ARCHES NATIONAL PARK BY Stefan Ionascu DELICATE ARCH ARCHES NATIONAL PARK BY Stefan Ionascu

OVERVIEW There are many places with arches and natural bridges in the world. But, there is no place so beautiful and with so many arches such as Arches National Park. It is located in Grand County, Utah, north of the town of Moab, Arches National Park has over 2,000 recorded arches . The Jurassic-era sandstones covers the entire park and has the amazing ability to change shape throughout the years into arches. That gives the park its name. MAP OF ARCHES NATIONAL PARK MAP OF USA/Red dot marks ARCHES NATIONAL PARK

WHAT YEAR DID THE PARK BECOME AN OFFICIAL NATIONAL PARK AND WHY? In 1922 Arches was discovered as a potential tourist attraction by a local miner and prospector named Alexander Ringhoffer. In 1929, by an Act of Congress, under President Herbert Hoover’s permission, it was named first as Arches National Monument. Only in 1971, President Richard Nixon signed the law that changed Arches to a National Park and set its size at the present 73,233 acres. The Arches National Park was created to protect the sandstone formations such as arches, spires, balanced rocks, gargoyles, hoodoos, towers, ribs etc. SAND DUNE ARCH TOPOGRAPHIC MAP OF USA Red dot marks ARCHES NATIONAL PARK

WHAT SPECIAL LANFORMS OR FEATURES ARE INSIDE ARCHES NATIONAL PARK? Arches National Park sits on an underground salt bed called the Paradox Formation. The park is filled with arches, towering spires, balanced rocks, fins and eroded monoliths. Beside these, there are lush riparian areas, ephemeral pools, dry arroyos, mixed grasslands and large expanses of bare rock. Arches also has cryptobiotic soil and potholes. POTHOLE IN ARCHES NATIONAL PARK MESA ARCH BALANCED ROCK ARCH

WHAT ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES ARE AFFECTING ARCHES NATIONAL PARK? Do not step on Cryptobionic crust, its alive! This is a dark crust, made out of Cyanobacteria, lichens algae and fungi. It can be found everywhere on the ground of the Arches. It’s important because it helps desert plants grow and it protects against erosion. It takes up to 50 years to regenerate Cyanobacteria. Soil erosion is linked to wind erosion. Wind blows away particles of sand which changes the landscape over time. CRYPTOBIONIC CRUST SIGNS IN ARCHES NATIONAL PARK THE ROOTS OF A BLACKBRUSH EXPOSED TO SOIL EROSION Each year, Arches is visited by 700,000 visitors. The park’s ecosystem is threatened by careless visitors, noise, water, and air pollution. Oil and gas leasing near Arches have a great impact on the park: air quality is diminished, water would be sucked from the already dry lands, and pumps would degrade the ecosystem of the park. There is a constant battle to restrict such things. But environmentalists have been helping keep Arches the same.

HOW IS TECHNOLOGY USED TO HELP PERSERVE AND MAINTAIN ARCHES NATIONAL PARK? VAULT TOILETS SIDEWALK AT THE SKYLINE ARCH TRAILHEAD MAN-MADE TRAIL 80% of the park’s entrance fees are used for important projects such as: building sidewalks to allow more access to scenic views, making retaining walls to protect the arches from erosion, constructing trails that don’t disrupt the organisms, replacing the vault toilets, upgrading the campgrounds, repairing park structures, and updating utility systems. There is a way to help preserve Arches, balloon riding! It is fun and you can catch a lot of scenery, but best of all it doesn’t destroy the land below. BALLOON WATCHING

WHAT TYPE OF ROCKS CAN BE FOUND IN ARCHES NATIONAL PARK? The most found rock in Arches National Park is Entrada sandstone. It’s color is red and it is a sedimentary rock that is a blend of textures and densities combined together with various amounts of calcium carbonate cement. The wind and water erosion wears away the sandstone which then creates arches. Chalcedony, is a variety of quartz. The American Indians were attracted to the area around delicate arch because of Chalcedony, which could be used to make arrowheads, spear points, grinding bowls and others. DOUBLE ARCH ENTRADA SANDSTONE LANDSCAPE ARCH CHALCEDONY

HOW WAS ARCHES NATIONAL PARK FORMED? (FROM EARTH SCIENCE PERSPECTIVE) 300,000 million years ago a sea covered the area of Arches. The sea evaporated 29 times and exposed a thick salt bed. Rock and soil from inland started moving onto the salt bed, covering it. Since the salt was less dense than the rocks and soil it seeped upward forming domes with small valleys between them. Arches is exposed to high winds, water erosion and frost that changes Arches everyday. DIAGRAM SHOWING HOW ARCHES ARE FORMED FINS IN ARCHES NATIONAL PARK DIAGRAM FOR WIND EROSION

HOW IS THE LAND INSIDE ARCHES NATIONAL PARK CURRENTLY CHANGING? The arches that you see today in Arches National Park used to be flat barren rock. Later wind, water, and ice erosion eroded the domes collapsing them which then made ‘fins’. Then wind, water and ice erosion collapsed the bottom of the fin. Which then made an arch. But erosion is not only helping Arches but destroying it. Erosion wears away an arch and it may collapse. So the arches that you see now probably wont be there 1000 years from now. DIAGRAMS ILLUSTARTING THE FORMATION OF AN ARCH DIAGRAMS ILLUSTARTING THE FORMATION OF FINS

BIBLIOGRAPHY http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/arches-national-park-ga2.htm http://www.untraveledroad.com/arches-national-park.htm http://www.us-parks.com/arches-national-park/arches-national-park.html http://www.nps.gov/arch/learn/nature/geologicformations.htm http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/national-parks/arches-national-park http://www.sangres.com/utah/national-parks/arches-national-park/index.htm#.Vldhw16z4gc https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0787299707 http://www.nps.gov/arch/learn/management/yourdollarsatwork.htm https://www.npca.org/parks/arches-national-park

BIBLIOGRAPHY (CONTINUE) https://www.nature.nps.gov/geology/parks/arch/arch_gre_rpt_view.pdf http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-nature-carve-sandstone-pillars-arches-180952068/?no-ist http://creation.com/rock-arches-and-the-flood http://education.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/erosion http://www.desertusa.com/arches/du_arc_desc.html http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/national-parks/arches-national-park/