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Coyote Buttes

Coordinates: 36°58′04″N 112°00′41″W / 36.9677632°N 112.0112907°W / 36.9677632; -112.0112907
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The Magic Crest of South Coyote Buttes.

Coyote Buttes is a section of the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), spanning extreme south-central Utah and north-central Arizona, south of US 89 halfway between Kanab, Utah and Page, Arizona. It is divided into two areas: Coyote Buttes North and Coyote Buttes South. Visiting either of the Coyote Buttes areas requires purchasing a hiking permit.

The Coyote Buttes area is an exposure of cross-bedded aeolian Jurassic Navajo Sandstone.[1] The variable coloration of the sandstones is a result of various iron oxide pigments within the layers. A dinosaur trackway or trample surface is found in the area and provides evidence of a variety of dinosaurs.[1] The area includes dramatic swirling erosional rock formations such as The Wave.

The Wave and Buckskin Gulch share the Wire Pass Trailhead on House Rock Valley Road.

Dinosaur trackway

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The dinosaur trackway within the area is a site of 0.75 acres (3,000 m2) that has densely packed dinosaur footprints within the area. The trackway contains more than 1,000 footprints which were made approximately 190 million years ago.[2] Tracks of three genera of Eubrontes, Anchisauripus and Grallator are present along with a Sauropodomorph that has not been identified.[1]

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Panorama, Brain Rock Garden, Coyote Buttes

References

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  1. ^ a b c Seiler, W. M. (2008), Jurassic Navajo sandstone of Coyote Buttes, Utah/Arizona: coloration and diagenetic history, preservation of a dinosaur trample surface, and terrestrial analogs to Mars (MS Thesis), The University of Utah
  2. ^ "Scientists Discover 'Dinosaur Dance Floor'". The Washington Post. October 22, 2008. p. KidsPost.
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36°58′04″N 112°00′41″W / 36.9677632°N 112.0112907°W / 36.9677632; -112.0112907