Tag Archive for: Arches National Park

Utah Geological Survey

POTD August 21, 2013: Kodachrome Basin State Park, Kane County, Utah

Kodachrome Basin State Park, Kane County, Utah
Photographer: Carole McCalla

Sand pipe of Carmel Formation sediment intruded into the overlying Entrada Sandstone. One of the most photographed geologic formations in Utah if not the world, the Entrada Sandstone is the featured rock unit of Arches National Park, Goblin Valley State Park, Kodachrome Basin State Park, and parts of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Variations in the Entrada’s appearance across the state are due to differences in internal structure and composition as well as external stresses.

Utah Geological Survey

POTD August 9, 2013: Wall Arch, Arches National Park, Grand County, Utah


Wall Arch, Arches National Park, Grand County, Utah

Photographers: Grant Willis (top)
and Rich Giraud (bottom)

Now you see it, now you don’t. Formerly located along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park, Wall Arch collapsed sometime during the night of August 4th, 2008.

Utah Geological Survey

POTD August 8, 2013: Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Grand County, Utah

Arches National Park, Grand County, Utah
Photographer: Michael Vanden Berg

A small window in the Slick Rock Member of the Entrada Sandstone frames a view of Utah’s most famous landform, Delicate Arch. The arch is composed of Jurassic-aged sandstone including the Slick Rock Member (base and  pedestals) and Moab Member of the Curtis Formation (bridge). In the distance, Oligocene-aged igneous rock forms the snow-covered La Sal Mountains.

Utah Geological Survey

POTD June 24, 2013: Arches National Park, Grand County, Utah

Arches National Park, Grand County
Photographer: William Lund

Delicate Arch is formed of Jurassic-age sandstone—the Slick Rock Member of the Entrada Sandstone (base and pedestals) and Moab Member of the Curtis Formation (bridge). With a horizontal span of 32 feet and a vertical span of 46 feet, Delicate Arch is small compared to many other natural arches, but its free-standing nature makes it unique in the world and emblematic of Utah’s spectacular red-rock geology.

Utah Geological Survey
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Dinosaur death trap outside Arches National Park could reveal a lot about how they lived

deseretnews.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

A herd of dinosaurs are trapped in rock outside Arches National Park, and state paleontologists need a helicopter to bring it back to the lab to see what’s really inside.

State paleontologists hope to line up a helicopter in the next few weeks to bring back the extraordinary discovery near Moab.

 

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Utah Geological Survey

NEW DINOSAURS DISCOVERED

thefutureofthings.com

Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and the Utah Geological Survey in Salt Lake City discovered and classified the skeletons of two new species of dinosaurs. Dated to the Early Cretaceous Epoch (approximately 145.5 to 99.6 million years ago), both are beaked herbivorous dinosaurs classified as iguanodonts. The two skeletons were found at different sites in Utah, one near Green River and the other near Arches National Park.

The first new species of dinosaur is hippodraco scutodens. The first part of the name means “horse dragon,” and the second “shield tooth.” The scientists chose the name because the shape of the skull resembles that of a horse and its tooth crowns look much like oblong shields. The dinosaur also has a shelf of bone extending along the lower jaw parallel to its teeth, something not found in other iguanodonts. Paleontologists recovered nearly the entire skeleton, including the skull, vertebrae, and limbs, although many of the bones were crushed. It is estimated at 15 feet long, although scientists do not think the dinosaur was fully grown when it died, so adult hippodraco dinosaurs may have been larger. The dinosaur discovered in Utah is believed to be approximately 125 million years old.

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Utah Geological Survey

TWO NEW DINOSAUR SPECIES FOUND AT UTAH SITE

sltrib.com

Utah’s Cedar Mountain Formation has yielded two new species of iguanodont, cousins of the famous iguanodon, the plant-eating, beaked-mouthed dinosaur known for its ability to walk on its hind legs.

Working on federal land in two eastern Utah sites, teams led by the Utah Geological Survey discovered the two specimens in 2004. It took years of careful fieldwork to extract the bones, which include a nearly complete skull, and prepare them for study.

The most carefully dated of the two was discovered near Arches National Park by Andrew Milner, of the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site. It was estimated to be 124 million years old and dubbed Hippodraco.

The survey’s Don DeBlieux discovered the other specimen near Green River. This one was dubbed Iguanacolossus.

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Utah Geological Survey

MAP 241

m-241-insertGEOLOGIC MAP OF THE WHITE HOUSE QUADRANGLE, GRAND COUNTY, UTAH
Hellmut H. Doelling and Paul Kuehne

The White House quadrangle is located northeast of Arches National Park in eastern Utah. Exposed strata range from Late Jurassic Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation to Late Cretaceous Mancos Shale. The quadrangle overlies the ancestral Paradox basin and is influenced by salt-related folds, including the Salt Valley anticline to the west and Cisco Dome to the east.

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Utah Geological Survey

MAP 240

m-240GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE SAGERS FLAT QUADRANGLES, GRAND COUNTY, UTAH
Hellmut H. Doelling and Paul Kuehne

The Sagers Flat quadrangle is located northeast of Arches National Park in eastern Utah. Exposed strata range from Early Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation to Late Cretaceous Mancos Shale. The area overlies the ancestral Paradox basin and is influenced by salt-related folds, including the Salt Valley anticline to the west and Cisco Dome to the east.

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Utah Geological Survey

MAP 239

m-239-insertGEOLOGIC MAP OF THE THOMPSON SPRINGS QUADRANGLES, GRAND COUNTY, UTAH
Hellmut H. Doelling and Paul Kuehne

The Thompson Springs quadrangle is located north of Arches National Park in eastern Utah. Exposed strata range from Early Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation to Late Cretaceous Castlegate Sandstone. The quadrangle overlies the ancestral Paradox basin and is influenced by salt-related folds, including the Salt Valley anticline to the west and Cisco Dome to the east.

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