DAY 3

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DESCRIPTION
Field Location: *Paradox Valley, Colorado. Geologic Feature: Collapsed salt anticline. Necessary Background Information: Pennsylvanian/Permian global tectonics, salt tectonics, and climate. Geologic Problem: What is paradoxical about the Paradox Valley and how did the valley form? Rock Units Exposed: Permian Cutler Formation to Jurassic Navajo Sandstone. Skills: Use of sketches to document and present information. Ability to trace units and features laterally using subjective characteristics. Ability to formulate hypotheses based on observations. Other Questions to Consider: (1) What is the relationship between the course of the Dolores River and the trend of the Paradox Valley? (2) Which is older, the river or the valley? (3) Create a sketch of the area that shows the large-scale features of the rock layers exposed in the sides of the valley. (4) Create a hypothetical sequence of events that would result in generation of the dipping layers on each side of the valley, and formation of the valley itself. Anticipated Outcomes*: Identification and correlation of a series of stratigraphic units. Recognition of large-scale structural features. Ability to synthesize interpretations from data.

DESCRIPTION

Field Location: Paradox Valley, Colorado.
Geologic Feature: Collapsed salt anticline.
Necessary Background Information: Pennsylvanian/Permian global tectonics, salt tectonics, and climate.
Geologic Problem: What is paradoxical about the Paradox Valley and how did the valley form?
Rock Units Exposed: Permian Cutler Formation to Jurassic Navajo Sandstone.
Skills: Use of sketches to document and present information. Ability to trace units and features laterally using subjective characteristics. Ability to formulate hypotheses based on observations.
Other Questions to Consider: (1) What is the relationship between the course of the Dolores River and the trend of the Paradox Valley? (2) Which is older, the river or the valley? (3) Create a sketch of the area that shows the large-scale features of the rock layers exposed in the sides of the valley. (4) Create a hypothetical sequence of events that would result in generation of the dipping layers on each side of the valley, and formation of the valley itself.
Anticipated Outcomes: Identification and correlation of a series of stratigraphic units. Recognition of large-scale structural features. Ability to synthesize interpretations from data.