Blue sky orange soil desert view, from Goulding's Lodge, to Saddleback Mesa, Castle and Big Indian Buttes, Monument Valley, Utah
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 mesas and 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. Thin sandstone and siltstone beds of the Triassic Moenkopi Formation cap the buttes. Weathered scree covers the Organ Rock Shale beds. Parts of the valley are in Arizona, but the northern end (seen here) is in Utah. A view south from Goulding's Trading Post towards Saddleback Mesa, Castle Butte and Big Indian Butte.
Size: 4234px × 1991px
Location: Goulding's Trading Post, Monument Valley, Utah, USA
Photo credit: © robert harrison / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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