Book Cliffs
Geographic feature in Colorado and Utah, US
The Book Cliffs are a series of desert mountains and cliffs in western Colorado and eastern Utah in the Western United States. They are so named because the sandstone layers that make up the Cretaceous-aged cliffs capping many of the south-facing buttes appear similar to a shelf of books. The escarpment of the Book Cliffs is approximately 250 miles (400 km) long, and is the longest continuous escarpment in the world, stretching from Helper, Utah to Grand Junction, Colorado.
01Stratigraphy
The Book Cliffs are one of the world's best places to study sequence stratigraphy. In the 1980s, Exxon scientists used the Cretaceous strata of the Book Cliffs to develop the science of sequence stratigraphy. The Book Cliffs have preserved excellent strata of the foreland basin of the ancient Western Interior Seaway that stretched north from the Gulf of Mexico to the Yukon in the Cretaceous Period. Components of deltaic and shallow marine reservoirs are very well preserved in the Book Cliffs.
02Wildlife
There are many small streams that contain a variety of trout species.
Large mammals found in the Book Cliffs include coyotes, mountain lions, bobcats, mule deer, elk, black bears, pronghorn, American bison as an extension of the Henry Mountains bison herd and bighorn sheep. In January 2009, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources officials transplanted 31 bison from the Henry Mountains bison herd to the Book Cliffs. The new group joined 14 animals previously released in August 2008 from a private herd on the nearby Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation. This herd is approximately 100 miles (160 km) north of the Henry Mountains across mostly harsh, desert terrain.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Book Cliffs”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Book Cliffs above Helper, Utah.jpg by Bermac at English Wikipedia, Public domain
- Near Grand junction, CO.jpg by User Skez on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.0
- The Book Cliffs near Green River, Utah - DPLA - 6dacd5b503270ef6cd770db46ff15eb9.jpg by Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942; W.H. Jackson Photograph and Publishing Co, Public domain
- Bookcliffs.helperUT.jpg by CMWarnock, CC BY-SA 4.0
- FluteCast.JPG by Matt Affolter (QFL247) (talk) (Transferred by Citypeek/Original uploaded by Matt Affolter (QFL247)), CC BY-SA 3.0
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