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