The Geology of Zion National Park How did this "showcase of ... National Parks. The Colorado Plateau is said to make up America’s most colorful and beautiful landscape. The rocks of the Colorado Plateau represent a diversity of environmental conditions over hundreds of millions of years. The rock layers of the Monument are part of the Colorado Plateau—a high-elevation region spanning parts of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Science Quiz / Colorado Plateau Rock Layers ... Can you name the Rock Layers that Make the Colorado Plateau? Surrounded by the Rocky Mountains in the North and East side, the Great Basin to the west, and the Sonoran desert to its south, the Colorado Plateau is made up of layers of rock that date back as far as 2 billion years ago. • Sits way higher than the interior plains hints to why its called a Plateau • 1) Deposition Stratigraphic layers revealing geologic history Foreland Basins Continental Platform Ancient passive margin • 2) Erosion deep canyons cut downward as plateau uplifts (Caused by … The biodiverse region is a series of tablelands that occupy about 240,000 square miles. How to Play. The Colorado Plateau was originally named the "Colorado Plateaus" by explorer John Wesley Powell. Because most layers are exposed through the Canyon’s 277-mile length, they afford the opportunity for detailed studies of environmental changes from place to place (within a layer… The area is a part of the Colorado Plateau, a region that covers 130,000 square miles within northwestern … The mighty Colorado River begins its journey from a trickle of water high in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. They have attracted students of earth history since 1858. The rocks were created in or near ancient seas. Much later, the layers were lifted out of the seas to become land. This is why the entire region is an extremely popular tourist attraction. Colorado National Monument lies along the margin of the Uncompahgre Uplift, once a part of the Ancestral Rocky Mountains, which formed some 300 million years ago. The lowermost (and oldest) layer of sedimentary rock exposed at Bryce Canyon, the Dakota Sandstone, is the top (and youngest) layer of rock at Zion. Nearly 40 identified rock layers form the Grand Canyon’s walls. Covering southeastern Utah, northern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and western Colorado, the Colorado Plateau province covers a land area of 130,000 square miles.

The sedimentary rock like limestone and sandstone erode with dramatic shape and color. Before reaching its final destination, the Sea of Cortez in northwestern Mexico, it… All those striking layers of varicolored rock formed into spectacular scenery by the work of the Colorado River and its tributaries are relatively undisturbed compared to the Plateau’s neighbors, the Rocky Mountains, the Basin and Range, the Wasatch and Uintah mountains and the Mogollan Rim in Arizona. Rate 5 stars Rate 4 stars Rate 3 stars Rate 2 stars Rate 1 star . These three natural features are all part of the Colorado Plateau physiographic region, a large, elevated ... (and oldest) layer of sedimentary rock exposed at Bryce Canyon, the Dakota Sandstone, is the top (and youngest) layer of rock at Zion. For the curious geologist the Colorado Plateau is a massive outcrop of sedimentary rocks ranging from Cambrian to Tertiary in age.