The monument's Geologic Resources Inventory report. Image from the NPS Geodiversity Atlas
Scotts Bluff National Monument (SCBL) is in the Nebraska panhandle, just west of the cities of Scottsbluff, Terrytown and Gering in Scotts Bluff County.
| Proclaimed | December 12, 1919 |
| Size | about 1,216 hectares (3,005 acres) |
| Main feature | Scotts Bluff, rising 244 m (800 ft) above the land around it |
| Named for | fur trader Hiram Scott |
| History | a landmark for emigrants on the Oregon and California trails, and a place of cultural importance to Native Americans |
Both the Old Oregon Trail and the Oregon National Historic Trail cross the monument through Mitchell Pass, in its southern part, between Sentinel Rock and Eagle Rock (National Park Service 2015, 2016a).
This page is part of the National Park Service's Geodiversity Atlas, a product of the Geologic Resources Inventory. Geodiversity means the whole range of a park's geologic and soil resources and processes — rocks, minerals, sediments, fossils, landforms and the processes that shape them — and the atlas supports education, geoconservation, and management that treats the living and non-living parts of an ecosystem together.
The rocks
The monument sits in western Nebraska's part of the Great Plains physiographic province. Its landscape has badlands, ridges, broad alluvial fans, and the steep cliffs of Scotts Bluff and South Bluff.
The sedimentary and volcanic layers exposed here go back to the Oligocene and reveal more geologic history than any other place in Nebraska (Graham 2009c). From the bottom up:
| Group | Formations | Age |
|---|---|---|
| Arikaree Group | Harrison, Monroe Creek and Gering formations | Oligocene–Miocene |
| White River Group | Brule Formation | Oligocene |
- The dissected badlands in the monument's northeast are Brule Formation mudstone, siltstone, sandstone and volcanic tuff.
- Quaternary deposits — sand dunes, rockfalls, loess, alluvium and colluvium — are spread widely across the monument.
Fossils and the wider region
All fossils in national parks are protected by the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-11, Title VI, Subtitle D; 16 U.S.C. §§ 470aaa–470aaa-11).
Scotts Bluff belongs to the Great Plains Province and shares its geologic history and some of its formations with a region much larger than the monument.
Maps, reports and data
Geologic Resources Inventory map of Scotts Bluff National Monument. Image from the NPS Geodiversity Atlas
The Geologic Resources Inventory produces digital geologic maps and reports for more than 270 natural resource parks, and many products are still in progress:
| Product | What it is |
|---|---|
| Scoping summaries | records of meetings where park staff and local geologists set the mapping plan and the report's contents |
| Digital geologic maps | GIS files, a user guide and supporting map information; newer ones add Google Earth data and online map services |
| Reports | the park's setting and significance, notable features and processes, management issues, and geologic history, built on the maps |
| Posters | a PDF view of the GIS data; newer ones add aerial imagery or shaded relief. Included with the reports |
| Projects | the basics of the program and every product for a park |
- The monument's products are listed in the NPS DataStore.
- A Soil Resources Inventory for the monument is complete and also in the DataStore.
The view from the top of the bluff. Image from the NPS Geodiversity Atlas
More from the monument
Geology and paleontology · Chimney Rock National Historic Site · Photo gallery · Park home · Arid and semi-arid landforms · Nebraska Conservation and Survey Division
Sources
Based on "NPS Geodiversity Atlas—Scotts Bluff National Monument, Nebraska," National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
收录于这些专栏Scotts Bluff National Monument
许可协议： CC0 1.0（公有领域） · 改编自 www.nps.gov
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