2007 UW ESS spring break field trip to southern Utah
Jody Bourgeois--intro
Zion--UW spring break early 1980s
Escalante -- UW spring break field trip c. 1990
Zion spring break UW camp
Capitol Reef spring break
UW camp
Capitol ReefSpring breakUW hike c. 1990
THEMES• Mesozoic paleogeography
– Mostly we’ll see Triassic and Jurassic rocks
• Non-marine paleoenvironments• Surface processes
Paleogeography• Late Permian– Pangea [Utah at the far limit]– Locally ~quiet tectonically– Extreme environments– shallow marine &– eolian sediments
Dott and Prothero
Permian limestoneCutler ~ Kaibab
[eolian sediments below~Coconino, other units in Canyonlands and Arches]
Permo-Triassic boundary in Capitol Reef National Park
Triassic fluvial & playa sedimentsMoenkopi
Permian non-marine sediments in southeastern Utah -- Canyonlands NP
• Triassic– Beginning westward plate motion
• but no real evidence where we’ll be
– Fluvial, playa & eolian sediments– Petrified forest
Dott and Prothero
Moenkopi
Shinarump [basal Chinle]
Moenkopi playa depositsZion & Capitol Reefevaporites & ripples
Chinle [petrified forest, painted desert]fluvial and paleosols
Upper Triassic fluvial and eolian
Shinarump [basal Chinle]coarse fluvial conglomerate
Moenkopi
Petrified wood, base of Chinle
Zion National ParkCoal Pits Wash hike
QUIZ
QUIZ
Moenkopi
Shinarump
Chinle
Upper Triassic
Triassic -->
Jurassic Navajo Sandstone, Zion National ParkView from Angels Landing
• Jurassic– Plate tectonic setting similar to Triassic– Sea level beginning to rise globally– Mostly TONS OF eolian sediments– Some shallow-marine incursions– Famous dinosaur localities
• [but we won’t see them]
Dott and Prothero
Navajo Sandstone
Escalante Canyon
giant eolian cross-bedding
Zion National Park
possible Jurassic impact -- strong shaking -- mega-soft-sediment deformation
millio
ns o
f years a
go
Dott and Prothero
Zion National Park
Carmel Fm.Temple Cap
evaporite crystals [bedding plane]
oyster fossils
cyanobacterial mat lamination Carmel Fm, Zion NP
Upper Jurassic
Cretaceous
Henry Mountains[Tertiary laccoliths]
• Cretaceous– Sevier orogeny—major thrusting, uplift to west– Cretaceous interior seaway in North America– Fluvial sediments to west, marine to east– Deltas and coal deposits– Non-marine and marine reptiles
Dott & Prothero
Cretaceous Mancos Shale, Utah
Cretaceous shallow-marine sediments near Price, Utah
Cretaceous deltaic sediments "Book Cliffs" Utah
Capitol Reef National Park“Waterpocket fold”a Laramide monocline
Cenozoic non-marine sedimentsBryce National Park
Bryce in March
Cenozoic volcanic cone, Zion National Park
Henry MountainsUtah
Cenozoiclaccoliths
G.K. Gilbert, 1877
xCryptogamic soilCapitol Reef National Park
Zion National Park"aerial" view from Angels Landing
Capitol Reef National Park
Capitol Reef National Park
Moenkopi
Shinarump
Chinle
NavajoUpper Triassic red beds
Chinle
2007 UW ESS spring break field trip to southern Utah
Waterpocket monocline, Capitol Reef National Park
LET'S GO!
The Great Arch Zion National Park