Fold Friday: Upheaval Dome, Utah

Not your typical folded rock formation.

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For this week’s installment of Fold Friday, we are going to head to Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah, United States.

Generally speaking, the geology of Canyonlands is a landscape of unaltered, uniform formations. Wind, rivers, and oceans have deposited deep sedimentary units. Horizontal bedding is ubiquitous and seemingly infinite. Exposed canyons and vast outcrops expose the magnificent layering of southeastern Utah. 

The expansive canyon systems that create the wondrous national park were carved by the Colorado River over millions of years. The exposed outcrops show seemingly no evidence of tilting, faulting, or folds.

In contrast, Upheaval Dome - an area roughly three miles (5 kilometers) across - is one region of the park showing significant deformation. The rocks here have been uplifted at the center to create a circular dome structure. 

Interior of Upheaval Dome. From Figure 3, Kenkmann et al. (2005)

The origin of the dome still remains debated, and multiple stories exist. Leading theories are salt doming, an old salt diapir that has been pinched off and since eroded away, and an oblique meteor impact.