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Home/Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Geology/Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Geology

Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Geology

Storm over Lake Powell | Photo by Gary Ladd
Storm over Lake Powell | Photo 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 ruins, and gentle, idyllic landforms. But, in the mid-1950s, the US Congress voted to utilize the canyon, not for its beauty and historic properties but its water-storage capacity as a reservoir site. A great deal of beauty and history was lost beneath Lake Powell but, it must be admitted, much remains beyond the reach of the lake even today, 50 years later.

Alcoves, natural bridges, arches, desert varnish, slot canyons—Glen Canyon’s list of interesting geologic phenomena is both intriguing and plentiful in the Lake Powell area.

To set the stage for the region’s amazing landscape features let’s review the characteristics of the Colorado Plateau Geologic Province, a region of northern Arizona, southern Utah, and smaller parts of Colorado and New Mexico, about the size of France altogether of which Glen Canyon and Lake Powell are a part.

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Gary Ladd’s Publications

Photographing Grand Canyon: Where, When, and How to Capture the Best Photos
Photographing Grand Canyon: Where, When, and How to Capture the Best Photos
  • Gary Ladd (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 64 Pages - 03/30/2016 (Publication Date) - Grand Canyon Conservancy (Publisher)
$18.77
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Grand Canyon: Views beyond the Beauty
Grand Canyon: Views beyond the Beauty
  • Used Book in Good Condition
  • Ladd, Gary (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 82 Pages - 09/01/2008 (Publication Date) - Grand Canyon Association (Publisher)
$1.59
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Lake Powell: A Photographic Essay of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (Companion Press...
Lake Powell: A Photographic Essay of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (Companion Press...
  • Used Book in Good Condition
  • Markward, Anne (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 96 Pages - 08/01/2009 (Publication Date) - Mountain Press Publishing Company (Publisher)
$1.90
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Glen Canyon: Images of a Lost World
Glen Canyon: Images of a Lost World
  • Used Book in Good Condition
  • Nichols, Tad (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 176 Pages - 01/31/2023 (Publication Date) - Museum of New Mexico Press (Publisher)
$520.57
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Gary Ladd's Canyon Light: Grand Canyon & Lake Powell (Cerca Book)
Gary Ladd's Canyon Light: Grand Canyon & Lake Powell (Cerca Book)
  • Used Book in Good Condition
  • Hardcover Book
  • Ladd, Gary (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 160 Pages - 01/01/2010 (Publication Date) - Stephens Press LLC (Publisher)
$7.03
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Grand Canyon: Time Below the Rim
Grand Canyon: Time Below the Rim
  • Used Book in Good Condition
  • Hardcover Book
  • Childs, Craig Leland (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 192 Pages - 01/30/1999 (Publication Date) - Arizona Highways (Publisher)
$22.99
Buy on Amazon Price incl. tax, excl. shipping

Last update on 2023-01-30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Published on: October 10, 2012

Categories: Lake Powell and Glen Canyon GeologyTags: Colorado Plateau, geology, Glen Canyon, Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Powell, reservoir, water storage

About Gary Ladd

Gary Ladd is a renowned Southwest photographer and author of numerous books including “Page, Arizona: Hub of the Visual Universe”, "Glen Canyon: Images of a Lost World", "Grand Canyon: Time Below the Rim", and "Lake Powell: A Photographic Essay of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area."

A resident of Arizona for over thirty years, Gary has spent the last twenty-five years seriously hiking, exploring, and photographing the astonishing beauty of the Colorado Plateau, particularly Glen and Grand Canyons.

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Lake Powell & Glen Canyon Geology

Storm over Lake Powell | Photo by Gary Ladd

Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Geology

An extraordinarily beautiful river canyon lay where today’s Lake Powell shimmers. There was nothing …

Continue Reading about Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Geology

Glen Canyon Maze formed by damming of Colorado River | Photo by Gary Ladd

The Back Story

Just downstream from Glen Canyon lies Grand Canyon, a somewhat better known segment of Colorado …

Continue Reading about The Back Story

Moon rise over Glen Canyon | Photo by Gary Ladd

Glen Canyon Rock Layers

Glen Canyon area rocks were laid down during the Mesozoic Era, a period of time that followed the …

Continue Reading about Glen Canyon Rock Layers

Aerial View of Glen Canyon showing angles of rock layers | Photo by Gary Ladd

Monoclines

The Colorado Plateau is characterized by a thick sequence of mostly sedimentary rock layers that …

Continue Reading about Monoclines

Flaming Sunset on Sandstone Cliffs | Photo by Gary Ladd

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. …

Continue Reading about Glen Canyon’s Prominent Rock Units: The Aeolian Sandstones Plus One

Rainbow Bridge with Navajo Mountain in the background | Photo by Gary Ladd

Glen Canyon’s Striking Landscape Features

Glen Canyon hosts a wonderful array of interesting landforms. They include the following: Alcoves …

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Navajo Mountain | Photo by Gary Ladd

Laccoliths—Underachieving Volcanoes

The mountains that stand near Glen Canyon are quite unusual. They are known as laccolithic mountains …

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Glen Canyon Dam | Photo by Gary Ladd

The Future of Lake Powell

Like all lakes, both natural and man-made, Lake Powell will eventually fall victim to sedimentation. …

Continue Reading about The Future of Lake Powell

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