Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, eroded badlands, south of Farmington, New Mexico, USA.

Eroded badlands of Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, south of Farmington, in San Juan County, New Mexico, USA. This fantasy world of strange rock formations is made of interbedded sandstone, shale, mudstone, coal, and silt. These rock layers have weathered into eerie hoodoos (pinnacles, spires, and cap rocks). This was once a riverine delta west of an ancient sea, the Western Interior Seaway, which covered much of New Mexico 70 million years ago. Swamps built up organic material which became beds of lignite. Water disappeared and left behind a 1400-foot (430 m) layer of jumbled sandstone, mudstone, shale, and coal. The ancient sedimentary deposits were uplifted with the rest of the Colorado Plateau, starting about 25 million years ago. Waters of the last ice age eroded the hoodoos now visible. The high desert widerness of Bisti is managed by the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This panorama was stitched from 3 overlapping photos.

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Filename: 1403NM-0064-66pan_Bisti_De-Na-Zin-Wilderness.jpg
Copyright: © Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com
Image Size: 10623x4346 / 9.7MB; http://www.photoseek.com/; Panorama PhotoBest abstract desert landscape nature outdoor pattern ArtandCreativeMarketing.com
Contained in galleries: USA: Southwest favorites (Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada), Highlights 2014, 2014 Mar 15-Apr 09: SW favorites: southwest (UT, NM, TX), OR, CA, New Mexico: Bisti / De-Na-Zin Wilderness, USA: New Mexico favorites, 2014 Mar 15-Apr 09: all: southwest (UT, NM, TX), OR, CA

Eroded badlands of Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, south of Farmington, in San Juan County, New Mexico, USA. This fantasy world of strange rock formations is made of interbedded sandstone, shale, mudstone, coal, and silt. These rock layers have weathered into eerie hoodoos (pinnacles, spires, and cap rocks). This was once a riverine delta west of an ancient sea, the Western Interior Seaway, which covered much of New Mexico 70 million years ago. Swamps built up organic material which became beds of lignite. Water disappeared and left behind a 1400-foot (430 m) layer of jumbled sandstone, mudstone, shale, and coal. The ancient sedimentary deposits were uplifted with the rest of the Colorado Plateau, starting about 25 million years ago. Waters of the last ice age eroded the hoodoos now visible. The high desert widerness of Bisti is managed by the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This panorama was stitched from 3 overlapping photos.