The exposed geology of the Canyonlands area is complex and diverse; 12 formations are exposed in Canyonlands National Park that range in age from Pennsylvanian to Cretaceous. The oldest and perhaps most interesting was created from evaporites deposited from evaporating seawater. Various fossil-rich limestones, sandstones, and shales were deposited by advancing and retreating warm shallow seas through much of the remaining Paleozoic. Eroded sediment from a nearby mountain range later mixed with coastal dune and sand bar deposits. The end of the Paleozoic and the start of the Mesozoic saw the seas retreat from the region until the late Cenozoic. A subdued topography was dominated by flood plains and tidal flats. Now much further inland, the Triassic climate in the region was dry. Vast deserts covered much of that part of North America, except for one period when streams for a time fought the sand dunes. Wetter times returned in the Cretaceous as the area was flooded by the Western Interior Seaway. The uplifting of the Rocky Mountains starting in late Cretaceous - greatly affected the Canyonlands region. Erosion rates increased and further quickened the onset of the ice ages in the Pleistocene. Modern-day erosion occurs at a slower rate. Deposition of sediments Hermosa Group A vast sea covered the region in early Pennsylvanian time. A basin in the area called Paradox Basin subsided and a mountain range called the Uncompahgre Mountains was uplifted to the east. Great quantities of seawater were trapped in the subsiding basin and water became increasingly saline in the hot and dry climate. Thousands of feet of evaporites (anhydrite and gypsum then halite) started to build up in the Mid Pennsylvanian and storms occasionally washed sediment from the nearby mountains. Fresh seawater periodically refilled the basin but was never able to flush out the very salty water there (the new water in fact floated on top of the brine). These beds were later lithified to become the Paradox Formation, which in turn is part of the Hermosa Group. Compressed salt beds from the Paradox started to flow plastically later in the Pennsylvanian and probably continued to move from then until the end of the Jurassic. Satellite-based measurements indicate that flow of salt and gypsum continues today to cause flexing and faulting of overlying sedimentary layers. The Paradox is up to 5000 feet (1520 m) thick in places and in the park is exposed at the