Soil or Rock?

[Hatchcanyon]

Sometimes there are sediments wher I wonder are these rocks or is it simply a harder type of soil with some rocks in it?

Independent of the answer some of these formations are well worth taking pictures.

http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/DSC00242_12.jpg

http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/PICT3324_12.jpg

http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/DSC00253_12.jpg

http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/PICT3332_12.jpg

http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/DSC00259_12.jpg

http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/PICT3335_12.jpg

http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/DSC00267_12.jpg

http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/DSC00270_12.jpg

http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/PICT3343_12.jpg

More from this country (http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/index2.php)

I like this place.

[rockgremlin]

Short answer is...they're kind of both. The harder rocks perched atop the sloughing sediments is a more competent sandstone. The sloughing sediments beneath the rocks appear to be a weaker sandstone (or siltstone) that is in the process of eroding. Weaker sediments will be weathered a lot sooner than stronger, more competent ones. And once a rock has been eroded down to fine particles, it qualifies as more of a soil than a rock.

In some of your pictures the sloughing material is grey instead of red or orange. I believe those grey slopes are actually ash deposits from volcanic activity that was prevalent during the time these sediments were formed. There are over 50 dormant cinder cones in Utah stretching from north to south along the I-15 corridor from Payson to south of Cedar City. These cinder cones are responsible for the ash and tuff deposits in Utah. Most of the terrain around Cedar City through Beaver is volcanic material. And pretty much all of the mineral deposits in south-central Utah are a result of mineral rich magmas that were mobile just beneath the surface.

Sorry for the rant, geology is my passion. Always has been. Ask Accadacca how many times he and I (and dylan) would go hiking down south and everyone in our group would have to wait while I stopped and picked up rocks every 10 steps. :lol8:

[Hatchcanyon]

Thanks! :2thumbs:

Geology is also one reason for my wife and me to travel the American Southwest.

I don't know if these grey materials are ashes? The Hill on the third picture is named Clay Hill on the USGS maps. another picture of it:

http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/PICT3327_12.jpg

The grey slopes on the second picture up from the end of the posting seems (to me) to be Bentonite. It has the same frothy appearance on top:

http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/DSC00272_12.jpg

But there might be something volcanic too. We have seen a strange rock with a lot of bubbles in it. Similar structures we found neaq the Grand Falls of the Little Colorad River. The Rock from the White Mesa Area:

http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/DSC00255_12.jpg

[Hatchcanyon]

Some additional pictures from the same area:

http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/PICT3325_12.jpg

http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/PICT3326_12.jpg

http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/DSC00245_12.jpg

http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/DSC00261_12.jpg

http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/PICT3344_12.jpg
Stone on a handle

http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/DSC00277_12.jpg
I know.....telephone wires! But Natives are in need of these too! :haha:

[rockgremlin]

Almost 100% certain that the grey is volcanic ash. When the ash layers are exposed to rain and snow they form what appears to be clay. I'm just reciting what my geology professor told us when we went on a field trip to this region. You may be correct about the bentonite classification as bentonite is just weathered volcanic ash. This area is strewn with all kinds of extrusive volcanic debris - from flows to ash and everything in between.


That "stone on a handle" and balanced stone on a pillar (third pic down) are really cool pics!! :hail2thechief:

[DesertDuke]

I know I hate trying to climb on that stuff. One step forward and two steps back.....and then suddenly 20 steps back all at once.

[Hatchcanyon]

I know I hate trying to climb on that stuff. One step forward and two steps back.....and then suddenly 20 steps back all at once.

A little rain and one will make it down the whole hill! :haha:

[rockgremlin]

A little rain and one will make it down the whole hill! :haha:


Redneck slip n' slide. :haha:

[Hatchcanyon]

That "stone on a handle" and balanced stone on a pillar (third pic down) are really cool pics!! :hail2thechief:

Thanks!

I have another one. Seems to me quite a trick to defy gravity::haha:

http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/DSC00276_12.jpg

[IntrepidTraveler]

Thanks!

I have another one. Seems to me quite a trick to defy gravity::haha:

http://hatchcanyon.eu/Navigation/USA/Utah/Utah_SO/White_Mesa/DSC00276_12.jpg

Can't you just see the guy standing on the end of that after just saying "Hold my beer and get a picture of me..."?