High on the cliff in front of you, the contact between two rock formations can be seen. The hard, massive Buda Limestone forms the top of the cliff and rests on top of the softer layers of Del Rio Clay. These rock layers were laid down on the floor of an ancient sea during the Cretaceous Period about 95 million years ago.
The change in the character of these two rock formations represents a change in the ancient environment and likely indicates a deepening of the ancient sea. The Del Rio Clay would have been deposited in relatively shallow water near the shore, while the Buda Limestone was deposited in deeper water. This change was probably not sudden; rather, the contact represents a gap in the rock record, probably caused by erosion of the top of the Del Rio Clay before the limestone was deposited. Later, these rock layers were uplifted to form the mountains surrounding you by the same tectonic forces that created the Rocky Mountains.
The change in the character of these two rock formations represents a change in the ancient environment and likely indicates a deepening of the ancient sea. The Del Rio Clay would have been deposited in relatively shallow water near the shore, while the Buda Limestone was deposited in deeper water. This change was probably not sudden; rather, the contact represents a gap in the rock record, probably caused by erosion of the top of the Del Rio Clay before the limestone was deposited. Later, these rock layers were uplifted to form the mountains surrounding you by the same tectonic forces that created the Rocky Mountains.
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Itineraries across USA
Acadia
Arches National Park
Badlands
Big Bend
Biscayne
Black Canyon Of The Gunnison
Bryce Canyon
Canyonlands
Capitol Reef
Carlsbad Caverns
Channel Islands
Congaree
Crater Lake
Cuyahoga Valley
Death Valley
Dry Tortugas
Everglades
Gateway Arch
Glacier
Grand Canyon
Grand Teton
Great Basin
Great Smoky Mountains
Guadalupe Mountains
Haleakalā
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes
Hot Springs
Indiana Dunes
Isle Royale
Joshua Tree
Kenai Fjords
Kobuk Valley
Lassen Volcanic
Mammoth Cave
Mesa Verde
Mount Rainier
North Cascades
Olympic
Petrified Forest
Pinnacles
Rocky Mountain
Saguaro
Shenandoah
Theodore Roosevelt
Virgin Islands
Voyageurs
White Sands
Wind Cave
Yellowstone
Yosemite
Zion