Mesa Verde With a rich history and culture the Mesa Verde stands as one of Americas unique and well preserved parks. Located in Montezuma County Colorado, close to the four corner States, Mesa Verde stretches 81.4 square miles. Mesa Verde literally translates into “Green Table”, a name that is geographically wrong; since Mesa Verde is a Cuesta not a Mesa. Mesa Verde was given its name by the ancient people who lived there, the Anasazi. The Anasazi lived in the alcoves of Meas Verde, or the cave like dwellings. An alcove possess many of the same characteristics as a cave, except an alcove is outside and partially exposed. An alcove is a large recession of rock in the side wall of the Cliffhouse Sandstone. The Cliffhouse Sandstone, …show more content…
The movement of tetonic plates during the Cretaceous period and into the early Tertairy formed the San Juan Mountain as well as the La Plata Mountain. The combination of the uplifting of the Colorado Plateaus and the erosion of the Cliffhouse sandstone helped to form the Mesa Verde. The shifting of the sandstone due to the frozen water and the creation of the alcoves gives the Mesa Verde a 7 degree tilt southwards. This tilt, geographically speaking, makes the Mesa Verde a cuesta and not a Mesa. Mesas are typically large elevated highlands that are isolated and flat topped. Although the Mesa Verde contains a lot of these features the correct geographically description of the Mesa Verde is a cuesta. The Mesa Verde, also, contains a cap of harder rocks on top of the sandstone. This cap is very important in the preservation of the Mesa Verde cuesta. This cap helps to prevent massive amounts of water from penetrating the sandstone and furthering the erosion on the cuesta. When walking inside of the Mesa Verde alcove flower like depressions can be seen in the rock surface. These flower pattern depressions are formed naturally through acid rain and are called Solution Rills. Solution rills are an very unique and uncommon geological feature. Acid rain begins to pool up along the surface of the sandstone and eats away at the calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate acts essentially as the cement that holds the sandstone