Blue sky aerial view Spearhead Mesa north to Merrick Butte, East Mitten, Eagle Mesa, far Ute Mountain, Monument Valley, Arizona

---

The Monument Valley region of the Colorado Plateau is characterised by a large number of mesas and buttes, the largest rising 300 metres (1000 feet) above the valley floor, which is itself 5000-6000 feet above sea level. The Monument valley buttes are stratified, as seen here. The reddish brown mudstones and siltstones of the Permian Organ Rock Shale is exposed at the base of the mesas and buttes. Forming massive cliffs above is the Permian DeChelly Sandstone, a fine-grained, quartz-rich sandstone that has a reddish colour due to haematite iron salts coating the sand grains. Aerial view from light aircraft tour, looking north from Spearhead Mesa to East Mitten and beyond.

---

Size: 5056px × 2095px
Location: Aerial view Spearhead Mesa north to East Mitten, Monument Valley, Arizona, USA
Photo credit: © robert harrison / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: aerial, arid, arizona, big, blue, brown, butte, buttes, cly, colorado, desert, eagle, east, erosional, geography, geology, indian, landforms, landscape, merrick, mesa, mesas, mitten, monument, plateau, semi-arid, sentinel, sky, spearhead, sunny, usa, utah, valley, view, yellow