SAN RAFAEL SWELL REPORT 1

San Rafael Swell Report

Tristen Szwedko

Salt Lake Community College

Geo 1010

April 23, 2017

Paul Inkenbrandt
SAN RAFAEL SWELL REPORT 2

San Rafael Swell Report

The San Rafael Swell has many important and interesting geological landforms. A few

examples of these landforms include Goblin Valley, the Wedge (also referred to as the Little

Grand Canyon), and the San Rafael Reef. Another few areas mentioned throughout the essay

will be Swaseys Cabin, Ice Box Trail, and Eagle Canyon. Goblin Valley is located on the south

east end of the swell with its prominent feature being hoodoos, the Wedge is located at the

northern end of the swell, and lastly the Reef is located along the whole east edge of the swell.

This paper will build upon those features in greater detail.

Basic Geology of the Swell

About 285 to 240 million years ago the swell and most of Utah was under water. The

environment of deposition for the area is an old beach, and since has cause the sand to form

sedimentary rocks as the water disappeared. The Swell began to form about 60 million years ago

when a rock layer deep in the Earth started to push themselves up. This caused the newer layers

of rocks on top to eventually mold into an anticline. The layers of rocks were folded on each

other to start to form a dome like shape with the newer rock layers draped over top. The rocks

in the area have been weathered away with time, with some eroding away faster than others. The

rocks found are mostly made of sandstone, along with some limestone, some of the oldest

formations date back to the Carboniferous period. Driving into the swell you start at the San

Rafael Reef, and you can see it of in the distance for many miles before actually arriving there.

The reef is essentially a large, slanted, mountainous area of rock. This was the area that was the

most elevated from the underground rock displacement.

Continuous weathering since the uplift has brought some older formations to the surface

in the middle of the Swell, mainly because of water related erosion. The San Rafael river and
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Muddy Creek, the two main rivers in the area, cross directly across the top of the swell. This

means that the streams are superimposed, so they were already there before the land started to

move upwards. These two factors caused the Little Grand Canyon to form, because as the land

was moved upward the stream was staying consistent and eroding away a path for itself.

Near the Campsite

This report is based around a camping trip I went on in March. We were near Swaseys

cabin in Eagle Canyon, and that is where I conducted much of my research. The formations

nearby were generally sandstone, with small broken pieces of limestone conglomerate rocks.

The walls of the canyon had slight cross bed patterns that are at a low angle, and have very sheer

cliffs that are impossible to climb in some places. The cliffs were yellowish orange and red, the

walls of the canyon are also stained a black brown color in places because of chemical

weathering. This is also referred to as Desert Varnish. The canyon walls tend to flatten off at

the top creating flat mesas and buttes. The sandstone is very fine grained and well cemented

together with calcium carbonate. The sandstone types found in the area include Wingate

sandstone and Navajo Sandstone. The Chinle formation was south east of the canyon, and the

Kayenta formation took up a lot of area to the east. The Chinle formation was deposited during

the late Triassic period, while the Kayenta was deposited in the early Jurassic. The soil itself in

the entire area was essentially just sand, with a large plain outside the canyon to the east that was

a large center for alluvial deposits, you can see this in greater detail in the picture portion.

Heading west into the canyon you find the Ice Box Trail left off the road a short ways down. All

along the cliff face there are cracks in the rock and small caves that have been eroded away by a

variety of factors, mostly water related. The cracks were almost all wash ways for the top of the

formation, some of which were big enough to go in to. Some were normal cervices going down
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the side, while others created caverns. In one case water had broken a completely vertical path

through the rock and then out. This made a large cave like area with natural overhead light. The

sandstone on the inside of the cavern was brighter and more yellow, as it had not been exposed

for as long as the outside walls of the canyon.

Other Geology in the Area

As I mentioned before, Goblin valley is located in the south-east portion of the Swell, and

the prominent feature are called hoodoos. These are large towers of rocks that are sticking out of

the ground and can be identified by having a totem pole shaped body. These are caused by

stronger less erodible rock on top of softer rock. The rock layer on top is able to protect the

layers underneath eventually forming these columns. Goblin Valley also has some of the largest

amount of hoodoo occurrences in the world. The sediment that created the sandstone for these

hoodoos was washed away from other areas and redeposited there, creating Entrada sandstone.

Entrada sandstone is different alternating layers of sandstone, siltstone, and shale. This material

was deposited about 170 years ago in the Jurassic period near the edge of lake Bonneville. The

hoodoos form because of fractures in the sandstone and points of weakness from the different

types of materials.

Conclusion
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The geology of the swell is unique and has many different qualities that make it stand out when

compared to other areas in the world. The causation behind the reef formation is remarkable,

and learning the geology behind this area was a remarkable experience. The land has many

irregular features because of the environment of deposition along with other geological factors

that truly do make it one of a kind. References

Anderson, P. B., & Sprinkel, D. A. (2004). Geologic road, trail and lake guides to Utah's parks

and monuments. Salt Lake City, UT.: Utah Geological Association.

Bartsch-Winkler, S., Dickerson, R. P., Barton, H. N., & McCafferty, A. E. (1990). Mineral

resources of the San Rafael Swell Wilderness study areas, including Muddy Creek, Crack

Canyon, San Rafael Reef, Mexican Mountain, and Sids Mountain Wilderness study areas,

Emery County, Utah. Reston, Va.?: Dept. of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.

Gilluly, J., & Reeside, J. B. (1927). Sedimentary rocks of the San Rafael swell and some adjacent

areas in eastern Utah. Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O.

Hood, J. W., & Patterson, D. J. (1984). Bedrock aquifers in the northern San Rafael swell area,

Utah, with special emphasis on the Navajo sandstone. Salt Lake City, Utah (1636 W.

North Temple, Salt Lake City 84116): The Division.

Milligan, M. (1999). The geology of Goblin Valley State Park. Salt Lake City, UT: Utah

Geological Survey, Department of Natural Resources.

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Thisisontheinsidewallsofthecanyon Alargetowerofrockatthemouthof
nearwashes,thisrockisapartofthe Eaglecanyon.
Keyentaformation.
SAN RAFAEL SWELL REPORT
Thistreewasfoundinoneofthe
canyonscavelikewashwaysfromthe
moreelevatedpartoftherock.Inthis
areawehavethetreeaswellaswater
erodingawaythesameareaovertime.
7
Thiswastakeninthecanyonfacing
southwesttowardstheIceBoxTrail.
Theareainthemiddleerodedaway
becauseofwater.
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ThiswastakenonthehighestpointIcouldgetto.Thecloserrockmassinthe
middleisamassofrocknearthemouthofthecanyon.Totheleftwouldbe
enteringthecanyon,whereastotherightyouhavethealluvialdeposits.This
alsogiveagoodexampleofhowhighthelandactuallyrose,andseeingthearea
thathasbeenerodedaway.
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ThiswastakenwhenweenteredtheSwell,
thisisanexampleofwhattheSanRafael
Reeflookslike.Itookthiswithmyinstant
cameraonthetrip.
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Field Observations Form

Observer Name: Tristen Szwedko
Date of Site Visit: 3/17/17-3/19/17
Site Name: San Rafael Swell, Eagle Canyon
Other People Present:
Braeden, Ricky, Corbyn, Nelson, Lotta, Nathan, and Murphy (dog)
Rock Samples Collected (Not Required; Do not collect samples from National Parks):
Didnt take any rock samples out of the area but I was able to identify two types of
sandstone, one with a medium sized grain and another that is stronger sandstone with
very fine grains.
Human Observations: Swaseys cabin was used as a cattle farm, later the area in this
part of the swell became a recreation area.
Observations of Geologic Elements/Processes: rocks are mostly sandstone from
what I can tell. The sediment in the area is not very diverse because of this. Theres lots
of water erosion in some areas and the streams cut right through thick layers of
sandstone. Driving in past the Reef was interesting, the rocks rose out at a slanted and
bubbled up.
Photograph Log:
Photo # Photo Description:
1 polaroid overlooking the reef
2 Tree in cavern like water wash
3 Sandstone rock formations in canyon
4 Polaroid from desert plain facing Swaseys cabin and the southern
canyon wall entrance
5 Eroded material forming cool formations in the side of the canyon
6 Overlook shot of canyon entrance and plain
7 Murphy in a wash way along the canyon wall
8 Polaroid of rock tower near camp entrance
Field Observations Form
Sketch Map - draw a rough map of the field area