The importance of determining paleoelevations is exemplified in the Rocky Mountains and the Colorado Plateau. Considering the discrepancies between various current elevations within regions that are close to each other, makes it difficult to calculate those paleoelevations for many reasons. Reasons such as climate change, erosional chemical and mechanical weathering, and the difficulties to reach some of the locations to gather data, make this region a highly sought after study area. These reasons impede the ability to gather accurate enough results to determine the date at which the Rocky Mountains rose exactly. However, many different methods have and are currently being put to use to attempt to pinpoint a date that is supported with good…show more content… The fact that trends in O isotopic values vs. elevation and distance inland are consistent, supports this method of determining paleoelevations from surface temperatures that much more. I also support this because of climate change. Climate change introduces many variables that can drastically change current, future elevations or paleoelvations. This method is able to correlate to a climate model and for this reason makes the evidence or accuracy of the method even more pronounced. In future studies, this method can be used in correlation with other methods such as leaf physiognomy or the less accurate cosmogenic radio nuclide dating techniques. A possible study site for this can be the Wind River Range in Wyoming because there are many geologic variables in this region such as wind, erosion and huge climate variations throughout the year. Also, there are a lot of alpine lakes where carbonate clumped- isotopes can be used to study the sedimentary deposits and paleoelevations from past surface temperatures. Further studies can establish the accuracy of this method to a higher degree and lead to new discoveries in the geologic and science realm. Through the support of all the methods discussed, whether accurate or not, I have determined that the Rockies and the Colorado Plateau began to rise about 65 million years
