Ancient volcanic mountains, plateaus and buttes, deeply carved canyons, and amazing ranges in color are the region's defining characteristics. These rocks formed deep beneath the surface of the earth and were uplifted, eroded, and exposed for eons. Igneous rocks injected millions of years later form a marbled network through parts of the Colorado Plateaus' darker metamorphic basement.
Relatively little rock deformation such as National parks (from south to north to south clockwise):Within these rocks are abundant mineral resources that include uranium, coal, petroleum, and natural gas. One of the most geologically intriguing features of the Colorado Plateau is its remarkable stability. Starting in the deepest trenches of the Grand Canyon and extending northward and skyward all the way up to the elevated hoodoos of Bryce Canyon, the mighty Colorado Plateau is a tour de force in the dynamic principles of erosion over the course of eons. Study of the area's unusually clear geologic history (which is laid bare due to the arid and semiarid conditions) has greatly advanced that science.Throughout the Paleozoic Era, tropical seas periodically inundated the Colorado Plateau region. During times when the seas retreated, stream deposits and dune sands were deposited or older layers were removed by erosion. Over 300 million years passed as layer upon layer of sediment accumulated.Wilderness areas (alphabetical):National monuments (alphabetical): Ancient Precambrian rocks, exposed only in the deepest canyons, make up the basement of the Colorado Plateau. One particular geologic formation, might have multiple facies. In Geology, a facies is a body of rock characterized by its formation, composition, and fossil content–which usually says something about the environment it was formed in. Ancient Precambrian rocks, exposed only in the deepest canyons, make up the basement of the Colorado Plateau. Elevation for the Colorado Plateaus starts at about 610 m (2,000 ft) above sea level, with plateau tops ranging from 1,534 to 2,134 m (5,000 to 7,000 ft) and mountaintops reaching nearly 3,960 m (13,000 ft). It is on this crystalline rock surface that the younger, more familiar layered rocks of the Colorado Plateaus were deposited.This region is one of the world's premier natural showcases for Earth history. By 600 million years ago North America had been eroded to a remarkably smooth surface. Colorado Plateau Foundation We are a Native-led foundation that supports the cultures, lands, and waters of the Colorado Plateau, the landscape that we call home.
Geologic History of Utah and the Colorado Plateau. Encompassing 240,000 square miles (386,242 km), the Colorado Plateau straddles the region known as The Four Corners, where the states of Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico meet. The province, which occupies about 130,000 square miles (337,000 square km), is bounded by the … Thick layers of limestone, sandstone, siltstone, and shale were laid down in the shallow marine waters.
Elevation for the Colorado Plateaus starts at about 610 m (2,000 ft) above sea level, with plateau tops ranging from 1,534 to 2,134 km (5,000 to 7,000 ft) and mountaintops reaching nearly 3,960 km (13,000 ft). Colorado Plateau, also called Colorado Plateaus, a physiographic province of the Intermontane Plateaus region, extending across the southwestern United States and covering the southeastern half of Utah, extreme western and southwestern Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, and the northern half of Arizona.