Bryce+Canyon

media type="youtube" key="qG3e55Z0bX0" height="405" width="500" =__**Bryce Canyon National Park**__=

By: Ian Speers and Michael Haidar
Bryce Canyon is not one canyon, but is actually made up of several ravines eroded into a ridge at the edge of of Paunsagut plateau in southwest Utah. The main ridge forms the Pink Cliffs which are the youngest of a series of escarpments known as the grand staircase which goes throughout Utah.²-⁵
 * __Quick Overview:__**

Within Bryce Canyon there are three different types of climate zones: spruce/fir forest, Ponderosa Pie forest, and Pinyon Pine/ Juniper forest. Overall, there it is an arid climate.⁸
 * __Climate:__**

Why are the rocks red and pink? This is becasue iron-rich limy sediments in the rocks causes this coloration of the rocks.¹
 * __Red Canyon and Pink Cliffs:__**

__**Volcanoes:**__ Bryce Canyon is not currently volcanically active, but there is evidence that it has been in the past. This evidence includes black igneous rocks, which is formed when volcanoes errupt, at the mouth of the Red Canyon and on the Sevier Plateau.¹

Bryce Canyon is made primarily of limestone, although there are also lots of other rock types due to sedimentation.⁸ For instance, limestone, siltstone, dolorite, and mudstone all make up the Claron Formation. (4) Each rock type erodes at a different rate which causes the slopes of the rocks in Bryce Canyon to change over time. Sediment was deposited underwater from the last part of the cretaceous to the first half of the Cenozoic.²-⁵
 * __Rock Composition:__**

Over time, streams and rivers have cut through layers of rocks that were formed 40-66 million years ago in the Tertiary period, and have exposed rocks that formed 144 million years ago in the Cretaceous period. Chemical werathering has also left its mark on Bryce Canyon which has caused the bonds which hold the soft Cretaceous rocks in place to erode due to acid rain which reactes chemically with the rock's bonds. These rocks are then transported downstream to the Parre Valley.Frost Wedging is also a major component to the erosional processes which take place in Bryce Canyon. Frost Wedging occurs when water from rain or snow gets into the cracks in rocks and freezes, causing the water to expand and widen and increase the crack, then when the ice thaws the rock is either much weaker making is more vulnerable for the next time water freezes in its cracks, or the rock falls off comletely. The debris from this erosional process is then washed downstream by a river, stream, snowmelt, or a flash flood.¹
 * __Erosinal Proccesses:__**

__**Tectonic Plates and the formation of the High Plateaus of Utah:**__ 10 million years ago, tectonic plate movement moved and tilted great blocks of rock along the north-south fault lines in Bryce Canyon, forming the High Plateau of Utah when one block tilted and shifted upwards.¹ __**Plant and Animal life:**__ The diversity of habitats in Bryce Canyon due to the threee different climate regions mentioned above, high biodiversity is possible and includes over 100 species of birds, dozens of species of mammals, and more than 1,000 plant species.⁸

__**Extreme Weather Conditions:**__ Bryce Canyon is extremely suseptable to flashfloods due to lots of run-off which causes a thin layer of soil to exist which does not allow for much water to be absorbed into the ground. In addition, hail storms and heavy rain is also very likely in this region of the United States.¹

__**Hoodoos:**__ Hoodoos are pillars of rocks, usually in a odd shape, left by erosion. Te hoodoos in Bryce Canyon are formed by debris, from other erosional processes explained above, scraping against and scouring the soft limestone and creates gullies and leave harder pieces of rocks, called fins, behind. These fins eventually erode into spires called hoodoos by frost wedging peeling off layers of rock from the fins and forming them into vertical columns. Hoodoos eventually erode away and then fall down as well and their debris is carried away by water, or snowmelt.¹



__**Bibliography**__:

1. [] //Bryce Canyon Country//. Garfield County Office of Tourism. Web. 08 June 2010. .

2.[] //Bryce Canyon National Park - Areaparks.com//. Areaparks.com. Web. 09 June 2010. .

3. [] "Bryce Canyon National Park | National Park Foundation." //National Park Foundation: National Parks Disaster Recovery Fund//. National Parks Foundation. Web. 09 June 2010. .

4. [] "Bryce Canyon National Park (DesertUSA)." //Desert Biomes by DesertUSA//. DesertUSA.com and Digital West Media, Inc., 2010. Web. 08 June 2010. .

5. [] "Bryce Canyon National Park." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 09 June 2010. .

6. [] Crossley, John. "Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah." //The American Southwest - Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Wyoming; Slot Canyons & Travelogue//. Web. 09 June 2010. .

7.[] Uhler, John W. //Bryce Canyon National Park//. Hillclimb Media, 2007. Web. 08 June 2010. .

8. [] US National, Park Service. "Bryce Canyon National Park (U.S. National Park Service)." //U.S. National Park Service - Experience Your America//. US Department of Interior, 3 June 2010. Web. 08 June 2010. .

9. [] US Travel Industry. "Bryce Canyon National Park | Utah.com." //Utah Travel Site | Utah.com//. US Department of Interior, 2010. Web. 08 June 2010. .

10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG3e55Z0bX0&feature=related //YouTube - Bryce Canyon National Park Utah//. //YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.// Vbstargazer. Web. 09 June 2010. .