorado plateau. The book cliffs are within the colorado plateau geologic province. There are several sedimentary cycles visible in the cliffs perhaps up to seven or eight. Map showing relation of the book cliffs field to adjacent. In this arid environment a variety of organisms make a living, including pinyons, junipers, desert bighorn. Red cliffs lodge is home to the castle creek winery, the largest in utah, with daily wine tasting. And with the exception of a few privately held parcels of land, almost 96% of the 2.
Rethinking the incisedvalley fill paradigm for campanian book cliffs strata, utahcolorado, u. The first part of the hike into little book cliffs is a little strenuous as you climb up and over a ridge to get into the canyons. Formation exposed in the book cliffs between price, utah and grand junction, colorado december 27 lakes deposited the multicolored rocks of bryce and cedar. Chenoweth, geological consultant, grand junction, colorado publication. Along the edge of the uncompahgre plateau of westcentral colorado is a haven of colossal red rock cliffs and monoliths.
There is very little shade, so be prepared with a hat and lots of water. Hardened sandstones also cap softer rocks in some areas, forming dramatic pillar shapes, explained by some as supernatural. This small area is known as the, little book cliffs and includes the western slopes famous peak, mt. Best 19 rock stone dealers in grand junction, co by superpages. The oldest rocks in the grand valley date from the proterozoic eon, while the majority are. They are composed of mancos shale and sandstone and contain fossils and septarian nodules of barite. Positioned on top of the sandstone, but usually situated back from the edge, are various early tertiary rock units, for example the green river formation and the debeque formation. The grand valley includes the three major municipalities of grand junction, fruita, and palisade in colorado. Come in and catch a game on one of our seven bigscreen tvs. As we approached the east grand junction entrance to the colorado national monument, we left behind the book cliffs, here seen rising in the distance to the ne in the 1st frame. Colorado river, grand valley, and book cliffs in distance.
Trees and snow mark major laramide uplifts in green and white while salmon pink marks the colorado plateau in this truecolor satellite image of colorado and surrounding states, courtesy nasa, visible earth. The book cliffs are an enormous area that spans two states. Bedrock strata include the upper cretaceous mancos shale through the lower. Geology rocks 50 handson activities to explore the earth. Geology rocks 50 handson activities to explore the earth kaleidoscope kids. A typical view of the little book cliffs as they appear back of palisade is given in plate lxviii. Book cliffs, geological feature of eastcentral utah and western colorado. Geology north of the gunnison river mapped by paul carrara in 1998 and 1999. Roadside geology of utah s 65 road guides traverse the state s major thoroughfares as well as its dusty, sleepy, winding twolane highways. The book cliffs are one of the most recognizable landforms in western. Home browse collections grand junction geological society book publication book cliffs sequence stratigraphy.
The book cliffs extend from helper, utah to east of grand junction, colorado fig. Hummocky crossstratification is a type of sedimentary structure found in sandstones. The great anticline called the san rafael swell extends far to the north, and the rocks of the book cliffs bear the same relation to those in the anticline as the rocks of the book cliffs at grand junction bear to those of the uncompahgre plateau. In the area of economic geology, the book cliffs contain important reserves of coal. Colorado geology photojournals a tribute to colorados physical past and present right. A good appreciation of the nature of reservoir and nonreservoir rocks in the subsurface is of fundamental importance to sound ep decision making.
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