300 Million Years Of Geological History At Canyonlands National Park
Southeastern Utah is home to one of the most unique and dramatic landscapes in the United States. The rocks of Canyonlands National Park are up to 300 million years old, forming from sediments deposited in ancient shallow season, drying basins, vast sand dunes, and later river systems. The incredible landscape of carved sandstorm formations, giant cliffs, and deep canyons are truly a geological wonder.
60 million years ago, tectonic forces uplifted the region to create the high Colorado Plateau. Those rocks that had formed for hundreds of millions of years were suddenly high above sea level. Erosion took over, intensifying in the last 4-6 million years as rising land exposed the sedimentary layers to weathering.
Flash floods created abrasive slurries that scoured the canyon walls and bottoms, the freezing and expanding of water in cracks gradually broke rocks apart, and ancient salt deposits caused overlying brittle sandstone to fracture and collapse. The salt tectonics in the area have helped make Canyonlands a world-renowned site for geologists.
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