Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area

Red Rock Canyon, Nevada
Part One of a Three Part Series

The Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area lies west of Las Vegas, Nevada in  the Mojave Desert and covers 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) of land.  To extensively explore Red Rock Canyon, we must take a voyage back in history to a time around 600 million years ago, when this area was buried under an ancient sea.

Living within the sea, a unique ecosystem of marine life contributed calcium from their bodies that when combined with the minerals from the sea would eventually form deposits giving us the limestone and dolomites that we now call Red Rock.

Today, Turtlehead Peak towers above the surrounding desert as a remnant of the ancient sea with its limestone beds formed from the marine life during the Paleozoic Era. 

Moving forward in time to the Age of the Dinosaurs, 225 million years ago, tectonic shifts caused the earth to move and the sea bed to rise. Rocks, exposed over time oxidized, (rusted) and are now part of the red and orange Moenkopi Formation that is visible across the western U. S.

After many years the climate began to turn arid and around 180 million years ago, the Red Rock area was becoming a desert.  Sand blown in by the winds was accumulating in massive shifting sand dunes that stretched for hundreds of miles, thousands of feet in height.  Over time, the harsh ever changing winds etched patterns as seen in the Aztec Sandstone of Calico Hills.

Alternating hues of red, white and yellow in the Aztec Sandstone are thought to be the result from groundwater churning through the sand and leaching out oxidized iron. 

Iron oxide and calcium carbonate interacted with windblown sand and water, solidifying rock and creating intricate designs.

The colorful Spring Mountains, an escarpment 20 miles long (32km) and around 3,000 feet high (914.4m) are thought to be the western-most extension of the Navajo Sandstone of the Colorado Plateau.  The vivid reds, dark maroons and lighter tones of buff stand out across the eastern flank of the Spring Mountains, with contrasting greens of Piñon and juniper thriving at their base.

During the monsoon season, water rushes through cracks in the cliff walls creating waterfalls that cascade down hundreds of feet to the streams below. 

Sculpted by the elements of wind, water, sand and intense desert heat, Red Rock stands as a unique creation by nature's hand.  Red Rock as we know it today is a thriving ecosystem, so interconnected and so full of life.

http://www.redrockcanyonlv.org


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Rock_Canyon_National_Conservation_Area

Follow this blog for upcoming post,

Part II Aquifers in Red Rock Canyon

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What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been.  I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences. 

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 "Reflecting Nature's Artistry" 

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