Canyonlands


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DESCRIPTION

Field Location: Canyonlands National Park, Island in the Sky District (click on link to see photos).
Geologic Feature: Depositional environments through time. Colorado and Green Rivers.

Necessary Background Information: Paleozoic to Mesozoic paleogeography and paleotectonics.
Geologic Problem: Determine the environments represented and document them. Discuss how changes through time and space are related to sea level, climate, and tectonics. 
Rock Units Exposed: Pennsylvanian - Jurassic. 
Skills: Correlation and interpretation of measured sections. Petrographic interpretation of sand grain sizes, grading, sources and morphology.
Other Questions to Consider: (1) Which way is up? - what clues tell the orientation of a sedimentary layer. (2) Compare the depositional rates of sediments from an arid to a wet climate. (3) What do geologic ages represent? (4) Is it a coincidence that the characteristics of rock units change across a major time boundary? (5) Why is this sometimes the case and sometimes not the case?
Anticipated Outcomes: Increased awareness of depositional environments. Correlation of rock units to geologic time scale transitions. Understanding of how processes result in the development of different stratigraphic successions.