| In order to access the Earthcache location, you will need to obtain a permit for the South Coyote Buttes area. There are two options to obtain a permit from the Bureau of Land Management, which manages the area. Please follow the Related Webpage link above, or follow the link below:
Coyote Buttes Permits
In addition to the Permit, whether by mail or one of the walk-in permits, you will also get some coaching on Leave No Trace Principles, to both enhance your visit and to protect the fragile formations in the area.
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Cottonwood Teepees are located at the Cottonwood Cove Trailhead area, and a short walk over some deep sand will bring you to the cache page coordinates. We arrived at this location rather late in the day, and it's a shame, because there is enough to explore and see, that a full day could be made of it. Nonetheless, we were able to capture some great late afternoon lighting before heading back to Kanab for the day
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Logging Requirements
Email the following information/answers to me:
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In the subject line, please include the following: "Teepees of Cottonwood".
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The number of individuals in your group.
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Your Permit Number issued by the BLM.
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Would you characterize the "cap" of the teepees as light or dark?
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What force of nature has done more to shape the teepees, and what evidence is there to support your answer?
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Why do you think the teepees have oblique sides, and not more vertical like a classic hoodoo?
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The Cottonwood Teepees are in an area of the East Kaibab Monocline commonly referred to as The Cockscomb. The East dipping monoclinal fold developed above a West dipping fault about 80-50 million years ago. The subsequent erosion has carved the monocline into spectacular ridges and valleys of vivid colors.
The Cottonwood Teepees are a form of hoodoo formation. Sometimes referred to as "tent rocks", the process that made these features is similar to the process that made there more well known cousin's to the North at Bryce Canyon.
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80-50 million years ago, the East Kaibab Monocline begins to uplift, exposing sandstone. Before this period, however, a great seaway extended Northwest into this area, laying down deposits of iron rich sediment, on top of the softer sandstone layers below. Horizontal compression occurs, as a result of the formation of the Rocky Mountains during this period also. |
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Water begins to erode, both mechanically and chemically. Scouring, abrading and gullying occur when fast moving water scrapes its silt, gravel and rock debris against the harder bedrock. Slow moving, or standing water, enters the porous rock, beginning to dissolve the cement, mostly in the form of iron rich hematite, and carry it away, further weakening the structure of the rock. |
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Along the plateau rim, conditions are such, that erosion accelerates. Faults, joints, and other compressional features, influence erosion patterns. Freezing and thawing cycles loosen slope slope surfaces, further hastening the erosion of the fin of rock, producing windows and bridges. |
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These fins further erode over time, leaving detached pillars or hoodoos, after bridges and windows collapse. The iron rich sediment on the top layer of the plateau, protects further erosion. However, water and wind still act upon the soft layers below this cap, and in some cases, erode the base of the hoodoo at a faster rate than the cap rock, weakening the feature to the point of failure, and it eventually topples over. |
References and further reading:
"Scenes of the Plateau Lands and How They Came to Be", William Lee Stokes; 1969, 20th printing. Starstone Publishing Company, 333 J Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84103.
Boggs, S., 2006, Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy (4th ed.), Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, p.98-99
Allen, John R. L. Sedimentary Structures, Their Character and Physical Basis. Vol. 2. Amsterdam: Elsevier Scientific Pub., 1982. Print
The Cockscomb Segment of the East Kaibab Monocline: Taking the Structural Plunge, Sarah E. Tindall