Geology Underfoot on Colorado's Western Slope

by Jack Shroder, Amy Ellwein, George Englemann, Carol Englemann

Overview

This tenth book in the Geology Underfoot Series offers an inside view of the uniquely enigmatic landscape west of the Continental Divide in Colorado. In this arid region where mountain snowmelt drains through deep canyons en route to the Gulf of California, the crumpled gneisses of the Colorado Rockies meet the famous red rocks of the Colorado Plateau. Nothing is simple here, with rich metal ores filling fractures of supervolcanoes, small mammals flourishing in a world of giant dinosaurs, and rivers shifting course with each new uplift or eruption of lava. Join a team of geologists as they use clear prose, concise illustrations, and dramatic full—color photographs to tell the deep—time stories of 26 geologic sites, including four giants of the national park system: Mesa Verde National Park, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado National Monument, and Dinosaur National Monument. Fossil collectors, rockhounds, hot potters, coal miners, and adventurers of all ages can use this guide to better understand the geology underfoot throughout Colorado's beautiful Western Slope.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780878427086
Publisher:	Geological Society of America
Publication date:	06/15/2022
Series:	Geology Underfoot
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jack Shroder has more than half a century of experience mapping landforms and studying mass—movement processes worldwide, along with big glaciers. He concentrated on the Himalaya as well as the Rocky Mountains, where he now resides with his wife, Suzie Nye, in Crested Butte, Colorado. With 62 books written or edited by him, along with over 170 scientific articles in journals, books, and encyclopedias, and 69 consulting geology reports, Shroder spent his career as a college professor providing the public with the best available science about the Earth.


Amy Ellwein, a geomorphologist, works primarily on the Colorado Plateau. Her first and favorite geology project in Colorado was in the Elk Range with her late husband, Tim Wawrzyniec. A geologist, science educator, and entrepreneur, she has been a university professor, worked with the USGS as well as environmental and archaeological consulting firms, founded and operated a lidar services company as well as a teacher professional development group, and served the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory as Director of Science Communications. Amy runs Paradox Geologic and is a Research Professor at Western Colorado University.


George Engelmann, a coauthor of Roadside Geology of Nebraska, has spent more than five decades seeking vertebrate fossils in the field and examining the rocks in which they are found, especially in the Rocky Mountains and on the Colorado Plateau, particularly around Dinosaur National Monument, where he added important fossils to the record of vertebrate evolution in the Triassic and Jurassic. He strives to pass along the information and excitement of geology and paleontology to students and others and is Emeritus Professor of Geology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO).


Carol Engelmann, a former NSF Einstein Fellow, retired from her position as the UNO Hubbard STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) Learning Instructor in 2018. At UNO, Carol taught future and current educators at the Glacier Creek Preserve in STEM topics, including environmental studies, geology, geography, and biology. Carol also serves as a STEM consultant and evaluator of national STEM programs.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Deep Time on the Western Slope 1

Some Geologic Basics 6

Precambrian Eon: The Time before Complex Life 10

Paleozoic Era: The Time of Ancient Life 12

Ancestral Rockies 13

Mesozoic Era: The Middle Ages 17

Cenozoic Era: Transition to the Modern World 22

Discovery Expeditions 23

Vignettes

1 Hahns Peak Mining 27

2 Western Slope Hot Springs 35

3 Grand Hogback and Glenwood Canyon 42

4 Redstone and Coal Basin 52

5 Aspen's Silver Boom 62

6 Maroon Bells 70

7 Taylor Park 81

8 Crested Butte to Paonia Dam and Gothic 91

9 Oxidizing Nasties of Acid Mine Drainage 105

10 Hartman Rocks 115

11 Powderhorn Carbonatites at Iron Hill 123

12 Slumgullion Slope Failures 130

13 The Alpine Loop from Lake City 136

14 Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad 155

15 Mesa Verde National Park 168

16 Telluride 183

17 Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park 194

18 Uravan Mining District 203

19 West Salt Creek Landslide 209

20 Colorado National Monument 218

21 Book Cliffs at Grand Junction 226

22 Fruita Paleontological Area and Rabbit Valley 232

23 Roan Cliffs at Douglas Pass 242

24 Rangely Oil Field 252

25 Harpers Corner Road in Dinosaur National Monument 259

26 Browns Park 271

Glossary 283

Resources 299

Index 313