Ranger Sarah views the Grand Canyon. The story of the formation of the Grand Canyon begins almost two billion years ago with the formation of the igneous and metamorphic rocks of the inner gorge. Above these old rocks lie layer upon layer of sedimentary rock, each telling a unique part of the environmental history of the Grand Canyon region.
Ranger Sarah with the colorful Paria Mountains. The mountains comprise various sedimentary rock layers, each representing different geological periods. These layers have been deposited over 85 million years, creating a rich tapestry of colors and textures.
— at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
Ranger Sarah with another amazing view of the Rainbow Mountains. The vivid hues are attributed to the encrustation of iron oxides, manganese, cobalt, and others. These minerals have leached into the rock layers over time, staining them with shades of red, purple, yellow, and blue.
— at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
Ranger Sarah learns that three factors are necessary to make these sand dunes. The dunes are formed from the erosion of pink-colored Navajo Sandstone surrounding the park. High winds passing through the notch between the Moquith and Moccasin Mountains pick up loose sand particles and then drop them onto the dunes as a result of the Venturi effect.
Ranger Sarah learns more about the dunes. She learned that the north-south-trending Sevier fault cuts through the length of the park. The fault trace is marked by a west-facing bedrock escarpment that divides the park into two topographic units and acts as a major control over the accumulation of sand within the dune field.
— Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park.
Ranger Sarah view the snow covered Bryce Canyon. After the rock was laid down, uplift began as the he Farallon Plate was forced underneath the North American Plate. Over the last several million years the Farallon plate began to break apart allowing heat to rise and elevate the Colorado Plateau to its current height.
Ranger Sarah with another spectacular view. The uplifted Bryce’s rocks eventually reached the “goldilocks zone” - the perfect elevation for the forces of nature to create Bryce’s hoodoos. Now weathering and erosion can go to work.
Ranger Sarah enjoys the view created by weathering & erosion. Bryce receives both above & below freezing temperatures over 170 nights a year. Water seeps its way into the cracks in the rock, later with freezing temperatures, the water begins to freeze. When water freezes it expands by 9%! This expansion creates pressure on the surrounding rock, causing it to break apart. Eventually the rocks break down into what you see today.
Ranger Sarah gets her first view from the Piracy Point trail. Here she looks down into Swamp Canyon and the Sheep Creek drainage system to the north and the Willis Creek drainage system that collects run-off south from here.
— at Bryce Canyon National Park.
Ranger Sarah has arrived at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in Nebraska. Known for a large number of well-preserved Miocene fossils. Fossils from the Harrison Formation and Anderson Ranch Formation, which date to the Arikareean in the North American land mammal classification, about 20 to 16.3 million years ago, are among some of the best specimens of Miocene mammals.
Ranger Sarah has spotted a short-horned lizard, sometimes called the horny toad. Can you see it, it blends in perfectly with the rocks behind it. This little guy is commonly sited around the rocks near the Fossil Hills trail. Short-horned lizards are between two and six inches long with pointy spines on their head and body.
Ranger Sarah studies the trail sign for the 1 mile loop Daemonelix Trail. A Daemonelix are large spirals. At first thought to be the fossil remains of gigantic plants, they were later identified as the fossilized casts of spiral burrows made by ancient beavers called Palaeocastor.
— at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument.
Ranger Sarah learns about the ancient sand dunes. This 22 million year old sand dune is the oldest land form exposed in the Niobrara Valley. The sandstone is composed of fine volcanic material that were transported by the wind from volcanic areas in Utah and Nevada.
— at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument.
Ranger Sarah at strange corkscrew that was once know as the Devil's Corkscrew. The Daemonelix is the corkscrew entrance to the Palocaster's den. Palocasters were small ancient beavers that behaved like modern prairie dogs.
— at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument.
Niobrara River was to small to carve this valley area. River Terraces found in the area indicated that a larger, ancient river once flowed through forming the valley.
— at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument.
Ranger Sarah at the entrance to to Lignite Cave. The cave is home to tricolor bats, cave salamanders, slimy salamanders, cave crickets, and pickerel frogs.
— at Roaring River State Park, Missouri.
Ranger Sarah found a friend, a Giant Walkingstick (Megaphasma denticrus). The Giant Walkingstick is the largest insect in North America, at least measured by length, with females up to 7 inches long. The Giant Walkingstick is one of 30 varieties of stick insects in North America. Four types live in Missouri.
Ranger Sarah's newest friend a Giant Walkingstick (Megaphasma denticrus) takes a ride on her hat. Their are more than 3,000 species of stick insect worldwide. The giant walkingstick eats leaves. It is perfectly camouflaged for a life in trees and shrubs. Walkingsticks not only look like twigs but also sway their bodies to mimic the motion of branches in a breeze.