CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK - Geology of Southern Utah Part 3

Where did Capitol Reef gets its name? Did coral reefs exist here millions of years ago? What about the “Capitol” part? Where did that come from? The answer might surprise you…

In this geology adventure we explore Capitol Reef National Park and learn about a HUGE fold that stretches over Utah containing almost a complete set of Mesozoic Rocks (Age of the Dinosaurs). This fold tells us an interesting story of global plate tectonics, deposition, uplift from subduction, and erosion. We will explore the oldest layers of the park (and the environment in which they formed), all the way up to the youngest layers. This episode has it all: rift valleys, volcanos, mountain building events (Laramie Orogeny), and more! If you are traveling to Capitol Reef and want to impress your friends and family with how knowledgeable you are, check out this video! If you are a geology nerd like me and want to learn more about our earth, please subscribe to my channel! If you want to know more about this topic, check out the Capitol Reef National Park website (they have some great diagrams that explain the Water Pocket Fold).

If you’ve never been to Capitol Reef National Park, I highly recommend visiting! The hiking and camping opportunities are amazing! It’s definitely underrated in my opinion.

This is the final part of my three park series about the geology of Southern Utah and the Colorado Plateau. If you haven’t checked out part 1 and 2, give those a watch! In my previous videos I go over the geology of Cayonlands National Park and Arches National Park. Thanks for watching!

#geology #utahnationalparks #capitolreef #hiking #monocline #womeninstem #dinosaurs #adventure #geologyexploration #southernutah #volcanos #science #rockformation #rockhounding #subduction