Geology of Unaweep Canyon and its role in the drainage evolution of the northern Colorado Plateau

• Published in: Geosphere (Boulder, Colo.) Vol. 11; no. 2; pp. 320 - 341
• Main Authors: Soreghan, Gerilyn S, Sweet, Dustin E, Thomson, Stuart N, Kaplan, Sara A, Marra, Kristen R, Balco, Greg, Eccles, Thaddeus M
• Format: Journal Article Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: Geological Society of America 01.04.2015
• Subjects: absolute age; Al-26; alkaline earth metals; aluminum; Be-10; bedrock; beryllium; boreholes; burial; Canyons; Cenozoic; Colorado; Colorado Plateau; Colorado River; cores; digital terrain models; Drainage; drainage patterns; Elevation; Evolution; exposure age; fission-track dating; fluvial features; geochronology; geomorphology; Gravel; Gunnison River; isotopes; landform evolution; lithostratigraphy; Mapping; Mesozoic; metals; Mouth; Paleozoic; Precambrian; provenance; radioactive isotopes; relative age; Rivers; sediments; Unaweep Canyon; Uncompahgre Uplift; United States; USA, Colorado, Grand Junction; USA, Colorado R; USA, Colorado Plateau; USA, Colorado; USA, Colorado, Gunnison Gorge, Gunnison R; ISE, Mexico, California Gulf

Unaweep Canyon (Colorado, USA) is a large, Precambrian-cored gorge that bisects the Uncompahgre Plateau of the northeastern Colorado Plateau, but has no through-flowing axial stream; it is drained by two underfit creeks (East and West Creek) that head at a divide within the canyon. The history of th...