On the Trail Just beyond the visitor center there is a pile of assorted rocks that have fallen from the American Fork Canyon. The rocks are pulled down by gravity, by a process referred to as mass wasting, and it’s recommended that hikers stay as close to the mountain as possible to avoid being hit by rocks. The canyon itself has seen much of its vegetation eroded away by the constant bombardment of the falling rocks. The vegetation that remains is wedged in between cracks in the rocks where water collects. It looks as though some of the plant roots are actually causing the rocks to split. To the west, the canyon forms a clear “v” pattern. This is an indication that the canyon is young comparatively speaking. Ahead on the trail is a tunnel, there are visible breccia faults on the tunnel walls. Past the tunnel is a view of AFC, with slanted cracks that appear to be faults but are actually bedding planes. You are able to actually see the separation in material in the rock face. Along the North Canyon wall there are black streaks and red discolorations. These are caused by chemical weathering the black streaks occur due to exposure to oxygen, whereas the red are stained in from iron oxide. When viewing the tunnel from the outside is very easy to see the tilted layers of stone. They make the tunnel look very out of place as it is surround by slanted, jagged layers or stone. Continuing down the trails there are areas of stone that appear to almost have a shine to them, these areas are called slickensides. They occur as a result of faulting, when different types of stone rub against each other this shine affect can occur. Proceeding down the trail a series of many small faults can be seen, they are a result of the Wasatch Fault. The... ... middle of paper ... ...tently destroy cave formations. Protecting this cave system is and should be a high priority. Saving the Caves The most important thing that should be done to protect this cave is supervision. No one should be allowed to visit the caves without an experienced guide who knows how to show off how awesome these caves are, without damaging them. When the caves are not available to be shown then efforts should be taken to keep them off limits. Maybe have private security, or local PD, patrol the area leading to the trail to keep people away during non-operating hours. In addition records should be kept to monitor the effect of human interaction with the cave system to determine if it is having a detrimental effect. If it is concluded that there is no way to show the caves to the public without hurting them, then the caves should be closed to anyone who isn’t and expert.
The paper talked about the new mud glyph cave art site the was discovered in northern Alabama. It is believe that the artifacts and the images that is located in the cave linked back to the Early and Middle Woodland periods. The cave was named “19th Unnamed Cave” by a naming system that was used be University of Tennessee. Other main points in this paper include the 19th Unnamed Cave, the mud glyph art that it contains, and how the mud glyph contributes to the understanding of mud glyph assemblage preservation, and it helps illuminates the chronological placement of the art form. The cave is located in northern Alabama with a cave mouth of 25 m in diameter and with more than 5 km of underground passageways. The article hypothesized that since the entrance of the cave had some fluvial action, there would no archaeological material that would have been preserved.
The entire tour requires a lot of walking, so wearing tennis shoes is recommended. Dress prepared for a cool environment because while inside the cave you will experience temperatures from 50-60 degrees. As you walk along the tour of the Bristol Caverns, a tour guide will inform you about the history of the cave: such as the original entrance place to the caverns used by the Cherokee Indians and how an early pioneer would store his fruit in the cave for extended freshness (tour guide). While the guide leads you through the cave of the caverns, you can view many formations and scenes. The formations are called stalagmites and stalagtites, which are created by the moisture and minerals in the cave hardening. One inch of these formations lengths can take from 150-300 years to form (tour guide). During the tour you will venture through different levels of the cave.
Bats could easily enter and exit the cave. Later, when developers decided to turn the cave into a show cave, they made a special entrance so bats could enter and exit at will. Mystery Cave is in danger of losing their bats from White Nose Syndrome (WNS). This disease is caused by a fungus that grows on the bat’s nose, turning it white. So far, no bats in Mystery Cave have been impacted from WNS, but WNS has impacted bats in Wisconsin. Bats aren’t the only difference between Mystery Cave and Niagara Cave.
Most of Arizona’s earthquakes are associated with the San Andreas fault as most of Arizona’s earthquakes are shocks from epicenters located in California. Arizona has had earthquakes with epicenters located in its borders and just like the ones located near the San Andreas fault, they are linked to a transform plate boundary and are dip-slip earthquakes. Much of the focus of these earthquakes can be centered around the Grand Canyon as much of the after-effects of these earthquakes caused phenomenons to occur in the Grand Canyon. Many rockslides took place in the Grand Canyon and plenty of the cracks found in the canyon’s rock layers are attributed to some of the earthquakes that took place in Arizona since the geologic landscape formed its current
The Little Missouri River eroding the mountain range is the reason that the park is as it looks today. The park is believed to be <60 million years old. Over 60 million years ago volcanos all over the west were erupting and spitting out amounts of ash. The rivers near the volcanos were gathering. The rivers began to dry out, leveeing the ash behind. The ash was being dried in layers and turned into sandstone, siltstone and mudstone while the ash layers became bentonite clay. This Bentonite clay is dangerous because it gets people stuck, like quick sand it is located throughout the park. It can pull the car tires un...
The sharp differences in elevation between the Badwater Basin and the surrounding mountains that include the highest point in the continental US (Mt. Whitney at 14,494 feet) stand as a representation of the regions violent tectonic past. The mountains themselves are considered fault block mountain ranges meaning that they were formed when blocks of rocks were squeezed through the Earth's crust along parallel faults or were loosened from the crust when it separated at a fault. In the valley, both of these methods not only were the cause of the current mountains formation less than four million years ago, but also are causing the mountains to be uplifted while the valley floor drops even further. This phenomenon is one of the reasons why the lowest and highest points in the continental...
Zig-zag, back and forth, down, down, down, Jonathon, Dad, and I went into a mysterious new world. Now that I have gone into this hot, dry canyon surrounded by monstrous hoodoos, I have seen what it is really like to leave the small town of Seymour, and emerge into the greatness of this world. I have now seen several other National Parks on one of the most renowned places on earth for mysterious creations, the Colorado Plateau. Of all the beautiful places on it, even the Grand Canyon, I have found my favorite one. Bryce Canyon National Park. I thought it was amazing, because it was the most diverse to anything I have ever seen before. We hiked down into it and I felt like I was surrounded by skyscrapers. We trekked around a little, but we didn’t
The canyon is a part of what is now the Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, an area of land first acquired through the Louisiana Purchase. In this painting, the observer may notice many features which stand out. In the background, the image depicts a large, rocky ravine, occupied by a river and rows of trees. The river leads to a large orb of light, presumably stemming from a fire. In the foreground, two men are seen standing on a cliff above the ravine, presumably in awe at the wondrous land they have just discovered in the distance. Behind the men is an untraveled area of
Cave Paintings have been dated back 30,000 years ago, during a time called the Upper Paleolithic Period where homo-sapiens began to express themselves through rock art and drawings on the walls throughout caves in mostly France and Africa. The process of the art being made was resulted from rocks being ground up to make pigments which were often first engraved into the cave walls or painted directly on them in black and ochre colors. There is no absolute reason behind these cave paintings, but scientist have thought of theories behind the talented artists work. The main three categories that have been studied are animal drawings, shamanism, and human paintings; all of which give reason to a new evolution of the human mind and how the meaning behind the cave art can be an insightful look at what homo-sapiens experienced thousands of years ago.
The geology, its history, and the presence of past civilizations contribute to much of the significance of Mesa Verde National Park. The interconnectedness of these aspects should also be noted. If not for the weathering processes and changes in sea level this formation would not exist. Without it, the ancient people would not have been able to reside within Mesa Verde. This National Park now serves as a tool to help conserve the remains of these past civilizations as well as to help educate today’s society on the significance behind this astonishing geologic
Canyonlands National Park, immense amounts of wilderness and rock, is located at the heart of the Colorado Plateau (Canyonlands National Park-Geology). Millions of years have formed specific features to the rock and surrounding wilderness that make it so special. Throughout the park, you will find that the sedimentary rock has formed many features such as hundreds of colorful canyons, mesas, buttes, fins, arches, and spires. The Green and Colorado rivers have played a major role in the formation of many of these features. These rivers cut through the park forming two massive canyons. This further splits the park into three distinct zones. “Island in the Sky” sits to the north while “The Maze” sits off to the west and “The Needles” to the east (Canyonlands National Park Information Guide). “Island in the Sky” serves as Canyonlands’ observation tower; it allows tourists to see overwhelming vistas of the rest of the land. “The Maze,” as hinted at by the name has been described as a “30 square mile puzzle in sandstone” (NPS: Nature & Science» Geology Resources Division). This section of the park often ranks as one of the most remote and inaccessible areas of the United States. Lastly, “The Needles” is known for its diversity in rock features. Throughout this land, features such as sculptured rock spires, arches, canyons, grabens, and potholes can be seen. The varying names hint at the diversity of the land as a whole. As said by The National Park Service’s Geology Resources Division, “Traces of the Anasazi can be found in almost every canyon in the Needles. Many of their stone and mud dwellings and storehouses are remarkably well-preserved. Tower Ruins, built high on a cliff ledge in a side canyon of Horse Canyon, is an outstanding ex...
Carlsbad Caverns has a system of caves that bats come out of at night in a tornado formation. The parks caverns are made of limestone and little things like fumes and smoke can damage the limestone permanently. Carlsbad Caverns has 117 open caverns and many unexplored caverns deep within the earth. Carlsbad Caverns has a large room called the big room that is 4000 feet long and 255 feet tall at the tallest point.
The geologic history of the Rocky Mountains has come about as an aggregation of millions of years. Briefly speaking, the formation of the Rockies transpired from hundreds and millions of years of uplift by tectonic plates and millions of years of erosion and ice have helped sculpt the mountains to be what we see today. The majority of the rocks that make up the Rocky Mountains began as simple shale, siltstone, and sandstone accompanied by smaller amounts of volcanic rock which formally built up for approximately 1.8 to 2 billion years in the ancient sea. By 1.7 to 1.6 billion years, these sedimentary rocks got caught in the zone of collision between parts of the earth’s crust and its tectonic plates. The incredible heat at the core of the mountain range then recrystallized the rock into metamorphic rock by the heat and pressure of the collision forces. Eventually, the shale would be transformed into both schist and gneiss. It is believed that granite found in the Rocky Mountain parks came from pre-existing metamorphic rock created shortly after the formation of the earth. Ultimately, the high mountains of the period were slowly eroded away to a flat surface exposing metamorphic rocks and granite. This process occurred around the period of 1,300 to 500 million years ago. This flat surface would become covered with shallow seas and rocks from the Paleozoic period and would be deposited and eventually cover the surface. There is...
The story shows how beautiful and peaceful the scenery is at the beginning, but then man enters and corrupts the perfect scenery. This long and extensive portion of the story that shows the beauty in nature eventually foreshadows the destruction of the canyon when man steps foot into the perfect canyon. The imagery is setting up for the conflict between man and nature. The prospector even digging up the dirt in the search for gold is causing a disturbance in the peacefulness of the canyon. “It [the canyon] was as starlight into atmosphere, shot through and warmed by sunshine, and flower-drenched with sweetness.” Reading that can create a feeling that warms the reader’s heart and creates an image of purity and perfection in the canyon. Quietness describes the canyon before man enters it, and everything was at peace. Then as soon as man had entered the beauty of the canyon, it caused an immediate disturbance when the prospector had entered. “The clash of steel-shod soles against the rocks began to be heard, and the man’s voice grew louder.” The canyon and all its perfection is now tainted and no longer quiet and
The basic premise of Plato's allegory of the cave is to depict the nature of the human being, where true reality is hidden, false images and information are perceived as reality. In the allegory Plato tells a story about a man put on a Gnostics path. Prisoners seating in a cave with their legs and necks chained down since childhood, in such way that they cannot move or see each other, only look into the shadows on the wall in front of them; not realizing they have three-dimensional bodies. These images are of men and animals, carried by an unseen men on the background. Now imagine one of the prisoners is liberated into the light, the Gnostic path will become painful and difficult, but slowly his eyes will begin to accommodate what he sees and his fundamentalist view about the world will begin to change; he sees everything through an anarchic thinking and reasons. When he returns into the cave, his fellow prisoners will not recognize him or understand anything he says because he has develop a new senses and capability of perception. This is the representation of the human nature, we live in a cave with false perception of reality that we've been told since childhood, but we must realize that these present perception are incomplete.