Review of the Fully Revised and Updated Second Edition of "Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau"

"Imagine seeing the varied landscapes of the earth as they used to look throughout hundreds of millions of years of earth history. Tropical seas lap on the shores of an Arizona beach. Immense sand dunes shift and swirl in Sahara-like deserts in Utah and New Mexico. Ancient rivers spill from a mountain range in Colorado that was a precursor to the modern Rockies. Such flights of geologic fancy are now tangible through the thought-provoking and beautiful paleogeographic maps of Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau."

Excerpt from 'Ancient Landscapes' by Ron Blakey and Wayne Ranney

Initially published in 2008, the Second Edition of Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau came out in 2024. I know, I know – I’m reviewing a book that was published a full year ago, as if it was just hot off the press, but as the expression goes, “better late than never.” Then, as now, it's a masterful, artistically stunning and highly productive collaboration between renown geologists Ron Blakey and Wayne Ranney of northern Arizona. 

SUBJECT MATTER

The Colorado Plateau is the geological and scenic heart of the American Southwest. Centered across the Four Corners region of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, it is an arid, remarkably intact, immense block of the Earth's crust that - through three major phases of uplift beginning roughly around 75 million years ago - has risen nearly two kilometers above sea level.

Ancient seafloors, coastal plains, the beds of long-gone rivers and wind swept deserts have been transformed and sculpted by wind, water and time into a dramatic, multi-colored layer-cake landscape of deep canyons, towering buttes, mesas and pinnacles, and see-through arches of stone.

The Colorado Plateau stands as one of the world's great showplaces of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rock, preserving around 2 billion years of Earth's history within its strata. It hosts the largest concentration of national parks and monuments in the world that never fails to inspire awe, just as it did with me.

INTRODUCING THE AUTHORS

Ron Blakey (right, below), Professor Emeritus of Geology at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, is an internationally recognized authority on the geologic history of the Colorado Plateau. A highly decorated researcher, he has authored more than 40 peer-reviewed papers and four critically acclaimed books.

During his tenure at NAU, Ron studied and published on the stratigraphy and sedimentology of many Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic rock units on the Colorado Plateau with particular interest in eolian and fluvial depositional systems. This nurtured his passion in paleogeography, and for the past 25 years, he has pioneered the creation of remarkably detailed, computer-generated maps of ancient landscapes that span regional to global scales.

In 2004, Blakey founded Colorado Plateau Geosystems, Inc., now Deep Time Maps, Inc., an online resource based on documented research that makes his stunning paleogeographic map reproductions available to students, faculty, libraries, museums, authors and corporations worldwide. His maps are widely regarded as the gold standard in the field and appear on every corner of the internet, in countless textbooks, scientific publications and media outlets across the globe.

Wayne Ranney (left) fell in love with the Colorado Plateau's spectacularly exposed and colorful stratigraphy and its extraordinary variety of landforms. A three-year stint as a backcountry ranger in Grand Canyon National Park during the 1970s inspired him to earn bachelor's and master's degree in geology from NAU, where he studied under Ron in several courses. He later became an adjunct professor of geology at Yavapai College in Prescott and Coconino Community College in Flagstaff.

Over the years, Wayne has earned a reputation as an expert authority, geologic interpreter and river guide for prestigious organizations such as the Smithsonian and National Geographic. He has authored numerous books on the geology of the American Southwest, including the award-winning Carving Grand Canyon, Sedona Through Time and Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau, co-authored with Ron.

Wayne is a two-time recipient of the “Geosciences in the Media Award” from the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and has received numerous other national and regional honors for his writing, lecturing and guiding skills. His travels have taken him to all seven continents and over 90 countries. Tireless, passionate and deeply dedicated, Wayne admits he is happiest when he's "outdoors watching the Earth spin", a sentiment that comes as no surprise to the legions of followers, readers and river runners that admire him.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

Back in 2008, I devoured the ground-breaking, first version of 'Ancient Landscapes' from cover to cover (more than once) and have referenced from it many times in this blog. I've even taken it with me on a number of backcountry excursions with Wayne into the field. My latest edition has already become dog-eared from use, like the First Edition that’s held together with duct tape and binder clips. 

Digging a little deeper (couldn't resist the pun), the revised 2024 edition features over 100 explicit, stratigraphic diagrams and high-resolution photographs that are greatly improved over the first edition. And new to this edition, there’s a dedicated atlas section that features over 70 of Blakey’s paleogeographic maps from the Proterozoic to the Pleistocene. 

Rendered at the same scale and aerial perspective, each successive map is chronologically superimposed on the previous map for ease of observing the landscape at a given time. Turn the page and akin to time travel, the reader can readily follow the evolution of the landscape over time. On the facing page, each map is accompanied by Ranney’s eloquently written, easy to understand, trademark descriptions that he is famous for. 

IN SUMMARY

Whether you’re an interested reader, armchair geo-enthusiast, amateur geologist or seasoned professional, I highly recommend 'Ancient Landscapes' for anyone interested in the geology and landscape evolution of the Colorado Plateau. It’s guaranteed to become an instant and invaluable addition to your personal earth science library.

You can get the fully revised and completely updated version from the Grand Canyon Conservancy with proceeds going directly to support Grand Canyon National Park here. And while you’re at it, visit Ron Blakey’s Deep Time mapping website here, where you can purchase a DVD and license for use. Not to be missed, Wayne’s expedition website is here and Earthly Musings, his photographically rich and educational travel and geology blog is here. 

P.S. With a little effort, you can tightly roll up 'Ancient Landscapes' and stuff it in a Christmas stocking like I have done in my backpack on more than one occasion.

GSA Today's “Geology Through the Lens” - Matera’s Timeless Geological Legacy

In the February 2025 issue of the Geological Society of America’s publication "GSA Today", I had the distinct honor and privilege of showcasing my photo of the ancient and modern city of Matera with an accompanying description. 

Taken during a recent visit to the Southern Italian regions of Basilicata and Apulia, Matera and environs is heaven on earth for geologists, anthropologists, paleontologists, botanists, historians, tourists, hikers, bikers, gastronomes, oenophiles, sociologists and cinephiles.  The text that accompanies the photo is a bit verbose (my forte) and condensed, but the editors only allow so many characters.

In the coming months, I plan to post a detailed account of the geologic evolution of the karstic carbonate platform on which Matera.  In the meantime, I offer the following view of the ancient and modern city taken from the bottom of Gravina di Matera (Gorge of Matera) and a few images from the Alta Murgia plateau (Apulian Platform) plateau on which the city resides. 

South-facing View of Gravina di Matera

Located on a karstic plateau of the Tertiary-uplifted Apulian Carbonate Platform of Mesozoic African affinity in the Basilicata region of southern Italy (“instep of the boot”), Gravina di Matera is riddled with thousands of solution caves that, in part, constitute the city of Matera’s Sassi (the “stones”) that is perched on the edge of the gorge.  Many caves have Neolithic documentation, and those of Matera have been continually inhabited since the Paleolithic with quarried Renaissance facades over their entrances.  Following a period of extreme overcrowding, disease, poverty and national shame in the twentieth century, Matera emerged as a 1993 UNESCO World Heritage Site and first-class tourist destination.

North-facing View of Matera from the Bottom of Gravina di Matera 

Matera's occupation spans a significant portion of human history, with evidence of settlement dating back to the Palaeolithic period, approximately 9,000 BC, possibly older than 10,000 BC. That makes it one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the world - due in large part to the region's karstic geology!

A visit to Matera must include a moderately challenging, two or three hour hike into the gorge to the opposite rim and back.  There are trail maps available online, but the layout isn't complicated, although signage could be better. You will find that there are numerous confusing subtrails that branch off, but they eventually converge back into a main trail. Fortunately, you never lose the sense of where you are or where you're headed, so you can't get lost.

Near the top of the opposing wall you will be rewarded with a number of caves with rupestrian (located on rock walls) frescoes, painted by Greek monks seeking religious freedom and isolation in the 8th to 13th centuries. Familiarity with the gorge's calcareous stratigraphy and tectonic provenance before you head out is highly recommended. 

Lastly, don't forget to pack water, some of the locally famous Matera sourdough bread, a little local cheese and a few Leccino black olives. Molto delizioso! 

Pontrelli Quarry and Dinosaur Track Site

Located about 10 miles north of Matera and a few miles east of Altamura on the Alta Murgia, the floor of the long-abandoned Pontrelli Quarry, from a distance, looks like machined striations created by stone workers. To the surprise of paleontologists, it turned out to be an enormous Late Cretaceous dinosaur tracksite with over 4,000 footprints created by over 200 mid-sized, quadruped dinosaurs belonging to at least five different species. 

The ichnofossils (preserved traces of animal activity and behavior) were created within the shallow-water, peritidal Altamura Limestone formation (Calcare di Altamura in Italian).  It was uplifted intermittently throughout the Cenozoic by orogenic events that ultimately formed the foreland of southernmost mainland Italy and the Adriatic Sea.

The discovery is unique in several respects. Fossil dinosaur tracks from Italy are rare, and the location in the Apulian foreland sheds light as to the climate at the time of deposition, which was similar to the Bahamas. In addition, it reveals new and critical information regarding the tectonic evolution of the western Paleo-Tethys Ocean (the proto-Eastern Mediterranean). 

As a result, it is believed that the Apulia and Basilicata regions originated as part of the Adria microplate of North African plate affinity (originating perhaps as an African promontory at the time), before rifting, drifting and colliding with proto-Southern Italy.

Pulo di Altamura Sinkhole

Located about six miles NNW of the quarry and five miles north of the town of Altamura, Pulo di Altamura (an early Italian and perhaps regional term for a sinkhole with potential Indo-European origins) is the largest sinkhole (doline in European geological terms) on the highly permeable plateau of Alta Murgia. The topographic depression formed by karst solutional processes, as did Gravina di Matera in association with fluvial dissection, that progressed in a subterranean locale to the extent that collapse of overburden occurred. 

Some researchers believe that parts of the eastern Grand Canyon of Arizona may have evolved in this manner in regions of limestone stratigraphy that, over time, facilitated development of a west-flowing, ancestral Colorado River through the Kaibab Upwarp via the collapse and coalescence of sinkholes. It might have allowed subterranean flow with eventual connection between the eastern and western Grand Canyon. Such a process may have occurred on the Apulian plateau and resulted in the formation of a gorge (European for canyon). 

Karst solutional processes occur when neutral pH rainfall becomes acidic by absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide (and other gases) and when groundwater acquires additional acidity from decomposition of organic matter in the soil and root respiration. Mildly acidic, the groundwater chemically dissolves and mechanically erodes the calcium carbonate mineralogical component of the uplifted calcareous seafloor platform that collapses when undermined. 

Notice that the walls of the sinkhole are peppered with caves, as are those of Gravina di Matera. They show signs of human habitation dating back to the Upper Paleolithic, at least 5,000 years ago through the Iron Age and into the Middle Ages. Archaeological finds include human remains, engraved pebbles and a fossilized shell, indicating the site was used for cults and resource exploitation.

I didn't encounter anyone on the wonderful 5.1 mile loop-hike to the sinkhole across the unspoiled plateau and wheat fields of the Alta Murgia National Park. 

The Altamura Man

As at ancient Matera, many of the karstic caves that developed on rocky ledges of the Alta Murgia were inhabited by an archaic form of Homo neanderthalensis that lived in the region during the Middle-Upper Pleistocene between 170,000 and 130,000 BP.  In fact, a deep karst cave complex near the sinkhole called Lamalunga, discovered in 1993 by cave explorers but closed to the general public, contains a complete Paleolithic skeleton, the most intact and oldest ever discovered in Europe that has been accurately dated and awaits DNA sequencing.

 

Dubbed Altamura Man and irretrievably inverted and encased in calcareous rock and covered with corroloids (cave 'popcorn'), caused by aerosol spray of precipitated calcium carbonate, the skeleton is in an excellent state of preservation, having been completely replaced by calcite (the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate).  How does that happen geochemically? 

Within the cave and driven by several factors, calcium carbonate precipitates out of saturated solution in the reverse direction of the aforementioned karst chemical reaction, as carbon dioxide degasses back into the cave's atmosphere and as water slowly drips from the void's walls and ceiling.  Over time, calcium carbonate is redeposited forming speleothems - cave formations such as stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones and the Altamura Man's entombing calcareous armor. 

The Alta Murgia plateau is peppered with such caves ('grotto' in Italian), some open to the public with tours, and many await discovery and exploration. One wonders what finds will be disclosed in the future, hominins or otherwise. (Image from Wikipedia)

My Lovely (Very Hungry) Daughter

By the way, if you pay a visit to the Apulia and Basilicata region, the local cavatelli pasta ('little hollows' and for me, reminiscent of Matera's karstic solutional caves) is delicious but challenging to roll by hand, as my daughter and the rest of our family discovered in a cooking class at "Cook'n Fun at Mary's" (shameless plug) in Matera. A few glasses of the local wine didn't make things any easier. My forlorn culinary creation is on the top tray.