Kaiparowits Plateau

Coordinates: 37 ° 30 ′ 0 ″  N , 111 ° 40 ′ 0 ″  W.

The Kaiparowits Plateau is a plateau in Garfield County and Kane Counties in the southern state of Utah . Together with the Grand Staircase and the Canyons of the Escalante , it forms the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, the southeastern part known as Fiftymile Mountain extends close to the Colorado River , which is dammed up here to Lake Powell, and thus into the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area .

geography

The almost triangular plateau reaches an east-west extension of almost 80 kilometers and extends from the border to Arizona on Lake Powell to near the city of Escalante . The northeast and western boundaries are defined by the escarpments of the Straight Cliffs and the valleys of Cottonwood Canyon and Paria River along the section of the East Kaibab Monocline known as Cockscomb, and in the northwest it continues on the north bank of the Escalante River in the Aquarius Plateau . The southern part of the plateau, which rises up to 1,200 meters above Lake Powell, is furrowed from to the south in the direction of the Colorado River flowing, mostly only periodically water-bearing valleys.

View from Devils Garden to the Straight Cliffs

The Kaiparowits Plateau, which covers around 4,200 square kilometers, drops in a north-south direction, dry rivers and geological faults divide it into geomorphologically different parts:

• Fiftymile Mountain with the Straight Cliffs and the upstream Fiftymile Bench, Navajo Bench, Billie Flat Top, Grand Bench and Mudholes Point
• East of the Navajos
• Burning Hills
• Window Sash Bench
• Dry bench
• Smoky Mountain
• Fourmile Bench with Nipple Bench, Jack Riggs Bench, Brigham Plains, Horse Flat and Dog Flat
• Death Ridge

Distinctive elevations of the plateau are the Canaan Peak (near Escalante - 2,814 meters), the Cougar Knoll (southern part of the Fiftymile Bench - 2,318 meters) and the Smoky Mountain (near the BLM-Road 300 - 1,756 meters).

View across Lake Powell to the Grand Bench and the Fiftymile Bench

All watercourses in the area of ​​the Kaiparowits Plateau have a periodic character, but some springs and water holes have permanent water. With the exception of Collet Canyon and its headwaters, which break through the Straight Cliffs and flow northeast, all other valleys run in a north-south direction, flowing east-west

• Twighlight Creek
• Dry Rock Creek
• Mid Rock Creek
• Rock Creek
• Little Valley Creek with Blackburn Creek
• Croton Canyon with Rogers Canyon and Navajo Canyon
• Last Chance Creek with Reese Canyon and Dry Wash
• Warm Creek with John Henry Canyon
• Wahweap Creek with Tommy Smith Creek and Coyote Creek

into Lake Powell.

geology

The geological development in the area of ​​the Kaiparowits Plateau can be traced back to the Cretaceous period; the rocks of the Dakota Formation and the Tropic Shale Formation , which are only partially visible, indicate the existence of a shallow sea at the beginning of the later Cretaceous period. Erosion from the mountain ranges to the west, formed as part of the Sevier mountain range, created a coastal landscape characterized by sand dunes on the Western Interior Seaway in the area of ​​today's Straight Cliffs , the hinterland of which was characterized by extensive swamps . The sandstone deposits now form the Straight Cliffs Formation , the swampy landscape is witnessed by the minable deposits of hard coal on the plateau area.

Further sediments were deposited at the end of the Cretaceous Period; the rock strata known today as the Wahweap Formation and Kaiparowits Formation , in their composition of clastic sediments - mainly sandstone, limestone and slate - indicate the existence of broad floodplains in the area of ​​the Kaiparowits Plateau.

While the rocks of the Straight Cliffs Formation, the Wahweap Formation and the Kaiparowits Formation shape the landscape today, only a few remains of later deposits have survived

formation	Geological age	Thickness (in meters)	description	Sediment origin
Osiris Tuff	Miocene	0-200	gray, purple-gray or red-brown tuffs	volcanic
Wasatch formation	Paleocene to Eocene	400-500	Variegated Sandstone Member: reddish, pink or purple-gray, fine to coarse-grained sandstone, mudstone and, to a lesser extent, conglomerates White Limestone Member: white to light gray, crystalline limestone and isolated conglomerates Pink Limestone Member: white, gray, brownish, pink or reddish fine-grain limestone, small admixtures of sandstone, mudstone and conglomerates	fluviatil lacustric fluviatil
Pine Hollow Formation	Paleocene	0-150	purple, reddish and gray mixture of claystone and limestone, in the lower area coarse-grained sandstone	fluviatil / lacustric
Canaan Peak Formation	Upper Cretaceous to Paleocene	0-300	gray, brownish and brown conglomerate and conglomerate sandstone with smaller proportions of gray and red mudstone	fluviatil
Kaiparowits formation	Upper Chalk	200-1,000	Greenish and bluish gray, fine-grained to silty sandstone with subordinate deposits of claystone and limestone	fluviatil
Wahweap formation	Upper Chalk	300-800	Light gray to brown-orange sandstone of medium to fine grain size with inclusions of gray claystone and slate	fluviatil
Straight cliffs formation	Upper Chalk	300-600	Drip Tank Member: light gray, medium to coarse-grained sandstone with admixtures of sandstone conglomerate and mudstone John Henry Member: light gray to brown sandstone of fine to medium grain size, to a lesser extent coarse-grained sandstone, sandstone conglomerate as well as olive-gray, brown and black claystone, coal Smoky Hollow Member: clear separation between light gray sandstone of medium to coarse grain size in the upper area and fine-grained sandstone with admixtures of mudstone and coal Tibbot Canyon Member: yellowish-gray to orange-gray sandstone of fine to medium grain with admixtures of siltstone and mudstone	fluviatil marine / paludal / alluvial fluviatil / paludal marine
Tropic Shale Formation	Upper Chalk	200-300	gray slate with thin layers of silt and sandstone	marine
Dakota formation	Upper Chalk	5 - 80	Upper member: light brown fine-grain sandstone with embedding gray claystone Middle Member: gray to brown fine-grained sandstone with layers of yellow-green claystone and coal Lower Member: gray to brown conglomerate and coarse to medium-grain sandstone with carbonaceous claystone	marine paludal / fluvial fluviatil

paleontology

The Kaiparowits Plateau is an important site of fossils from the Late Cretaceous, which is particularly important for understanding the evolution of dinosaurs and early mammals . The high-quality finds are between 70 and 82 million years old. In addition to bones and teeth, remains of eggs and footprints have been preserved. More intensive excavations began only after 1982, in 1998 the skull of a Ceratopsiden was found in the Wahaweap Formation, and the skeleton of a Struthiomimus was found in the Kaiparowits Formation . In 2007 a new species of Hadrosaurus ( Gryposaurus monumentensis ) was reported.

Flora and fauna

In seemingly stark contrast to the biodiversity proven for the Upper Cretaceous and the Paleocene, the appearance of today's flora and fauna appears at first glance; in addition to the steep slopes and cliffs with little vegetation, the high plateau appears largely as with Utah juniper ( Juniperus osteosperma ) and Sagittarius ( Artemisia tridentata ) is an existing area, there are only isolated populations of Colorado pinyon pine ( Pinus edulis ). On the other hand, the various less conspicuous species are of great economic importance, such as sweet grasses - for example various feather grasses , black grama ( Bouteloua eriopoda ) and Indian rice grass ( Oryzopsis hymenoides ), some species of small daisy family (for example Vanclevea stylosa ) and rose plants (genera Amelanchier , Shepherdia and Coleogyne ) as well as other flowering plants, such as sea ​​pigeons ( Ephedra cutleri , Ephedra aspera , Ephedra nevadensis ), logs ( Atriplex corrugata , Atriplex confertifolia ) and other foxtail plants ( e.g. Grayia spinosa ). Individual areas are shown to be almost completely devoid of vegetation, as the surface rock has been baked into slag that is hostile to life as a result of ongoing fires in underground coal deposits .

A field study by Brigham Young University in 1978 found 851 plant species in 80 families for the area of ​​the natural area known as the Kaiparowits Basin , which also includes the valley of the Colorado River, Navajo Mountain , the Grand Staircase and some surrounding plateaus . Meanwhile, the penetration of the tamarisk, introduced by the Civilian Conservation Corps into the southwest of the USA about 80 years ago, has proven problematic. The control of the shrubs, considered to be invasive species , has meanwhile begun.

Another study by Brigham Young University contains studies of the terrestrial vertebrates of the Kaiparowits Basin carried out between 1971 and 1973 . This counts

• 7 types of amphibians
• 29 types of reptiles
• 183 species of birds
• 74 species of mammals

in the study area.

Amphibians, especially the red-point toad ( Bufo punctatus ) and the northern leopard frog ( Rana pipiens brachycephala ) are only found sporadically in the southern canyons, as they are bound to permanent water sources.

The reptiles are represented by far more species due to their adaptation to the arid climate , common are collar iguana ( Crotaphytus collaris ), long-nosed leopard iguana ( Gambelia wislezenii ), Upper Colorado River chuckwalla ( Sauromalus obesus multiforaminatus ), desert spiny lizard ( Sceloporus magister cephaloflacus ), Utah night lizard ( Xantusia Vigilis utahensis ), Western Whiptail ( Cnemidophorus tigris sepentrionalis ) Striped desert whip snake ( Masticophis taeniatus taeniatus ), California Kingsnake ( Lampropeltis getula californiae ) and Hopi rattlesnake ( Crotalus viridis nuntius ).

Some species of birds of prey is the Kaiparowits Plateau rearing their young, have a proven rearing of Rundschwanz- ( Accipiter cooperii ) and sharp-shinned hawk ( Accipiter striatus velox ), burrowing owl ( Athene cunicularia hypugaea ) turkey vulture ( Cathares aura Teter ), Red-tailed Hawk ( Buteo jamaicensis calurus ), Golden eagle ( Aquila chrysaetos canadensis ), Harrier ( Circus cyaneus hudsonius ), prairie falcon ( Falco mexicanus ) and peregrine ( Falco peregrinus anatum ). Among the remaining birds are the Mourning Dove ( Zenaida macroura ), the common poorwill ( Phalaenoptilus nuttallii nuttallii ) Tanager ( Piranga ludoviciana ), green tail base bunting ( Pipilo chlororus ), Eastern Towhee ( Pipilo erythrophthalmus montanus ), Black-throated sparrow ( Amphispiza bilineata deserticola ), warbling vireo ( Vireo gilvus ), Nashville Warbler ( Vermivora virginiae ), gold Waldsänger ( Dendroica petechia morcomi ), sadness Waldsänger ( Dendroica nigrescens ), Townsend warbler ( Dendroica townsendi ), Star ( Sturnus vulgaris vulgaris ), Blue Mückenfänger ( Polioptila caerulea amoenissima ) Mockingbird ( mime polyglottos leucopterus ), Robin ( Turdus migratorius propinquus ), Nuthatch ( Sitta canadensis ), rock wren ( Salpinctes obsoletus obsoletus ), Schlicht Meise ( Parus inornatus ridgwayi or baeolophus inornatus ), Busch Meise ( Psaltriparus minimus ), mountain chickadee ( Parus gambeli or Poecile gambeli ) Chickadee ( Par US Atricapillus garrinus or Poecile atricapillus ), pinyon jay ( Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus ), Say's Phoebe ( Sayornis Saya Saya ), bush-Schnäppertyrann ( Empidonax oberholseri ) Cassinkönigstyrann ( Tyrannus vociferans vociferans ) Schwarzkinn Hummingbird ( Archilochus alexandri ) Broadtail Hummingbird ( Selasphorus platycercus ) and White-breasted swifts ( Aeronautes saxatalis saxatalis ) are more common.

Only a few species of mammals can be detected include this for the Kaiparowits Plateau silver-haired bat ( Lasionycteris noctivagans ), Western pipistrelle ( Pipistrellus hesperus hesperus ), snowshoe hare ( Lepus amerianicus bairdi ), Western white-tailed antelope squirrel ( Ammospermophilus leucurus escalante ), dwarf pocket mouse ( Perognathus longimembris arizonensis ), Arizona pocket mouse ( Perognathus amplus ), Ord kangaroo rat ( Dipodomys ordii cupidineus ), canyon mouse ( Peromyscus crinitus stephensi ), desert bush rat ( Neotoma lepida ), coyote ( Canis latrans estor ), bobcat ( Lynx rufus baileyi ), western fleckensk ( Spilogale gracilis ) and mule deer ( Odocoileus hemionus ).

Pronghorn ( Antilocapra americana ) and bighorn sheep ( Ovus canadensis nelsonii ) were widespread until the beginning of the 20th century , both species were exterminated by hunting . In 1971 a program to reintroduce the pronghorns began, and animals were last sighted near the East Clark Bench in 1976. Further attempts at resettlement have taken place in the years since 1999.

Of more than 500 bighorn sheep caught between 1979 and 1999 in various desert areas in the southwestern United States, some were released on the Kaiparowits Plateau, and the plateau is also part of the route of the annual migration of other newly settled populations between Bryce Canyon National Park and Capitol Reef National park .

history

The special historical significance of the Kaiparowits Plateau lies in the fact that finds have been made here which represent a mixture of Fremont and Anasazi cultures . The vast majority of archaeological sites consist of simple buildings, ring-shaped stone structures and individual petroglyphs . Three expeditions led by Clyde Kluckhohn between 1927 and 1929 discovered some ruins of the Anasazi culture, which were mainly used as granaries , and some petroglyphs. Scientific research only began in the middle of the 20th century, with paleontological research still being of greater importance.

The isolation of the area did not result in permanent settlements, extensive agriculture , which is shown here exclusively in the form of pasture farming, was used by the few historical remains of modern times. Remains of a temporary settlement with houses, stables and trailers can still be found near Big Sage Junction, as well as a few individual cabins - for example near the Cougar Knoll - and individual dams to collect rainwater.

In 1965, plans arose to convert the estimated 4 billion tons of coal into electricity through a power plant to be built here by the Southern California Edison Company , in order to ensure that Los Angeles , San Diego and Phoenix could be supplied with electricity to meet the growing demands. This plan met with resistance not only from environmental groups and was rejected in 1975 due to increased costs. In 1996, the Kaiparowits Plateau was placed under the protection of the Bureau of Land Management by Bill Clinton as part of the Grand-Staircase Escalante National Monument. In 2017, the Donald Trump administration significantly reduced the protected area.

Access

Until the completion of the Glen Canyon Dam , the Kaiparowits Plateau was considered one of the most remote areas of the Continental United States , but even today it is the least-visited part of the national monument. The most important road connection is the Smoky Mountain Road (in some sources also Smokey Mountain Road or BLM-Road 300 / NPS-Road 230) administered by the Bureau of Land Management , which is 125 kilometers (78 miles) from Escalante on Utah State Route 12 connects to Big Water on US Highway 89 . From this route, which can only be driven with the help of four-wheel-drive vehicles in good weather, a number of secondary routes branch off, which make parts of the Kaiparowits Plateau accessible, but large parts are still not developed today.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ [1] . Brigham Young University website. Retrieved September 20, 2011
2. ↑ [2] . Brigham Young University website. Retrieved September 23, 2011
3. ↑ Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis). In: Wildlife notebook series. No. 16 (May 2000) (PDF file; 513 kB). Utah Division of Wildlife Resources information. Retrieved March 5, 2018
4. ↑ Eric Lipton and Lisa Friedman: Oil Was Central in Decision to Shrink Bears Ears Monument, Emails Show. In: New York Times. March 2, 2018, accessed March 5, 2018 . 
5. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Website Utahcanyons.com; Retrieved September 23, 2011