• Two

    John Day Fossil Beds

    National Monument Oregon

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Sheep Rock

Sheep Rock

Sheep Rock

This unit features:

 
Image of the Blue Basin trail area.

View from the Blue Basin Overlook

Multiple exposures of the Turtle Cove strata can be seen at the Sheep Rock Unit. This blue-green rock layer represents millions of years of volcanic ash accumulation. Surprisingly enough, the green tint is not due to copper, but rather a complex blending of the elements hydrogen, oxygen, sodium, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, potassium, calcium, iron, strontium, and barium.

Did You Know?

Crocodiles in oregon?

Fossils from the Clarno Unit show that 44 million years ago, in what is now a near desert in Oregon, crocodiles and palm trees flourished.