Landscape Arch, Delicate Arch, and Double Arch in Arches National Park, Southeastern Utah

The red beds in Zhejiang province of China host the highest concentration of Danxia arched rock shelters in the world, just as the Colorado Plateau in the western USA hosts the world’s largest concentration of natural arches and bridges. This study investigated the geological background of the arched rock shelters and compared them to the natural arches and bridges, based on field study and a literature review. It was found that Zhejiang arched rock shelters differ from Colorado Plateau natural arches and bridges in geometry and formation mechanism. Statistical geometric data on arch geometry shows that Danxia arched rock shelters in Zhejiang tend to be relatively flat. They are relatively low features with long spans, and great depth. The natural arches and bridges on the Colorado Plateau are similar to each other, but the bridges are larger than the arches. The geometric differences between the arched landforms could be attributed to their different geologic history and to their different formation mechanisms. The arched rock shelters in Zhejiang are formed by differential weathering between sandstone and conglomerate due to moisture-induced tensile stresses. In contrast, natural arches on the Colorado Plateau are closely related to the Salt Valley anticline, vertical tectonic fractures, and horizontal discontinuities in rock fins. The Colorado Plateau natural bridges were formed by river erosion.

Research Article| January 01, 1910 North American natural bridges, with a discussion of their origin HERDMAN F. CLELAND HERDMAN F. CLELAND Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar GSA Bulletin (1910) 21 (1): 313–338. https://doi.org/10.1130/GSAB-21-313 Article history received: 09 Feb 1910 first online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation HERDMAN F. CLELAND; North American natural bridges, with a discussion of their origin. GSA Bulletin 1910;; 21 (1): 313–338. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/GSAB-21-313 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Introduction, with DefinitionThere are few topographical features that excite greater interest than natural bridges. This is due, no doubt, to some extent to their rarity and to some extent to the questions which arise as to the force or forces which have been at work to produce such structures. Although rare, the total number on the North American continent is quite large. In this paper, which does not include a description of all the natural bridges of North America, thirty-eight are mentioned.The terms “natural bridge” and “natural arch” have been so often used as synonyms, both in common parlance and in scientific literature, that it will be necessary to define the terms. In the restricted sense in which the term “natural bridge” is used in this paper, a natural bridge is a natural stone arch that spans a valley of erosion. A natural arch is a similar structure . . . This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

We made 1 trip to all three study sites to familiarize ourselves with the study areas and meet and discuss the project with the local Park Service personnel in charge of the project. While the canyon at Arches National Park was as we expected it to be, the canyons in Canyonlands and at Natural Bridges were quite different from other canyons in which we have worked. These later canyons were deeper, had steeper canyon walls, and had thicker vegetation than prior canyons in which we have worked. The tall canyon walls shade the canyon bottom creating great differences in temperature/light/moisture levels over very short distances. The vegetation can change radically just by going around one bend in the canyon bottom. The heterogeneous nature of the habitats in these deep canyons require us to subsample to a much greater degree than we proposed in the original proposal. The local Park Service staff had already anticipated this problem and had suggested in their review of our proposal that we subsample to a greater degree. We have taken our original sampling scheme and broken it into a series of smaller subsamples to solve the problem of heterogeneous habitat types in each treatment type (i.e., area with road, area with trail, etc.).

This is the third and final year of this project. In 1990 and 1991 we concentrated our efforts at Natural Bridges National Monument and Canyonlands National Park. In 1992, we performed work at Natural Bridges National Monument, and at Arches National Park. At Natural Bridges we sampled plant grids and small mammal grids along sections of canyon bottom containing or lacking a hiking trail to determine if the trail was influencing the distributions or abundances of plants or animals in the canyon bottom. We collected data in May and June. We sampled the area between Sipapu Bridge and Kachina Bridge (area containing the well used hiking trail), and an area about 3 kms long above Sipapu Bridge (area lacking a well used trail).

Geomorphological processes sculpt the shape of our everyday landscapes and must therefore be simulated to generate plausible digital landscapes. In particular, topological changes must be taken into account during the formation of complex geometries such as natural arches, bridges or tunnels. We present a novel approach to simulate the geomorphological evolution of a 3D terrain represented as a set of volumes stored in a topological model, and describe a set of atomic operations to handle topological events in a robust way. These operations form the basis to successfully implement more complex evolution scenarios in a modelling software based on generalized maps, which could be used to reduce the storage needed by other methods relying on voxel grids or layered data structures.

The National Park Service needs to establish in all of the national parks how large the parking lots should be in order to enjoy and preserve our natural resources, for example, in the Delicate Arch in the Arches National Park. Probabilistic and statistical relationships were developed between the number of vehicles (N) at one time in the Wolfe Ranch parking lot and the number of visitors (X) at Delicate Arch 1.5 miles away in the Arches National Park, southeastern Utah. The value ofN is determined such that 30 or more visitors are at the arch only 10% of the time.

The National Park Service needs to establish in all of the national parks how large the parking lots should be in order to enjoy and preserve our natural resources, for example, in the Delicate Arch in the Arches National Park. Probabilistic and statistical relationships were developed between the number of vehicles (N) at one time in the Wolfe Ranch parking lot and the number of visitors (X) at Delicate Arch 1.5 miles away in the Arches National Park, southeastern Utah. The value of N is determined such that 30 or more visitors are at the arch only 10% of the time.

Hanging gardens are the most common type of spring at Arches National Park (NP) and Natural Bridges National Monument (NM). They are also present at Canyonlands National Park, but hanging gardens are rare off the Colorado Plateau. Their cliffside setting provides stable access to water without flood disturbance. This combination provides unique habitat that is rich in endemic plant species. The diffuse, seeping emergence of water makes measuring springflow impossible at most sites. Park managers have an interest in monitoring hanging gardens—especially as the climate warms and aridity and water demand both increase. The Northern Colorado Plateau Net-work (NCPN) proposed methods for monitoring seven perennial endemic-plant species at hanging gardens as indicators of spring health and proxies for water availability. Because hanging gardens occur on bedrock outcrops, systematic or random sampling was not possible due to safety concerns and potential resource damage on steep, wet slopes. Examining eight years (2013–2020) of data, this report evaluates the suitability of endemic-plant count data at hanging gardens as a monitoring indicator. It also provides our first evaluation of status and trends at NCPN hanging gardens. The seven species included in monitoring were Rydberg’s thistle (Cirsium rydbergii), Kachina daisy (Erigeron kachinensis), alcove death camas (Zigadenus vaginatus), alcove bog orchid (Habenaria zothecina), cave primrose (Primula specuicola), alcove columbine (Aquilegia micrantha), and Eastwood’s monkeyflower (Mimulus eastwoodiae). Six of the seven species were found at each park. Up to 500 individuals of each species were counted at 42 hanging gardens in Arches NP, 14 hanging gardens in Natural Bridges NM, and 3 hanging gardens in Canyonlands NP. Larger populations were divided into count classes of 501–1,000, 1,001–10,000, and more than 10,000 individuals. Counts from two independent observers and from back-to-back years of sampling were compared for repeatability. Repeatability in count classes was less than 50% for Kachina daisy and Eastwood’s monkeyflower, which both propagate vegetatively via ramets and/or stolons. Repeatability was greater than 90% for only one species, Rydberg’s thistle. The remaining species were categorized in different classes between 15–40% of the time. Independent-observer comparisons were only available for 6.6% of the dataset, but these observations suggested that (1) observer bias was present and (2) the observer with more experience working in hanging gardens generally had higher counts than the observer with less experience in this system. Although repeatability was variable, it was within the range reported by other studies for most species. The NCPN, in discussion with park staff, has elected to make some modifications to the protocol but will continue using endemic plant counts as an indicator of hanging-garden health to maintain a biological variable as a complement to our physical-response data. This is due to their high value to park biodiversity and the difficulty of developing a more robust approach to monitoring in these sites. Endemic-plant monitoring will continue for the five species with the highest repeatability during pilot monitoring and will focus on detecting changes in smaller populations. Most hanging gardens have more than one endemic species present, so several populations can be tracked at each site. Our period of record is relatively brief, and the distribution of endemic-plant populations in different count classes at these sites has not yet shown any statistical trends over time. Be-cause of the large count classes, our methods are more sensitive to showing change in smaller populations (fewer than 500 individuals). Small populations are also of greatest concern to park managers because of their vulnerability to declines or extirpation due to drought. Over-all, more sites had endemic-plant populations of fewer than 100 individuals at the end...

This guide provides background information and an itinerary for a one-day field trip leaving from Price, Utah, and ending near Moab, Utah. The field-trip route identified leads through central and southeastern Utah and provides opportunities to examine features such as the Laramide tectonics manifested in the San Rafael Swell, sedimentary rocks of the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway and the sandstone arches, extensional faulting, and salt tectonics in and around Arches National Park.

The Cane Creek shale of the Pennsylvanian Paradox Formation represents a major target for oil and gas in the Paradox fold and fault belt of the northern Paradox Basin of southeastern Utah and southwestern Colorado. Early exploration and development attempts resulted in blowouts due to unexpected gas-bearing intervals and casing collapses caused by salt flowage in the Paradox Formation. These problems represent some of the types of drilling hazards that could be expected when planning Cane Creek wells. Horizontal drilling first used in the early 1990s changed the Cane Creek shale play from one of mostly drilling failures to a more successful commercial play. Depending on the location, exploratory Cane Creek wells may penetrate a section that ranges in age from Cretaceous through Pennsylvanian. Drilling in the region often encounters a wide variety of lithologies (carbonates, shale, mudstone, sandstone, and evaporites) and associated potential hazards that may include: (1) swelling clays, (2) high porosity-permeability or fractured zones resulting in lost circulation or excessive mudcake buildup, (3) “kicks” due to the influx of reservoir fluid (oil, water, or gas) into the wellbore, (4) uranium-rich zones, (5) washouts, (6) hole deviation, sticking, and other well-integrity problems, (7) chert, and (8) overpressured intervals. In addition, natural carbon dioxide, which flows from the partially human-made Crystal Geyser near some Cane Creek wellsites, represents an unusual drilling hazard if encountered in the northernmost part of the fold and fault belt. Using the lessons learned from the recently completed research well, State 16-2 (renamed the State 16-2LN-CC, API No. 43-019-50089, after the horizontal leg was drilled), and other wells in the region, drilling engineers and operators can better plan for potential hazards when exploring for hydrocarbons in the Cane Creek shale or deeper targets (Mississippian Leadville Limestone and Devonian Elbert Formation) in the fairly remote, relatively sparsely explored Paradox fold and fault belt. The goal is to de-risk wells, lower expenses, and mitigate problems before they occur. The expected results are safer and more successful drilling of wells to the Cane Creek shale and deeper reservoirs ultimately leading to additional commercial hydrocarbon discoveries in the region.

A large, stand-alone photovoltaic power system with energy storage has been in operation for over 18 months at Natural Bridges National Monument in southeastern Utah. Operating results for the system are in substantial agreement with simulations done before construction. Measured data are now available for the battery performance over this period. The design considerations and how they were realized are reviewed as are the departures from predicted performance. The performance of a digital state-of-charge meter used for battery management is also discussed.

A sequence stratigraphic framework has been established for the Middle Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian) section in southeastern Utah using: 1) surface exposures at Honaker Trail, Raplee Anticline, and Eight Foot Rapids located 25 to 40 miles (40-64 km) west of the Aneth field, 2) core and well logs in SE Utah, S W Colorado, NW New Mexico, and NE Arizona, and 3) regional seismic. Bounding discontinuities (sequence boundaries and maximum flooding surfaces) have been correlated over several thousand square miles in the Four Corners region. Systems tracts of 3rd-order composite sequences (0.5-5.0 m.y.) are comprised of 4th-order sequences (0.1-0.5 m.y.) and 5th-order depositional cycles or parasequences (0.01-0.1 m.y.). Nineteen discrete and mappable high-frequency depositional cycles are recognized within three fourth-order depositional sequences of the Desert Creek and lower Ismay section (Middle Desmoinesian) at the McElmo Creek Unit of the Aneth field, southeastern Utah. These simple sequences stack into parts of two third-order sequence sets. Facies analysis of 12,000 feet (3,660 m) of core was tied into the chronostratigraphic framework to constrain correlation of high-frequency depositional cycles (parasequences). Facies mapping within parasequences permitted 1) prediction of porous and permeable facies and 2) characterization of variability in reservoir pore systems. Syndepositional dolomitization and dissolution in peritidal facies, at shoal crests of parasequences and at sequence boundaries caused modification of reservoir character. Since discovery of the Aneth field (1956), 370 million barrels of oil (∼ 1.3 billion barrels original oil in place) have been produced from Middle Pennsylvanian carbonates of the Ismay and Desert Creek intervals. Stratified reservoirs occur within lowstand, transgressive, and highstand systems tracts. Siltstone, dolostone, and evaporites form lowstand wedges that were deposited 150 feet below the crest of the Aneth carbonate platform. Porous dolomudstone and dolowackestone are productive where they onlap and pinch out against the Aneth carbonate platform and are isolated from reservoirs on the platform. Within transgressive systems tracts, lagoonal/tidal flat dolomudstone/wackestone compose parasequences and display intercrystalline and solution-enhanced secondary porosity. Core analysis and production/performance data indicate that significant fluid pathways are developed in dolomudstone deposited on the carbonate platform on paleodepositional highs. In the lower Desert Creek, initial parasequences of the highstand systems tract represent a time of mound building and platform development as a result of coalescing biologic communities of phylloid algae. Interparticle and shelter porosity dominate. Subsequent parasequences within the lower Desert Creek highstand systems tract are composed of skeletal and nonskeletal wackestone to grainstone. Porosity is developed on paleodepositional highs at the top of parasequences where shoal water facies have preserved primary pore systems that are secondarily enhanced by leaching of less stable carbonate minerals by meteoric water. Reservoirs dominated by primary pore systems provide the best long term production and account for the majority of oil produced in McElmo Creek. In the upper Desert Creek highstand systems tract, ooid/peloid grainstones aggrade and prograde to fill available depositional space. Hydrocarbons are produced on the platform and along the platform to basin margin from carbonate sand sheets and allochthonous debris aprons. Grainstone debris aprons may also be deposited during early lowstand conditions of the lower Ismay sequence. On the platform meteoric diagenesis resulted in the formation of oomoldic porosity in ooid grainstone deposits beneath the upper Desert Creek sequence boundary. Within moldic pore systems storage capacity is favorable, but permeability is low, generally less than 1 md. Facies composed dominantly of moldic porosity in the absence of significant primary porosity are poor reservoirs.

Origin of the salt valleys in the Canyonlands section of the Colorado Plateau: Evaporite-dissolution collapse versus tectonic subsidence

Paleoecology of an upper Middle Pennsylvanian coal swamp from Western Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

The pinyon-juniper woodland is a wide spread vegetation type in the southwestern United States that is estimated to cover from 30 to 40 million hectares. They pinyon-juniper vegetation provides a source of fuel, building materials, charcoal, pine nuts, christmas trees and folk medicines. About 80% of the acreage is grazed by livestock and wildlife. In Utah, this ecosystem is a large component (62,705 km2 or 28.6%) of the vegetation. Particularly in the Utah National Parks, the pinyon-juniper woodlands valued for their watershed, aesthetic and recreational values. Over the past several years extensive foliar damage to Utah juniper (Juniperus osterosperma (Torr.) Little) has been observed in the Natural Bridges National Monument. The characteristic pattern is for the distal foliage to become chlorotic and die. Mortality progresses along twigs until whole branches or even the entire tree dies. Reports of similar foliar damage has been reported in Canyonlands National Park, Arches National Park, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado National Monument, areas near Cedar City in southwestern Utah and in eastern Nevada, which would indicate that the foliar damage is a widespread problem. The cause for the foliar damage is unknown. The loss of juniper trees in the national parks in southern Utah would have a dramatic ecological impact and would be an aesthetic blight in the parks. The purpose of this investigation is to determine the cause of the die-off of Utah junipers and suggest management options concerning the juniper die-off problem.