This location is by a NPS informational panel with
parking space for a few cars.
As the informational panel shows, these valleys once continued
across a flat landscape. Normal erosional processes of flowing
water created a V-shaped valley cut into the rare joints (cracks in
rocks along which no movement has occurred) in the Navajo
Sandstone.
One of the more common ways that sedimentary rocks form joints
is from a release of pressure. This pressure comes from the weight
of the rock and soil above them. As the rock is eroded away, the
pressure on the rock below is reduced. With less pressure, the rock
expands and cracks. It is similar to an ice cube that cracks when
put in water.
Then a fault formed cutting across the valleys. One side of the
fault was uplifted relative to the other, leaving the end of the
valleys up in the middle of these cliffs. This uplift is likely
related to the Hurricane Fault and the regional uplift of the
Colorado Plateau.
This process of hanging valley formation is different from the
way the hanging valleys of Zion Canyon and Yosemite were formed,
even though the ending geomorphology is so similar.
These hanging valleys produce spectacular waterfalls when water
does flow through them. When no water is flowing, the hanging
valleys can be identified by the dark streaks on the cliff
face.
Logging requirements:
Send me a note with :
- The text "GC171QQ Hanging Valleys of Kolob Canyon" on the first
line
- The number of people in your group.
- How many hanging valleys can be easily seen from the
coordinates?
- What causes the dark streaks on the cliff face below each
hanging valley?
- Are you on the side of the fault that was uplifted?
The above information was compiled from the
following sources:
- Miek, Robert F., et. al.,
Geology of Zion National Park, Utah in Geology of Utah’s Parks and
Monuments, 2003 Utah Geological Association Publication 28 (second
edition) D.A. Sprinkel, T.C. Chidsey, Jr. and P.B. Anderson,
editors
- NPS Informational Panel
Placement approved by the
Zion National Park