Maple Canyon Conglomerate Cliffs EarthCache

Introduction

To log this Earthcache, you will NOT be looking for a typical geocache container (in fact, there IS no container to find). Rather, to prove you were here and learned something you'll need to find the answers to the given questions (found below as well as at the end of this description), which you will then email me, the owner (this is the same process for ALL Earthcaches).

So go ahead and log your experience while here, submit photos, etc., but email your answers to me (not in your visit log) to get credit for "finding" this cache. If it seems too complicated, don't sweat it too much (as long as I can see that you made an honest effort to answer all of the questions, that is fine). Remember that the purpose of this is to learn something, and most importantly, to have fun! Also, feel free to email me with any questions you may have, I'd be happy to help.

Note: While the campground itself does have a fee for day use and camping, you do NOT have to enter the campground in order to log this cache; parking nearby the Box Canyon entrance for example will allow you some great views of the cliffs without having to pay a fee.

Be aware that the Box Canyon area is located on private property, but the owners have been gracious enough to give me permission for the placement of this cache. If you would like to leave a donation in one of their donation boxes nearby, I am sure that they won't complain, though it is by no means a requirement.

To log this cache, use the info below, your surroundings and observations to answer the following questions. Email me the appropriate answers (don't post them in your log, or per Earthcache guidelines your post will have to be deleted), and most of all, have fun!

• ​Based on the reading, what processes formed these conglomerate rocks millions of years ago?
• Find a nearby rock formation that you can easily observe, and answer at least 2* of the following questions:
  • Would it best be classified as Breccia, breccia conglomerate or conglomerate? Explain.
  • Would you classify it as paraconglomerate or orthoconglomerate? Explain.
  • Does the formation appear to be monomict, oligomict, or polymict? Explain.
  • Does it appear to be clast-supported or matrix-supported? Explain.
• (Optional) For your log, feel free to share some photo(s), as well as anything else interesting you found or learned! Feel free to discuss for example the unique formations you might spy, interesting cobblestones you found, any other activities you engaged in (like hiking, climbing, etc), and your overall experience! Reminder: Just don't post the answers to the above questions in your log, but share those with me via email. 

*You do not need to answer all 4 subquestions, unless you want to!

 

Maple Canyon

Welcome to Maple Canyon! This area, due to its conglomerate rock formations, is a world-renowned climbing mecca. The cobblestone and rocks (aka clasts) cemented together into these canyon walls provide an ideal setting for novice and professional climbers alike. While exploring the area, you will more than likely encounter others utilizing this unique geology to hone their climbing skills.

How did all of this get here?

During the Cretaceous period between 66 and 144 million years ago, a range of mountains known as the Sevier mountains rose in western Utah.  Over millions of years of erosion, streams brought down the mountains and spread their sediment over a broad fan to the east.  In some places the sediment reached 15,000 feet deep (wow).  At greath depths, the pressure and heat were enough to fuse the river cobbles and mud into a rough conglomerate rock.

Millions of years later, regional uplift created Utah's high plateau regions.  The San Pitch mountains lie along the western edge of one such plateau and are composed mostly of the uplifted Sevier conglomerate.  Here in Maple Canyon and Box Canyon in particular, these ancient river deposits are exposed and cut into slots, hoodoos, arches and amphitheaters.

What is Conglomerate Rock?

Conglomerate is a clastic sedimentary rock that contains large (greater than two millimeters in diameter) rounded clasts (i.e. fragments of older rocks). The space between the clasts is generally filled with smaller particles and/or a chemical cement that binds the rock together, and this cementing composition is known as matrix. 

What is the Composition of Conglomerate?

Conglomerate can have a variety of compositions. As a clastic sedimentary rock it can contain clasts of any rock material or weathering product that is washed downstream or down current. The rounded clasts of conglomerate can be mineral particles such as quartz or they can be sedimentary, metamorphic or igneous rock fragments. The matrix that binds the large clasts together can be a mixture of sand, mud and chemical cement. 

How Does Conglomerate Form?

Conglomerate forms where a sediment of rounded clasts at least two millimeters in diameter accumulates. It takes a strong water current to transport and shape particles this large. So the environment of deposition might be along a swiftly flowing stream or a beach with strong waves. There must also be a source of large-size sediment particles somewhere up current. The rounded shape of the clasts reveal that they were tumbled by running water or moving waves. 

Below: Photos from NASA's Mars Rover, showing conglomerate rock on Mars

Note: In September, 2012, NASA's Mars rover Curiosity discovered an outcrop of conglomerate exposed on the surface of Mars. The rounded clasts within the conglomerate provide evidence that a stream or a beach had moved the rocks and tumbled them into rounded pebbles. This conglomerate was the most convincing evidence that water once flowed on the surface of Mars. See photo below. 

Conglomerates often begins by being deposited as a sediment consisting mainly of pebble and cobble-size clasts. The finer-size sand and clay which fill the spaces between the larger clasts is often deposited later on top of the large clasts and then sifts down between them to fill the interstitial spaces. The deposition of a chemical cement then binds the sediment into a rock. 

Conglomerate Classifications

Similiar rocks with angular (i.e., pointy) clasts are known as breccias, those with angular and rounded clasts are sometimes termed breccia conglomerate. The general term conglomerate generally indicates it contains rounded smoothed clasts.

Conglomerates can be subdivided into paraconglomerates, where the clasts in a conglomerate are separated from each other by an abuncance of matrix such that they are not in contact with each other and float within the matrix, and orthoconglomerates, where the gravel clasts of a conglomerate are in contact with each other. Conglomerates can be described as monomict if they contain clasts of only one rock type, oligomict if their clasts are of several rock types or polymict if their clasts comprise of many rock types. They can be either clast-supported (mostly made up of clasts, and less matrix) or matrix-supported(mostly matrix, less clasts).

• Climbing Routes and Map
• Sanpete County Climbing Pamphlet
• Camping Reservations