Everything about The Colorado Piedmont totally explained
The
Colorado Piedmont is the
geologic term for an area along the base of the foothills of the
Front Range in north central
Colorado in the
United States. The region consists of a broad hilly valley, just under 5000 ft (1500 m) in elevation, stretching north and northeast from
Denver in the valley of the
South Platte River, as well as along the
Arkansas River valley southward from
Colorado Springs. The region includes much of the populated and cultivated area of Colorado. The name Colorado Piedmont also refers to the physiographic section of the
Great Plains province.
Description
The Colorado Piedmont elavation is lower than the foothills, but is also slightly lower elevation than the
High Plains to the east. According to current geologic theory, the Piedmont was formed approximately 28 million years, during the broad bowing of the
North American Plate that lifted the continent between present-day
Kansas and
Utah to its present elevation of approximately 5000 ft (1500 m). This uplift resulted in increased streamflow and rapid erosion on the eastern side of the
Rocky Mountains. The erosion scraped away the top layer of
Upper Cretaceous sandstone (which still exists as the top layer on the High Plains), exposing the underlying layer of
Pierre Shale, which had been formed during the Cretaceous, when a
shallow sea covered present-day Colorado. It was during this time that the South Platte River, which had previously flowed eastward across the Plains, rerouted northward along the mountains to join the
Cache la Poudre River. In some areas of the Piedmont, a loose veneer of
Pleistocene gravel overlays older shale and which accumulated during
glaciation in the mountains, when streams descending onto the Piedmont became overburdened with sediment.
The drop off from the Plains to the Piedmont is noticeable to motorists driving southward from
Cheyenne, Wyoming on
Interstate 25. At approximately Mile 293 northeast of
Wellington, Colorado, near the
Larimer-
Weld county line, the road drops noticeably from the Upper Cretaceous sandstone of the Plains to the lower shale of the Piedmont. The transition from High Plains to Piedmont is likewise accompanied by a change in agriculture, from pasture lands on the Plains to cultivated fields in the Piedmont.
In the
19th century, Piedmont region was inhabited primarily by the
Southern Arapaho and
Cheyenne tribes. From the earliest time of white settlement in the middle 19th century, the issue of water has been a controlling force in the economy of the region. The region wasn't widely settled in the early
Colorado Territory, when mining was the basis of the economy. The use of
irrigation in the Piedmont starting in the
1860s led to widespread
homesteading and cultivation of
wheat and
sugar beets, as well as cattle and sheep ranching. Much of the irrigation water in the Piedmont comes from shallow wells that tap the layers of Pleistocene gravel. Water diversion projects, locally from the Cache la Poudre and other rivers, as well as the
Colorado-Big Thompson Project, also supply needed water to the region.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Colorado Piedmont'.
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