View from parking lot. Goblins (technically hoodoos) eroded out of the Entrada sandstone – actually a mix of sandstone, siltstone and shale (cliffs in background)
Mid-Jurassic Entrada sandstones, siltstones and shales – once tidal flats and coastal dunes. Pale-colored layer above is the Curtis Formation, also Jurassic.
I took the Goblin’s Lair Trail around to the east side of the ridge (photo above). In a large alcove, I found walls of Entrada sandstone covered with what looked like mud that had run down from above.My camera had color issues in the shady alcove.
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Back at the car, I checked accounts of Goblin Valley State Park in two geology guidebooks. They described depositional and erosional features in the park, both ancient and modern: tidal cross-bedding, remnants of tidal channels, dune cross-bedding, ripple marks, talus, stream-bed ripples, gilgai (popcorn-textured soil), microbiotic crust, intermittent stream channels, and of course hoodoos/goblins. But neither book mentioned mud sculptures on alcove walls.What are they? Are they depositional, erosional, both? All attempts at clever googling have failed. Can you help? If so, please Comment. I seek enlightenment.