Balanced Rock: Arches National Park
A cache by minerals44 Hidden: 11/17/2006
Size:  (Not chosen) Difficulty: Terrain: (1 is easiest, 5 is hardest)
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Balanced Rock in Arches NP is a striking erosional feature, carved
by wind, water, and ice wedging, from two members of the Entrada
Formation. The upper, the Slick Rock member, is relatively
resistant to erosion. The lower, the Dewey Bridge member, is eroded
more easily. That difference leads to the formation of balanced
rocks and spectacular arches in Arches National Park.

Balanced Rock
Directions:
Enter Arches NP from Highway 191 north of Moab. Follow the road
and signage to the turnout near the posted coordinates. It is a
short hike on a well marked path up a gentle grade to the base of
the feature.
Objectives:
- To understand how balanced rocks are formed;
- To be able to identify the Navajo and Entrada Formations within
Arches NP.
- To be able to describe “ice wedging” as an
erosional process.
Supplies: Water, camera. Access to a computer and Google.
Educational Requirement: To get
credit for this EarthCache you must email us your answer to any one
of the Study Questions and let us know how many people were in your
party.
Study Questions [Azimov-Rated]:
- College-Bound AP As you travel through the Park try to
identify rock formations that might someday become balanced rocks.
Post a picture of such a formation, along with its lat-lon
coordinates.
- College-Bound AP What differences do you see between the
Navajo and the Entrada formations?
- Freshman What differences do you see between the Slick
Rock and Dewey Bridge members of the Entrada Formation?
- Freshman What is the difference between mechanical
weathering and chemical weathering? What is “ice
wedging”? Which processes are operating here?
- Graduate What is a cap-rock? How are balanced rocks like
inverted valleys? Hint:
- Ph.D. How would carbonic acid accelerate the erosion of
sandstone? See Link Hint: What
“cements” the grains of sand?
Links and Resources:
Weathering
(Wikipedia)
More Weathering
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2 user(s) watching this cache.
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Additional Hints (No hints available.)
(Decrypted Hints)
Find...
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Warning. Spoilers may be included in the descriptions or links.
Cache find counts are based on the last time the page generated.
January 30 by deercreekth (412 found) I've seen lots of pictures of Balanced Rock, and I was thrilled to see it in person. It was very foggy when I visited, but I still got to see it.
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January 17 by cllecr (1095 found) This park is constantly changing... thanks for pointing out one place that we missed seeing before it tumbled! Email on its way. TFTC!
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December 28, 2009 by tbruihler (247 found) Thanks for bringing us to this spot and the geology lesson! Made the trip through Arches NP even better by grabbing a few smilies along the way!
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November 27, 2009 by wei-ming (96 found) answers submitted by cmccage
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November 27, 2009 by Agent T (59 found) answers submitted by cmccage
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Current Time: 2/9/2010 8:14:50 PM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) (4:14 AM GMT)
Last Updated: 2/8/2010 11:29:21 PM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) (7:29 AM GMT)
Rendered: From Database
Coordinates are in the WGS84 datum