KMMONS.] 



GRAND JUNCTION TO GLENWOOD SPRINGS. 



407 



5,000 feet, as against 15,000 feet in the Wasatch. The various mem- 

 bers of the Mesozoic have a wide range of local variation in thickness, 

 but. it is always less than that of corresponding horizons in the Wasatch. 

 The marine Jurassic of the Wasatch is apparently wanting, as is the 

 Lower Cretaceous of Texas and British Columbia. The age of many of 

 the disconnected Tertiary deposits has not yet been determined, though 

 Eocene and Pliocene and probably Miocene are represented. 



GRAND JUNCTION TO GLENWOOD SPRINGS. 

 By S. F. Emmons. 



Station. 



Grand .function . 



l'aiisadcs 



De Beqno 



Parachute 



Distance. 



Klcvation. 



Miles. 



Kilome- 

 ters. 



Feet. 



Meters 





 12 



88 



4C 





 19 



53 

 74 



4,660 



1,390 ' 









i 









II 



Station. 



Rifle 



Xe\\r;:stlc 

 Oliacra . . 

 Glenwood 



Distance 

 Miles. 



68 



77 

 81 

 89 



Kilome- 

 ters 



Elevation. 



Feet. 



101 



124 5. 555 



180 



148 5,767 



Meters. 



1,693 



1.758 



From Grand Junction the road goes northward for 15 miles (24 km.) 

 across the clay plains to the mouth of Hogback canyon. On the east 

 may be seen the line of the Book cliffs continued in those of Grand 

 mesa, a high plateau formed of basalt, capping Wasatch and Green 

 River Eocene beds. 



Hogback canyon, above Palisade station, is cut in the heavy gray 

 sandstones of the Laramie Cretaceous, which dip gently north and west, 

 so that higher horizons are constantly coming in view. The canyon 

 shows tine cliff sculpture and excellent instances of the erosion due to 

 undermining, which is peculiar to the Colorado basin or Plateau prov- 

 ince. In one case the rains of a spur of Laramie sandstone, which had 

 been undermined on either side, are piled up along the valley in huge 

 broken masses over a quarter of a mile in width and nearly a mile in 

 length. 



Beyond the canyon a broad alluvial valley opens out, from which, just 

 before reaching Debeque station, can be seen, to the northwest, the main 

 Book cliffs, which rise 3,000 feet (914 m.) above the river, formed of the 

 massive roan-colored beds of the Wasatch Eocene, capped by the thinly 

 stratified, shaly beds of the Green River Eocene. The latter contain 

 abundant fish remains, and, in consequence, much bituminous matter, 

 some of the shales being so rich in hydrocarbons that they may be ignited 

 by a match. Deposits of an asphaltnm mineral, Uintaite or Crahamite, 

 are found in considerable quantities at various points. On the east may 

 be distinguished the Mam mountains (11,000 feet, 3,363 m.), twin peaks 

 of basalt capping Green River beds, 



