Green River defies nature as it flows uphill for roughly 100 miles
Earth.com • • science
Key Points:
- Geologists have solved the mystery of how the Green River in northeastern Utah cut through the Uinta Mountains to join the Colorado River, finding that a deep underground shift temporarily lowered the mountain barrier.
- The team, led by Dr. Adam G. G. Smith, identified a lithospheric drip—a dense mass of rock peeling off and sinking deep beneath the surface—that caused the crust above to sag and later rebound, enabling the river to carve its path.
- Sediment analysis and seismic tomography support the timing of this event between 2.3 and 4.7 million years ago, coinciding with uplift of about 1,300 feet in the region and the formation of the Canyon of Lodore.
- The river connection
