🠈 Piceance Basin 🠊
Piceance Basin
Geologist use the term Piceance Basin for the geological formations on the Westslope North and East of Grand Juction. The name Piceance comes from the Shoshoni word for tall grass, and yes, it is one of those words that everybody pronounces differently.
The formations are relatively new. The bulk of the surface deposits occurred during the Cretaceous period (65 to 145 million years ago). NOTE: much of the sandstone in Colorado National Monument and West toward Moab were deposited during the Jurassic period.
The Mancos Shale layer is a source rock for oil and gas. However it requires the use of fracturing techniques to break up the rock to develop the resources.
Currently, petroleum companies are aggressively developing the area while environmental groups are aggressively resisting the development.