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| Wingate Sandstone | |
|---|---|
| Name | Wingate Sandstone |
| Type | Formation |
| Period | Late Triassic–Early Jurassic |
| Primary lithology | Sandstone |
| Other lithology | Siltstone, shale |
| Named for | Wingate Mesa |
| Region | Colorado Plateau |
| Country | United States |
| Unit of | Glen Canyon Group |
| Underlies | Kayenta Formation |
| Overlies | Chinle Formation |
Wingate Sandstone is a widespread Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic red bed sandstone formation prominent on the Colorado Plateau of the western United States. It forms spectacular vertical cliffs and monoliths in landscapes managed by agencies including the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Forest Service. The formation is integral to regional stratigraphic frameworks used by geologists from institutions such as the United States Geological Survey and universities like the University of Utah and University of Arizona.
The Wingate Sandstone crops out across parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, forming defining features in places managed by Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Zion National Park, and Mesa Verde National Park. It is a principal cliff-former on the Colorado Plateau and appears in canyon systems such as the Green River corridor, the San Juan River basin, and along the Colorado River. Mapping by the United States Geological Survey and state geological surveys documents its lateral continuity and regional thickness changes from exposures in San Juan County, Utah to sections near Grand Junction, Colorado.
The Wingate is a member of the Glen Canyon Group and sits stratigraphically above the Chinle Formation and below the Kayenta Formation. Radiometric constraints and biostratigraphic correlations place its deposition across the Norian to Rhaetian stages into the Hettangian stage, spanning the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic interval recognized by chronostratigraphers at institutions such as the International Commission on Stratigraphy. Regional correlation links Wingate exposures to equivalent units described in studies from the Bureau of Land Management and academic publications from Brigham Young University.
Lithologically, the Wingate consists predominantly of well-sorted, fine- to medium-grained quartzose sandstone with iron-oxide cement producing characteristic red to orange hues noted by field geologists from the Geological Society of America and museum collections at the Natural History Museum of Utah. Bedding is commonly massive to planar and shows large-scale cross-bedding, foreset sets, ripple marks, and rare flaser bedding observed in detailed sedimentological studies conducted by researchers at Stanford University and the University of Colorado Boulder.
Sedimentological and paleocurrent analyses indicate deposition in an extensive wind-dominated erg (sand sea) analogous to modern systems studied in the Sahara Desert and Arabian Peninsula, with interdune and wash facies comparable to observations by climatologists and geomorphologists associated with NASA remote sensing projects. Paleoclimate reconstructions using data interpreted by teams at Paleoclimatology Research Centers suggest arid to semi-arid conditions with seasonal variability during the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic transition, a timeframe also linked to broader events discussed in work from Smithsonian Institution researchers.
Fossil content in the Wingate is generally sparse compared with fluvial units like the Chinle, but vertebrate tracks, isolated plant fragments, and occasional invertebrate traces have been reported in field studies by paleontologists from Mesa Verde National Park research programs and university teams such as University of Kansas and University of California, Berkeley. Trace fossils include dinosaur trackways that have contributed to ichnological syntheses curated in collections at the American Museum of Natural History and publications by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Wingate Sandstone is quarried locally for dimension stone and riprap, with market analyses by state departments of transportation in Utah and Colorado documenting its use in construction and road aggregate. Its high compressive strength, low porosity when well-cemented, and propensity to form vertical cliffs influence engineering considerations for infrastructure projects overseen by agencies such as the Federal Highway Administration and Army Corps of Engineers. Conversely, its jointing and bedding planes control rockfall hazards and slope stability assessed in reports by the National Park Service and geotechnical firms.
Prominent exposures occur at Zion National Park (where Wingate cliffs cap the canyon walls), Arches National Park (in fins and arches), Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park (iconic buttes), and along the Colorado River canyonlands visible from Canyonlands National Park overlooks. These sites are visited and studied by researchers from institutions including Princeton University, Yale University, and the University of Nevada, Reno, and are featured in educational outreach by organizations such as the National Park Service and Smithsonian Institution.