Kansas Flare
by Mike Flynn
Title
Kansas Flare
Artist
Mike Flynn
Medium
Photograph - Photoart
Description
Monument Rocks are a series of large chalk formations in Gove County, Kansas, rich in fossils. It is a National Natural Landmark. It was the first landmark chosen by the US Department of the Interior as a national natural landmark. The chalk formations reach a height of up to 70 ft. and include formations such as buttes and arches. They are estimated to have been formed 80 million years ago.
Monument Rocks and Castle Rock are an 8 Wonder of Kansas as a duo entry because of the scientifically significant fossils these ancient chalk beds have produced and because they have been highly eroded into unusual spires and shapes, making them spectacular landmarks on the plains of western Kansas!
On the western edge of Gove County is Monument Rocks, a series of large, heavily sculpted chalk monoliths that are sometimes referred to as the Chalk Pyramids. The site has been designated as a National Natural Landmark. In eastern Gove County is Castle Rock, a chalk spire that stands by itself in the valley of Hackberry Creek, though mmediately south of Castle Rock is an extensive outcrop of chalk, capped by the younger Ogallala Formation.
The chalk was deposited during the Cretaceous Period of geologic history, about 80 million years ago, when the central interior of the U.S. was covered by a seaway. The several hundred feet deep water contained single-celled animals that drifted to the sea floor for eons, creating a mucky ooze. This material was perfect for trapping and preserving the remains of animals that lived in that ocean, such as fish, turtles, sharks, swimming reptiles called mosasaurs and plesiosaurs, swimming birds, gliding reptiles called pterosaurs, as well as invertebrate animals such as giant clams. Today the chalk beds routinely give up these fossils. Probably the best-known fossil from these beds is the famous "fish-within-a-fish" on display at the Sternberg Museum in Hays.
Both places are on private property but the landowners are amenable to visitors and no special permission is required. Please be respectful!
Uploaded
November 11th, 2014
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