Guidebook of Palo Duro Canyon

Part 1

GUIDEBOOK OF PALO DURO CANYON

West Texas State University Geological Society

DEPARTMENT OF GEOSCIENCES

The Department of Geosciences (geology, geography, anthropology) is housed in the Science Center on the campus of West Texas State University. Additional departmental space is found in the Killgore Research Center and Old Main. The Department offers a program of study leading to a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees in geology and geography and a Bachelor of General Studies degree in anthropology. Most students are enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in geology degree, designed to meet the needs of students preparing for a professional career in geology. It requires a minimum of 39 semester hours of geology, plus supporting coursework in other sciences, mathematics, and technical writing or cartography. The Department also offers a Master of Science degree in geology. Recent thesis topics include Geology of Fortress Cliff Quadrangle, Randall County, Texas and Sedimentology and Petrology of the Javelina Formation, Big Bend National Park, Brewster County, Texas.

Members of the departmental faculty have a wide range of academic interests and come from a variety of colleges and universities. Special interests of the faculty include stratigraphy, biostratigraphy, geomorphology, sedimentology, structural geology, tectonics, igneous and metamorphic petrology, petroleum geology, paleontology, cartography, archaeology, and Indians and their culture of the south central United States. In addition, the Department retains a broad concern for earth-science education, and offers courses in introductory earth science and geology to meet student needs in the University general education and in teacher education.

The Department supports students with teaching and graduate assistantships, undergraduate laboratory assistants, and scholarships. Information regarding degree programs and financial aid can be obtained from the Department of Geosciences, West Texas State University, Box 938, Canyon, Texas 79016 or by calling the departmental office at 806-656-2581.

FOREWORD

The West Texas State University Geological Society was organized in 1958 by students of the Department of Geology. The objective of the Society is to promote interest in geology as an academic subject and as a professional career. In order to present the concepts of geology to interested groups, the Palo Duro Canyon Guidebook is sponsored by the WTSU Geological Society.

The Geological Society is indebted to Professor Jack T. Hughes and to Mr. Jerry Harbour for their work in the first edition of this guidebook.

DO YOU HAVE A GROUP OR KNOW OF A GROUP WHO WOULD LIKE A GUIDED FIELD TRIP OF PALO DURO CANYON? CONTACT THE WEST TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY AT 656-2581 FOR INFORMATION.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Text

Page INTRODUCTION 1 ECOLOGY 2 HISTORY OF MAN IN THE AREA 4 GEOLOGIC HISTORY 5 PALEONTOLOGY 14

Illustrations

Figure 1. Geologic Map of Palo Duro Canyon 6 Figure 2. Stratigraphic Section and Geologic Time Scale 7 Figure 3. Paleogeographic Map of the Permian Period 9 Figure 4. Paleogeographic Map of the Triassic Period 11 Figure 5. Paleogeographic Map of the Pliocene Epoch 13 Figure 6. Paleogeographic Map of the Pleistocene Epoch 15 Figure 7. Life of Triassic Time 17 Figure 8. Pliocene Mammals 19

INTRODUCTION

Palo Duro Canyon State Park is located 13 miles east of Canyon, Texas, on State Highway 217 and 17 miles southeast of Amarillo, Texas. The park encompasses about 15,000 acres of eastern Randall and western Armstrong counties.

The initial park area was purchased by the State of Texas in 1931. In 1973 the park boundary was extended to incorporate a famous topographic structure, the Lighthouse (frontispiece). Excellent picnic and camping facilities are available within the Park.

Extending away from the canyon rim is a gently undulating land surface called the Llano Estacado or Staked Plains. It is part of the High Plains, a vast piedmont plain which extends along the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains from Wyoming to Texas. The eastern edge of this plain is, in places, an abrupt escarpment (cliff) known as the caprock. Palo Duro Canyon is a westward extension of this escarpment that has been carved into the High Plains by the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River.

In the park area the canyon is several miles wide. The canyon rim is about 3,500 feet above sea level and the canyon floor, although highly irregular is approximately 2,700 feet above sea level. The maximum depth of the canyon is about 800 feet. The United States Geological Survey has published an excellent topographical contour map of the canyon, the Fortress Cliff Quadrangle. It can be purchased at the park or from the United States Geological Survey.

The Park area normally receives about 20-30 inches of rainfall per year and has a frost free period of approximately 200-240 days per year. The yearly temperature ranges from 0-70°F in the winter and from 65 to 100°F in the summer. The weather is considered fair about 75% of the time. The nights are cool even in the summer.

ECOLOGY

Palo Duro Canyon is part of the escarpment system that forms the eastern boundary of the Llano Estacado or Staked Plains. The Staked Plains in this area is a nearly-level to gently-rolling terrain covered with a mantle of calcareous loess (a wind-blown silt) that has given rise to deep soils with a clay-loam surface and a clay subsoil. These soils are ideally suited to the growth of short grasses, especially blue grama and buffalo grass. Mesquite, yucca, prickly pear cactus, and forbs are common invaders of overgrazed areas.

Many shallow lake basins (playas) dot the plains with a flora different from the surrounding areas. In the playas, plains grasses are displaced by forbs that are suited to withstand the prolonged flooding within the shallow basins.

Near the canyon, the deep soils can be seen grading into shallow, grayish-brown, gravelly-loam soils. The abundance of grasses decreases and mid grasses such as little bluestem and sideoats grama increase. The mid grasses are better able to absorb nutrients from the less fertile soils near the canyon rim than are the short grasses. Especially conspicuous are increasing numbers of shrubs, particularly the evergreen and scale-leaved junipers. Just along the rim of the canyon, the shrubby mountain mahogany is found.

The rugged terrain of the sides of the canyon, extending from the Ogallala downward through the Trujillo and Tecovas formations to the upper part of the Quartermaster Formation, shows a variety of soil types. On the steeper slopes, plants are unable to gain a foothold as erosion removes soil material as fast as it is formed. On less-steep areas, the well-drained escarpment soil is suited for the development of scarp woodland. The deep, woody roots of trees and shrubs are better able to obtain the deeply infiltrating moisture from these soils than are the shallow and fibrous roots of grasses. The common plants on the level areas are junipers, squaw-bush, and little-leaved sumac. On the drier slopes, feather peabush, catclaw, and salt-bush are found. Groves of oak occur, but not in the abundance found along the escarpment further to the south.

Below the canyon slopes and extending to the creek are a wide variety of soils and a great diversity of plants. Most of the plants of the plains and escarpment are found here. Some of the soils of the nearly level areas are deep, high in fertility, and hold large amounts of water. Tall grasses, such as indiangrass and switchgrass, occur admixed with mid grasses; a rank growth of vine-mesquite grass often occurs in the areas where runoff water collects; and alkali sacaton grass grows on saline soils. Other trees and shrubs include hackberry, soapberry, wafer ash, button bush, foresteria, and Texas buckthorn. Along the creek, cottonwoods, willows, and salt cedar are common.

Because of the varied topography, diversity of plant life, and geographical locations, the canyon affords an ideal habitat for wildlife. Some of the mammals that occur here are the coyote, porcupine, jackrabbit, cottontail rabbit, raccoon, opossum, ringtailed cat, striped skunk, gray fox, white-footed mouse, woodrat, and bat. Mammals that were once common but are now absent or extremely rare are the bison, black bear, black-footed ferret, lobo wolf, cougar, and bobcat. The moose and American elk were introduced into the canyon but are no longer to be found. White-tailed deer, mule deer, and aoudad sheep have also been introduced and are still present. The mule deer is the most common. A great many types of birds are found either as residents of or migrants to the canyon. A few are the golden eagle, red-tailed hawk, sparrow hawk, Mississippi kite, turkey vulture, blue quail, killdeer, nighthawk, roadrunner, red-headed woodpecker, golden-fronted woodpecker, canyon wren, mockingbird, robin, cardinal, meadowlark, Bullock’s oriole, painted bunting, white-crowned sparrow, and lark sparrow.

Part 2

HISTORY OF MAN IN THE AREA

Archeological studies indicate that the earliest known inhabitants of Palo Duro Canyon lived in the canyon from about 10,000 to 5,000 B.C. These early men hunted bison and now-extinct elephant-like mammoths that roamed the area during the Pleistocene Ice Age. Their stone weapons and artifacts have been found in the canyon. Presumably these primitive people, like those who came later, were attracted by streams and springs in the canyon, and by game that came to feed there. Rock exposed in the canyon provided material for tools and weapons.

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