Ichnofossils in the Navajo Sandstone, Kabab area

johnmclarty

The following pictures are from around a butte (HCB) at the top of Hog Canyon Road and from a complex of interdune deposits NW of the intersection Hwy 89 and Angel Canyon Road (ACR). The ACR area appears to me to hold the potential for discovery of many more tracks. The photos were taken in May 2017.

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Tiny tracks on water-rippled sandstone. Swimming tracks? Hog Canyon Butte (HCB) Specimen in my possession. Photo ID: HCB 1

Another

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Bioturbation. HCB 2. Specimen in my possession.
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Burrow? I wonder if it could be a modern creation because of its location on a fracture. Perhaps this feature was formed by a modern root infiltrating along a fracture in the rock before the outer block fell away. HCB 3
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Burrow. If this is, indeed, a burrow, it would be my most exciting find so far. I have not determined definitively whether this is biogenic or not. HCB 4
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Have no idea what this is. HCB 6

 

Water formed ripples. Clear evidence of surface water in the Navajo Erg. HCB 7

 

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Another bit of evidence of surface water. This block was near the one pictured in HCB 7.  There were several blocks in this vicinity showing obvious water ripples. HCB 8

Angel Canyon Road

The photos below were taken near the intersection of Angel Canyon Road and Hwy 89 near Kanab, UT. Visible from the intersection are multiple exposures of interdune deposits stacked one above the other on both sides of the highway. I figured it would be good track prospecting. I was pointed to the site by Gerald Bryant of the Colorado Plateau Institute.

 

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Rhizocast 1? Angel Canyon Road (ACR 1)

Another

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Rhizocast 2. ACR 2.
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Burrow. ACR 3.

 

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Track. ACR 4.

 

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Track. ACR 5.
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Tracks. ACR 6.
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Track, early mammal? ACR 7.
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Track. ACR 8
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Track. ACR 9

 

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Therapod track ACR 10

 

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