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 ruins and … [Read more...]
The Back Story
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 prompts questions … [Read more...]
Glen Canyon Rock Layers
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 170 million … [Read more...]
Monoclines
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 about 70 million … [Read more...]
Glen Canyon’s Prominent Rock Units: The Aeolian Sandstones Plus One
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, and three of … [Read more...]
Glen Canyon’s Striking Landscape Features
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 deepest for … [Read more...]
Laccoliths—Underachieving Volcanoes
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 of pressure … [Read more...]
The Future of Lake Powell
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 gradually push … [Read more...]