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Paint Mines Interpretive Park
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In the area south and
southeast of Denver, you may see a distinctive brilliant red to purple horizon
about 15–30 feet thick in scattered outcrops and wells. This unit represents
ancient soil called paleosol. It formed on a land surface during a pause
in the uplift of the Rocky Mountains. Although the precise timing remains
unclear, the soil formed near the end of the Paleocene or in the earliest
Eocene. The red, clay-rich deposits are ideal for brick making, and many
of the clay pits used by the brick industry occur in this zone. To see spectacular,
vividly colored outcrops of paleosol, visit the newly formed Paint Mines
Interpretive Park near Calhan. |