Tag Archive: geology

Hidden River Cave Entrance – Horse Cave – Kentucky

Hidden River Cave Entrance - Horse Cave - Kentucky

The entrance to Hidden River Cave, once known as Horse Cave, and the cave the city derives its name from. At different times the cave was the city’s water supply, source of electricity and a dumping ground for waste. Tours were offered from 1912-1943, until the increasing pollution and World War II led to a halt in tourism. And it wasn’t for another 50 years that interest in the cave returned, and the American Cave Conservation Association (ACCA) took on the task of rehabilitating the cave, In 1992 the first phase of the current museum and cave tours was developed. And today thousands of visitors come to the cave to enjoy the interesting geology of the karst regions of Kentucky. The cave boasts the longest underground suspension bridge in a cave system.

Petrified Sand Dunes – Snow Canyon, Utah

Petrified Sand Dunes - Snow Canyon,  Utah

Petrified sand dunes in Snow Canyon, Utah. Snow Canyon is a beautiful state park located in southwestern Utah. It features stunning red rock formations, sand dunes, lava flows, and other geological features that make it a popular destination for hiking, rock climbing, and other outdoor activities. The park covers an area of about 7,400 acres and is situated between the cities of St. George and Ivins. It was named after Lorenzo and Erastus Snow, two prominent early pioneers in the area.

In addition to its natural beauty, Snow Canyon also has a rich human history. The park contains numerous archaeological sites, including rock art, ancient pit houses, and granaries, that provide a glimpse into the lives of the early inhabitants of the region.

Shiprock Black and White – Farmington – New Mexico

Shiprock Black and White - Farmington - New Mexico

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Shiprock is a volcanic monadnock that rises 1,583 feet above the desert landscape of the Navajo Nation in San Juan County, New Mexico and is 7,177 feet above sea level. Multiple volcanic dikes radiate from it, including one pictured in the lower left of the image. The formation figures prominently in the religion, myth and traditions of the Navajo, and stood at the geographic and cultural center of the Ancient Puebloans of the Colorado Plateau, also known as the Anasazi. Three major Anasazi sites, Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, and Aztec Ruins National Monument reside less than a hundred miles from the volcanic plug

Shiprock is made of volcanic breccia and dikes of igneous rock. It is what remains of the upper core of a volcano that formed 27 million years ago.

The name of the formation derives from an anglicized perspective of what the rock looks like, in this case a 19th-century clipper ship. The Navajo have a different name, Tsé Bitʼaʼí, which means winged rock, and comes from the legend of a great bird.

Navajo Tourism – Shiprock
New Mexico Department of Geology – Shiprock