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Red Dirt, Blue Scorpions, Yellow Rock, and other Colorful Oddities


DeepTimeIsotopes

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Another snow storm has swept through here  so how about we take a trip to Southern Utah in mid-June. I will be straightforward with you, I didn’t get many fossils from this trip but if you would like to hear my tale of woe read on!

 

C989B251-4CF8-4879-8827-C296C1C415D2.thumb.jpeg.073e496c62d39308882c37164f28e43d.jpeg

 

Let’s start out with the stratigraphy column. You’ll notice most of it is red. If you’ve read some of my other trip reports you’ll probably know what that means, no fossils to report from this area. My structural geologist buddies had a blast, though, so beware a lot structural and sedimentary geology ahead. I’ll save talking about the Wahweap Formation for the end.

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Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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We spent a total of 7 days in this area called the Parowan Gap. The feature itself is this72E9D664-EDBF-48B5-A2AB-DC2CEE145A9B.thumb.jpeg.f53ce8b903d9c898413535953382b306.jpeg

That “V” shaped notch is the “Gap”. It is not man made but rather an artifact of erosion from a stream. You can tell it wasn’t man made because inside it is the famous Parowan Gap Petroglyphs.

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Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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Here are some of those petroglyphs.

ADFB2750-5EE5-4BC1-A9AC-04EAF1F1755C.thumb.png.079cb8dee8e7f0a57843e326a7a39432.png

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Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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The rock they are carved in is the Navajo Sandstone. While in some places around the state, it contains dinosaur fossils it’s quite barren here.

175BAAF5-6E25-4F21-A4E3-BBD0A0E5061A.png

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Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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The petroglyphs themselves are where the Native Americans had scraped away the dark, weathered surface called desert varnish.

57280CBD-E650-485B-A98B-A08BC738023F.png

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Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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If you want to know what they mean you’ll just have to visit.:muahaha:

F3A2BF21-F63E-4628-B228-664E7481D6C7.jpeg

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Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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While petroglyphs are nice, they aren’t what we’re here for after all this is the Fossil Forum right? So here’s a view from the top of the ‘Gap on top of the Navajo Sandstone fossil-less as usual.

18AD3DF7-8EB7-4E9F-A540-D1CCCC175FC8.jpeg

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Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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Looking back at the area I spent 168 hours living in.

414C1C40-8208-4616-8D08-A746F7770507.jpeg

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Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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Alright, let’s get down in the valley and take a look at a bit of the Carmel Formation.

Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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Wow! Lots of fossil-less but sublime areas. Must indeed be a geologist’s heaven. Pretty amazing that those carvings have survived the desert so long.

 

Scorpions? :popcorn:

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The sedimentary structures in here are called cross bedding. These indicate high energy streams where the currents have dropped sand and then cut those deposits and then dropped out sand again.

0334A9D0-5279-4C12-869D-B337FD4FCAD3.png

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Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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5 minutes ago, Heteromorph said:

Wow! Lots of fossil-less but sublime areas. Must indeed be a geologist’s heaven. Pretty amazing that those carvings have survived the desert so long.

 

Scorpions? :popcorn:

We’re getting there;)

Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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Only the living in the Carmel here.

F77D9C45-5443-4749-83C8-74F5D3519CB5.png

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Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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How about a moment to appreciate some micro-fractures in the Carmel? Can you spot them? This area is highly faulted so these things are all over the place.

575F342A-8226-4B78-8078-A7709E34F76D.png

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Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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I had brought a black light in case the scorpions decided to join our campsite and they certainly did. If you are camping in the American Southwest consider buying a black light to spot these guys because they are very well camoflaged in regular visible light. 

EBABF65C-6E39-4661-8994-5383A361CD33.png

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Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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A fault had brought the Carmel and Navajo up next to the Claron Formation so we moved to that area next. 

22CD5A81-06EA-468B-AFCB-255B310F9BDA.png

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Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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Also in other places around the state the Claron holds Cenozoic marine fossils but not here. But you know what it does make is this extremely red dirt. This is what I imagine what dirt on Mars looks like.

322728D3-5E67-4101-A2DD-FB722708C54E.png

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Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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Some nice spring desert flowers had popped up though

AB864B53-FB91-4189-9C14-CE232205BBF9.png

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Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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At the top of the Claron there is this view.

6006FE96-76E4-484F-BB28-68BC8325D8F0.png

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Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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The stratigraphy was very nice in some areas with flat lying layers as here in the Straight Cliffs.

CC5794D3-AA57-482B-9B64-3F5C9E5CFE13.png

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Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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But not so everywhere just look at this massive fold in some Claron Formation

57B16250-F449-42D0-B495-9D8A58E4269A.png

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Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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And this upturned Straight Cliffs

1DCDBD47-A1BA-44D3-914D-67B0F8C42ECE.png

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Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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How about a bit of braided stream deposits? The pebble horizons are from when large amounts of water flowed down the stream and brought gravel down from higher elevations. After a while, the stream would calm down and only bring down sand. Then the stream would speed up and the cycle continues.

0B6A7ED8-3B14-4A4D-BCB9-C32F18129901.png

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Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

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very cool report, interesting area. Do you have any fossils to show

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"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen

No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go.

" I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes

"can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks

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