Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed last week’s special out-of-office edition part one and are ready for part two of my adventure—coming to you from Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah!
Geology in the Badlands
Photo Courtesy of Cate Larsen
If you’ve ever been to southern Utah, you know Bryce Canyon is one of the “Mighty 5” national parks that boast ethereal views of red rocks and erosional wonders.
Hoodoo? You do!
It’s unmistakable that the park’s main attraction is the towering rock spires known as hoodoos. The Bryce Canyon Association’s motto is “Hoodoo you love?” but I personally prefer the Labyrinth reference.
Hoodoos form as a result of differential erosion, where softer beds wear out faster than the harder ones that cap them. At Bryce Canyon, the hoodoos form within the Claron Formation, an Eocene-age sequence of sandstones and limestones of varying resistance.
Clues into the past:
One hundred million years ago, much of the region was underwater in what is known as the Western Interior Seaway. It was here that much of the Cretaceous-age rock was laid down and included fossils of marine organisms like mosasaurs.
The seaway’s retreat is recorded in the rock as sediments change, and younger beds contain evidence of lacustrine and, later, fluvial environments. During this time, dinosaurs roamed southern Utah and left behind footprints, bones, and eggs in the floodplain biome.
In greater context:
Bryce Canyon forms the uppermost step of the Grand Staircase, a sequence of sedimentary rock layers beginning in the Grand Canyon and continuing upward through geologic time in a series of cliffs and mesas that make up the steps.
The step featured in Bryce Canyon is the Pink Cliffs, a rather orangey member of the Claron Formation. Perhaps the man who named it, geologist Clarence Dutton, was colorblind.
Geology Festival:
Because of the geological significance it boasts, Bryce Canyon National Park has been holding an annual Geology Festival since 2006 and is the only national park to feature such an event.
Each year, thousands of people turn out for the two-day event to see the sights, participate in educational activities, and learn from expert speakers… This year, I was one of them!
Highlights From My Visit
This was my first visit to Bryce Canyon National Park, and I was blown away by so many things—paramount among them was its geologic treasure trove!
Colorful wonderland: I’m a sucker for a good color scheme, and let me tell you… Bryce Canyon has the best one! I blended right into the scenery with my red hair and green clothes—including my hat, which I really love and highly recommend for sunny summer adventures.
Exploring for clues: In preparation for my talk, entitled Earth Detectives, I set out on a hike through the park to take photos and gather information to support the theme of investigating geologic mysteries. It was a great trek, but Bryce Canyon sits at around 8,000 feet above sea level, and I have spent my whole life at around 50 feet. Needless to say, I was WINDED… but I got what I came for!
Earth detectives: That evening, I presented my findings and invited the audience to join me in thinking like a detective to solve the mystery of Bryce Canyon’s landscape throughout geologic history. The slideshow was full of soundbites from crime TV shows such as Law and Order andCSI: Miami to help me lean into the role (click the links for a surprise).
Utah’s kind of amazing: As a proud northeast girl, it’s hard for me to put up my hands and say that some place is cooler than back home. But watching the sun rise over the hoodoos, basking in the orange glow of the slot canyons, and driving through a myriad of gorgeous valleys has made me quite the fan of the beehive state. I’ll have to come back here again soon.
Thank you all for reading this week’s edition and for following me on my adventure to these two national parks. I’m so lucky to be able to call this my job and travel across the country to gab about things that make me so incredibly happy.
I’m finally home now following a 13-hour journey across three airports—you've got to love those regionals that only do connecting flights!
This experience has inspired me to think about all the airports I’ve been to and start ranking them… Find out more in next week’s edition! Until then, I’m going to get some MUCH-needed rest 😴
Cate Larsen
Editor, GeoLifestyle
👍 If you enjoyed this edition of GeoLifestyle, consider supporting AAPG's brand of newsletters by forwarding to a friend or colleague and signing up for our other newsletters here.
➡️ Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up for GeoLifestyle here.
AAPG thanks our advertisers for their support. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. If you're interested in supporting AAPG digital products, reach out to Melissa Roberts.
