Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Apache County, Arizona, USAi

Regional Level Types
Canyon de Chelly National Monument	National Monument
Apache County	County
Arizona	State
USA	Country

Canyon de Chelly National Monument, pronounced (CAN-yon deh SHAY), is located on the Navajo Reservation in the north east corner of Arizona. The Navajo Nation owns the land and the mineral rights and by agreement, the National Park Service manages visitor access to the canyon. The monument covers 83,840 acres (131 square miles; 339 km2) and encompasses the floors and rims of the three major canyons: de Chelly, del Muerto, and Monument. These canyons were cut by streams with headwaters in the Chuska Mountains just to the east of the monument.

Geologically the canyon is on the Colorado Plateau and was carved by three tributaries that flowed from east to west and converged within the monument. Water still flows in the spring but by fall most of the riverbeds are dry. The depth of the canyon is about 700 feet and the vertical cliff face is composed of the Permian, De Chelly Sandstone. The cap rocks at the top of the cliffs are part of the Triassic, Shinarump Member of the Chinle Formation and are sometimes referred to as the Shinarump Conglomerate. The De Chelly Sandstone sits on a base of Supai Sandstone which is only visible near Spider Rock near the east end of the canyon. The prominent De Chelly Sandstone is a red fine grained aeolian deposit that shows many sand dune structures and large cross-bedding.

Canyon de Chelly has been occupied by humans for at least 5,000 years and the remains of their dwellings are well preserved. Currently a few Navajo families still live in the canyon.

Fossils

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Other Databases

Wikipedia:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canyon_de_Chelly_National_Monument
Wikidata ID:	Q1034039

Other Regions, Features and Areas that Intersect

References