1882 Tertiary History of the Grand Canyon District USGS Monograph II

This facsimile reproduces Tertiary History of the Grand Cañon District, with Atlas by Captain Clarence E. Dutton of the United States Geological Survey — published in Washington in 1882 as Monograph II of the USGS under the directorship of John Wesley Powell. It is the second monograph ever issued by the newly established U.S. Geological Survey and one of the foundational works of American geology. Dutton, a U.S. Army ordnance officer attached to Powell's survey, was the first scientist to systematically describe the Grand Canyon's stratigraphy and the geology of the surrounding High Plateaus, and his prose remains among the most celebrated in the history of geological writing — he coined many of the topographic names still in use in the Grand Canyon today (Vishnu Temple, Brahma Temple, Shiva Temple, the Tower of Set), drawing on Eastern mythologies to convey the scale and grandeur of the formations he was the first to describe. Together with its companion atlas of panoramic illustrations by William Henry Holmes and Thomas Moran, the Tertiary History is widely regarded as one of the supreme achievements of nineteenth-century American science and one of the finest publications ever produced by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Summary of Contents

The monograph presents Dutton's comprehensive geological interpretation of the Grand Cañon District of northern Arizona, structured as a methodical study of the region's stratigraphy, structural geology, erosional history, and physical geography. Dutton describes the great erosional cycles that carved the canyon, the displacement of the great faults bordering the High Plateaus, and the volcanic episodes that shaped the Uinkaret region. Individual chapters address the Kaibab, Kanab, Uinkaret, and Shivwits plateaus; the canyon walls themselves; the volcanic features of the western district; and the broader physiographic framework of the Colorado Plateau province. Throughout, Dutton interweaves scientific analysis with passages of celebrated descriptive prose — the so-called "panoramic style" that influenced generations of American nature writing and gave the Grand Canyon its enduring literary vocabulary.

An essential reference for geologists and historians of geology, scholars of the U.S. Geological Survey and the great Western surveys of John Wesley Powell, Grand Canyon and National Park Service researchers, historians of American science writing, and collectors of nineteenth-century Western Americana.

Color. 332 pages. 8.5" x 11".

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