Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness Study Area
Encyclopedia
Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness Study Area is located in San Juan County, New Mexico
between Chaco Canyon and the De-Na-Zin Wilderness
. The Wilderness Study Area
(WSA) has multicolored badlands, sandstone hoodoo
s, petrified wood
and dinosaur bones, similar to those found in the nearby Bisti Badlands
and De-Na-Zin Wilderness.
The BLM
Wilderness Study Area was declared in May 1992, and would protect an area of about 26.5 sq. km. (6,563 acres) The area was prospected by the renowned dinosaur hunter Charles Hazelius Sternberg
in the summer of 1921. Sternberg collected the type specimen of Pentaceratops fenestratus, a ceratopsid dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period, within the WSA. Specimens from this area form a significant part of the vertebrate
paleontology
collection at the Museum of Evolution, University of Uppsala, Sweden. Note that fossil collecting here without a permit is prohibited by law.
Formation (Hunter Wash Member), both late Cretaceous in age. The rocks are dominated by mudstone
s and intermittent sandstone
s, with occasional resistant channel sandstones.
San Juan County, New Mexico
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*51.6% White*0.6% Black*36.6% Native American*0.4% Asian*0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.5% Two or more races*7.2% Other races*19.1% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
between Chaco Canyon and the De-Na-Zin Wilderness
Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness
The Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness is a wilderness area located in San Juan County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Established in 1984, the Wilderness is a desolate area of steeply eroded badlands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, with the exception of three parcels of private Navajo land...
. The Wilderness Study Area
Wilderness study area
A wilderness study area contains undeveloped United States federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, and managed to preserve its natural conditions...
(WSA) has multicolored badlands, sandstone hoodoo
Hoodoo (geology)
A hoodoo is a tall, thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland. Hoodoos consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the elements...
s, petrified wood
Petrified wood
Petrified wood is the name given to a special type of fossilized remains of terrestrial vegetation. It is the result of a tree having turned completely into stone by the process of permineralization...
and dinosaur bones, similar to those found in the nearby Bisti Badlands
Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness
The Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness is a wilderness area located in San Juan County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Established in 1984, the Wilderness is a desolate area of steeply eroded badlands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, with the exception of three parcels of private Navajo land...
and De-Na-Zin Wilderness.
The BLM
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...
Wilderness Study Area was declared in May 1992, and would protect an area of about 26.5 sq. km. (6,563 acres) The area was prospected by the renowned dinosaur hunter Charles Hazelius Sternberg
Charles Hazelius Sternberg
Charles Hazelius Sternberg , was an American fossil collector and amateur paleontologist. His older brother, Dr. George M. Sternberg was a military surgeon assigned to Fort Harker near Ellsworth, Kansas and brought the rest of Sternberg family to Kansas to live on his ranch about 1868...
in the summer of 1921. Sternberg collected the type specimen of Pentaceratops fenestratus, a ceratopsid dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period, within the WSA. Specimens from this area form a significant part of the vertebrate
Vertebrate
Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...
paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
collection at the Museum of Evolution, University of Uppsala, Sweden. Note that fossil collecting here without a permit is prohibited by law.
Geology
Rock units within the Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah WSA include most of the upper Fruitland Formation (Fossil Forest Member) and lower part of the KirtlandFormation (Hunter Wash Member), both late Cretaceous in age. The rocks are dominated by mudstone
Mudstone
Mudstone is a fine grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Grain size is up to 0.0625 mm with individual grains too small to be distinguished without a microscope. With increased pressure over time the platey clay minerals may become aligned, with the...
s and intermittent sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
s, with occasional resistant channel sandstones.
External links
- Ah Shi Sle Pah Wash, Hoodoo king of the San Juan Basin badlands at Inside Outside Southwest magazine
- Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah gallery by photographer John Fowler
- Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah WSA at WikimapiaWikimapiaWikiMapia is a privately owned, online map and satellite imaging resource that combines Google Maps with a wiki system, allowing users to add information, in the form of a note, to any location on Earth. Users may currently use this information for free...