Grand Mesa Emerald Isle is a photograph by Janice Pariza which was uploaded on October 5th, 2016.
Grand Mesa Emerald Isle
An Island erupts in the middle of a turquoise lake on top of the Grand Mesa on Colorado's Western Slope. Not too unusual considering the history... more
Title
Grand Mesa Emerald Isle
Artist
Janice Pariza
Medium
Photograph - Photography Art
Description
An Island erupts in the middle of a turquoise lake on top of the Grand Mesa on Colorado's Western Slope. Not too unusual considering the history behind the Mesa and the way it was shaped and the geology..
The Grand Mesa is a large mesa in western Colorado in the United States. It is the largest flat-topped mountain in the entire world. It has an area of about 500 square miles (1,300 km2) and stretches for about 40 miles (64 km) east of Grand Junction between the Colorado River and the Gunnison River, its tributary to the south. The north side of the mesa is drained largely by Plateau Creek, a smaller tributary of the Colorado. The west side is drained largely by Kannah Creek, which is received to the west by the lower Gunnison River. The mesa rises about 6,000 feet (1,800 m) above the surrounding river valleys, including the Grand Valley to the west, reaching an elevation of about 11,000 feet (3,400 m), with a maximum elevation of 11,333 feet (3,454 m) at Crater Peak. Much of the mesa is within Grand Mesa National Forest. Over 300 lakes, including many reservoirs created and used for drinking and irrigation water, are scattered along the top of the formation. The Grand Mesa is flat in some areas, but quite rugged in others.
The mesa is topped by a hard volcanic basalt. This layer, formed approximately 10 million years ago by basalt flows, suppressed erosion compared to the surrounding sedimentary rock layers, which suffered rapid downcutting from the action of the Colorado and the Gunnison rivers. The top layer rests on a thick sequence of Eocene shale and sandstone known as the Green River and Wasatch Formations. These layers in turn rest on a Cretaceous layer known as the Mesaverde Group that forms a cliff about halfway up the side of the mesa. The lowest layers are yellow and gray Mancos Shale of late Cretaceous age. The shale continues outward into the surrounding valleys in the vicinity of the mesa, providing a soil base that is fertile for various kinds of agriculture, especially in the Gunnison Valley to the south.
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Uploaded
October 5th, 2016
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Comments (8)
Mick Anderson
Superb image, Janice!! I spent some time in the Grand Junction/Colbran area many years ago, and that mesa is spectacular!! Too bad I didn't have a camera back then... This is Gorgeous!! :) F/V
Scott Kingery
Visited the mesa years ago. My future wife and I went horseback riding on the Mesa. We also drove around and saw many of the lakes. The color is as I remember it. At the time, there were not many people visiting the place. It was very tranquil. I don't know about these days. Seems to be a lot of people just about everywhere. L/F