Post by 1dave on Sept 7, 2020 14:46:10 GMT -7
Google Earth allows easy access to images otherwise imposible to get.
Cedar Breaks is just a short distance up the canyon east from Cedar City. Cedar Breaks is a natural amphitheater, stretching across 3 miles (4.8 km), with a depth of over 2,000 feet (610 m). The elevation of the rim of the amphitheater is over 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above sea level.
Cedar Breaks resembles a miniature Bryce Canyon. Some visitors say its brilliant colors even surpass Bryce. The Native Americans called Cedar Breaks the "Circle of Painted Cliffs."
It is a magical world where sculpted hoodoos and fins shine in vivid, exposed colors. Due to the extreme erosion at Cedar Breaks the colors of the limestone formations have no equal. Color analysts have identified more than fifty different hues in the Cedar Breaks hoodoos.
Because of its elevation, snow often makes parts of the park inaccessible to vehicles from October through May. Its rim visitor center is open from June through October. Several hundred thousand people visit the monument annually.
The monument area is the headwaters of Mammoth Creek, The amphitheater, located near the west end of the Colorado Plateau, covers the west side of the Markagunt Plateau, the same plateau that forms parts of Zion National Park. Uplift and erosion formed the canyon over millions of years, raising and then wearing away the shale, limestone, and sandstone that was deposited at the bottom of an ancient 70 by 250 miles (110 km Ă— 400 km) lake, known as Lake Claron about 60 million years ago.[7] It continues to erode at a pace of about 2 inches (50 mm) every 5 years. Atop the plateau, volcanic rock known as rhyolitic tuff covers much of the area, formed during cataclysmic eruptions around 28 million years ago.
The rocks of the eroded canyon contain iron and manganese in various combinations, providing brilliant colors that led Indians to call it the Circle of Painted Cliffs. Iron oxides provide the reds, oranges and yellows, while manganese oxides provide shades of purple. The color of rock is soft and subtle compared to the hoodoos at Bryce Canyon.
The area is a form of badlands—canyons, spires, walls, and cliffs so steep and confusing that the lands, while of great aesthetic value, are of little utilitarian worth. Early settlers called them badlands or breaks and created its current name by combining breaks with cedar for the many juniper trees (often incorrectly called cedars) that grow in the area.
Cedar Breaks is just a short distance up the canyon east from Cedar City. Cedar Breaks is a natural amphitheater, stretching across 3 miles (4.8 km), with a depth of over 2,000 feet (610 m). The elevation of the rim of the amphitheater is over 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above sea level.
Cedar Breaks resembles a miniature Bryce Canyon. Some visitors say its brilliant colors even surpass Bryce. The Native Americans called Cedar Breaks the "Circle of Painted Cliffs."
It is a magical world where sculpted hoodoos and fins shine in vivid, exposed colors. Due to the extreme erosion at Cedar Breaks the colors of the limestone formations have no equal. Color analysts have identified more than fifty different hues in the Cedar Breaks hoodoos.
Because of its elevation, snow often makes parts of the park inaccessible to vehicles from October through May. Its rim visitor center is open from June through October. Several hundred thousand people visit the monument annually.
The monument area is the headwaters of Mammoth Creek, The amphitheater, located near the west end of the Colorado Plateau, covers the west side of the Markagunt Plateau, the same plateau that forms parts of Zion National Park. Uplift and erosion formed the canyon over millions of years, raising and then wearing away the shale, limestone, and sandstone that was deposited at the bottom of an ancient 70 by 250 miles (110 km Ă— 400 km) lake, known as Lake Claron about 60 million years ago.[7] It continues to erode at a pace of about 2 inches (50 mm) every 5 years. Atop the plateau, volcanic rock known as rhyolitic tuff covers much of the area, formed during cataclysmic eruptions around 28 million years ago.
Lake Claron -
Claron flood plain and lake system
Uplift from the Laramide paused briefly in the Eocene.[2] Meandering streams flowed slowly over the resulting broad and almost featureless plains. Periodic but extensive floods inundated large areas perhaps once every 1,000 years; spreading mud, cobbles and fine silt over the plains.[4] Erosion incised these deposits between flood events and plant growth was abundant. Oxidation of the iron in the mud and silt turned the soil into hematite, giving it a pink and red hue. These sediments were later lithified into the up-to- 700 feet (200 m)-thick Pink Member of the locally Eocene-aged Claron Formation (previously called the Wasatch Formation).[4] Channelized conglomerates of this member can be easily seen in Red Canyon along State Route 12 while its silt and mudstones compose most of the park's fragile and colorful spires called hoodoos. Geologist Clarence Dutton called the iron oxide-rich lower member of the Claron the Pink Cliffs series due to its colorful appearance.[5]
Brown map with a large lake on it
Claron lake system
A large system of shallow but expansive lakes and associated deltas covered several thousand square miles of what is now northwest Colorado and southwest Utah and Wyoming.[7] These lakes existed from the Paleocene to mid Oligocene but did not spread to the Bryce Canyon area until Eocene time.[4] Large quantities of lakebed sediments were laid down in this system during the 20 million years of its existence from about 60 to 40 mya.[7] Climate change and cycles caused the lakes in the system to expand and shrink through time. As they did so, they left beds of differing thickness and composition stacked atop one another;[5]
~ various sand and cobble deposits near shore,
~ calcium-poor muds further from shore,
~ calcium-rich mud in deeper water, and
~ pure limey oozes were deposited in the deepest waters.
The limey oozes and mud were later lithified into the limestone and interbedded siltstone of the up-to-300 foot (90 m)-thick White Member of the Claron.[4] This member erodes into white-colored monoliths that are found only at the highest elevations of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Fossils are rare in the White Member and consist mainly of freshwater snails and clams, indicating that the lakes supported little life.[4] Most arches and natural bridges in the park, including the famous Natural Bridge, were carved from sandstone beds in the Claron.
Claron flood plain and lake system
Uplift from the Laramide paused briefly in the Eocene.[2] Meandering streams flowed slowly over the resulting broad and almost featureless plains. Periodic but extensive floods inundated large areas perhaps once every 1,000 years; spreading mud, cobbles and fine silt over the plains.[4] Erosion incised these deposits between flood events and plant growth was abundant. Oxidation of the iron in the mud and silt turned the soil into hematite, giving it a pink and red hue. These sediments were later lithified into the up-to- 700 feet (200 m)-thick Pink Member of the locally Eocene-aged Claron Formation (previously called the Wasatch Formation).[4] Channelized conglomerates of this member can be easily seen in Red Canyon along State Route 12 while its silt and mudstones compose most of the park's fragile and colorful spires called hoodoos. Geologist Clarence Dutton called the iron oxide-rich lower member of the Claron the Pink Cliffs series due to its colorful appearance.[5]
Brown map with a large lake on it
Claron lake system
A large system of shallow but expansive lakes and associated deltas covered several thousand square miles of what is now northwest Colorado and southwest Utah and Wyoming.[7] These lakes existed from the Paleocene to mid Oligocene but did not spread to the Bryce Canyon area until Eocene time.[4] Large quantities of lakebed sediments were laid down in this system during the 20 million years of its existence from about 60 to 40 mya.[7] Climate change and cycles caused the lakes in the system to expand and shrink through time. As they did so, they left beds of differing thickness and composition stacked atop one another;[5]
~ various sand and cobble deposits near shore,
~ calcium-poor muds further from shore,
~ calcium-rich mud in deeper water, and
~ pure limey oozes were deposited in the deepest waters.
The limey oozes and mud were later lithified into the limestone and interbedded siltstone of the up-to-300 foot (90 m)-thick White Member of the Claron.[4] This member erodes into white-colored monoliths that are found only at the highest elevations of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Fossils are rare in the White Member and consist mainly of freshwater snails and clams, indicating that the lakes supported little life.[4] Most arches and natural bridges in the park, including the famous Natural Bridge, were carved from sandstone beds in the Claron.
The rocks of the eroded canyon contain iron and manganese in various combinations, providing brilliant colors that led Indians to call it the Circle of Painted Cliffs. Iron oxides provide the reds, oranges and yellows, while manganese oxides provide shades of purple. The color of rock is soft and subtle compared to the hoodoos at Bryce Canyon.
The area is a form of badlands—canyons, spires, walls, and cliffs so steep and confusing that the lands, while of great aesthetic value, are of little utilitarian worth. Early settlers called them badlands or breaks and created its current name by combining breaks with cedar for the many juniper trees (often incorrectly called cedars) that grow in the area.