1.
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, lobbying. IUCNs mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of resources is equitable. Over the past decades, IUCN has widened its focus beyond conservation ecology and now incorporates issues related to equality, poverty alleviation. Unlike other international NGOs, IUCN does not itself aim to mobilize the public in support of nature conservation and it tries to influence the actions of governments, business and other stakeholders by providing information and advice, and through lobbying and partnerships. The organization is best known to the public for compiling and publishing the IUCN Red List. IUCN has a membership of over 1200 governmental and non-governmental organizations, some 11,000 scientists and experts participate in the work of IUCN commissions on a voluntary basis. It employs approximately 1000 full-time staff in more than 60 countries and its headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland. IUCN has observer and consultative status at the United Nations, and plays a role in the implementation of several conventions on nature conservation. It was involved in establishing the World Wide Fund for Nature, in the past, IUCN has been criticized for placing the interests of nature over those of indigenous peoples. In recent years, its relations with the business sector have caused controversy. It was previously called the International Union for Protection of Nature, establishment In 1947, the Swiss League for the Protection of Nature organised an international conference on the protection of nature in Brunnen. It is considered to be the first government-organized non-governmental organization, the initiative to set up the new organisation came from UNESCO and especially from its first Director General, the British biologist Julian Huxley. At the time of its founding IUPN was the international organisation focusing on the entire spectrum of nature conservation Early years. Its secretariat was located in Brussels and its first work program focused on saving species and habitats, increasing and applying knowledge, advancing education, promoting international agreements and promoting conservation. Providing a solid base for conservation action was the heart of all activities. IUPN and UNESCO were closely associated and they jointly organized the 1949 Conference on Protection of Nature. In preparation for this conference a list of endangered species was drawn up for the first time
2.
Iron County, Utah
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Iron County is a county located in the U. S. state of Utah. As of the 2010 census, the population was 46,163 and its county seat is Parowan, and the largest city is Cedar City. The county was created in 1850 and organized the following year and it was originally named Little Salt Lake Valley, and renamed for the iron mines west of Cedar City. The Cedar City, UT Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Iron County. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 3,301 square miles. A small part of Zion National Park extends northward into the county, Cedar Breaks National Monument is located entirely within the county, near its southeastern corner. The population density was 10 people per square mile, there were 13,618 housing units at an average density of 4 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 93. 00% White,0. 35% Black or African American,2. 18% Native American,0. 74% Asian,0. 27% Pacific Islander,1. 78% from other races, and 1. 67% from two or more races. 4. 09% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,15. 90% of all households were made up of individuals and 5. 90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.11 and the family size was 3.45. In the county, the population was out with 31. 20% under the age of 18,20. 60% from 18 to 24,23. 60% from 25 to 44,16. 10% from 45 to 64. The median age was 24 years, for every 100 females there were 98.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.60 males, the median income for a household in the county was $33,114, and the median income for a family was $37,171. Males had an income of $30,800 versus $19,831 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,568, about 13. 10% of families and 19. 20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20. 40% of those under age 18 and 6. 50% of those age 65 or over. Woods Ranch Recreation Area A recreation area located in a pine/aspen forest with hiking, fishing, picnic areas, three Peaks Recreation Area A recreation area made up of volcanic rock and hills. The area features rock climbing, picnics, fishing, off-road vehicle use and bike riding
3.
Utah
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Utah is a state in the western United States. It became the 45th state admitted to the U. S. on January 4,1896, Utah is the 13th-largest by area, 31st-most-populous, and 10th-least-densely populated of the 50 United States. Utah has a population of more than 3 million, approximately 80% of whom live along the Wasatch Front, Utah is bordered by Colorado to the east, Wyoming to the northeast, Idaho to the north, Arizona to the south, and Nevada to the west. It also touches a corner of New Mexico in the southeast, approximately 62% of Utahns are reported to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or LDS, which greatly influences Utahn culture and daily life. The LDS Churchs world headquarters is located in Salt Lake City, Utah is the only state with a majority population belonging to a single church. The state is a center of transportation, education, information technology and research, government services, mining, in 2013, the U. S. Census Bureau estimated that Utah had the second fastest-growing population of any state. St. George was the metropolitan area in the United States from 2000 to 2005. Utah also has the 14th highest median income and the least income inequality of any U. S. state. A2012 Gallup national survey found Utah overall to be the best state to live in based on 13 forward-looking measurements including various economic, lifestyle, the name Utah is derived from the name of the Ute tribe. It means people of the mountains in the Ute language, according to other sources Utah is derived from the Apache name Yudah which means Tall. These Native American tribes are subgroups of the Ute-Aztec Native American ethnicity and were sedentary, the Ancestral Pueblo people built their homes through excavations in mountains, and the Fremont people built houses of straw before disappearing from the region around the 15th century. Another group of Native Americans, the Navajo, settled in the region around the 18th century, in the mid-18th century, other Uto-Aztecan tribes, including the Goshute, the Paiute, the Shoshone, and the Ute people, also settled in the region. These five groups were present when the first European explorers arrived, the southern Utah region was explored by the Spanish in 1540, led by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, while looking for the legendary Cíbola. A group led by two Catholic priests—sometimes called the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition—left Santa Fe in 1776, hoping to find a route to the coast of California, the expedition traveled as far north as Utah Lake and encountered the native residents. The Spanish made further explorations in the region, but were not interested in colonizing the area because of its desert nature, in 1821, the year Mexico achieved its independence from Spain, the region became known as part of its territory of Alta California. European trappers and fur traders explored some areas of Utah in the early 19th century from Canada, the city of Provo, Utah was named for one, Étienne Provost, who visited the area in 1825. The city of Ogden, Utah was named after Peter Skene Ogden, in late 1824, Jim Bridger became the first known English-speaking person to sight the Great Salt Lake. Due to the salinity of its waters, Bridger thought he had found the Pacific Ocean
4.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
5.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
6.
National Park Service
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It was created on August 25,1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act and is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior. As of 2014, the NPS employs 21,651 employees who oversee 417 units, the National Park Service celebrated its centennial in 2016. National parks and national monuments in the United States were originally individually managed under the auspices of the Department of the Interior, the movement for an independent agency to oversee these federal lands was spearheaded by business magnate and conservationist Stephen Mather, as well as J. Horace McFarland. With the help of journalist Robert Sterling Yard, Mather ran a publicity campaign for the Department of the Interior and they wrote numerous articles that praised the scenic and historic qualities of the parks and their possibilities for educational, inspirational, and recreational benefits. This campaign resulted in the creation of a National Park Service, Mather became the first director of the newly formed NPS. On March 3,1933, President Herbert Hoover signed the Reorganization Act of 1933, the act would allow the President to reorganize the executive branch of the United States government. It wasnt until later that summer when the new President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President Roosevelt agreed and issued two Executive orders to make it happen. In 1951, Conrad Wirth became director of the National Park Service, the demand for parks after the end of the World War II had left the parks overburdened with demands that could not be met. In 1952, with the support of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, he began Mission 66, New parks were added to preserve unique resources and existing park facilities were upgraded and expanded. In 1966, as the Park Service turned 50 years old, emphasis began to turn from just saving great and wonderful scenery, Director George Hartzog began the process with the creation of the National Lakeshores and then National Recreation Areas. Since its inception in 1916, the National Park Service has managed each of the United States national parks, Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the United States. In 1872, there was no government to manage it. Yosemite National Park began as a park, the land for the park was donated by the federal government to the state of California in 1864 for perpetual conservation. Yosemite was later returned to federal ownership, at first, each national park was managed independently, with varying degrees of success. In Yellowstone, the staff was replaced by the U. S. Army in 1886. Due to the irregularities in managing these national treasures, Stephen Mather petitioned the government to improve the situation. In response, Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane challenged him to lobby for creating a new agency, Mather was successful with the ratification of the National Park Service Organic Act in 1916. Later, the agency was given authority over other protected areas, the National Park System includes all properties managed by the National Park Service
7.
National Monument (United States)
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Historically, some national monuments were managed by the War Department. National monuments can be so designated through the power of the Antiquities Act of 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt used the act to declare Devils Tower in Wyoming as the first national monument. The Antiquities Act of 1906 resulted from concerns about protecting mostly prehistoric Native American ruins, the Act authorized permits for legitimate archaeological investigations and penalties for taking or destroying antiquities without permission. Among the next three monuments he proclaimed in 1906 was Petrified Forest in Arizona, another natural feature, in 1908, Roosevelt used the act to proclaim more than 800,000 acres of the Grand Canyon as a national monument. In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Katmai National Monument in Alaska, Katmai was later enlarged to nearly 2,800,000 acres by subsequent Antiquities Act proclamations and for many years was the largest national park system unit. Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, and Katmai were among the national monuments later converted to national parks by Congress. Substantial opposition did not materialize until 1943, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Jackson Hole National Monument in Wyoming. He did this to accept a donation of lands acquired by John D. Rockefeller, roosevelts proclamation unleashed a storm of criticism about use of the Antiquities Act to circumvent Congress. A bill abolishing Jackson Hole National Monument passed Congress but was vetoed by Roosevelt, the proclamation authority was not used again anywhere until 1996, when President Bill Clinton proclaimed the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. This action was unpopular in Utah, and bills were introduced to further restrict the presidents authority. To date, none of them have been enacted, presidents have used the Antiquities Acts proclamation authority not only to create new national monuments but to enlarge existing ones. For example, Franklin D. Roosevelt significantly enlarged Dinosaur National Monument in 1938, lyndon B. Johnson added Ellis Island to Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965, and Jimmy Carter made major additions to Glacier Bay and Katmai National Monuments in 1978. Marine National Monument List of U. S. National Forests List of areas in the National Park System of the United States List of U. S
8.
U.S. state
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A U. S. state is a constituent political entity of the United States of America. There are 50 states, which are together in a union with each other. Each state holds administrative jurisdiction over a geographic territory. Due to the shared sovereignty between each state and the government, Americans are citizens of both the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons covered by certain types of court orders. States range in population from just under 600,000 to over 39 million, four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names. States are divided into counties or county-equivalents, which may be assigned some local authority but are not sovereign. County or county-equivalent structure varies widely by state, State governments are allocated power by the people through their individual constitutions. All are grounded in principles, and each provides for a government. States possess a number of powers and rights under the United States Constitution, Constitution has been amended, and the interpretation and application of its provisions have changed. The general tendency has been toward centralization and incorporation, with the government playing a much larger role than it once did. There is a debate over states rights, which concerns the extent and nature of the states powers and sovereignty in relation to the federal government. States and their residents are represented in the federal Congress, a legislature consisting of the Senate. Each state is represented in the Senate by two senators, and is guaranteed at least one Representative in the House, members of the House are elected from single-member districts. Representatives are distributed among the states in proportion to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census, the Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50, alaska and Hawaii are the most recent states admitted, both in 1959. The Constitution is silent on the question of states have the power to secede from the Union. Shortly after the Civil War, the U. S. Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, as a result, while the governments of the various states share many similar features, they often vary greatly with regard to form and substance
9.
Cedar City, Utah
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Cedar City is a city in Iron County, Utah, United States,250 miles south of Salt Lake City, and 180 miles north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. It is the home of Southern Utah University, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Summer Games, the Neil Simon Theatre Festival, as of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 28,857. Ancestors of the present-day southern Paiute Indians met the Dominguez–Escalante Expedition in this area in 1776, fifty years later, in 1826, mountain man and fur trader Jedediah Smith traveled through the area exploring a route from Utah to California. Cedar City was originally settled in late 1851 by Mormon pioneers originating from Parowan, Utah, who were sent to build an iron works. The site, known as Fort Cedar or Cedar City, was equidistant from vast iron deposits 10 miles west and coal resources 10 miles up Cedar Canyon, but was named after the abundant local trees. Two companies of men led by Henry Lunt reached the site in a blizzard on November 11,1851. In 1855, a new site, closer to the works and out of the flood plain of Coal Creek, was established at the suggestion of Brigham Young. Cedar City was incorporated on February 18,1868, the iron works closed in 1858, though iron mining continued in the area until the 1980s. Cedar City continues to be a center of tourism, commercial development, education, the city has shared in the rapid growth of much of Southwestern Utah since the late 1980s. Cedar City is located in the southeast Great Basin, and is about 20 miles north of the edge of the Mojave Desert. Its elevation of 5,840 feet gives it a cooler and less arid climate vis-à-vis nearby Dixie, Cedar City is located at 37°4057 North, 113°428 West. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 20.1 square miles. The city is located on the edge of the Markagunt Plateau, in a high desert valley, Cedar Valley. The climate is the typical cool semi-arid climate of the Mountain West, though snowfall can be quite heavy, Interstate 15 connects the city with St. George and Las Vegas to the south, and to Interstate 70 and Salt Lake City to the north. State roads connect Cedar City with Panaca, Nevada near US93, Kanab, Utah via US-89, similar to St. George, the city enjoys an excellent location on the wests regional transportation network. Los Angeles is 439 miles south and San Diego is 500 miles south on Interstate 15, Phoenix is 465 miles south via Interstate 15 and US-93, a branch line of the Union Pacific Railroad serves customers on the western outskits of the city. The branch connects to the main line at Lund. Cedar City Regional Airport offers flights via Delta Connection, as of the census of 2000, there were 20,527 people,6,486 households, and 4,682 families residing in the city
10.
Amphitheatre
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An amphitheatre or amphitheater /ˈæmfᵻˌθiːətər/ is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ἀμφιθέατρον, from ἀμφί, ancient Roman amphitheatres were oval or circular in plan, with seating tiers that surrounded the central performance area, like a modern open-air stadium. In contrast both ancient Greek and ancient Roman theatres were built in a semicircle, with tiered seating rising on one side of the performance area. In modern usage, amphitheatre is used to describe theatre-style stages with spectator seating on only one side, theatres in the round. Natural formations of similar shape are known as natural amphitheatres. Ancient Roman amphitheatres were major public venues, circular or oval in plan and they were used for events such as gladiator combats, chariot races, venationes and executions. About 230 Roman amphitheatres have been found across the area of the Roman Empire, the earliest Roman amphitheatres date from the middle of the 1st century BC, but most were built under Imperial rule, from the Augustan period onwards. Imperial amphitheatres were built throughout the Roman empire, the largest could accommodate 40, the most elaborate featured multi-storeyed, arcaded façades and were elaborately decorated with marble, stucco and statuary. After the end of games in the 5th century and of staged animal hunts in the 6th. Their materials were mined or recycled, some were razed, and others were converted into fortifications. A few continued as convenient open meeting places, in some of these, in modern usage, an amphitheatre is a circular, semicircular or curved, acoustically vibrant performance space, particularly one located outdoors. Small-scale amphitheatres can serve to host outdoor local community performances, notable modern amphitheatres include the Shoreline Amphitheatre and the Hollywood Bowl. The term amphitheatre is used for some indoor venues such as the Gibson Amphitheatre. The term amphitheatre can also be used to naturally occurring formations which would be ideal for this purpose. Arena Stadium Thingplatz List of Roman amphitheatres List of contemporary amphitheatres List of indoor arenas List of ancient Greek theatres Roman theatre Bomgardner, the Story of the Roman Amphitheatre
11.
Sea level
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Mean sea level is an average level of the surface of one or more of Earths oceans from which heights such as elevations may be measured. A common and relatively straightforward mean sea-level standard is the midpoint between a low and mean high tide at a particular location. Sea levels can be affected by factors and are known to have varied greatly over geological time scales. The careful measurement of variations in MSL can offer insights into ongoing climate change, the term above sea level generally refers to above mean sea level. Precise determination of a sea level is a difficult problem because of the many factors that affect sea level. Sea level varies quite a lot on several scales of time and this is because the sea is in constant motion, affected by the tides, wind, atmospheric pressure, local gravitational differences, temperature, salinity and so forth. The easiest way this may be calculated is by selecting a location and calculating the mean sea level at that point, for example, a period of 19 years of hourly level observations may be averaged and used to determine the mean sea level at some measurement point. One measures the values of MSL in respect to the land, hence a change in MSL can result from a real change in sea level, or from a change in the height of the land on which the tide gauge operates. In the UK, the Ordnance Datum is the sea level measured at Newlyn in Cornwall between 1915 and 1921. Prior to 1921, the datum was MSL at the Victoria Dock, in Hong Kong, mPD is a surveying term meaning metres above Principal Datum and refers to height of 1. 230m below the average sea level. In France, the Marégraphe in Marseilles measures continuously the sea level since 1883 and it is used for a part of continental Europe and main part of Africa as official sea level. Elsewhere in Europe vertical elevation references are made to the Amsterdam Peil elevation, satellite altimeters have been making precise measurements of sea level since the launch of TOPEX/Poseidon in 1992. A joint mission of NASA and CNES, TOPEX/Poseidon was followed by Jason-1 in 2001, height above mean sea level is the elevation or altitude of an object, relative to the average sea level datum. It is also used in aviation, where some heights are recorded and reported with respect to sea level, and in the atmospheric sciences. An alternative is to base height measurements on an ellipsoid of the entire Earth, in aviation, the ellipsoid known as World Geodetic System 84 is increasingly used to define heights, however, differences up to 100 metres exist between this ellipsoid height and mean tidal height. The alternative is to use a vertical datum such as NAVD88. When referring to geographic features such as mountains on a topographic map, the elevation of a mountain denotes the highest point or summit and is typically illustrated as a small circle on a topographic map with the AMSL height shown in metres, feet or both. In the rare case that a location is below sea level, for one such case, see Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
12.
Bryce Canyon National Park
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Bryce Canyon National Park /ˈbraɪs/ is a National Park located in southwestern Utah in the United States. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks. The red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular views for park visitors, Bryce sits at a much higher elevation than nearby Zion National Park. The rim at Bryce varies from 8,000 to 9,000 feet, the Bryce Canyon area was settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1850s and was named after Ebenezer Bryce, who homesteaded in the area in 1874. The area around Bryce Canyon became a National Monument in 1923 and was designated as a National Park in 1928, the park covers 35,835 acres and receives substantially fewer visitors than Zion National Park or Grand Canyon National Park, largely due to Bryces more remote location. In 2016, Bryce Canyon received 2,365,110 recreational visitors, Bryce Canyon National Park is located in southwestern Utah about 50 miles northeast of and 1,000 feet higher than Zion National Park. The weather in Bryce Canyon is therefore cooler, and the park receives more precipitation, yearly temperatures vary from an average minimum of 9 °F in January to an average maximum of 83 °F in July, but extreme temperatures can range from −30 to 97 °F. The record high temperature in the park was 98 °F on July 14,2002, the record low temperature was −28 °F on December 10,1972. The national park lies within the Colorado Plateau geographic province of North America, Park visitors arrive from the plateau part of the park and look over the plateaus edge toward a valley containing the fault and the Paria River just beyond it. The edge of the Kaiparowits Plateau bounds the opposite side of the valley, Bryce Canyon was not formed from erosion initiated from a central stream, meaning it technically is not a canyon. Instead headward erosion has excavated large amphitheater-shaped features in the Cenozoic-aged rocks of the Paunsaugunt Plateau and this erosion exposed delicate and colorful pinnacles called hoodoos that are up to 200 feet high. A series of amphitheaters extends more than 20 miles north-to-south within the park, the largest is Bryce Amphitheater, which is 12 miles long,3 miles wide and 800 feet deep. A nearby example of amphitheaters with hoodoos in the formation but at a higher elevation, is in Cedar Breaks National Monument. Rainbow Point, the highest part of the park at 9,105 feet, is at the end of the 18-mile scenic drive, from there, Aquarius Plateau, Bryce Amphitheater, the Henry Mountains, the Vermilion Cliffs and the White Cliffs can be seen. Yellow Creek, where it exits the park in the north-east section, is the lowest part of the park at 6,620 feet, little is known about early human habitation in the Bryce Canyon area. Archaeological surveys of Bryce Canyon National Park and the Paunsaugunt Plateau show that people have been in the area for at least 10,000 years, basketmaker Anasazi artifacts several thousand years old have been found south of the park. Other artifacts from the Pueblo-period Anasazi and the Fremont culture have also been found, the Paiute Indians moved into the surrounding valleys and plateaus in the area around the same time that the other cultures left. These Native Americans hunted and gathered for most of their food, the Paiute in the area developed a mythology surrounding the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon
13.
Dixie National Forest
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Dixie National Forest is a United States National Forest in Utah with headquarters in Cedar City. It occupies almost two acres and stretches for about 170 miles across southern Utah. The largest national forest in Utah, it straddles the divide between the Great Basin and the Colorado River, in descending order of forestland area it is located in parts of Garfield, Washington, Iron, Kane, Wayne, and Piute counties. The majority of forest acreage lies in Garfield County, there are local ranger district offices in Cedar City, Escalante, Panguitch, St. George, and Teasdale. Elevations vary from 2,800 feet above sea level near St. George, the southern rim of the Great Basin, near the Colorado River, provides spectacular scenery. Colorado River canyons are made up of multi-colored cliffs and steep-walled gorges, the Forest is divided into four geographic areas. High altitude forests in gently rolling hills characterize the Markagunt, Paunsaugunt, Boulder Mountain, one of the largest high-elevation plateaus in the United States, is dotted with hundreds of small lakes 10,000 to 11,000 feet above sea level. The forest includes the Pine Valley Mountains north of St. George The Forest has many climatic extremes, precipitation ranges from 10 inches in the lower elevations to more than 40 inches per year near Brian Head Peak 11,307 feet. At the higher elevations, most of the precipitation falls as snow. Thunderstorms are common during July and August and produce heavy rains, in some areas, August is the wettest month of the year. Temperature extremes can be impressive, with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit near St. George. The vegetation of the Forest grades from sparse, desert-type plants at the elevations to stand of low-growing pinyon pine. At the higher elevations, aspen and conifers such as pine, spruce, the Dixie Forest Reserve was established on September 25,1905 by the General Land Office. The name was derived from the description of the warm southern part of Utah as Dixie. In 1906 the U. S. Forest Service assumed responsibility for the lands, the western part of Sevier National Forest was added on July 1,1922, and all of Powell National Forest on October 1,1944. There are four designated wilderness areas within Dixie National Forest that are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System
14.
Sevier River
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The Sevier River /sɛˈvɪər/, extending 279 miles, is the longest Utah river entirely in the state and drains an extended chain of mountain farming valleys to the intermittent Sevier Lake. The Upper Sevier is used extensively for irrigation, and consequently Sevier Lake is now essentially dry, the Sevier River Water Users Association subdivides the river into four mainstream sections, Upper, Central, Gunnison and Lower. Along the Garfield-Piute county line, the Sevier descends through the narrow 5 mi Circleville Canyon and it then flows northeast towards Junction, where it receives the East Fork from the east and passes through the Piute Reservoir. Central, It flows north across Piute County to Marysvale then descends through 8 mi Sevier Canyon and it then flows northeast past Richfield and Salina. It is impounded in southeastern Juab County at the end of the valley to form the 20-mi long Sevier Bridge Reservoir. DMAD reservoir and Gunnison Bend reservoirs are near Delta with Seviers water, DMAD water goes to the Intermountain Power Projects coal-fired plant located 9 miles west of US-6, north of Delta. The Spanish Dominguez-Escalante Expedition crossed the river in 1776, as the missionaries passed through this area on their way to California and it was heavily used from 1829 into the 1850s. The upper portions of the river have been dammed and restricted for irrigation purposes, drawing off much of the water and leaving Sevier Lake essentially dry
15.
Mule deer
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The mule deer is a deer indigenous to western North America, it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. There are believed to be several subspecies including the black-tailed deer, unlike the related white-tailed deer, mule deer are generally more associated with the land west of the Missouri River, and more specifically with the Rocky Mountain region of North America. Mule deer have also introduced to Argentina and Kauai, Hawaii. The most noticeable differences between white-tailed and mule deer are the size of their ears, the color of their tails, in many cases, body size is also a key difference. The mule deers tail is black-tipped, whereas the whitetails is not, mule deer antlers are bifurcated, they fork as they grow, rather than branching from a single main beam, as is the case with white-tails. Each spring, a bucks antlers start to regrow almost immediately after the old antlers are shed, shedding typically takes place in mid-February, with variations occurring by locale. Although capable of running, mule deer are often seen stotting, the mule deer is the larger of the two Odocoileus species on average, with a height of 80–106 cm at the shoulders and a nose-to-tail length ranging from 1.2 to 2.1 m. Of this, the tail may comprise 11.6 to 23 cm, adult bucks normally weigh 55–150 kg, averaging around 92 kg, although trophy specimens may weigh up to 210 kg. Does are rather smaller and typically weigh from 43 to 90 kg, an exception to this is the subspecies, the Sitka black-tailed deer. This race is smaller than other mule deer, with an average weight of 54.5 kg and 36 kg in males and females. In addition to related to available shelter and food, the breeding cycle is important in understanding deer behavior. The rut or mating season begins in the fall as does go into estrus for a period of a few days and males become more aggressive. Does may mate more than one buck and go back into estrus within a month if they did not become pregnant. The gestation period is about 190–200 days, with fawns born in the spring, staying with their mothers during the summer, mule deer females usually give birth to two fawns, although if it is their first time having a fawn, they often have just one. A bucks antlers fall off during the winter, to again in preparation for the next seasons rut. The annual cycle of growth is regulated by changes in the length of the day. For a guide to identify the sex and age class of Rocky Mountain mule deer at various seasons see S1 File, for more information see the main article on deer. The size of mule deer groups follow a seasonal pattern
16.
Porcupine
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Porcupines are rodentian mammals with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that protect against predators. The term covers two families of animals, the Old World porcupines of family Hystricidae, and the New World porcupines of family Erethizontidae, the Old World porcupines live in southern Europe, Asia, and most of Africa. They are large, terrestrial, and strictly nocturnal, in taxonomic terms, they form the family Hystricidae. The New World porcupines are indigenous to North America and northern South America and they live in wooded areas and can climb trees, where some species spend their entire lives. They are less strictly nocturnal than their Old World relatives, in taxonomic terms, they form the family Erethizontidae. Porcupines are the third-largest of the rodents, behind the capybara, most porcupines are about 60–90 cm long, with an 20–25 cm long tail. Weighing 5–16 kg, they are rounded, large, and slow, Porcupines occur in various shades of brown, gray, and white. Porcupines spiny protection resembles that of the unrelated erinaceomorph hedgehogs and Australian spiny anteaters or monotreme echidnas, the name porcupine comes from Latin porcus pig + spina spine, quill, via Old Italian—Middle French—Middle English. A regional American name for the animal is quill pig, similarly, the German name, Stachelschwein, means thorn-swine and the Afrikaans name, ystervark, means iron pig. Fossils belonging to the Hystrix genus date back to the late Miocene of Africa, a porcupine is any of 29 species of rodents belonging to the families Erethizontidae or Hystricidae. The two families of porcupines are quite different, and although both belong to the Hystricognathi branch of the vast order Rodentia, they are not closely related, the 11 Old World porcupines tend to be fairly large, and have spikes grouped in clusters. The two subfamilies of New World porcupines are mostly smaller, have their quills attached singly rather than grouped in clusters, the New World porcupines evolved their spines independently and are more closely related to several other families of rodents than they are to the Old World porcupines. The North American porcupine is a herbivore, it leaves, herbs, twigs. In the winter, it may eat bark and it often climbs trees to find food. The African porcupine is not a climber and forages on the ground and it is mostly nocturnal, but will sometimes forage for food in the day. Porcupines have become a pest in Kenya and are eaten as a delicacy, Porcupines quills, or spines, take on various forms, depending on the species, but all are modified hairs coated with thick plates of keratin, and embedded in the skin musculature. Old World porcupines have quills embedded in clusters, whereas in New World porcupines, single quills are interspersed with bristles, underfur, quills are released by contact or may drop out when the porcupine shakes its body. New quills grow to replace lost ones, Porcupines were long believed to have the ability to project their quills to a considerable distance at an enemy, but this has since been proven to be untrue
17.
Marmot
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Marmots are large squirrels in the genus Marmota, of which there are 15 species. Other species prefer rough grassland and can be found widely across North America, the similarly-sized but more social prairie dog is not classified in the genus Marmota but in the related genus Cynomys. Marmots typically live in burrows, and hibernate there through the winter, most marmots are highly social and use loud whistles to communicate with one another, especially when alarmed. Marmots mainly eat greens and many types of grasses, berries, lichens, mosses, roots, the following is a list of all Marmota species recognized by Thorington and Hoffman plus the recently defined M. kastschenkoi. They divide marmots into two subgenera, the etymology of the term marmot is uncertain. It may have arisen from the Gallo-Romance prefix marm-, meaning to mumble or murmur, another possible origin is post-classical Latin, mus montanus, meaning mountain mouse. Beginning in 2010, Alaska celebrates February 2 as Marmot Day, the Marmot Burrow International Marmot Network
18.
Golden-mantled ground squirrel
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The golden-mantled ground squirrel is a ground squirrel found in mountainous areas of western North America. It is abundant throughout its range and is equally at home in a variety of forest habitats, as well as rocky meadows. A typical adult ranges from 23 to 30 cm in length, the golden-mantled ground squirrel can be identified by its chipmunk-like stripes and coloration, but unlike a chipmunk, it lacks any facial stripes. It is commonly found living in the habitat as Uinta chipmunks. The golden-mantled ground squirrel is similar to a chipmunk in more than just its appearance, both the golden-mantled ground squirrel and the chipmunk have cheek pouches for carrying food. Cheek pouches allow them to transport back to their nests. Golden-mantled ground squirrels dig burrows up to 30 m in length with the openings hidden in a hollow log or under tree roots or a boulder. The female gives birth to a litter of four to six young each summer. It eats seeds, nuts, berries, insects, and underground fungi and it is preyed upon by hawks, jays, weasels, foxes, bobcats, and coyotes. Helgen, Kristofer M. Cole, F. Russel, Helgen, Lauren E. Wilson, Don E, generic Revision in the Holarctic Ground Squirrel Genus Spermophilus. Archived from the original on 22 October 2011, bryce Canyon National Park article Mammalian Species article Smithsonian article
19.
Gopher
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Pocket gophers, commonly referred to as gophers, are burrowing rodents of the family Geomyidae. About 35 species of live in Central and North America. They are commonly known for their extensive tunneling activities, Gophers are endemic to North and Central America. The name pocket gopher on its own may be used to refer to any of a number of genera within the family and these are the true gophers, however several ground squirrels in the distantly related family Sciuridae are often called gophers, as well. The origin of the word gopher is uncertain, french gaufre, meaning waffle, has been suggested, on account of the gophers tunnels resembling the honeycomb-like pattern of holes in a waffle. Another suggestion is that the word is of Muskogean origin, Gophers weigh around 0.5 lb, and are about 6–8 in long in body length, with a tail 1–2 in long. A few species reach weights approaching 1 kg, within any species, the males are larger than the females and can be nearly double their weight. Their lifespans are normally one to three years assuming no diseases or predation, the maximum lifespan for the pocket gopher is about five years. Some gophers, such as those in the genus Geomys, have lifespans that have been documented as up to seven years in the wild, most gophers have brown fur that often closely matches the color of the soil in which they live. Their most characteristic features are their large cheek pouches, from which the pocket in their name derives. These pouches are fur-lined, can be turned out. Gophers have small eyes and a short, hairy tail, which use to feel around tunnels when they walk backwards. Pocket gophers have been found to carry external parasites. Common predators of the gopher include weasels, snakes, and hawks, all pocket gophers create a network of tunnel systems that provide protection and a means of collecting food. They are larder hoarders, and their cheek pouches are used for transporting back to their burrows. Unlike ground squirrels, gophers do not live in large communities, tunnel entrances can be identified by small piles of loose soil covering the opening. Their burrows can be found in areas where the soil is softer. They often appear in gardens, lawns, or farms
20.
Chipmunk
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Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of the family Sciuridae. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is primarily in Asia. These classifications are arbitrary, and most taxonomies over the century have placed the chipmunks in a single genus. However, studies of mitochondrial DNA show that the divergence between each of the three groups is comparable to the genetic dissimilarity between Marmota and Spermophilus. The genus name Tamias is Greek for treasurer, steward, or housekeeper, the common name originally may have been spelled chitmunk, from the native Odawa word jidmoonh, meaning red squirrel. The earliest form cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is chipmonk, however, other early forms include chipmuck and chipminck, and in the 1830s they were also referred to as chip squirrels, probably in reference to the sound they make. In the mid-1800s, John James Audubon and his sons included a lithograph of the chipmunk in their Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, Chipmunks have also been referred to as striped squirrels, chippers, munks, timber tigers, and ground squirrels. Chipmunks have a diet primarily consisting of seeds, nuts and other fruits. They also commonly eat grass, shoots, and many forms of plant matter, as well as fungi, insects and other arthropods, small frogs, worms. Around humans, chipmunks can eat cultivated grains and vegetables, and other plants from farms and gardens, Chipmunks mostly forage on the ground, but they climb trees to obtain nuts such as hazelnuts and acorns. At the beginning of autumn, many species of chipmunk begin to stockpile nonperishable foods for winter and they mostly cache their foods in a larder in their burrows and remain in their nests until spring, unlike some other species which make many small caches of food. Cheek pouches allow chipmunks to carry items to their burrows for either storage or consumption. Eastern chipmunks mate in spring and again in early summer. Western chipmunks breed only once a year, the young emerge from the burrow after about six weeks and strike out on their own within the next two weeks. These small mammals fulfill several important functions in forest ecosystems and their activities harvesting and hoarding tree seeds play a crucial role in seedling establishment. Chipmunks construct expansive burrows which can be more than 3.5 m in length with several well-concealed entrances, the sleeping quarters are kept clean as shells and feces are stored in refuse tunnels. The eastern chipmunk hibernates in the winter, while western chipmunks do not, Chipmunks typically live about three years although some have been observed living to nine years in captivity. Chipmunks in captivity are said to sleep for an average of about 15 hours a day and it is thought that mammals which can sleep in hiding, such as rodents and bats, tend to sleep longer than those that must remain on alert. and Paul V. Switzer
21.
Cougar
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The cougar, also commonly known as the mountain lion, puma, panther, or catamount, is a large felid of the subfamily Felinae native to the Americas. Its range, from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes of South America, is the greatest of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere, an adaptable, generalist species, the cougar is found in most American habitat types. It is the second-heaviest cat in the New World, after the jaguar, secretive and largely solitary by nature, the cougar is properly considered both nocturnal and crepuscular, although there are daytime sightings. The cougar is more related to smaller felines, including the domestic cat, than to any species of subfamily Pantherinae. The cougar is a predator and pursues a wide variety of prey. Primary food sources are ungulates, particularly deer, but also livestock and it also hunts species as small as insects and rodents. This cat prefers habitats with dense underbrush and rocky areas for stalking, the cougar is territorial and survives at low population densities. Individual territory sizes depend on terrain, vegetation, and abundance of prey, while large, it is not always the apex predator in its range, yielding to the jaguar, gray wolf, American black bear, and grizzly bear. It is reclusive and mostly avoids people, fatal attacks on humans are rare, but have recently been increasing in North America as more people enter their territories. Intensive hunting following European colonization of the Americas and the human development of cougar habitat has caused populations to drop in most parts of its historical range. In particular, the cougar was extirpated in eastern North America in the beginning of the 20th century, reports of eastern cougars still surface, although it was declared extirpated in 2011. With its vast range across the length of the Americas, P. concolor has dozens of names and various references in the mythology of the indigenous Americans and in contemporary culture. Currently, it is referred to as puma by most scientists, Mountain lion was a term first used in writing in 1858 from the diary of George A. Jackson of Colorado. Other names include catamount, mountain screamer, and painter, lexicographers regard painter as a primarily upper-Southern US regional variant on panther. The word panther is used to specifically designate the black panther, a melanistic jaguar or leopard, and the Florida panther. P. concolor holds the Guinness record for the animal with the greatest number of names, Cougar may be borrowed from the archaic Portuguese çuçuarana, the term was originally derived from the Tupi language susuarana, meaning similar to deer. A current form in Brazil is suçuarana and it may also be borrowed from the Guaraní language term guaçu ara or guazu ara. Less common Portuguese terms are onça-parda or leão-baio, or unusually non-native puma or leão-da-montanha, people in rural regions often refer to both the cougar and the jaguar as simply gata, and outside of the Amazon, both are colloquially referred to as simply onça by many people
22.
Clark's nutcracker
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Clarks nutcracker, sometimes referred to as Clarks crow or woodpecker crow, is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae. It is slightly smaller than its Eurasian relative the spotted nutcracker and it is ashy-grey all over except for the black-and-white wings and central tail feathers. The bill, legs and feet are also black and this bird derives its name from the explorer William Clark. It can be seen in western North America from British Columbia and western Alberta in the north to Baja California, there is also a small isolated population on the peak of Cerro Potosí, elevation 3,700 metres, in Nuevo León, northeast Mexico. It is mainly found in mountains at altitudes of 900–3,900 metres in conifer forest, outside the breeding season, it may wander extensively to lower altitudes and also further east as far as Illinois, particularly following any cone crop failure in its normal areas. During migrations to lower altitudes, it also uses the seeds of pinyon pines. The isolated Cerro Potosí population is associated with the local endemic Potosi pinyon Pinus culminicola. All Clarks Nutcrackers have a sublingual pouch capable of holding around 50–150 seeds, depending on the size of the seeds, Clarks nutcrackers store seeds, usually in the ground for later consumption, in caches of 1–15 seeds. Depending on the crop as well as the tree species. Through this activity of caching and over-storing, the bird is perpetuating its own habitat, the diet also includes a wide range of insect prey, berries and other fruits, small mammals and occasionally flesh from carcasses. Eggs and nestlings are sometimes devoured, and peanuts and suet have become a favorite at bird tables, food is taken both from the ground and from trees, where the nutcrackers are very agile among the branches. The birds are able to extract food by clasping pine cones in such a way that the cones are held one or both feet. The birds then hack the cones open with their strong bills, rotten logs are also hacked into in order to locate large beetle grubs, and animal dung may be flipped over in search of insects. Clarks nutcrackers can also be opportunistic feeders in developed areas, and are known to some as camp robbers, the species usually nests in pines or other types of conifers during early spring. Two to four eggs are laid, incubation usually occurring in 16–18 days, incubation is performed by both the male and female parents, and the young are typically fledged by around the 22nd day. The fledglings follow their parents around for months, possibly in order to learn the complex seed storage behavior. Clarks nutcracker is the primary seed disperser for whitebark pine, Whitebark pine is in decline throughout its range, due to infection by white pine blister rust, widespread outbreaks of mountain pine beetle, and the long-term effects of fire suppression. The voice of this bird is extremely varied and produces different sounds
23.
Violet-green swallow
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The violet-green swallow is a small North American passerine bird in the swallow family. These aerial insectivores are distributed along the west coast from Alaska to Mexico, extending as far east as Montana, with an appearance very similar to the tree swallow, these individuals can be identified by the white rump side-patches that appear to separate their green back and purple tail. Violet-green swallows are secondary cavity nesters, found in a number of habitats including deciduous and coniferous forests, in addition to nesting in tree holes within these habitats, they are also widely observed nesting in the cracks of large cliffs. The distinct body form of swallows distinguishes them from other passerine birds and their long pointed wings and slim, streamlined body evolved to catch insects while in flight. The body of the swallow is no exception. With an average length of 5¼ in. The violet-green swallow is slightly shorter and appears more compact in flight compared to members of the Hirundinidae family. The violet-green swallow most closely resembles the North American tree swallow, the violet-green swallow gets its name from the colouration on its back and rump. The species is best identified by the green on the top of the head and back as well as hints of purple on the nape, rump. Below the green back, the remainder of the wing is a grayish-bronze, similar to other swallows, T. thalassina is white below, but differs in that the white continues onto rump side-patches that almost meet at the base of the tail. These white rump side-patches sometimes look like one continuous stripe when in flight, white also extends onto the cheeks, partially surrounding the eye. The notch in the tail of the swallow is slightly shallower than that of the tree swallow. Violet-green swallows exhibit very little sexual dimorphism, with adult males simply showing brighter colours than adult females, additionally, the white cheeks are not as prominent and the head is more bronze than green on the female. Juveniles are not as easily identifiable compared to adults due to their dull colouration, similar to other juvenile swallows, especially the tree swallow, the juvenile violet-green swallow is white below and grayish-brown above. However, the gradual change in colour and visible white cheek patches can help identify juvenile individuals of the species. The swallows have been well studied ecologically, but only recently has their phylogeny been thoroughly researched, swallows are passerine birds grouped within the family Hirundinidae. The family Hirundinidae is split into two subfamilies, Pseudochelidoninae, which two species of river martins, and Hirundininae, comprising all other martins and swallows. The 82 species within the subfamily Hirundininae are further classified into three groupings, the mud nesters, basal relicts and core martins, with the violet-green swallow falling into the latter, violet-green swallows are one of 9 species of New World tree swallows within the genus Tachycineta
24.
Common raven
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The common raven, also known as the northern raven, is a large all-black passerine bird. Found across the Northern Hemisphere, it is the most widely distributed of all corvids, there are at least eight subspecies with little variation in appearance, although recent research has demonstrated significant genetic differences among populations from various regions. Common ravens can live up to 21 years in the wild, young birds may travel in flocks but later mate for life, with each mated pair defending a territory. Common ravens have coexisted with humans for thousands of years and in some areas have been so numerous that people have regarded them as pests, some notable feats of problem-solving provide evidence that the common raven is unusually intelligent. Over the centuries, it has been the subject of mythology, folklore, art, the common raven was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th century work, Systema Naturae, and it still bears its original name of Corvus corax. It is the species of the genus Corvus, derived from the Latin word for raven. The specific epithet, corax/κοραξ, is the Ancient Greek word for raven or crow, the modern English word raven has cognates in all other Germanic languages, including Old Norse hrafn and Old High German raban, all which descend from Proto-Germanic *khrabanas. An old Scottish word corby or corbie, akin to the French corbeau, has used for both this bird and the carrion crow. Obsolete collective nouns for a group of ravens include unkindness and conspiracy, in practice, most people use the more generic flock. The closest relatives of the raven are the brown-necked raven, the pied crow of Africa. While some authorities recognized as many as 11 subspecies, others only recognize eight, The common raven evolved in the Old World, birds from both clades look alike, but the groups are genetically distinct and began to diverge about two million years ago. Ravens in the Holarctic clade are more related to the pied crow than they are to the California clade. Thus, the common raven species as traditionally delimited is considered to be paraphyletic, one explanation for these genetic findings is that common ravens settled in California at least two million years ago and became separated from their relatives in Europe and Asia during an ice age. One million years ago, a group from the California clade evolved into a new species, other members of the Holarctic clade arrived later in a separate migration from Asia, perhaps at the same time as humans. A recent study of raven mitochondrial DNA showed that the population from the Canary Islands is distinct from other populations. The study did not include any individuals from the North African population, a mature common raven ranges between 54 and 67 cm long, with a wingspan of 115 to 130 cm. Recorded weights range from 0.69 to 2 kg, thus making the common one of the heaviest passerines. Birds from colder regions such as the Himalayas and Greenland are generally larger with slightly larger bills, the bill is large and slightly curved, with a culmen length of 5.7 to 8.5 cm, easily one of the largest bills amongst passerines
25.
Delphinium
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Delphinium is a genus of about 300 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. All members of the Delphinium genus are toxic to humans and livestock, the common name larkspur is shared between perennial Delphinium species and annual species of the genus Consolida. Molecular data show that Consolida, as well as another segregate genus, the name delphinium derives from the Latin for dolphin, referring to the shape of the nectary. The leaves are deeply lobed with three to seven toothed, pointed lobes in a palmate shape. The main flowering stem is erect, and varies greatly in size between the species, from 10 centimetres in some species, up to 2 m tall in the larger meadowland species. In June and July, the plant is topped with a raceme of flowers, varying in color from purple and blue, to red, yellow. In most species each flower consists of five sepals which grow together to form a hollow pocket with a spur at the end. Within the sepals are four petals, small, inconspicuous. The eponymous long spur of the upper sepal encloses the nectar-containing spurs of the two upper petals, the seeds are small and often shiny black. The plants flower from spring to late summer, and are pollinated by butterflies. Despite the toxicity, Delphinium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including the dot moth, genetic analysis suggests that Delphinium sensu lato, as it was delineated before the 21st century, is polyphyletic. Nested within Delphinium s. l. are Aconitella, Consolida, to make Delphinium monophyletic, several interventions were made. The new genus Staphisagria was erected containing Delphinium staphisagria, D. requini, further genetic analysis has shown that the two large subgenera Aconitum and Aconitum are the sister group to Aconitum gymnandrum, Delphinium, Delphinium, Consolida and Aconitella. To make Aconitum monophyletic, A. gymnandrum has now been reassigned to a new monotypic genus, finally, Consolida and Aconitella are synonymized with Delphinium. D. arthriscifolium is sister to all species of Delphinium sensu stricto. It should be placed in its own subgenus, but no proposal naming this subgenus has been made yet, the subgenera Delphinium and Delphinium are sister to the group consisting of the species of Consolida and Aconitella, which together make up the subgenus Delphinium. Aconitella cannot be retained as a subgenus because A. barbata does not cluster with the species previously assigned to that genus. Pictum = Staphisagria picta D. requienii = Staphisagria requienii D. staphisagria = Staphisagria staphisagria Delphiniums can attract butterflies, various delphiniums are cultivated as ornamental plants, for traditional and native plant gardens
26.
Bristlecone pine
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A bristlecone pine is one of three species of pine trees. All three species are long-lived and highly resilient to harsh weather and bad soils, One of the three species, Pinus longaeva, is among the longest-lived life forms on Earth. The oldest Pinus longaeva is more than 5,000 years old, despite their potential age and low reproductive rate, bristlecone pines, particularly Pinus longaeva, are usually a first-succession species, tending to occupy new open ground. They generally compete poorly in less-than-harsh environments, making hard to cultivate. In gardens, they succumb quickly to root rot and they do very well, however, where most other plants cannot even grow, such as in rocky dolomitic soils in areas with virtually no rainfall. Bristlecone pines grow in scattered subalpine groves at high altitude in arid regions of the Western United States, the name comes from the prickles on the female cones. There are three related species of bristlecone pines, Great Basin bristlecone pine in Utah, Nevada. The famous longest-lived species, often the term Bristlecone pine refers to this tree in particular, Rocky Mountains bristlecone pine in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. The most populous species, capable of forming closed canopies and, foxtail pine with two disjunct populations found in the Klamath Mountains and the southern Sierra Nevada. A small outlying population was reported in southern Oregon, but was proven to have been misidentified, forms the thickest groves of the three. At least some of the three species can hybridize in cultivation, but the ranges of wild populations do not overlap, Bristlecone pines grow in isolated groves just below the tree line, between 5,600 and 11,200 ft elevation on dolomitic soils. The trees grow in soils that are shallow lithosols, usually derived from dolomite and sometimes limestone, dolomite soils are alkaline, high in calcium and magnesium, and low in phosphorus. Those factors tend to other plant species, allowing bristlecones to thrive. Because of cold temperatures, dry soils, high winds, and short growing seasons, even the trees needles, which grow in bunches of five, can remain on the tree for forty years, which gives the trees terminal branches the unique appearance of a long bottle brush. The bristlecone pines root system is composed of highly branched, shallow roots, while a few large. The bristlecone pine is extremely drought tolerant due to its branched shallow root system, its waxy needles, the wood is very dense and resinous, and thus resistant to invasion by insects, fungi, and other potential pests. The trees longevity is due in part to the extreme durability. While other species of trees that grow nearby suffer rot, bare bristlecone pines can endure, even death, often still standing on their roots
27.
Aspen
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Aspen is a common name for certain tree species, some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section Populus, of the Populus genus. They are all medium-sized deciduous trees reaching 15–30 m tall, each individual tree can live for 40–150 years above ground, but the root system of the colony is long-lived. In some cases, this is for thousands of years, sending up new trunks as the older trunks die off above ground, for this reason, it is considered to be an indicator of ancient woodlands. One such colony in Utah, given the nickname of Pando, is estimated to be 80,000 years old, some aspen colonies become very large with time, spreading about 1 m per year, eventually covering many hectares. They are able to survive forest fires, because the roots are below the heat of the fire, aspens do not thrive in the shade, and it is difficult for seedlings to grow in an already mature aspen stand. Fire indirectly benefits aspen trees, since it allows the saplings to flourish in open sunlight in the burned landscape, young aspen bark is an important seasonal forage for the European hare and other animals in early spring. Aspen is also a tree of choice of the European beaver, aspen wood is white and soft, but fairly strong, and has low flammability. It has a number of uses, notably for making matches, shredded aspen wood is used for packing and stuffing, sometimes called excelsior. It is also a popular animal bedding, since it lacks the phenols associated with pine and juniper, heat-treated aspen is a popular material for the interiors of a sauna. Trees portal Fox, Mark, Linda E. Tackaberry, Pascal Drouin, Yves Bergeron, Robert L. Bradley, microbial community structure of soils under four productivity classes of aspen forests in Northern British Columbia
28.
Picea engelmannii
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It is mostly a high altitude mountain tree, growing at 900 metres –3,650 metres altitude, rarely lower in the northwest of the range, in many areas it reaches the alpine tree line. Picea engelmannii is a medium-sized to large tree growing to 25 metres –40 metres tall, exceptionally to 65 metres tall. The bark is thin and scaly, flaking off in small circular plates 5–10 cm across, the crown is narrow conic in young trees, becoming cylindric in older trees. The shoots are buff-brown to orange-brown, usually densely pubescent, the leaves are needle-like, 15–30 mm long, rhombic in cross-section, glaucous blue-green above with several thin lines of stomata, and blue-white below with two broad bands of stomata. The cones are pendulous, slender cylindrical, 4–8 cm long and 1.5 cm broad when closed and they have thin, flexible scales 15–20 mm long, with a wavy margin. They are reddish to purple, maturing pale brown 4–7 months after pollination. The seeds are black, 2–3 mm long, with a slender, Engelmann spruce extends northward at higher elevations in the Cascade, Monashee, Selkirk, and possibly the Rocky Mountains, as well as the highlands surrounding the Interior Plateau. Both water uptake and water stored in roots appear to be critical for the survival of subalpine Engelmann spruce saplings that are exposed above the snowpack in later winter-early spring, transpiration is greatly reduced in small saplings while engulfed in snowpack. For exposed trees, the availability of water may be critical in late winter. Cuticular damage by ice is probably more important at the tree line. Two geographical subspecies occur, Picea engelmannii subsp, all of the range except as below. Two isolated populations on high mountains in northern Mexico, on the Sierra del Carmen in Coahuila, Engelmann spruces of the Madrean sky islands mountains in the extreme southeast of Arizona and southwest of New Mexico also probably belong to this subspecies, though this is disputed. Engelmann spruce is of importance for its wood, harvested for paper-making. Wood from slow-grown trees at high altitude has a use in making musical instruments such as acoustic guitars, harps, violins. It is also used to an extent as a Christmas tree. Outbreaks of spruce beetles have destroyed millions of Engelmann spruce trees, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. International Union for Conservation of Nature
29.
Abies lasiocarpa
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Abies lasiocarpa, commonly called the subalpine fir or Rocky Mountain fir, is a western North American fir tree. It occurs at altitudes, from 300–900 metres in the north of the range, to 2, 400–3,650 metres in the south of the range, it is commonly found at. It is a tree growing to 20 metres tall, exceptionally to 40–50 metres tall, with a trunk up to 1 metre across. The bark on trees is smooth, gray, and with resin blisters, becoming rough. The leaves are flat and needle-like,1. 5–3 cm long, glaucous green above with a stripe of stomata. They are arranged spirally on the shoot, but with the leaf bases twisted to be arranged to the sides of and above the shoot, with few or none below the shoot. The cones are erect, 6–12 cm long, dark blackish-purple with fine yellow-brown pubescence, ripening brown, bifolia, or not distinguished from typical A. lasiocarpa at all. It occurs in the Rocky Mountains from southeast Alaska south to Colorado and it differs primarily in resin composition, and in the fresh leaf scars being yellow-brown, not reddish. The Flora of North America treats it as a distinct species, the corkbark fir Abies lasiocarpa var. arizonica occurs in Arizona and New Mexico. It differs in thicker, corky bark and more strongly glaucous foliage, in resin composition it is closer to A. bifolia than to typical A. lasiocarpa, though the combination Abies bifolia var. arizonica has not been formally published. The Flora of North America includes it within A. bifolia without distinction, the cultivar Compacta has gained the Royal Horticultural Societys Award of Garden Merit. The wood is used for structural purposes and paper manufacture. It is also a popular Christmas tree, corkbark fir is a popular ornamental tree, grown for its strongly glaucous-blue foliage. Some Plateau Indian tribes drank or washed in a subalpine fir boil for purification or to make their hair grow, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. International Union for Conservation of Nature, alexander, Robert R. Shearer, Raymond C. In Burns, Russell M. Honkala, Barbara H. Conifers, United States Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture. 1 – via Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry, gymnosperm Database, Abies lasiocarpa Flora of North America, Abies lasiocarpa Flora of North America, Abies bifolia Interactive Distribution Map of Abies lasiocarpa
30.
Pinus flexilis
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Pinus flexilis, the limber pine, is a species of pine tree-the family Pinaceae that occurs in the mountains of the Western United States, Mexico, and Canada. It is also called Rocky Mountain white pine, a limber pine in Eagle Cap Wilderness, Oregon has been documented as over 2000 years old, and another one was confirmed at 1140 years old. Another candidate for the oldest limber pine was identified in 2006 near the Alta Ski Area in Utah, called Twister, continuing south the species is found in the San Jacinto Mountains, Santa Rosa Mountains, and Hot Springs Mountain of the Peninsular Ranges. There are small populations in eastern Washington and Oregon, in western North Dakota and Nebraska. It is found at a range of altitudes depending on the latitude. P. flexilis is typically a pine, often marking the tree line either on its own, or with whitebark pine, either of the bristlecone pines. In favourable conditions, it makes a tree to 20 meters, however, on exposed treeline sites, mature trees are much smaller, reaching heights of only 5–10 meters. P. flexilis, is an important source of food for species, including red squirrels. American black bears may raid squirrel caches for limber pine nuts, squirrels, Northern flickers, and mountain bluebirds often nest in the trees. P. flexilis is a member of the white group, Pinus subgenus Strobus, and like all members of that group. This distinguishes it from the pine, with two needles per fascicle, and the bristlecone pines, which share five needles per fascicle but have a semi-persistent sheath. Distinguishing limber pine from the related whitebark pine, also a pine, is very much more difficult. In limber pine, the cones are 6–12 centimeters long where the overlap, green when immature, and open to release the seeds. In whitebark pine, the cones are 4–7 centimeters long, dark purple when immature, and do not open on drying, a useful clue is that whitebark pines almost never have intact old cones lying under them, whereas limber pines usually do. In the absence of cones, limber pine can also be hard to tell from Western white pine where they together in the northern Rockies. The most useful clue here is that limber pine needles are entire, limber pine needles are also usually shorter, 4–7 centimeters long, while western white pine needles are 5–10 centimeters, though the ranges overlap. Limber pine is susceptible to white pine blister rust, caused by Cronartium ribicola, limber pine mortality is high in many areas throughout its range, except Arizona, where it has not yet been found. However, there is hope of controlling the blister rust in existing trees
31.
Aquilegia coerulea
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Aquilegia coerulea is a species of Aquilegia flower native to the Rocky Mountains from Montana south to New Mexico and west to Idaho and Arizona. Its common name is Colorado blue columbine, sometimes it is called Rocky Mountain columbine and it is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 20–60 cm tall. The flowers are variable in color, from pale blue to white, pale yellow and pinkish, very commonly the flowers are bicolored. Aquilegia coerulea is the flower of Colorado. It is also a plant in gardens, with numerous cultivars selected for different flower colors. USDA Plant Profile, Aquilegia coerulea Colorado state flower Aquilegia coerulea Genome sequencing
32.
Castilleja miniata
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Castilleja miniata is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name giant red Indian paintbrush. It is native to western North America from Alaska to Ontario to California to New Mexico and this wildflower is a perennial herb growing up to about 80 centimeters tall, slender and green to dark purple in herbage color. The lance-shaped leaves are 3 to 6 centimeters long, pointed, the inflorescence is made up of bright red to pale orange or orange-tipped bracts. Between the bracts emerge the yellow-green, red-edged tubular flowers
33.
Dodecatheon pulchellum
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Dodecatheon pulchellum, commonly known as pretty shooting star, few-flowered shooting star, dark throat shooting star and prairie shooting star. The plant is native to the Western United States, often in xeric and it is found in the Great Basin Deserts and Mojave Desert. Dodecatheon pulchellum is a herb with single, leafless flower stems. It grows to a height of 5 to 40 centimeters and its leaves are basal, 2–15 cm long, blades oblong-lanceolate to oblanceolate, mostly entire to somewhat small-toothed, narrowed gradually to winged stalks nearly as long. Each plant has between 1 and 25 flowers clustered at the stem top, the calyx is usually purple-flecked, and the five lobes are 3 to 5 millimeters long. The corolla is 10 to 20 millimeters long, the 5 lobes swept backwards, purplish-lavender, seldom white, the filaments are joined into a yellowish tube 1. 5–3 mm long, which is smooth or only slightly wrinkled. The 5 anthers are joined to a point, usually yellowish to reddish-purple. The stigma is slightly larger than the style and this plant flowers between April and August. The fruits are capsules, many-seeded, ovoid-cylindric, hairless to glandular-hairy, membranous to firm-walled, dodecatheon pulchellum, Pretty shooting star, was used medicinally by the Okanagan-Colville and Blackfoot Indians. An infusion of the roots was used as a wash for sore eyes, a cooled infusion of leaves was used for eye drops. An infusion of leaves was gargled, especially by children, for cankers
34.
Hymenoxys hoopesii
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Hymenoxys hoopesii is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common names owls claws and orange sneezeweed. It is native to the western United States, where it grows in habitats of moderate elevation, such as meadows in the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, southern Cascades. It has been found from Arizona, New Mexico, and central California north as far as Montana, hymenoxys hoopesii is an erect perennial herb approaching a meter in height, with smooth-edged leaves, oval on the lower stem and lance-shaped toward the top. The inflorescence bears flower heads on erect peduncles, each lined with a base of hairy. The flower head has a center of 100–325 tiny disc florets fringed with 14–26 orange or yellow ray florets, the fruit is an achene with a pappus of scales. Jepson Manual Treatment, University of California United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile Calphotos Photo gallery, University of California
35.
Geum triflorum
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Geum triflorum, is a spring-blooming perennial herbaceous plant of North America from northern Canada to California and east to New York. The flowers bloom from mid-spring to early summer, prairie smoke has pinnately divided leaves with 7–17 primary leaflets, there are also a few smaller secondary leaflets inserted between some of the primary leaflets. They are arranged in a rosette at ground level and are semi-evergreen, some basal leaves remain over the winter and they appear on short reddish purple-tinged stems 15 to 41 centimetres high and are arranged in umbels of 3–5 flowers. At the base of the umbel are leaflike green to purple bracts. Sometimes there are pairs of leaflike bracts on the stem below the umbel or on the stems of individual flowers. While blooming, the flowers nod downwards and remain closed and bud-like. The five petals are cream to yellowish, suffused with pink or purple, between the sepals are five narrow bractlets. Hidden within the flower are a cluster of pistils and a ring of many stamens around them. Pollinated flowers turn upwards and open up, the pistils in the middle of the flower develop into heads of seeds with long fuzzy hairs that point upwards. The hairs resemble mauve smoke, hence the name prairie smoke, the flowers produce both nectar and pollen. They are visited mainly by female bumblebees, which are able to force their way into the closed flowers. They also buzz-pollinate to dislodge pollen from the stamens and gather it to feed their young, smaller bees such as Lasioglossum feed on pollen grains from the opening of the flower. Bumblebees are the only effective cross-pollinators, various insects chew holes in the top of the flower, near the stem, to reach the nectar. Some Plateau Indian tribes used three-flowered avens to treat tuberculosis, jepson Manual Treatment USDA Plants Profile Three-flowered avens Geum triflorum
36.
Lupinus argenteus
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Lupinus argenteus is a species of lupine known by the common name silvery lupine. This is an herb growing erect to heights anywhere between 10 centimeters and 1.5 meters. It is sometimes silvery-hairy in texture and sometimes nearly hairless, each palmate leaf is made up of 5 to 9 leaflets each up to 6 centimeters long. They are narrow and linear in shape, under a centimeter wide, the inflorescence bears many flowers, sometimes arranged in whorls. The flower is 5 to 14 millimeters long and purple, blue, the banner, or upper petal, of the flower may have a patch of white or yellow. The fruit is a legume pod up to 3 centimeters long containing several beanlike seeds. Jepson Manual Treatment USDA Plants Profile Photo gallery
37.
Dasiphora fruticosa
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Dasiphora fruticosa is a disputed name. Common names include shrubby cinquefoil, golden hardhack, bush cinquefoil, shrubby five-finger, tundra rose and it grows to 0. 1–1 m tall, rarely up to 1.5 m. The habit is upright to sprawling or prostrate, but stems are often ascending especially those stems with many long branches. The bark of older stems is shreddy with long thin strips, the plants are densely leafy, the leaves divided into five or seven pinnate leaflets. The leaflets are linear-oblong, 3–20 mm long, with entire margins, the foliage is pubescent, variably covered in fine silky, silvery hairs about 1 mm long. The flowers are produced terminally on the stems and are 2–3 cm cm across, buttercup-shaped, with five petals and 15–25 stamens, the fruit is a cluster of achenes covered with long hairs. The species is variably dioecious or bisexual, flowering is typically from early to late summer and it is normally found growing in moisture-retentive soils in swamps and rocky areas. There are two subspecies, Dasiphora fruticosa subsp, described from Yorkshire, England and Öland, Sweden. Northern Europe and northern and central Asia, described from Canada, New York, and New Jersey, North America. Asia, southern Europe, and North America, numerous varieties have been described from Asia, some of which have not yet been published under the genus Dasiphora, and others in that genus only as distinct species. These include Potentilla fruticosa var. albicans Rehd, P. f. var. pumila J. D. Hooker, P. f. var. mandschurica Wolf, and P. f. var. unifoliolata Ludlow. The varieties D. f. var. monticola Rydb. and D. f. var. tenuiloba Rydb. have been described from western North America, shrubby cinquefoil is a popular ornamental plant in temperate regions. Different cultivars are variable with flowers ranging from white to yellow, orange and pink, the flowers are always small, flat, and round, but there are many dozens on each bush. It is very often used by cities and businesses for landscaping because of its hardiness, the vast majority of sellers and gardeners still use the old name Potentilla fruticosa. All the characteristics of small leaves, delicate flowers, and orange to brown flaky bark make the shrubby cinquefoil suitable for Bonsai and it is very popular in Japan and is gaining popularity in Europe. Below is a selection of over 130 cultivars which have been named. Those marked agm have gained the Royal Horticultural Societys Award of Garden Merit, abbotswood - large white flowers and bluish green foliage. Agm Beanii - green foliage and white flowers, chelsea Star - small yellow flowers
38.
Primula parryi
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Primula parryi is a herbaceous perennial native to wet areas from the subalpine zone to alpine tundra in the Rocky Mountains from Montana to Arizona and New Mexico. Flowers are magenta with yellow eyes, in the high mountains, they bloom in summer, at lower elevations, in late spring. The whole plant has a skunklike smell, asa Gray named Parrys primrose for Charles Christopher Parry, who discovered it in 1861. Parry had previously named Grays Peak after him, media related to Primula parryi at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Primula parryi at Wikispecies Kelso, Sylvia. Southwest Colorado Wildflowers Kew Plant List Primula parryi in the CalPhotos Photo Database, University of California, Berkeley Native Plant Identification Network, USDA PLANTS Profile
39.
Ranunculus alismifolius
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Ranunculus alismifolius is a species of buttercup known by the common name plantainleaf buttercup. It is somewhat variable in appearance and there are varieties which can be hard to tell apart. In general the plant is a perennial herb producing a few usually upright to erect, branching stems from a fleshy and it can be up to half a meter tall, or it can remain quite short and clumpy. The leaves vary in shape, the ones with oval blades. The inflorescence bears one or more flowers, each on a long pedicel, the flower has up to 12 yellow petals and many yellow stamens and pistils at the center. The fruit is an achene, borne in a cluster of 12 or more. Jepson Manual Treatment USDA Plants Profile Flora of North America Washington Burke Museum Photo gallery
40.
Penstemon
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Penstemon /ˈpɛnstᵻmən/, the beardtongues, is a large genus of roughly 250 species North American and East Asian flowering plants. Formerly placed in the Scrophulariaceae family by the Cronquist system, new research has placed it in the vastly expanded Plantaginaceae family. They have opposite leaves, partly tube-shaped, and two-lipped flowers, the most distinctive feature of the genus is the prominent staminode, an infertile stamen. Most penstemons are deciduous or semi-evergreen perennials, the remainder being shrubs or subshrubs, heights can range from 10 cm to as much as 3 metres. The one Asiatic species previously treated in Penstemon is now placed in a separate genus Pennellianthus and this leaves Penstemon a mostly nearctic genus, with a few neotropical species. Although widespread across North America, and found in habitats ranging from desert to moist forests. John Mitchell published the first scientific description in 1748, although he named it as Penstemon. Linnaeus then included it in his 1753 publication, as Chelone pentstemon, mitchells work was reprinted in 1769, continuing with his original spelling, and this was ultimately accepted as the official form, although Pentstemon continued in use into the 20th century. Although several more species were found in the 18th century, they continued to be classified in Chelone until about the 1820s. The period of 1810 to 1850 increased the number of species from 4 to 63, as expeditions traveled through Mexico. Subsequently many hybrids were developed in Europe, fieldwork in the remote parts of the Great Basin during the 20th century brought the total number of species known to over 250. The genus was revised by David Keck between 1932 and 1957, in 1946 the American Penstemon Society was formed to promote both horticultural and botanical interest. Some Native American tribes used penstemons as medicinal remedies for humans, today its primary use is ornamental. The earliest development is somewhat shrouded in mystery, for instance Flanagan & Nuttings 1835 catalog mentions a Penstemon Hybridum, by 1860, a half-dozen French growers are known to have developed hybrids, most notably Victor Lemoine, while in 1857 the German Wilhelm Pfitzer listed 24 varieties. In 1861 the Royal Horticultural Society held trials in which 78 varieties were entered, the Scottish firm of John Forbes first offered penstemons in 1870, eventually becoming the biggest grower in the world, in 1884 their catalog listed 180 varieties. By 1900 Forbes had offered 550 varieties, while Lemoine had developed nearly 470 by the time of his death in 1911, few of these have survived to the present day. A number of different species have used in the hybridization process, notably P. cobaeus. In North America, penstemons are often used in landscaping, as many are native to desert or alpine regions
41.
Hoodoo (geology)
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A hoodoo is a tall, thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland. Hoodoos, which may range from 1.5 to 45 metres, typically consist of soft rock topped by harder. They generally form within sedimentary rock and volcanic rock formations, Hoodoos are found mainly in the desert in dry, hot areas. In common usage, the difference between hoodoos and pinnacles is that hoodoos have a variable thickness often described as having a totem pole-shaped body, a spire, on the other hand, has a smoother profile or uniform thickness that tapers from the ground upward. An example of a spire, as an earth pyramid, is found at Aultderg Burn, near Fochabers. Hoodoos range in size from the height of a human to heights exceeding a 10-story building. Hoodoo shapes are affected by the patterns of alternating hard. Minerals deposited within different rock types cause hoodoos to have different colors throughout their height, Hoodoos are commonly found in the High Plateaus region of the Colorado Plateau and in the Badlands regions of the Northern Great Plains. While hoodoos are scattered throughout these areas, nowhere in the world are they as abundant as in the section of Bryce Canyon National Park. They are also very prominent a few hundred miles away at Goblin Valley State Park on the side of the San Rafael Swell. Hoodoos are a tourist attraction in the Cappadocia region of Turkey and these rock formations were depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 50 new lira banknote of 2005–2009. Đavolja Varoš hoodoos in Serbia feature 202 exotic formations described as earth pyramids or towers, since 1959, Đavolja Varoš has been protected by the state. It was also a nominee in the New Seven Wonders of Nature campaign, the hoodoo stones on the northern coast of Taiwan are unusual for their coastal setting. The stones formed as the seabed rose rapidly out of the ocean during the Miocene epoch, efforts have been made to slow the erosion in the case of iconic specimens in Wanli. Hoodoos in Drumheller, Alberta, are a feature that continues to attract thousands of visitors each year. The sediments comprising these hoodoos formed between 70 and 75 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period as clay and sand sediments from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation were deposited. In glaciated mountainous valleys the soft eroded material may be glacial till with the protective capstones being large boulders in the till, over time, cracks in the resistant layer allow the much softer rock beneath to be eroded and washed away. Hoodoos form where a small cap of the resistant layer remains, further erosion of the soft layer causes the cap to be undercut, eventually falling off, and the remaining cone is then quickly eroded
42.
Colorado Plateau
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The province covers an area of 337,000 km2 within western Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, southern and eastern Utah, and northern Arizona. About 90% of the area is drained by the Colorado River and its tributaries, the Green, San Juan. Most of the remainder of the plateau is drained by the Rio Grande, the Colorado Plateau is largely made up of high desert, with scattered areas of forests. In the southwest corner of the Colorado Plateau lies the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, much of the Plateaus landscape is related, in both appearance and geologic history, to the Grand Canyon. The nickname Red Rock Country suggests the brightly colored rock left bare to the view by dryness, domes, hoodoos, fins, reefs, river narrows, natural bridges, and slot canyons are only some of the additional features typical of the Plateau. The Colorado Plateau has the greatest concentration of U. S. National Park Service units in the country outside of the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Among its ten National Parks are Grand Canyon, Glen Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, Mesa Verde, and Petrified Forest. The province is bounded by the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, and by the Uinta Mountains and Wasatch Mountains branches of the Rockies in northern and it is also bounded by the Rio Grande Rift, Mogollon Rim and the Basin and Range Province. Isolated ranges of the Southern Rocky Mountains such as the San Juan Mountains in Colorado, north-south trending normal faults that include the Hurricane, Sevier, Grand Wash, and Paunsaugunt separate the sections component plateaus. This fault pattern is caused by the forces pulling apart the adjacent Basin and Range province to the west. Occupying the southeast corner of the Colorado Plateau is the Datil Section, thick sequences of mid-Tertiary to late-Cenozoic-aged lava covers this section. Development of the province has in part been influenced by structural features in its oldest rocks. Part of the Wasatch Line and its various faults form the edge of the province. Faults that run parallel to the Wasatch Fault that lies along the Wasatch Range form the boundaries between the plateaus in the High Plateaus Section, the Uinta Basin, Uncompahgre Uplift, and the Paradox Basin were also created by movement along structural weaknesses in the regions oldest rock. Some sources also include the Tushar Mountain Plateau as part of the Colorado Plateau, the mostly flat-lying sedimentary rock units that make up these plateaus are found in component plateaus that are between 1500 m to over 3350 m above sea level. A supersequence of these rocks is exposed in the various cliffs, within these rocks are abundant mineral resources that include uranium, coal, petroleum, and natural gas. Study of the unusually clear geologic history has greatly advanced that science. A rain shadow from the Sierra Nevada far to the west, higher areas receive more precipitation and are covered in forests of pine, fir, and spruce
43.
Markagunt Plateau
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The Markagunt Plateau is an 800-square-mile plateau located in southwestern Utah between Interstate 15 and U. S. Route 89. It is one of the plateaus that make up the High Plateaus Section of the Colorado Plateau Province, Markagunt is a name derived from the Piute language meaning highland of trees. The plateau encompasses Cedar Breaks National Monument, and is part of the Cedar Mountain District of Dixie National Forest, the highest point on the plateau is Brian Head Peak at 11,307 feet. The Markagunt Plateau volcanic field is an area of cinder cones. The most recent flows occurred around 1050 A. D. and were preceded by a series of trachytic, andesitic and rhyolitic lava, the field lies east of Cedar Breaks National Monument. Navajo Lake was formed when a lava flow dammed a creek on the plateau, mammoth Cave is a lava tube cave located on the plateau. The youngest features of the Markagunt Plateau volcanic field are blocky unvegetated lava flows known locally as the Black Rock Desert and they extend from near Miller Knoll on to the southeast. These flows also extend northeast to near Panguitch Lake, aquarius Plateau Black Rock Desert volcanic field
44.
Zion National Park
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Zion National Park is located in the Southwestern United States, near Springdale, Utah. The lowest elevation is 3,666 ft at Coalpits Wash, located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, the parks unique geography and variety of life zones allow for unusual plant and animal diversity. Numerous plant species as well as 289 species of birds,75 mammals, and 32 reptiles inhabit the parks four life zones, desert, riparian, woodland, and coniferous forest. Zion National Park includes mountains, canyons, buttes, mesas, monoliths, rivers, slot canyons, human habitation of the area started about 8,000 years ago with small family groups of Native Americans, the semi-nomadic Basketmaker Anasazi stem from one of these groups. In turn, the Virgin Anasazi culture developed as the Basketmakers settled in permanent communities, a different group, the Parowan Fremont, lived in the area as well. Both groups moved away by 1300 and were replaced by the Parrusits, Mormons came into the area in 1858 and settled there in the early 1860s. In 1909 the President of the United States, William Howard Taft, named the area a National Monument to protect the canyon, under the name of Mukuntuweap National Monument. In 1918, however, the director of the newly created National Park Service changed the parks name to Zion. According to historian Hal Rothman, The name change played to a prevalent bias of the time, many believed that Spanish and Indian names would deter visitors who, if they could not pronounce the name of a place, might not bother to visit it. The new name, Zion, had greater appeal to an ethnocentric audience, the United States Congress established the monument as a National Park on November 19,1919. The Kolob section was proclaimed a separate Zion National Monument in 1937, the geology of the Zion and Kolob canyons area includes nine formations that together represent 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation. At various periods in that warm, shallow seas, streams, ponds and lakes, vast deserts. Uplift associated with the creation of the Colorado Plateaus lifted the region 10,000 feet starting 13 million years ago, the park is located in southwestern Utah in Washington, Iron and Kane counties. Geomorphically, it is located on the Markagunt and Kolob plateaus, the northern part of the park is known as the Kolob Canyons section and is accessible from Interstate 15, exit 40. The 8, 726-foot summit of Horse Ranch Mountain is the highest point in the park, streams in the area take rectangular paths because they follow jointing planes in the rocks. The stream gradient of the Virgin River, whose North Fork flows through Zion Canyon in the park, the road into Zion Canyon is 6 miles long, ending at the Temple of Sinawava. At the Temple the canyon narrows and a foot-trail continues to the mouth of the Zion Narrows, the Zion Canyon road is served by a free shuttle bus from early April to late October and by private vehicles the other months of the year. Other roads in Zion are open to private vehicles year-round, the east side of the park is served by Zion-Mount Carmel Highway, which passes through the Zion–Mount Carmel Tunnel and ends at Mount Carmel
45.
Shale
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Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable, shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering or bedding less than one centimeter in thickness, called fissility. Mudstones, on the hand, are similar in composition. Before the mid 19th century, the slate, shale. In the context of underground mining, shale was frequently referred to as slate well into the 20th century. Non-fissile rocks of similar composition but made of smaller than 0.06 mm are described as mudstones or claystone. Rocks with similar sizes but with less clay and therefore grittier are siltstones. Shale is the most common sedimentary rock, shales are typically composed of variable amounts of clay minerals and quartz grains and the typical color is gray. Addition of variable amounts of minor constituents alters the color of the rock, black shale results from the presence of greater than one percent carbonaceous material and indicates a reducing environment. Black shale can also be referred to as black metal, red, brown and green colors are indicative of ferric oxide, iron hydroxide, or micaceous minerals. Clays are the constituent of shales and other mudrocks. The clay minerals represented are largely kaolinite, montmorillonite and illite, clay minerals of Late Tertiary mudstones are expandable smectites whereas in older rocks especially in mid- to early Paleozoic shales illites predominate. The transformation of smectite to illite produces silica, sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron and these released elements form authigenic quartz, chert, calcite, dolomite, ankerite, hematite and albite, all trace to minor minerals found in shales and other mudrocks. Shales and mudrocks contain roughly 95 percent of the matter in all sedimentary rocks. However, this amounts to less than one percent by mass in an average shale, black shales, which form in anoxic conditions, contain reduced free carbon along with ferrous iron and sulfur. Pyrite and amorphous iron sulfide along with carbon produce the black coloration, the process in the rock cycle which forms shale is called compaction. The fine particles that compose shale can remain suspended in long after the larger particles of sand have deposited. Shales are typically deposited in very slow moving water and are found in lakes and lagoonal deposits, in river deltas, on floodplains
46.
Limestone
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Limestone is a sedimentary rock, composed mainly of skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, forams and molluscs. Its major materials are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate, about 10% of sedimentary rocks are limestones. The solubility of limestone in water and weak acid solutions leads to karst landscapes, most cave systems are through limestone bedrock. The first geologist to distinguish limestone from dolomite was Belsazar Hacquet in 1778, like most other sedimentary rocks, most limestone is composed of grains. Most grains in limestone are skeletal fragments of organisms such as coral or foraminifera. Other carbonate grains comprising limestones are ooids, peloids, intraclasts and these organisms secrete shells made of aragonite or calcite, and leave these shells behind when they die. Limestone often contains variable amounts of silica in the form of chert or siliceous skeletal fragment, some limestones do not consist of grains at all, and are formed completely by the chemical precipitation of calcite or aragonite, i. e. travertine. Secondary calcite may be deposited by supersaturated meteoric waters and this produces speleothems, such as stalagmites and stalactites. Another form taken by calcite is oolitic limestone, which can be recognized by its granular appearance, the primary source of the calcite in limestone is most commonly marine organisms. Some of these organisms can construct mounds of rock known as reefs, below about 3,000 meters, water pressure and temperature conditions cause the dissolution of calcite to increase nonlinearly, so limestone typically does not form in deeper waters. Limestones may also form in lacustrine and evaporite depositional environments, calcite can be dissolved or precipitated by groundwater, depending on several factors, including the water temperature, pH, and dissolved ion concentrations. Calcite exhibits a characteristic called retrograde solubility, in which it becomes less soluble in water as the temperature increases. Impurities will cause limestones to exhibit different colors, especially with weathered surfaces, Limestone may be crystalline, clastic, granular, or massive, depending on the method of formation. Crystals of calcite, quartz, dolomite or barite may line small cavities in the rock, when conditions are right for precipitation, calcite forms mineral coatings that cement the existing rock grains together, or it can fill fractures. Travertine is a banded, compact variety of limestone formed along streams, particularly there are waterfalls. Calcium carbonate is deposited where evaporation of the leaves a solution supersaturated with the chemical constituents of calcite. Tufa, a porous or cellular variety of travertine, is found near waterfalls, coquina is a poorly consolidated limestone composed of pieces of coral or shells. During regional metamorphism that occurs during the building process, limestone recrystallizes into marble
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Sandstone
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Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earths crust, like sand, sandstone may be any color, but the most common colors are tan, brown, yellow, red, grey, pink, white, and black. Since sandstone beds often form highly visible cliffs and other topographic features, quartz-bearing sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure, usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. They are formed from cemented grains that may either be fragments of a rock or be mono-minerallic crystals. The cements binding these grains together are typically calcite, clays, grain sizes in sands are defined within the range of 0.0625 mm to 2 mm. The formation of sandstone involves two principal stages, first, a layer or layers of sand accumulates as the result of sedimentation, either from water or from air. Typically, sedimentation occurs by the settling out from suspension. The most common cementing materials are silica and calcium carbonate, which are derived either from dissolution or from alteration of the sand after it was buried. Colours will usually be tan or yellow, a predominant additional colourant in the southwestern United States is iron oxide, which imparts reddish tints ranging from pink to dark red, with additional manganese imparting a purplish hue. Red sandstones are seen in the Southwest and West of Britain, as well as central Europe. The regularity of the latter favours use as a source for masonry, either as a building material or as a facing stone. These physical properties allow the grains to survive multiple recycling events. Quartz grains evolve from rock, which are felsic in origin. Feldspathic framework grains are commonly the second most abundant mineral in sandstones, Feldspar can be divided into two smaller subdivisions, alkali feldspars and plagioclase feldspars. The different types of feldspar can be distinguished under a petrographic microscope, below is a description of the different types of feldspar. Alkali feldspar is a group of minerals in which the composition of the mineral can range from KAlSi3O8 to NaAlSi3O8. Plagioclase feldspar is a group of solid solution minerals that range in composition from NaAlSi3O8 to CaAl2Si2O8. Lithic framework grains are pieces of ancient source rock that have yet to weather away to individual mineral grains, accessory minerals are all other mineral grains in a sandstone, commonly these minerals make up just a small percentage of the grains in a sandstone
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Rhyolite
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Rhyolite is an igneous, volcanic rock, of felsic composition. It may have any texture from glassy to aphanitic to porphyritic, the mineral assemblage is usually quartz, sanidine and plagioclase. Biotite and hornblende are common accessory minerals and it is the extrusive equivalent to granite. Rhyolite can be considered as the equivalent to the plutonic granite rock. Due to their content of silica and low iron and magnesium contents, rhyolite melts are highly polymerized. They also occur as breccias or in volcanic plugs and dikes, rhyolites that cool too quickly to grow crystals form a natural glass or vitrophyre, also called obsidian. Slower cooling forms microscopic crystals in the lava and results in such as flow foliations, spherulitic, nodular. Some rhyolite is highly vesicular pumice, many eruptions of rhyolite are highly explosive and the deposits may consist of fallout tephra/tuff or of ignimbrites. Eruptions of rhyolite are relatively rare compared to eruptions of less felsic lavas, etsch Valley Vulcanite Group near Bolzano and the surrounding area Gréixer rhyolitic complex at Moixeró range Vosges Iceland, all active and extinct central volcanoes, e. g. g. Wichita Mountains within the Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen St, in North American pre-historic times, rhyolite was quarried extensively in eastern Pennsylvania in the United States. Among the leading quarries was the Carbaugh Run Rhyolite Quarry Site in Adams County, comendite List of rock types Pantellerite Thunderegg University of North Dakota description of rhyolite Information from rocks-rock. com
