1. Capitol Reef National Park Project
By: Daniel Murphy

2. Relief Map of Capitol Reef with important land forms identified
Fishlake National Forest
Boulder Mountain
Henry Mountains

3. Capitol Reef National Park in Utah

4. Info on when Capitol Reef became a National Park, who made it and why
Capitol Reef was founded on December 18th 1971.
It was founded by Ephraim Portman Pectol and his brother in- law, Joseph S. Hickman. They thought that it contained canyons and other land forms of unusual scientific value and may be of geological and public interest. They ran a promotional campaign, submitting stories and photographs to newspapers to attract interest to the Waterpocket Fold area.
In 1937, President Roosevelt set aside 37,711 acres of the Capitol Reef area as a National Monument. This included an area near present Utah Highway 24 and Capitol Gorge.
Ephraim Portman Pectol

5. Environmental issues
The following environmental issues are impacting the park:
Air Pollution
Pollutants like nitrogen, ozone and mercury impact natural resources such as vegetation and wildlife. For example, sometimes the park’s beautiful views are blocked by haze that is caused by fine particles in the air.
Climate Change
According to a recent study by the National Park Service, average temperatures have increased and more climate events (intense storms, floods, droughts) are occurring.

6. Special Landforms and Features
The Waterpocket Fold
A geologic landform extending over 100 miles!
It is a huge “fold” or spine in the Earth that formed between million years ago
The Capitol Reef
White domes of Navajo Sandstone that look like capitol building domes
The Cathedral Valley
Reddish-Orange Sandstone that is formed to look like a Cathedral building

7. How is Technology used to maintain and preserve the park?
GPS/GIS for mapping
-all kinds of special equipment and computers for collecting information about plant and animal populations, geologic processes, night sky quality, visitor impacts, and much more
-desktop computers and software for creating reports and doing research
-radios for communication
-GPS and technical equipment for patrolling and Search and Rescue
-desktop computers for communication and doing research
-the park film/website/projectors for conveying information and presentations

8. Main Rocks found in Capitol Reef:
In Cathedral Valley, erosion has caused the towers of Entrada Sandstone to look like cathedrals.
Wingate Sandstone: Sand dunes on the shore of an ancient sea.
Kayenta Formation: Thin-bedded layers of sand deposited by slow-moving streams in channels and across low plains.
Navajo Sandstone: Huge fossilized sand dunes from a massive Sahara-like desert.
The San Rafael Group consists of four Jurassic period formations, from oldest to youngest:
Carmel Formation: Gypsum, sand, and limey silt laid down in what may have been a graben that was periodically flooded by sea water.
Entrada Sandstone: Sandstone from barrier islands/sand bars in a near-shore environment.
Curtis Formation: Made from conglomerate, sandstone, and shale.
Mancos Shale

9. How was the park formed?
The Waterpocket Fold formed between 50 and 70 million years ago when a major mountain building event in western North America, the Laramide Orogeny, reactivated an ancient buried fault.
When the fault moved, the overlying rock layers were draped above the fault and formed a monocline.
More recent uplift of the entire Colorado Plateau and the resulting erosion has exposed this fold at the surface only within the last 15 to 20 million years.
The name Waterpocket Fold reflects this ongoing erosion of the rock layers. "Waterpockets" are basins that form in many of the sandstone layers as they are eroded by water. These basins are common throughout the fold, thus giving it the name "Waterpocket Fold".

10. How is the park currently changing? (Earth science perspective)
Erosion from rain, water, snow, weather and time is always in motion. Even though it is noticeable over millions of years.
This erosion can erode rocks and other formations over time.
The most recent erosion has exposed the Waterpocket Fold at the surface only within the last 15 to 20 million years.

11. Sources

12. Pictures Capitol Reef National Park Sign Cathedral Valley
Waterpocket fold