By: Christian Graham Capitol Reef

Introduction Capitol Reef national park is located in Utah. It is home to many beautiful temples, land marks and wildlife. Capitol Reef is mostly desert and stretches across quite a few acres and many miles.

What year did the park become an official national park and why? Ephraim Portman Pectol played a major part in founding the national park as did president Roosevelt. Pectol lived 20 miles away from the Capitol Reef area as a child and felt that the land had a rugged beauty. In 1921 he started a promotional campaign promoting the area. He wanted other people to appreciate the beauty of the area so as soon as he was elected into the legislature he called up president Roosevelt and asked for the creation of Wayne Wonderland national monument. The Wayne Wonderland national monument was the early Capitol Reef national park name.(1920s) How was the park formed? The first known soil was washed into the area after a shallow sea flooded the area. The first rocks were sandstone and later limestone. On top of that silt, logs, sand, mud and wind-transported volcanic ash were later added. And after millions of years the natural forces of the earth have worked their magic and transformed it into the wonder it is today.

What type of rocks can be found inside your park? The rocks, amazingly are up to 200 million years old and tell you a lot about what was there before the land marks that are there today. What is really interesting about that is that swamps and rivers existed before the canyons and other land features. But eventually erosion and other factors made the swamps into deserts and the rivers into shallow dents in the surface of the earth. Capitol reef is home to many different rocks including gypsum sandstone, limestone and ordinary every day rocks! There is a diverse collection of sandstone and limestone ranging from Flagstaff limestone to Dakota sandstone. What type of special landforms or features are inside your park? The park is mostly a desert area with canyons, mesas, plateaus and valleys. Many of Capitol reef's landmarks owe their very existence to erosion. One of the most interesting things about the park are the Sun and the Moon temples and as I mentioned before they are man made and have been eroded by gypsum. They were created by Native Americans in the 9th century and were created in the Entrada sandstone. There is also a mountain made entirely of gypsum it is called the glass mountain and is a gigantic exposed plug of gypsum. One main attraction of the park is the Waterpocket Fold, a 100 mile warp in the earth's crust caused by a fault line that was dormant until 50-70 million years ago when a mountains shift reactivated it. The fold is actually 7000 feet lower than it was back then and if you went back in time and saw it then you wouldn't even recognize it! Another cool feature of the park are the Cathedral valley sand stone temples they are man made but also co-constructed by gypsum that has eroded the temples. Also in Cathedral valley are thin volcanic plugs that formed 3 to 6 million years ago.

How is the land inside the park currently changing? The waterpocket fold is actually growing. It is 100 miles long but is still growing! Also many mountains won't be more than hills due to erosion in the next million years. Including the great glass mountain which is a giant gypsum plug. The conditions in Capitol reef are ideal for erosion due to the fact that Capitol Reef is mostly a Desert area. (it is very windy there) Every single thing is changing in the park because of erosion or tectonic plates or whatever other mysterious forces that are at work that we don't know about. What environmental issues are affecting your park? Earthquakes are a major issue for the park a 7.5 quake and up could topple or crack many beautiful structures and landmarks. Two structures that surely everyone would miss are the Sun and Moon temples. These temples are very cool pieces of history because they were created in the 9th century and were carved out of the Entrada sandstone with primitive tools! Imagine trying to dig solid rock out with a sharpened piece of metal, no diamond bit saws, just a hunk of metal.

How is technology used to preserve and maintain the park? Capitol Reef park people have created a boardwalk to keep people off the park ground,plants and animals. The boardwalk protects the animals from harmful interaction with humans. Such as humans messing up the animals diet by feeding them cupcakes or crackers. The park is also trying to exterminate invasive species while moving species that are native to the area and have been killed off by invasive species. Another thing that they have been doing is restoring the natural resources that have dried up or have been moved, all with wonderful, wonderful technology.

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Easy access Beginning Intro What year did the park become an official national park and why? How was the park formed? What type of rocks can be found inside your park? What type of special landforms or features are inside your park? How is the land inside the park currently changing? What environmental issues are affecting your park? How is technology used to preserve and maintain the park? Map Bibliography

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