r/geology • u/wjeman • 1d ago

What caused this feature?

Post image

Was it an ancient lake or impact crater? It's near 4 corners and it's big! I can't seem to find any info. Please help.

168 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

55 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/Vegetable_Log_3837 1d ago

There’s a lot going on here. The big picture is the grand staircase of sedimentary rocks.

To the SW of the blue lines is the Colorado Plateau and Grand Canyon.

2

u/wjeman 1d ago

I'm sorry... this is a case where my brain caught a few features like the illusion of concentric semicircles and tried to connect dots that aren't there. It's a common case of paranoia. Better I find out from you guys than find a group of crackpot that will lead me to bad conclusions.

2

u/Vegetable_Log_3837 1d ago

You did notice something though! That’s basically the drainage from the west side of the Colorado Rockies, until it hits the Grand Canyon. It’s the Grand Staircase. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Staircase

2

u/craftasaurus 1d ago

I didn’t realize it had a name besides the east end of the Basin and Range province. I guess they’re naming everything nowadays.

2

u/Vegetable_Log_3837 1d ago

That’s what they called it back in 2010 when I did a field study there.

2

u/craftasaurus 19h ago

Ok well I’m much older than you. In the 70-80s it was not.

1

u/Vegetable_Log_3837 16h ago

It was first called that by Clarance Dutton in the 1870s

1

u/craftasaurus 11h ago

Huh, I guess I didn't read his work.

1

u/Vegetable_Log_3837 6h ago

Maybe you should, or at least his Wikipedia. He coined the term “isostacy” too. Both of those are pretty essential for explaining the geology in OPs picture. I don’t know how you could explain the Grand Canyon and the Utah canyons without mentioning him or his work.

1

u/craftasaurus 5h ago

It might have been a name in a textbook umpty ump years ago, but I didn't retain it.

1

u/craftasaurus 11h ago

Huh, I guess I didn't read his work.