Book Cliffs facts for kids
The Book Cliffs are a long line of desert mountains and cliffs. You can find them in western Colorado and eastern Utah in the United States. They got their name because the cliffs look like a giant shelf of books. These cliffs are made of Cretaceous sandstone.
Studying the Rocks
The Book Cliffs are a fantastic place to learn about how rock layers form. Scientists often come here to study something called sequence stratigraphy. This is a way to understand how different layers of rock were laid down over millions of years.
In the 1980s, scientists used the rock layers here to develop this special way of studying geology. The Book Cliffs hold amazing records from a time long ago. Back then, a huge ancient sea called the Western Interior Seaway covered much of North America. This sea stretched from the Gulf of Mexico all the way to the Yukon in Canada.
The rocks in the Book Cliffs show us where ancient river deltas and shallow sea areas used to be. These areas are very well preserved. They help scientists learn about Earth's past environments.
Amazing Wildlife
The Book Cliffs are home to many different animals. You can find large mammals like coyotes, mountain lions, and bobcats. There are also mule deer, elk, and black bears. If you're lucky, you might even spot pronghorn or bighorn sheep.
The area is also home to American bison. These bison are part of a larger group that lives in the Henry Mountains. In January 2009, wildlife experts moved 31 bison from the Henry Mountains to the Book Cliffs. This new group joined 14 bison that had been released earlier in 2008. Those bison came from a private herd nearby.
Because this new group of bison lives about 100 miles (160 km) north of the Henry Mountains, they are now considered a separate group. They are called the Book Cliffs bison herd.
