Organ Rock Formation Organ Rock Formation The Organ Rock Formation or Organ Rock Shale is a formation within the late Pennsylvanian to early Permian Cutler Group and is deposited across southeastern Utah, northwestern New Mexico, and northeastern Arizona. This formation notably outcrops around Canyonlands National Park, Natural Bridges National Monument, and Monument Valley. The age of the Organ Rock is constrained to the latter half of the Cisuralian Epoch by age dates from overlying and underlying formations. Important early terrestrial vertebrate fossils have been recovered from this formation in northern Arizona, southern Utah, and northern New Mexico. These include the iconic Permian terrestrial
Brazos River nutrient loads, high bacterial and salinity levels and low dissolved oxygen. These water quality issues can be attributed to livestock, fertilizer and chemical run off. Sources of run off are croplands, pastures, and industrial sites among others. Fracking is also cause for concern regarding water quality within the Brazos Watershed. The Barnett Shale lies partially within the watershed which is the second largest source of natural gas in the US. Studies have shown that the watershed receiving the most toxic pollution is the lower Brazos river which received 33.4 million pounds of toxic waste in 2012. Canoeing is a very