What you can discover on an ancient Cretaceous beach, a geosite in Emery County, Utah

Abstract

Utah was prime beach country in its central to eastern portion during the Middle to Late Cretaceous (70 to 92 million years ago). At this time, a long shallow sea extended from the Artic to the Gulf of Mexico and from central Utah east to beyond Kansas. Scores of ancient beach deposits that represent the shoreline along this seaway are exposed in the eastern half of Utah. This paper will guide you to one of these white sandy beaches that dominated central Utah during this time period. The site is located near a developed archeological site (Rochester panel, Smithsonian site number 42EM392). The Rochester panel is dissimilar to other Fremont culture images and likely dates between A.D. 500 to A.D. 700 (Loendorf, 1985). If you visit the panel please do not touch (oil from you skin damages the surface), deface, or climb on this precious resource.