Description:
Utah, southern, Sandstone formations in Devils Garden Outstanding Natural Area, image #dt751
Devils Garden � information from area signs.
Four miles west, just below the rim of the Straight Cliffs, a small drainage course begins a steep descent. It cuts downward through layers of the Straight Cliffs, Tropic and the Morrison formations, before making a turn southward to expose the Entrada sandstones of The Devil�s Garden.
Here, erosion creates visual magic. Fanciful hoodoos, stone goblins, and subtle arches are found on a scale in stark contrast to the grand and immense landscapes that dominate Grand Staircase-Escalante national Monument.
Devil�s Garden is a place to contemplate time. One scale is vast and embraces millions of years of earth history. Another scale is more intimate and familiar�a step back towards childhood, when it was easy to turn imagination and creativity loose while playing in the sand.
The Geologic Past: This geologic story begins some 160 million years ago, late in the Jurassic Period of earth history. Though not yet at their evolutionary peak, a great diversity of dinosaurs roamed the earth and swam in the seas.
The lands that would become modern-day Utah looked much different then. Vast coastal sand dunes bordered a long, narrow seaway whose shoreline repeatedly advanced and retreated from the north over many millions of years.
These dune fields and tidal flat deposits would ultimately become the Entrada Sandstone we recognize today
Comments
Post a Comment
There are no comments for Devils Garden. Click here to post the first comment.