1. Zion National Park
Owen O’Neill
11/20/15

2. What year did Zion become an official park and why?
Zion became a National Park on November 19, 1919.
Around 1860, Mormons settled into the area. By the 1900s, Zion Canyon had been recognized as a potential destination for tourism based on its beauty, which led to President Taft naming the area a National Monument in 1909 to protect the scenery and the natural and historical items and wild life within it, under the name of Mukuntuweap National Monument. In 1918, the director of the newly created National Park Service changed the park’s name to Zion National Monument, the name used by the Mormons. The U.S. Congress then established the monument as a National Park in 1919.

3. Zion National Park Relief Map & Landform Features
Zion National Park is 30 miles in length and 15 miles across at its widest point, totaling 148,000 acres. Elevations range from 4,000 to 8,700 feet. The Park has a landscape of beautiful, colorful deep canyons, high cliffs, mesas, and forested plateaus. The elevation differences in the park provides many types of habitat including grassland, desert, wetland, riparian, and forest.
Zion Canyon, carved by the Virgin River, is about 15 miles long and about 2, ,000 feet deep. The river runs 162 miles through the states of Nevada, Utah and Arizona.
Angels Landing is one of the world's best trails. It has awesome views of Zion Canyon and is pretty easy to hike. But if you’re afraid of heights, be aware! The final leg is very high and steep, with sheer drop-offs.

4. Map of the USA with Zion National Park Identified
Zion is right here!
Zion National Park is located on the southwest side of the U.S, near St. George and Springdale Utah. It lies on the northwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau. Zion is part of the Southwest's "Grand Circle" of national parks, monuments, historic areas, and recreation areas, which is one of the world's biggest areas of great natural and cultural features. Cedar Breaks National Monument is nearby to the northeast, Bryce Canyon National Park and Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument are nearby to the east, Pipe Spring National Monument and the north rim of Grand Canyon National Park are to the south, and Parashant National Monument is to the southwest.

5. Bibliography
United States. National Park Service. "Nearby Attractions." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, 28 Nov Web. 29 Nov <
"Zion National Park Trip Planning." St George Area Tourism Office RSS2. St. George Area Tourism Office, n.d. Web. 29 Nov <
"Zion National Park." Utah.com. Utah Travel Industry, Web. 29 Nov < park>.
"Zion National Park." - New World Encyclopedia. New World Encyclopedia, 2 July Web. 29 Nov <
Hinton, Wayne. "The Development of Zion National Park." The Development of Zion National Park. State of Utah, Web. 29 Nov <
Braun, Joe. "Joe's Guide to Zion National Park - Zion 101: Introduction to Zion National Park." Joe's Guide to Zion National Park - Zion 101: Introduction to Zion National Park. N.p., Web. 29 Nov <
"USA National Parks Map." US National Parks. Maps of World, n.d. Web. 29 Nov <
"Zion National Park." Zion National Park History & Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov <
"Zion National Park." Compton's by Britannica. Britannica Online for Kids. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., Web. 19 Nov.  <

6. What environmental issues are affecting Zion?
Current environmental issues are automobile congestion, noise pollution, damage to vegetation near roads, litter, human waste, impacts on solitude, and increasing development around the area.
Over two million people visit Zion every year. On a normal summer day, 4,000 to 5,000 cars enter the park. Two thousand cars drive the six-miles up Zion Canyon for which there are only 400 parking spaces. The canyon walls act like an echo chamber, echoing the sound of traffic, and sightseeing helicopters fly overhead. Both upset the peace and quiet so important to the national park experience. Hikers wander off marked trails, trampling vegetation. Tourists leave behind water bottles and other scraps of litter.

7. What special land forms or features are inside Zion?
Special land forms inside Zion include its bodies of water and columns of vertical rock. The most well known river is the Virgin River. It stretches 162 miles through the states of Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. The Emerald Pools is one of Zion's signature trails. Waterfalls, pools and dazzling monoliths create the Emerald Pools Trail System.
The park has layers of sedimentary rock, which offer evidence that it has been underwater, uplifted, covered with volcanic ash, dried into a windswept desert, flooded again, and around 13 million years ago, lifted upward again. The canyon walls have a large amount of fossil record, which shows evidence that prehistoric peoples (Ancestral Pueblo Indians) once roamed the area.
Angels Landing is a trail that is a half-mile of narrow rock protruding out of Cathedral Mountain and is probably the best known landmark in Zion National Park. If you’re afraid of heights, beware! The last leg is very steep, with sheer drop-offs.
Virgin River
Emerald Pools Trail
Angels Landing

8. Bibliography
Promois, Alex. "Climbing up Angels Landing." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Apr Web. 27 Nov <
"The Ecosystem." In Zion National Park. Frommer Media, n.d. Web. 27 Nov <
Briggs, Bill. "National Parks Feel the Effects of Human, Environmental Threats." Msnbc.com. Msnbc.com, 30 Aug Web. 27 Nov < effects-human-environmental-threats/#.Vli1er_68Qg>.
Fletcher, Robson. "Grizzly Cubs Playing with Litter a ‘heartbreaking’ Scene in Kootenay National Park | Metro News." Metronews.ca. Metro Publishing, 29 May Web. 27 Nov < a-heartbreaking-scene-in-kootenay-national-park.html>.
Torchio, Paolo. "Dispose of Your Litter Thoughtfully." FoNNaP. Friends Of Nairobi Natinal Park, 30 Mar Web. 27 Nov <

9. Bibliography
Chamber, Ruth. "Ruth Chambers' Blog." Ruth Chambers Blog. Wordpress.com, Sept Web. 27 Nov <
"The Grotto from the Virgin River - Zion National Park." Imgur. Imgur.com, n.d. Web. 27 Nov <
"Zion National Park - Towering Cliffs, Narrow Canyons." Hiking Tips For You. Hiking Tips For You, n.d. Web. 27 Nov < park.html>.

10. What types of rocks are found inside the Park?
Sedimentary rock is what Zion is made from. Sandstone, Limestone and Siltstone are the primary rock minerals in the park. Conditions and the environment of Zion changed as time passed and sea water covered dunes of sand. Calcium carbonate cemented loose grains of sand making hard sandstone. The seabed turned to limestone and mud and clay changed to mudstone and shale.
Sandstone
Limestone
Siltstone

11. How is technology used to help preserve and maintain the Park?
Technology is used a lot in Zion to reduce noise and car pollution, and to preserve the sounds of nature. Park officials have been monitoring sound 24 hours a day in the park using portable, solar-powered devices. They create “sound maps” and the data is helping park managers figure out what needs to be done to preserve the natural sounds of the park.
Zion also uses propane shuttle buses to get people out of their cars and into the park, helping get rid of more than 5 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each year. The Green Fleet Bicycle Project allows visitors to use bikes instead of their cars for short trips in and out of the park.
The Visitor Center is a sustainable building that uses the park’s natural features and energy-efficient building materials that saves energy while protecting the environment.

12. Bibliography
Tom. "Geologic History." Geologic History. Canyoneeringusa, n.d. Web. 16 Dec <
"Zion." Der Neue Pauly (n.d.): n. pag. The Geology of Zion. Nps.gov. Web.
United States. National Park Service. "Maps." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, 07 Dec Web. 16 Dec <
"Geology." Zion National Park Geology Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec <
"Zion National Park." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Nov Web. 16 Dec <

13. How was the Park formed?
Zion was a pretty flat basin around 275 million years ago, when dinosaurs lived on earth. Rocks were laid down as loose sediment, which is sand, clay, gravel and silt. As the sediment eroded from nearby mountains, streams carried the materials into the basin and deposited them into layers. After they were deposited, the sediments were covered with more sediment and pushed down into the earth. The weight from each layer and high temperatures pressed the loose sediments together and baked them into rock. Over millions of years, the rock layers were uplifted, tilted, and eroded, revealing colorful cliffs called the Grand Staircase.
Zion Rock Layers

14. How is the land inside the park currently changing?
Uplift and erosion occurring in the park is still changing the landscape. Earthquakes cause landslides and movement of rock underneath the park’s surface. Flash floods dump water on exposed rock causing the water to run downhill, getting bigger as it moves. These flash floods can increase water flow by over 100 times, and Zion Canyon is becoming deeper because of them.
Humans are also changing the landscape. Some owners of private land within the park are building gigantic homes. Conservationists are concerned that if the land isn’t bought up by the government that neighborhoods could be formed within them.
Aerial view showing the landslide covering part of State Route 9 outside the southwest entrance of Zion
Flash Floods
Private home inside Zion

15. Bibliography