Latest Colorado Plateau Stories
PAGE, Ariz., June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Lake Powell Resorts & Marinas, an ARAMARK-managed property, today announced that Castle Rock Cut ("Cut"), a well-known 12-mile shortcut on Lake Powell, has opened for the first time in more than five years. The Cut, which provides a much quicker passage from Wahweap Marina to popular uplake destinations such as Rainbow Bridge National Monument, Padre Bay and Warm Creek Bay, became navigable to houseboats on June 10, and is expected to remain open...
Lake Powell's elevation reached 3,620 feet Wednesday and is expected to continue rising. At this elevation, boat passage on the Castle Rock Cut has been deemed safe. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area announced the official opening to boat travel Friday. Castle Rock Cut has been closed since 2003 due to low water levels. However, with the reopening, boaters will be able to travel between Wahweap and Warm Creek bays to reach popular upper-lake destinations, saving a 12-mile trip through The...
New geological evidence indicates the Grand Canyon may be so old that dinosaurs once lumbered along its rim, according to a study by researchers from the University of Colorado at Boulder and the California Institute of Technology.The team used a technique known as radiometric dating to show the Grand Canyon may have formed more than 55 million years ago, pushing back its assumed origins by 40 million to 50 million years. The researchers gathered evidence from rocks in the canyon and on...
Scientists from the University of Mexico reported Thursday that the Grand Canyon began being formed 17 million years ago, nearly three times longer than previous scientific consensus dating the canyon's formation to only 6 million years ago.The researchers based their conclusions on new findings obtained through a dating technique called uranium-lead isotope, which they used to date mineral deposits in the canyon's walls over a 9-state area. The deposits came from cave formations in the...
Government officials plan to stage the third artificial flood in the Grand Canyon next month with hopes of reversing some of the negative effects experienced by the local ecosystem which were caused by the construction of a nearby dam.In 1963, the Glen Canyon Dam was built, and it completely changed the composition of the Colorado River and abruptly caused the extinction of four fish species, leaving two others currently in danger as the nearby beaches are eroding because sediment is being...
When scientists around the world think of dung, they think of Jim Mead.Mead, a researcher at Northern Arizona University, is one of the world's foremost authorities on animal dung, and he's got the poop to prove it. "You have got to laugh at this bizarre resource," says Mead, director of NAU's Laboratory of Quaternary Paleontology. "Although I don't think anyone is keeping track, I suspect we have the largest comparative animal dung collection in the world. If someone needs to...
By JENNIFER DOBNER SALT LAKE CITY - For nine years, the question has echoed across the high desert of southeastern Utah, hard against the corner where four states meet. Where is Jason McVean? McVean, one of three fugitives who stole a truck and shot and killed a Colorado police officer, was never found despite a search in 1998 that lasted weeks on foot, horseback and from the air in hot, rocky, canyon country. The question finally was answered last week when the Utah medical examiner's...
PHOENIX -- Scientists at the Grand Canyon plan to spend the next few years measuring air quality to see whether the closure of an aging coal-fired power plant improves the views. The Mohave Generating Station in southern Nevada closed Dec. 31 rather than meet a court-ordered deadline to install pollution-control measures estimated to cost $1.1 billion. The plant opened in 1971 and has been blamed for degrading views in the western Grand Canyon. "More than any other park, people go there...
PHOENIX -- Great views "” and plenty of goosebumps for those afraid of heights. An American Indian tribe with land along the Grand Canyon is planning to build a glass-bottomed walkway that will jut out 70 feet from the canyon's edge.The horseshoe-shaped skywalk, expected to open in January, is part of the Hualapai Tribe's $40 million effort to turn 1,000 acres of reservation land into a tourist destination that will also feature an Indian village and Western-themed town.The tribe's...
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. -- Mounted at about ear level on tripods, microphones are capturing the sound of quiet at the Grand Canyon. The four microphones are attached to sound level meters and computers that will later screen out all manmade sounds, such as the chatter of hikers, the rumble of cars and the buzz of sightseeing planes and helicopters. All that will be left will be the sounds of nature: the wind in the trees, the chirping of birds, for example. Park officials are doing...
Latest Colorado Plateau Reference Libraries
Bryce Canyon National Park is located in the southwestern portion of Utah in the United States. The park holds 35,835 acres of land that was once inhabited by Native American tribes like the Basketmaker Anasazi and the Paiute Indians. The first explorers of European and American ancestry visited the area in the 18th and 19th centuries. Many explorers searched the area for viable farming and ranching grounds. A scientific expedition traveled into the area in 1872, led by John Wesley Powell....
Zion National Park is located near Springdale, Utah in the southwestern United States. The park holds 146,597 acres of protect land that was once inhabited by Native American tribes like the Parowan Fremont and Basketmaker Anasazi tribes. The Mormons were the first people of European ancestry to inhabit the area and in 1863, Isaac Behunin, the man who is credited with naming the area, moved into Zion Canyon. This canyon spans across 229 square miles and was used for farming and ranching by...
Canyonlands National Park is located in southern Utah in the United Sates. It occurs near the city of Moab and is divided into four distinct areas. These areas are comprised of the Green River and Colorado Rivers and their tributaries, the Needles, the Island in the Sky, and the Maze. The park holds 337,598 acres of protected land and was established in 1964. The four areas of Canyonland National Park, sometimes considered only three areas, are all different although they hold a similar...
Grand Canyon National Park is located in the American state of Arizona and is the country’s fifteenth established park. The main feature of the park is the Grand Canyon, which is a gorge of the Colorado River, and is often thought of as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. The park contains 1,217,262 acres of land. It was established as an official national park in 1919, but the area was already well known as a landmark for thirty years. In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt...
