The spires, called sedimentary pipes, are composed mostly of a mix of sediment from the lower members of the Carmel Formation that have penetrated into the overlying Entrada Sandstone. There are more than five dozen of them in and around the park, ranging in height from 6 feet (2 m) to 170 feet (52 m). They are composed of a more highly cemented rock, having been exposed as the surrounding sediments were eroded away It has been suggested that they are the result of hot spring activity, and that they might have been pathways for geysers (some have suggested that the park is sort of a Yellowstone in reverse). This is an intriguing and imaginative idea, but what was the source of the heat? There are no magma intrusions in the immediate region, and in other parts on the Colorado Plateau where intrusions do occur, such pipes aren't found.
Another possible explanation is that the pipes are liquefaction features, places where water rushes towards the surface from saturated layers below during the shaking from earthquakes. I like this explanation, since there are some major fault zones just a few miles away. But researchers say there is a time problem. They say that the pipes are very old features: they don't penetrate the overlying Henrieville sandstone, and are therefore probably Jurassic or early Cretaceous in age. The faults in the region didn't become active until less than about 15 million years ago. Maybe.
The most recent hypothesis is that the pipes formed from lenses of groundwater trapped in sabkha deposits, layers of evaporites like salt or gypsum along arid environment shorelines, which formed the Paria member of the Carmel formation. As younger sediments were laid down on top of the older layers, the pressure grew in the groundwater deposit, and water squeezed out, following the path of least resistance, generally upwards. This model is interesting, but has it been seen in other settings? Some of the petroleum geologists that have traveled with us find this to be a plausible explanation.
But aren't mysteries great? Like the origin of the Grand Canyon, science thrives on unanswered questions. It's a fascinating place to visit and explore.
For more information...
Get the park brochure here: http://static.stateparks.utah.gov/docs/kbspNewsBrochure.pdf
An excellent resource: Baer, J. and R. Steed. 2010. Geology of Kodachrome Basin State Park, Kane County, Utah. In Sprinkel, D.A. et al (eds.), Geology of Utah's Parks and Monuments, Utah Geological Association Publication 28, 3rd edition. Salt Lake City: Utah Geological Association, 467-482.
2 comments:
An incredible landscape for sure. Pretty much anytime I hear of this area I think of the Paul Simon song
This spire has a very familiar look. In the Lemoore area of the SJV, there is a dry lakebed, Lemoore DL. The Navy uses it as an airbase. They also released a lot of jet fuel into the area from leaky tanks. The strata there are what you would expect, layers of silty sand, sand, and mud. The layers were mappable and it *looked* like the jet fuel would travel out, not down. But down it went. I examined boring logs and found some that had sand in their 'aquitard' silt layers, with ripups of clay embedded as little clay balls. A classic sand volcano. Now they aren't that far from the San Andreas, so that isn't a surprise. Google earth showed white patches in orchards to the west. I think you have liquefaction here. If it's *certain* it's not a fault, look for a meteor crater. You have to shake the whole column at once for this. You aren't going to get this shape from a pressure bomb from below, that would look like a bullet punch and dissipate in a cone rapidly. You'd see a triangle, not a column. I'm team liquefaction here.
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