Canyonlands - Upheaval Dome

Upheaval Dome is a unique circular geologic structure in the Island in the Sky District of Canyonland National Park. Gray chaotic beds in the middle of the dome are Chinle Formation and underlying brownish-red layers of the Moenkopi Formation. The Navajo Sandstone forms the resistant rim rock of Upheaval Dome. Early interpretations concluded that it was the result of an upwelling salt dome from the Paradox Salt, an extensive salt formation that underlies much of the Canyonlands region. The origin of the round dome has been more recently debated to be of possible meteorite impact origin prior to a long period of erosion ( Barnes, 1993, p. 55-57; Kriens, and others, 1999; NPS, 2010).