Monument Valley and the Colorado Plateau
- Monument Valley showing buttes and pinnacles
- Monument Valley showing the red DeChelly sandstone,
with buttes in the background (and maybe a pinnacle or two also)
- Monument Valley at sunset with buttes
- The butte walls are composed of sandstone of
the Cutler Formation. The gentle slope near the top has developed in the
Moenkopi Formation, and the butte is capped by a thin layer of Shinarump
Conglomerate.
- Typical Monument Valley landscape, complete with
cowboy on horse and a meditator who is obviously overwhelmed by the whole
scene. Buttes, mesa, pinnacles.
- The central pinnacle is a remnant of Tertiary
intrusive igneous rock.
- Comb Ridge, against the horizon, is an upwarped
section of Navajo and Kayenta Sandstone.
- The Vermillion Cliffs of the Colorado
Plateau, made of the Chinle formation (same rock as you see in the painted
desert & Petrified Forest NP)
- Vermillion Cliffs again, at a distance.
- Vermillion Cliffs yet again. Maybe
enough is enough, eh?
- The White Cliffs of the Colorado Plateau
made out of the Navajo sandstone (same rock as seen in Zion NP). Maybe
a little of the Vermillion Cliffs peeking out at the bottom. On route 89
near Kanab Utah.
- White Cliffs again.
- And again, the White Cliffs.
- The Grey Cliffs overlying the White Cliffs
on the Colorado Plateau. The grey cliff are made of the Warweap sandstone
(a cliff former), but we didn't cover this in class so do not worry about
the name.
- The "Navajo Twins" near Bluff, Utah,
are composed of Navajo Sandstone.
Below are two Quicktime VR panoramas of the Monument Valley. You must
have Quicktime 3 installed on your computer and browser to view and interact
with these.
