Time Travel through rocks

 

Each of these Southern Utah rock layers took millions of years to form. 

Kodachrome Basin State Park is located on the Colorado Plateau, an uplifted region that covers much of the four corners area of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. Within the park, the exposed formations range from the middle Jurassic Period (180 million years ago) to the Cretaceous Period (95 million years ago). Here is a description of the layers from a Kodachrome State Park Brochure:

Carmel Formation: Deposits from an inland sea that existed 180 million years ago formed this layer. This is the oldest exposed formation in the park. The Carmel Formation is characterized by solid layers of the mineral gypsum, which forms white striations in the red colored cliffs in the lower elevations of the park.

Entrada Formation: Lying just above the Carmel Formation is the red colored Entrada. The Entrada was formed from deposits that were laid down during the mid-to-late Jurassic Period, approximately 180 to 140 million years ago. It is primarily composed of fine grained sandstone along with gypsum, shale, quartz and clay. This formation is one of the most scenic in the park due to its color. It also forms the ubiquitous “slickrock” of southern Utah. Most of the sedimentary pipes found within the park occur in this formation.

Henrieville Sandstone: Deposited near the end of the Jurassic Period, the Henrieville Sandstone is white to tan in appearance. Deposits of Henrieville Sandstone are almost unnoticeable in the main part of the park. However, Grosvenor Arch, located approximately 11 miles south of the park, was formed within this sandstone.

Dakota and Tropic Shale Formations: These are the uppermost formations visible in the park. They were deposited approximately 95 million years ago when a vast seaway covered much of the interior of North America, including most of Utah.