Rattlesnake+Arches 1B

__Rattlesnake Archs__
Rattlesnake Canyon a canyon with soft sandstone arches. Rattlesnake Canyon is near Grand Junction, Colorado and the Colorado National Monument. The canyon is 12.7 miles long (from one side to the other). The elevation is 1,520 feet. In the summer it is very hot and dry. In Rattlesnake there is no drinkable water. Spring and fall would be perfect seasons for hiking and biking. Rattlesnake Canyon has important geology that forms the fragile arches.

__ Constructive forces __
The arches of RATTLE SNAKE CANYON were created by dropping of cemented sand stone that was deposited over 180 million years ago in the Jurassic period. It’s made of Entrada sandstone (A soft sand stone). The Entrada sand stone is so soft it is usually full of cracks. Almost all of the arches in RATTLE SNAKE CANYON are made of Entrada sandstone.

__Destructive Forces__ To form the famous arches at Rattlesnake Canyon it took millions of years. What happens first is it starts as huge tall walls made out of Entrada sandstone and shale on the outside protecting the Entrada. The Entrada on the inside is soft sandstone that gets eroded away by water and wind. Wind and water completely take out the soft sandstone rock in the middle of the outer hard shell. The older the arches get the thinner the shale gets because as the cycle of erosion and weathering slowly erodes the away Entrada, but the shale that is on the outside is quite harder than the Entrada so that what makes the world famous arches.

