Abstract

Thirty-seven age dates have been derived from Quaternary deposits in Canyonlands National Park, using radiocarbon, thermoluminescence, and soil carbonate accumulation dating techniques. Based on these analyses, deposits exposed in swallow holes and stream exposures in the Needles fault zone range in age from modern to 65,350 years BP. Dates derived for Holocene strata examined in stream exposures along Salt Creek, a north-trending stream along the eastern border of the park, are younger than 4,830 years BP. Although the stratigraphy along Salt Creek appears to represent three distinct depositional units, which likely reflect minor climatological changes, the radiocarbon dates did not clearly define chronologically separate units. Due to the local influence of graben formation on the depositional patterns in the Needles fault zone, attempts have not been made to relate the Holocene deposits in the Grabens with climatic changes, or to correlate them with the Holocene strata studied in nearby Salt Creek.