2017– Jurassic World - Architecture of Ephemeral Streams, Eolian Dunes, and Marine Shoreline: Page Sandstone, Carmel Formation, and Navajo Sandstone, Southwest Utah
Group Photo Along Wire Pass/Coyote Wash Trail, near Paria Canyon (photo courtesy of Todd Greene)
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Grand Stiarcase-Escalante National Monument and Paria Wilderness, Kane County, Utah
October 7 -8, 2017
FIELD TRIP OVERVIEW
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The theme of the 2017 PS-SEPM fall field trip was “back-to-basics in sedimentology,” and will focus on eolian sedimentary architecture of three lithostratigraphic units: the Middle Jurassic Page Sandstone and interfingering Carmel Formation at White House camp in the Grand StaircaseEscalante National Monument, and the Lower Jurassic Navajo Sandstone along Wire Pass/Coyote Wash trail in the Paria Canyon Wilderness. Two selected outcrop sites were visited east of Kanab in Kane County, southwest Utah; one site for a full day on Saturday, and the second site for a half day on Sunday.
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The Field-Trip Guidebook (Book 120, Publication list at end of this newsletter) calls viewers attention to structural, geomorphic, and stratigraphic features observed along the paved route between Kanab, Utah and the two sites visited during the trip: White House camp and Wire Pass/Coyote Wash trail, and provides further details on the nature and origin of primarily eolian sedimentary characteristics preserved in the Jurassic Page and Navajo Sandstones at the two field trip sites. On Saturday started in the parking area at White House camp, located ~ 46 mi (~ 74 km) east of Kanab along federal route 89 and 2 mi (3.2 km) south of route 89 on a graded road. Views on short, easy hikes into shallow gullies and on rounded slickrock cliffs are of the best developed and exposed eolian stratification in the Page Sandstone in the Colorado Plateau Province. Depositional associations observed included wadi (restricted sense: an ephemeral stream coursing through an eolian sand sea) facies in the Page Sandstone, and a possible microbialite facies in the Middle Jurassic Carmel Formation. On Saturday evening, participants gathered at the nearby overnight accommodations of Copper Cloud Ranch for a cowboy-stew dinner, and the presentation of the Society’s annual awards. These included A.E. Fritsche Lifetime Achievement Awards to Ray Ingersoll and Tom Anderson, Honorary Membership Awards to Adam Woods, Wayne Henderson and Eric Hendrix, and Annual Field Trip Leader Awards to Steve Rowland and Mario Caputo (2016) and Mario Caputo and Tom Anderson (2017). On Sunday, participants assembled within the parking area across from the head of Wire Pass/Coyote Wash trail; ~ 42 mi (~ 67 km) east of Kanab on route 89 and ~ 8 mi (~ 13 km) south of route 89 on the unpaved House Rock Valley Road for a ~ 1.5 mi (~ 2.0 km) walk along the trail, to view a spectacular exposure of the Navajo Sandstone displaying brittle and plastic deformation of probable seismic origin in eolian dune strata. Many thanks to Mario and Tom for presenting such an enjoyable and educational trip!
