By Gary Ladd An extraordinarily beautiful river canyon lay where today’s Lake Powell shimmers. There was nothing else like it on earth with its isolation, twisting and mysterious side canyons, Indian … [Read more...]
The Back Story
By Gary Ladd Just downstream from Glen Canyon lies Grand Canyon, a somewhat better known segment of Colorado River canyon. Grand Canyon is a profound cleft in Earth’s crust that almost always … [Read more...]
Glen Canyon Rock Layers
By Gary Ladd Glen Canyon area rocks were laid down during the Mesozoic Era, a period of time that followed the interval when all Grand Canyon rock units were created. The Mesozoic Era lasted about … [Read more...]
Monoclines
By Gary Ladd The Colorado Plateau is characterized by a thick sequence of mostly sedimentary rock layers that have been uplifted thousands of feet by plate tectonics movements. The uplift began … [Read more...]
Glen Canyon’s Prominent Rock Units: The Aeolian Sandstones Plus One
By Gary Ladd Throughout the middle and downstream sections of Lake Powell about a dozen rock units can be seen. All are sedimentary in origin. Of these, only about four are exceptionally prominent, … [Read more...]
Glen Canyon’s Striking Landscape Features
By Gary Ladd Glen Canyon hosts a wonderful array of interesting landforms. They include the following: Alcoves are large hollows in the sandstone cliffs. Native Americans utilized many of the … [Read more...]
Laccoliths—Underachieving Volcanoes
By Gary Ladd The mountains that stand near Glen Canyon are quite unusual. They are known as laccolithic mountains formed where plumes of magma have made their way toward the surface only to run out … [Read more...]
The Future of Lake Powell
By Gary Ladd Like all lakes, both natural and man-made, Lake Powell will eventually fall victim to sedimentation. The detritus, brought into the lake by the Colorado River and its tributaries, will … [Read more...]