The Geology of the San Rafael Swell

The San Rafael Swell is situated between Canyonlands National Park and Capital Reef National Park along Interstate 70 west of Green River, Utah. The swell is considered to be a Laramide uplift structure exposing tilted rocks along its eastern rim. Tilted strata decrease in tilt angle west of the eastern rim as the eastern rim belongs to a faulted monocline. The central and west parts belong to an anticline limb. The western rim is slightly tilted but barely noticeable. This book attempts to characterize both the eastern rim monocline and the anticline structures along with other structural features scattered throughout the swell. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the San Rafael Swell. Chapter 2 offers a stratigraphic discussion of the principal formations exposed in the swell from the pre-Triassic, Triassic, and Jurassic lithologies. The chapter ends with a photographic virtual tour via Interstate 70 and Utah Highway 10. Chapter 3 offers an MS Thesis research project on the eastern rim monoclinal deformation of the Navajo Sandstone. Chapter 4 completes the overview of the San Rafael Swell structure in summary form. Chapter 5 discusses altered rocks of the Moenkope, Chinle, Glen Canyon Group with emphasis on Chinle Formation member mineralogy and geochemistry.