De Beque Canyon is a narrow canyon on the
Colorado River
The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...
in western
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. It is approximately 15 miles (24 km) long, located on the river downstream from the town of
De Beque, in eastern
Mesa County. The canyon forms a narrow passage where the river passes along the western end of the
Grand Mesa. At its lower end, the canyon opens out on the eastern end of the
Grand Valley at the town of
Palisade, approximately 10 miles (16 km) east of
Grand Junction.
Interstate 70
Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the co ...
follows the river through the canyon.
Geologically
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other E ...
the canyon walls are stairstep cliffs of
Mesaverde Group, shoreline sands deposited during the
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...
. The
sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...
layers contain several low-
sulfur coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when ...
seams that thicken to as much as 50 feet (15 m) at the Cameo Mine near Mile 46 on Interstate 70. The coal is typically soft
bituminous coal, since it has never been compressed by overlying rocks to the degree that would be required to form harder coal.
See also
*
Glenwood Canyon
Glenwood Canyon is a rugged scenic canyon in western Colorado in the United States. Its walls climb as high as above the Colorado River. It is the largest such canyon on the Upper Colorado. The canyon, which has historically provided the route ...
References
Canyons and gorges of Colorado
Landforms of Mesa County, Colorado
Colorado River
{{Colorado-stub