View source for Colorado Plateau

{{Short description|Plateau in southwestern United States}}
[[File:Colorado Plateaus map.png|thumb|A map of the Colorado Plateau.]]
[[File:four corners.jpg|thumb|The [[Four Corners]] region and the Colorado Plateau.]]

The '''Colorado Plateau''' is a [[United States physiographic region|physiographic]] and [[desert|desert region]] of the [[Intermontane Plateaus]], roughly centered on the [[Four Corners]] region of the [[Southwestern United States]]. This plateau covers an area of 336,700&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> (130,000&nbsp;mi<sup>2</sup>) within western [[Colorado]], northwestern [[New Mexico]], southern and eastern [[Utah]], northern [[Arizona]], and a tiny fraction in the extreme southeast of [[Nevada]]. About 90% of the area is drained by the [[Colorado River]] and its main [[tributaries]]: the [[Green River (Colorado River)|Green]], [[San Juan River (Colorado River)|San Juan]], and [[Little Colorado River|Little Colorado]].  Most of the remainder of the plateau is drained by the [[Rio Grande]] and its tributaries.<ref>{{cite web |last=Leighty |first=Robert D.|title=Colorado Plateau Physiographic Province |work=Contract Report |publisher=Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DOD) Information Sciences Office |year=2001 |url=http://www.tec.army.mil/publications/ifsar/lafinal08_01/five/5.1.5_frame.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040926200513/http://www.tec.army.mil/publications/ifsar/lafinal08_01/five/5.1.5_frame.htm |archive-date=2004-09-26 |access-date=2007-12-25 }}</ref><ref name=geoparklands/>{{rp|395}}

The Colorado Plateau is largely made up of high desert, with scattered areas of forests. In the south-west corner of the Colorado Plateau, nicknamed '''High Country''',<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-01 |title=High-Country Arizona |url=https://www.phoenixmag.com/2023/05/01/high-country-arizona/ |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=PHOENIX magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> lies the [[Grand Canyon]] of the Colorado River. Much of the Plateau's landscape is related to the Grand Canyon in both appearance and geologic history. The nickname "'''Red Rock Country'''" suggests the brightly colored rock left bare to the view by dryness and erosion. [[dome (geology)|Domes]], [[hoodoo (geology)|hoodoos]], [[Fin (geology)|fins]], [[Reef (geomorphology)|reef]]s, river [[narrows]], [[natural bridge]]s, and [[slot canyon]]s are only some of the additional features typical of the Plateau.

The Colorado Plateau has the greatest concentration of U.S. [[National Park Service]] (NPS) units in the [[list of National Parks of the United States|country]] outside the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Among its nine [[national park]]s are [[Grand Canyon National Park|Grand Canyon]], [[Zion National Park|Zion]], [[Bryce Canyon National Park|Bryce Canyon]], [[Capitol Reef National Park|Capitol Reef]], [[Canyonlands National Park|Canyonlands]], [[Arches National Park|Arches]], [[Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park|Black Canyon]], [[Mesa Verde National Park|Mesa Verde]], and [[Petrified Forest National Park|Petrified Forest]]. Among its 18 [[National monument (United States)|national monuments]] and other protected areas managed by the NPS, the [[United States Forest Service]], and the [[Bureau of Land Management]] are [[Bears Ears National Monument|Bears Ears]], [[Rainbow Bridge National Monument|Rainbow Bridge]], [[Dinosaur National Monument|Dinosaur]], [[Hovenweep National Monument|Hovenweep]], [[Wupatki National Monument|Wupatki]], [[Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument|Sunset Crater Volcano]], [[Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument|Grand Staircase–Escalante]], [[Vermillion Cliffs National Monument|Vermillion Cliffs]], [[El Malpais National Monument|El Malpais]], [[Natural Bridges National Monument|Natural Bridges]], [[Canyons of the Ancients National Monument|Canyons of the Ancients]], [[Chaco Culture National Historical Park]] and the [[Colorado National Monument]].

==Geography==
[[File:Bookcliffs.helperUT.jpg|thumb|The [[Book Cliffs]] of Utah|400px]]
[[File:Confluence of Green and Colorado Rivers.jpg|thumb|The [[Green River (Colorado River)|Green River]] runs north to south from Wyoming, briefly through [[Colorado]], and converges with the [[Colorado River]] in southeastern Utah.]]

This province is bounded by the [[Rocky Mountains]] in Colorado and by the  [[Uinta Mountains]] and [[Wasatch Mountains]] branches of the Rockies in northern and central Utah.  It is also bounded by the [[Rio Grande rift]], [[Mogollon Rim]], and the [[Basin and Range Province]] (at the [[Hurricane Fault]]). Isolated ranges of the [[Southern Rocky Mountains]], such as the [[San Juan Mountains]] in Colorado and the [[La Sal Mountains]] in Utah, intermix into the central and southern parts of the Colorado Plateau.
It is composed of six sections:<ref name=geoparklands>{{cite book|title=Geology of U.S. Parklands|first1=Eugene P.|last1=Kiver|first2=David V.|last2=Harris|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=1999|isbn=0-471-33218-6|edition=5th}}</ref>{{rp|367}}
* [[Uinta Basin]] Section
* High Plateaus Section
* [[Grand Canyon]] Section
* [[Canyon Lands]] Section
* [[Navajo section|Navajo Section]]
* [[Datil-Mogollon Section|Datil Section]]

As the name implies, the High Plateaus Section is, on average, the highest section. North-south trending [[normal fault]]s that include the [[Hurricane Fault|Hurricane]], Sevier, [[Grand Wash Cliffs|Grand Wash]], and Paunsaugunt separate the section's component plateaus.<ref name=geoparklands/>{{rp|366}} This fault pattern is caused by the tensional forces pulling apart the adjacent Basin and Range Province to the west, making this section transitional. Occupying the southeast corner of the Colorado Plateau is the Datil Section. Thick sequences of mid-[[Tertiary period|Tertiary]] to late-[[Cenozoic]]-aged [[lava]] covers this section. The development of the province has, in large part, been influenced by structural features in its oldest rocks. Part of the [[Wasatch Line]] and its various faults form the province's western edge. 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.<ref name=geoparklands/>{{rp|376}} The Uinta Basin, Uncompahgre Uplift, and the [[Paradox Basin]] were also formed by movement along structural weaknesses in the region's oldest rock.

In Utah, the province includes several higher [[fault (geology)|fault-separated]] [[plateau]]s:
* [[Awapa Plateau]]
* [[Aquarius Plateau]]
* [[Kaiparowits Plateau]]
* [[Markagunt Plateau]]
* [[Paunsaugunt Plateau]]
* [[Sevier Plateau]]
* [[Fishlake Plateau]]
* [[Pavant Plateau]]
* [[Gunnison Plateau]] and the
* [[Tavaputs Plateau]].

Some sources also include the Tushar Mountain Plateau as part of the Colorado Plateau, but others do not.  The mostly flat-lying [[sedimentary rock]] units that make up these plateaus are found in component plateaus that are between {{convert|1500|to|3350|m|ft|-2|order=flip}} above sea level. A supersequence of these rocks is exposed in the various cliffs and canyons (including the [[Grand Canyon]]) that make up the [[Grand Staircase]]. Increasingly younger east–west trending escarpments of the Grand Staircase extend north of the Grand Canyon and are named for their color:
* [[Chocolate Cliffs]],
* [[Vermillion Cliffs]],
* [[White Cliffs (Utah)|White Cliffs]],
* [[Gray Cliffs]], and the
* [[Pink Cliffs]].<ref name=geoparklands/>{{rp|369}}

Within these rocks are abundant mineral resources, including uranium, coal, petroleum, and natural gas. A study of the area's unusually clear geologic history (laid bare due to the arid and semiarid conditions) has greatly advanced that science. A [[rain shadow]] from the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] far to the west and the many ranges of the Basin and Range means that the Colorado Plateau receives {{convert|15|to|40|cm|in|0|order=flip|spell=in}} of annual precipitation.<ref name=geoparklands/>{{rp|369}} Higher areas receive more precipitation and are covered in forests of pine, fir, and spruce. Though it can be said that the Plateau roughly centers on the Four Corners, [[Black Mesa (Arizona)|Black Mesa]] in northern Arizona is much closer to the east–west, north–south midpoint of the Plateau Province.  Lying southeast of Glen Canyon and southwest of Monument Valley at the north end of the Hopi Reservation, this remote coal-laden highland has about half of the Colorado Plateau's acreage north of it, half south of it, half west of it, and half east of it.

{{anchor|Plateau Sedimentary Province}}
The [[American Association of Petroleum Geologists]] divides the Colorado Plateau into four geologic provinces. These are:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Moore |first1=B.J. |year=1982 |title=Analyses of natural gases, 1917–80 |volume=8870 |publisher=US Department of the Interior |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u2pgSu5cQkEC&dq=%22plateau+sedimentary+province%22&pg=PA1 |access-date=30 October 2021 |pages=4–5}}</ref>
* '''Plateau Sedimentary Province''' in northern Arizona and southern Utah
* [[Black Mesa Basin]] in northeastern Arizona
* [[San Juan Basin]] in northwestern New Mexico 
* Paradox Basin in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah

==Human history==
The [[Ancestral Puebloan People]] lived in the region from roughly 2000 to 700 years ago.<ref name=geoparklands/>{{rp|374}} A party from Santa Fe led by [[Domínguez–Escalante expedition|Fathers Dominguez and Escalante]], unsuccessfully seeking an overland route to California, made a five-month out-and-back trip through much of the Plateau in 1776–1777.<ref>{{cite book|first=Gregory|last=Crampton|author-link=C. Gregory Crampton|title=Standing Up Country|publisher=Alfred Knopf|location=New York|year=1964|pages=43–46}}</ref> Despite having lost one arm in the [[American Civil War]], [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] Major and [[geologist]] [[John Wesley Powell]] explored the area in 1869 and 1872. Using wooden oak boats and small groups of men, the [[Powell Geographic Expedition]] charted this largely unknown region of the United States for the federal government.

Construction of the [[Hoover Dam]] in the 1930s and the [[Glen Canyon Dam]] in the 1960s changed the character of the Colorado River. Dramatically reduced sediment load changed its color from reddish brown (''Colorado'' is [[Spanish language|Spanish]] for "red-colored") to mostly clear. The apparent green color is from [[algae]] on the riverbed's rocks, not from any significant amount of suspended material. The lack of sediment has also starved [[sand bar]]s and beaches, but an experimental 12-day-long controlled flood from Glen Canyon Dam in 1996 showed substantial restoration. Similar floods are planned for every 5 to 10 years.<ref name=geoparklands/>{{rp|375}}{{Update inline|date=October 2022|reason=1999 source for similar floods are planned; should say whether or not they happened over the next 20 years}}

==Geology==
[[File:MODIS1000013.jpg|thumb|300px|left|[[MODIS]] satellite image of Grand Canyon (lower left), [[Lake Powell]] (black, left of center) and the Colorado Plateau. White areas are snow-capped.]]
[[File:SEUtahStrat.JPG|thumb|300px|The [[Permian]] through [[Jurassic]] stratigraphy of the Colorado Plateau area of southeastern Utah that makes up much of the famous prominent rock formations in protected areas such as [[Capitol Reef National Park]] and [[Canyonlands National Park]]. From top to bottom: rounded tan domes of the [[Navajo Sandstone]]; layered red [[Kayenta Formation]]; cliff-forming, vertically jointed, red [[Wingate Sandstone]]; slope-forming, purplish [[Chinle Formation]]; layered, lighter-red [[Moenkopi Formation]]; and white, layered [[Cutler Formation]] sandstone from the [[Glen Canyon National Recreation Area]] in Utah.]]
[[File:AntelopeIslandEchoGhosttowns 221.jpg|thumb|300px|Castle Gate rock formation in [[Carbon County, Utah]].]]
[[File:Zion 04.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Navajo sandstone cliffs in [[Zion National Park]].]]

One of the most geologically intriguing features of the Colorado Plateau is its remarkable stability. Relatively little rock deformation such as [[fault (geology)|faulting]] and [[fold (geology)|folding]] has affected this high, thick crustal block within the last 600 million years or so, although there are some newer features such as the [[Waterpocket Fold]] of Capitol Reef (estimated 50–70 million years old). In contrast, provinces that have suffered severe deformation surround the plateau. Mountain building thrust up the [[Rocky Mountains]] to the north and east and tremendous, earth-stretching tension produced the [[Basin and Range Province]] to the west and south. Sub ranges of the [[Southern Rocky Mountains]] are scattered throughout the Colorado Plateau.<ref name=USGS>{{USGS|url=https://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/province/coloplat.html|work=Geologic Provinces of the United States|title=Colorado Plateau Province|access-date=2017-07-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709182834/https://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/province/coloplat.html|archive-date=2017-07-09|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[Precambrian]] and [[Paleozoic]] history of the Colorado Plateau is best revealed near its southern end, where the [[Grand Canyon]] has exposed rocks with ages that span almost 2 billion years. The oldest rocks at river level are igneous and metamorphic and have been lumped together as [[Vishnu Basement Rocks]]; the oldest ages recorded by these rocks fall from 1950 to 1680 million years. An [[erosion surface]] on the Vishnu Basement Rocks is covered by sedimentary rocks and basalt flows, and these rocks formed in the interval from about 1250 to 750 million years ago: in turn, they were uplifted and split into a range of [[fault-block mountain]]s.<ref name=geoparklands/>{{rp|383}} Erosion greatly reduced this mountain range before the encroachment of a seaway along the passive western edge of the continent in the early Paleozoic. At the canyon rim is the Kaibab Formation, limestone deposited in the late Paleozoic (Permian) about 270 million years ago.

A {{convert|12000|to|15000|ft|m|adj=mid|high}} extension of the [[Ancestral Rocky Mountains]] called the Uncompahgre Mountains were uplifted and the adjacent Paradox Basin subsided. Almost 4&nbsp;mi. (6.4&nbsp;km) of sediment from the mountains and [[evaporite]]s from the sea were deposited (see [[geology of the Canyonlands area]] for detail).<ref name=geoparklands/>{{rp|383}}
Most of the [[formation (geology)|formations]] were deposited in warm shallow seas and near-shore environments (such as beaches and swamps) as the seashore repeatedly advanced and retreated over the edge of a proto-North America (for detail, see [[geology of the Grand Canyon area]]). The province was probably on a [[continental margin]] throughout the late Precambrian and most of the [[Paleozoic]] era. Igneous rocks injected millions of years later form a marbled network through parts of the Colorado Plateau's darker metamorphic basement. By 600 million years ago North America had been leveled off to a remarkably smooth surface.

Throughout the Paleozoic Era, tropical seas periodically inundated the Colorado Plateau region. Thick layers of limestone, sandstone, siltstone, and shale were laid down in the shallow marine waters. During times when the seas retreated, stream deposits and dune sands were deposited or older layers were removed by erosion. Over 300 million years passed as layer upon layer of sediment accumulated.

It was not until the upheavals that coincided with the formation of the supercontinent [[Pangea]] began about 250 million years ago that deposits of marine sediment waned and terrestrial deposits dominate. In late Paleozoic and much of the [[Mesozoic]] era the region was affected by a series of [[orogeny|orogenies]] ([[mountain]]-building events) that deformed western North America and caused a great deal of uplift. Eruptions from volcanic mountain ranges to the west buried vast regions beneath ashy debris. Short-lived rivers, lakes, and inland seas left sedimentary records of their passage. Streams, ponds and lakes produced formations such as the Chinle, Moenave, and Kayenta in the Mesozoic era. Later a vast desert formed the Navajo and Temple Cap formations and dry near-shore environment formed the Carmel  (see [[geology of the Zion and Kolob canyons area]] for details).

The area was again covered by a warm shallow sea when the [[Cretaceous Seaway]] opened in late Mesozoic time. The Dakota Sandstone and the Tropic Shale were deposited in the warm shallow waters of this advancing and retreating seaway. Several other formations were also produced but were mostly [[erosion|eroded]] following two major periods of uplift.

The [[Laramide orogeny]] closed the seaway and uplifted a large belt of crust from Montana to Mexico, with the Colorado Plateau region being the largest block. [[Thrust fault]]s in Colorado are thought to have formed from a slight clockwise movement of the region, which acted as a rigid crustal block. The Colorado Plateau Province was uplifted largely as a single block, possibly due to its relative thickness. This relative thickness may be why compressional forces from the orogeny were mostly transmitted through the province instead of deforming it.<ref name=geoparklands/>{{rp|376}}  Pre-existing weaknesses in Precambrian rocks were exploited and reactivated by the compression. It was along these ancient faults and other deeply buried structures that much of the province's relatively small and gently inclined flexures (such as [[anticline]]s, [[syncline]]s, and [[monocline]]s) formed.<ref name=geoparklands/>{{rp|376}} Some of the prominent isolated mountain ranges of the Plateau, such as [[Ute Mountain]] and the [[Carrizo Mountains]], both near the [[Four Corners]], are cored by igneous rocks that were emplaced about 70 million years ago.

Minor uplift events continued through the start of the [[Cenozoic]] era and were accompanied by some [[basalt]]ic lava eruptions and mild deformation. The colorful [[Claron Formation]] that forms the delicate [[hoodoo (geology)|hoodoos]] of Bryce Amphitheater and Cedar Breaks was then laid down as sediments in cool streams and lakes (see [[geology of the Bryce Canyon area]] for details). The flat-lying [[Chuska Sandstone]] was deposited about 34 million years ago; the sandstone is predominantly of eolian origin and locally more than 500 meters thick. The Chuska Sandstone caps the [[Chuska Mountains]], and it lies unconformably on Mesozoic rocks deformed during the [[Laramide orogeny]].

Younger igneous rocks form spectacular topographic features. The [[Henry Mountains]], [[La Sal Range]], and [[Abajo Mountains]], ranges that dominate many views in southeastern Utah, are formed about igneous rocks that were intruded in the interval from 20 to 31 million years: some igneous intrusions in these mountains form [[laccolith]]s, a form of intrusion recognized by [[Grove Karl Gilbert]] during his studies of the [[Henry Mountains]]. Ship Rock (also called [[Shiprock]]), in northwestern New Mexico, and Church Rock and [[El Capitan (Arizona)|Agathla]], near [[Monument Valley]], are erosional remnants of potassium-rich igneous rocks and associated breccias of the Navajo Volcanic Field, produced about 25 million years ago. The [[Hopi Buttes]] in northeastern Arizona are held up by resistant sheets of sodic volcanic rocks, extruded about 7 million years ago. More recent igneous rocks are concentrated nearer the margins of the Colorado Plateau. The [[San Francisco Peaks]] near [[Flagstaff, Arizona|Flagstaff]], south of the [[Grand Canyon]], are volcanic landforms produced by igneous activity that began in that area about 6 million years ago and continued until 1064 CE, when basalt erupted in [[Sunset Crater National Monument]]. [[Mount Taylor (New Mexico)|Mount Taylor]], near [[Grants, New Mexico]], is a volcanic structure with a history similar to that of the San Francisco Peaks: a basalt flow closer to Grants was extruded only about 3000 years ago (see [[El Malpais National Monument]]). These young igneous rocks may record processes in the [[Earth's mantle]] that are eating away at deep margins of the relatively stable block of the Plateau.

Tectonic activity resumed in Mid Cenozoic time and started to unevenly uplift and slightly tilt the Colorado Plateau region and the region to the west some 20 million years ago (as much as 3 kilometers of uplift occurred). Streams had their [[stream gradient|gradient]] increased and they responded by [[downcutting]] faster.  [[Headward erosion]] and [[mass wasting]] helped to erode cliffs back into their fault-bounded plateaus, widening the basins in-between. Some plateaus have been so severely reduced in size this way that they become [[mesa]]s or even [[butte]]s. Monoclines form as a result of uplift bending the rock units. Eroded monoclines leave steeply tilted resistant rock called a hogback and the less steep version is a cuesta.

Great tension developed in the crust, probably related to changing plate motions far to the west. As the crust stretched, the Basin and Range Province broke up into a multitude of down-dropped valleys and elongate mountains. Major faults, such as the Hurricane Fault, developed that separate the two regions. The dry climate was in large part a [[rainshadow effect]] resulting from the rise of the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] further west. Yet for some reason not fully understood, the neighboring Colorado Plateau was able to preserve its structural integrity and remained a single tectonic block.<ref name=USGS/>

A second mystery was that while the lower layers of the Plateau appeared to be sinking, overall the Plateau was rising.  The reason for this was discovered upon analyzing data from the [[USARRAY]] project.  It was found that the [[asthenosphere]] had invaded the overlying [[lithosphere]], as a result of an area of mantle upwelling stemming from either the disintegration of the descending [[Farallon Plate]], or the survival of the subducted spreading center connected to the [[East Pacific Rise]] and [[Gorda Ridge]] beneath western North America, or possibly both.  The asthenosphere erodes the lower levels of the Plateau.  At the same time, as it cools, it expands and lifts the upper layers of the Plateau.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Levander |first1=A. |last2=Schmandt |first2=B. |last3=Miller |first3=M. S. |last4=Liu |first4=K. |last5=Karlstrom |first5=K. E. |last6=Crow |first6=R. S. |last7=Lee |first7=C.-T. A. |last8=Humphreys |first8=E. D. |title=Continuing Colorado plateau uplift by delamination-style convective lithospheric downwelling |journal=Nature |date=April 2011 |volume=472 |issue=7344 |pages=461–465 |doi=10.1038/nature10001|pmid=21525930 |bibcode=2011Natur.472..461L |s2cid=4322477 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Why is the Colorado Plateau Rising?|url=http://geology.com/press-release/colorado-plateau/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505041839/http://geology.com/press-release/colorado-plateau/|archive-date=2011-05-05|work=Geology.com|access-date=9 May 2011}}</ref> Eventually, the great block of Colorado Plateau crust rose a kilometer higher than the Basin and Range. As the land rose, the streams responded by cutting ever deeper stream channels. The most well-known of these streams, the [[Colorado River (US)|Colorado River]], began to carve the [[Grand Canyon]] less than 6 million years ago.<ref name=USGS/>

The [[Pleistocene]] epoch brought periodic [[ice age]]s and a cooler, wetter climate. This increased erosion at higher elevations with the introduction of [[alpine glacier]]s while mid-elevations were attacked by [[frost wedging]] and lower areas by more vigorous stream scouring.  [[Pluvial]] lakes also formed during this time. Glaciers and pluvial lakes disappeared and the climate warmed and became drier with the start of [[Holocene]] epoch.

==Ecology==
{{main|Colorado Plateau shrublands}}
[[File:Sunset in Ojito Wilderness, NM.jpg|thumb|Sunset in Ojito Wilderness, near [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]]]]
The Colorado Plateau is covered with dry grasslands and shrublands, open [[pinyon-juniper woodland]], and mountain woodlands and forests.<ref name = wwf>{{WWF ecoregion|name=Colorado Plateau shrublands|id=na1304}}</ref>

==Energy resources==
{{see also|Uranium mining in Utah}}
[[File:Caron Power Plant - Utah (corrected).png|thumb|[[Castle Gate Power Plant]] near [[Helper, Utah]].]]
Electrical power generation is one of the major industries that takes place in the Colorado Plateau region. Most electrical generation comes from [[coal fired]] power plants. The rocks of the Colorado Plateau are a source of oil and a major source of [[natural gas]]. Major petroleum deposits are present in the [[San Juan Basin]] of New Mexico and Colorado, the Uinta Basin of Utah, the [[Piceance Basin]] of Colorado, and the [[Paradox Basin]] of Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. The Colorado Plateau holds major uranium deposits, and there was a uranium boom in the 1950s. The [[Moab uranium mill tailings pile|Atlas Uranium Mill]] near Moab has left a problematic tailings pile for cleanup. {{as of|2019}}, 10 million tons of tailings had been relocated out of an estimated 16 million tons.<ref>{{cite web |title=Moab's steady progress through a decade of cleanup |url=https://www.energy.gov/em/articles/moabs-steady-progress-through-decade-cleanup |website=Office of Environmental Management |publisher=U.S. Department of Energy |access-date=20 June 2022 |date=12 September 2019}}</ref>  Major coal deposits are being mined in the Colorado Plateau in Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico, though large coal mining projects, such as on the [[Kaiparowits Plateau]], have been proposed and defeated politically.  The ITT Power Project, eventually located in [[Lynndyl, Utah]], near Delta, was originally suggested for Salt Wash near Capitol Reef National Park.  After a firestorm of opposition, it was moved to a less controversial site.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kotkin |first1=Joel |title=Coal-fired power plant apparently finds a home |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/07/03/coal-fired-power-plant-apparently-finds-a-home/71fd2a88-632c-4884-9ac0-54efd2907a16/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=20 June 2022 |date=3 July 1978}}</ref>  In Utah the largest deposits are in aptly named Carbon County.  In Arizona the biggest operation is on [[Black Mesa (Arizona)|Black Mesa]], supplying coal to Navajo Power Plant. Perhaps the only one of its kind, a [[gilsonite]] plant near Bonanza, southeast of [[Vernal, Utah]], mines this unique, lustrous, brittle form of asphalt, for use in "varnishes, paints,...ink, waterproofing compounds, electrical insulation,...roofing materials."<ref>{{cite book|title=Utah: A Guide to the State|year=1982|page=590}}</ref>

==Protected lands==
This relatively high, semi-arid to arid province produces many distinctive erosional features such as arches, [[Arroyo (watercourse)|arroyos]], canyons, cliffs, fins, [[Natural arch|natural bridges]], pinnacles,  [[Hoodoo (geology)|hoodoos]], and [[monolith]]s that, in various places and extents, have been protected. Also protected are areas of historic or cultural significance, such as the [[pueblo]]s of the [[Ancestral Puebloan]] culture. There are nine [[U.S. National Park]]s, a National Historical Park, nineteen [[U.S. national monument]]s and dozens of [[wilderness area]]s in the province along with millions of acres in [[U.S. National Forest]]s, many state parks, and other protected lands. In fact, this region has the highest concentration of parklands in North America.<ref name=geoparklands/>{{rp|365}} [[Lake Powell]], in foreground, is not a natural lake but a reservoir impounded by [[Glen Canyon Dam]].

National parks (from south to north to south clockwise):
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Petrified Forest National Park]]
* [[Grand Canyon National Park]]
* [[Zion National Park]]
* [[Bryce Canyon National Park]]
* [[Capitol Reef National Park]]
* [[Canyonlands National Park]]
* [[Arches National Park]]
* [[Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park]]
* [[Mesa Verde National Park]]
* [[Chaco Culture National Historical Park]]
{{div col end}}

National monuments (alphabetical):

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Aztec Ruins National Monument]]
* [[Bears Ears National Monument]]
* [[Canyon de Chelly National Monument]]
* [[Canyons of the Ancients National Monument]]
* [[Cedar Breaks National Monument]]
* [[Colorado National Monument]]
* [[Dinosaur National Monument]]
* [[Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument]]
* [[Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument]]
* [[El Malpais National Monument]]
* [[El Morro National Monument]]
* [[Hovenweep National Monument]]
* [[Navajo National Monument]]
* [[Natural Bridges National Monument]]
* [[Pipe Spring National Monument]]
* [[Rainbow Bridge National Monument]]
* [[Sunset Crater National Monument]]
* [[Vermilion Cliffs National Monument]]
* [[Walnut Canyon National Monument]]
* [[Wupatki National Monument]]
{{div col end}}

Wilderness areas (alphabetical):
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness]]
* [[Ashdown Gorge Wilderness]]
* [[Beaver Dam Mountains Wilderness]]
* [[Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness]]
* [[Cebolla Wilderness]]
* [[Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness]]
* [[Box-Death Hollow Wilderness]]
* [[Cottonwood Point Wilderness]]
* [[Dark Canyon Wilderness]]
* [[Escudilla Wilderness]]
* [[Flat Tops Wilderness]]
* [[Grand Wash Cliffs Wilderness]]
* [[Kachina Peaks Wilderness]]
* [[Kanab Creek Wilderness]]
* [[Kendrick Mountain Wilderness]]
* [[Lizard Head Wilderness]]
* [[Mount Baldy Wilderness]]
* [[Mount Logan Wilderness]]
* [[Mount Trumbull Wilderness]]
* [[Ojito Wilderness]]
* [[Paiute Wilderness]]
* [[Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness]]
* [[Pine Valley Mountain Wilderness]]
* [[Saddle Mountain Wilderness]]
* [[South San Juan Wilderness]]
* [[Mount Sneffels Wilderness]]
* [[Strawberry Crater Wilderness]]
* [[Uncompahgre Wilderness]]
* [[High Uintas Wilderness]]
* [[Weminuche Wilderness]]
* [[West Malpais Wilderness]]
{{div col end}}

Other notable protected areas include: [[Barringer Crater]], [[Dead Horse Point State Park]], [[Glen Canyon National Recreation Area]], [[Goblin Valley State Park]], [[Goosenecks State Park]], the [[Grand Gulch Primitive Area]], [[Kodachrome Basin State Park]], [[Monument Valley]], and the [[San Rafael Swell]]. Sedona, Arizona and Oak Creek Canyon lie on the south-central border of the Plateau. Many but not all of the Sedona area's cliff formations are protected as wilderness ([[Red Rock State Park]] and [[Coconino National Forest]]). The area has the visual appeal of a national park, but with a small, rapidly growing town in the center.

{{Gallery
| title = National Park Gallery
| align = center
| File:Painted Desert badlands Tawa Point.jpg
 | [[Petrified Forest National Park]], Painted Desert
| File:Dawn on the S rim of the Grand Canyon (8645178272).jpg
 | [[Grand Canyon National Park]], South Rim
| File:Zion Canyon in Autumn (5015257435).jpg
 | [[Zion National Park]], Zion Canyon in autumn
| File:Inspiration Point Bryce Canyon November 2018 panorama.jpg
 | [[Bryce Canyon National Park]]
| File:Capitol Reef National Park.jpg
 | [[Capitol Reef National Park]]
| File:Mesa Arch Canyonlands sunrise.jpg
 | [[Canyonlands National Park]], Mesa Arch
| File:Landscape Arch Utah.jpg
 | [[Arches National Park]], Landscape Arch
| File:Black Canyon and Gunnison River 2008.jpg
 | [[Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park]]
| File:Cliff Palace-Colorado-Mesa Verde NP.jpg
 | [[Mesa Verde National Park]], Cliff Palace
| File:DSC 5961-w.jpg
 | [[Chaco Culture National Historical Park]], Pueblo Bonito
}}

==See also==
{{portal|Environment|Geography|Geology|History|United States|Arizona|Colorado|New Mexico|Utah}}
* [[Mojave Desert]]
* [[Great Basin]]
* [[Sonoran Desert]]
* [[Chihuahuan Desert]]
* [[Llano Estacado]] (a similar geographic region in Texas and New Mexico, cut by steep sided canyons such as [[Palo Duro Canyon]])
{{clear}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|33em}}
* {{cite book|first=Donald L.|last=Baars|title=Red Rock Country: The Geologic History of the Colorado Plateau|publisher=Doubleday|year=1972|isbn=0385013418}}
* {{cite book|first=Donald L.|last=Baars|title=Traveler's Guide to the Geology of the Colorado Plateau|publisher=University of Utah Press|year=2002|isbn=0874807158}}
* {{cite book|first=W. Scott|last=Baldridge|title=Geology of the American Southwest: A Journey Through Two Billion Years of Plate-Tectonic History|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2004|isbn=0521016665}}
* {{Citation | last = Bauman | first = Joseph M. | title = Utah History Encyclopedia | publisher = University of Utah Press | year = 1994 | chapter = The Colorado Plateau | chapter-url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/c/COLORADO_PLATEAU.shtml | url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240321165232/https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/c/COLORADO_PLATEAU.shtml | archive-date = March 21, 2024 | isbn =9780874804256 | access-date = April 12, 2024}}
* {{cite book|last=Fillmore|first=Robert|title=Geological Evolution of the Colorado Plateau of Eastern Utah and Western Colorado|publisher=University of Utah Press|year=2011|isbn=978-1607810049}}
* {{cite book|title=Geology of National Parks|edition=Fifth|first1=Ann G.|last1=Harris|first2=Esther|last2=Tuttle|first3=Sherwood D.|last3=Tuttle|location=Iowa|publisher=Kendall/Hunt Publishing|year=1997|pages=2–3, 19–20, 25|isbn=0787253537}}
* {{cite book|title=Physical Geology|edition=Eighth|first1=Charles C.|last1=Plummer|first2=David|last2=McGeary|first3=Diane H.|last3=Carlson|publisher=McGraw-Hill|location=Boston|year=1999|page=[https://archive.org/details/physicalgeology00char/page/320 320]|isbn=0697374041|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/physicalgeology00char/page/320}}
* {{cite book|title=Earth System History|first=Steven M.|last=Stanley|publisher=W.H. Freeman and Company|year=1999|pages=511–513, 537|isbn=0716728826}}
* {{cite book|first=Annabelle|last=Foos|title=Geology of the Colorado Plateau|archive-date=2004-06-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040610031352/http://www2.nature.nps.gov/geology/education/foos/plateau.pdf|url=http://www2.nature.nps.gov/geology/education/foos/plateau.pdf|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=2005-12-21|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite book|first=Ward|last=Roylance|title=Utah: A Guide to the State|publisher=Utah: A Guide to the State Foundation|location=Salt Lake City|year=1982|ol=3508093M}}
* {{cite book|last=Look|first=Al|year=1947|title=A Thousand Million Years on the Colorado Plateau|publisher=Golden Bell Publications|oclc=254673147}}
* {{cite book|first=Stephen|last=Trimble|title=The Bright Edge: A Guide to the National Parks of the Colorado Plateau|publisher=Museum of Northern Arizona Press|year=1979|oclc=768218015}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{sister project links|auto=yes}}
{{Colorado River system}}
{{Geography topics}}
{{Arizona}}
{{Colorado}}
{{New Mexico}}
{{Utah}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:Colorado Plateau]]