Show Navigation

Search Results

Refine Search
Match all words
Match any word
Prints
Personal Use
Royalty-Free
Rights-Managed
(leave unchecked to
search all images)
{ 724 images found }

Loading ()...

  • The Wave, Coyote Buttes, located on the Arizona side of Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness Area, which is public land managed by the United States BLM. Over 190 million years, ancient sand dune layers calcified into rock and created "The Wave." Iron oxides bled through this Jurassic-age Navajo sandstone to create the salmon color. Hematite and goethite added yellows, oranges, browns and purples. Over thousands of years, water cut through the ridge above and exposed a channel that was further scoured by windblown sand into the smooth curves that today look like ocean swells and waves. For the permit required to hike to "The Wave", contact the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM), who limits access to protect this fragile geologic formation.
    03AZ-05-21-The-Wave_Coyote-Buttes.jpg
  • The Wave, Coyote Buttes, located on the Arizona side of Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness Area, which is public land managed by the United States BLM. Over 190 million years, ancient sand dune layers calcified into rock and created "The Wave." Iron oxides bled through this Jurassic-age Navajo sandstone to create the salmon color. Hematite and goethite added yellows, oranges, browns and purples. Over thousands of years, water cut through the ridge above and exposed a channel that was further scoured by windblown sand into the smooth curves that today look like ocean swells and waves. For the permit required to hike to "The Wave", contact the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM), who limits access to protect this fragile geologic formation. Image was published in 2009 for a surgeon's book on the intersection of science and faith. Published in "Light Travel: Photography on the Go" book by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010.
    03AZ-05-25-The-Wave_Coyote-Buttes.jpg
  • Hoodoos kiss at Chiricahua National Monument, Arizona, USA. The Heart of the Rocks Loop Trail (7 to 9 miles) makes an excellent day hike through fascinating arrays of hoodoos. 27 million years ago, huge volcanic eruptions laid down 2000 feet of ash and pumice which fused into rhyolitic tuff. This rock has eroded into fascinating hoodoos, spires, and balanced rocks which lie above the surrounding desert grasslands at elevations between 5100 and 7800 feet. At Chiricahua, the Sonoran desert meets the Chihuahuan desert, and the Rocky Mountains meet Mexico's Sierra Madre, making one of the most biologically diverse areas in the northern hemisphere. While we drove the dirt road to nearby Portal, Arizona, Carol saw a mountain lion crossing the road! Other animals here include javelina, coatimundi, bears, skunks, and deer.
    03AZ-13-17_Chiricahua_Hoodoos_Kissin...jpg
  • Wavy sandstone pattern by Carol Dempsey, Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, USA. Starting more than 150 million years ago, great shifting sand dunes during the age of dinosaurs were compressed, uplifting, faulted, and eroded to form the park's fiery red sandstone formations. The park adjoins Lake Mead National Recreation Area at the Virgin River confluence, at an elevation of 2000 to 2600 feet (610-790 m), 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Las Vegas, USA. Park entry from Interstate 15 passes through the Moapa Indian Reservation.
    99NV-C2-13-wavy-sandstone_Valley-of-...jpg
  • Volcanic ash layers (tuff), at Taranaki / Mount Egmont National Park, New Zealand, North Island
    07NZ_7058_ash-layers_Mt-Egmont.jpg
  • Glacier layers drip ice on Nevados Puscanturpa, in the Cordillera Huayhuash, Andes Mountains, Peru, South America. Day 5 of 9 days trekking around the Cordillera Huayhuash.
    14PER-4301_glacier-layers.jpg
  • Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, eroded sediment layers, 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).
    1403NM-0102_Bisti_De-Na-Zin-Wilderne...jpg
  • Natural slate layers are exposed in a slot canyon wall, in the north Pindus Mountains (Pindos or Pindhos), near Mikro Papingo village (or small Papigo), Zagoria, Epirus/Epiros, Greece, Europe. Zagori (Greek: ) is a region and a municipality in the Pindus mountains in Epirus, in northwestern Greece. Zagori contains 45 villages collectively known as Zagoria (Zagorochoria or Zagorohoria).
    01GRE-34-06_Slate-layer-geology-Zago...jpg
  • Grinnell Falls cuts through purple rock layers, along Grinnell Glacier Trail, Glacier National Park, Montana, USA
    2209RV-0872.jpg
  • Sedementary rock layers seen above Lava Canyon. Day 4 of 16 days boating 226 miles down the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA.
    2103SW-B0214.jpg
  • Sedementary rock layers in Lava Canyon. Day 4 of 16 days boating 226 miles down the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA.
    2103SW-B0206.jpg
  • Colorful sandstone layers are revealed in the slot of Little Wild Horse Canyon. San Rafael Swell Recreation Area, Utah, USA. Hike a classic loop from Little Wild Horse Canyon to Bell Canyon, in the San Rafael Reef. This great walk (an 8.6-mile circuit with 900 feet gain) is a short drive on a paved road from Goblin Valley State Park. The hike via fascinating narrow slot canyons and open mesas requires some scrambling over rocks, possibly through shallow water holes (which were dry for us on Sept 20, 2020 but wet in April 2006). Thanks to the greatest legislative victory in the history of SUWA (Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance), in 2019, Congress passed the Emery County Public Land Management Act, which declared 663,000 acres of wilderness, including Little Wild Horse Canyon Wilderness, in San Rafael Swell Recreation Area, Utah, USA. The Navajo and Wingate sandstone of the San Rafael Reef was uplifted fifty million years ago into a striking bluff which now runs from Price to Hanksville, bisected by Interstate 70 at a breach fifteen miles west of the town of Green River.
    20.10US1-0442.jpg
  • Pinnacles Overlook. Erosion has exposed layers of ancient colorful sediments. Badlands National Park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. South Dakota, USA.
    1709US1-2868_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • Yellow Mounds Overlook. Erosion has exposed layers of ancient colorful sediments. Badlands National Park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. South Dakota, USA.
    1709US1-2849_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • Panorama Point at sunrise. Erosion has exposed layers of ancient colorful sediments. Badlands National Park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. South Dakota, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1709US2-535-37-Pano_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • Yellow Mounds Overlook. Erosion has exposed layers of ancient colorful sediments. Badlands National Park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. South Dakota, USA.
    1709US1-2753_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • Panorama Point at sunrise. Erosion has exposed layers of ancient colorful sediments. Badlands National Park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. South Dakota, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1709US1-2718_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • Panorama Point at sunrise. Erosion has exposed layers of ancient colorful sediments. Badlands National Park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. South Dakota, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1709US1-2714_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • Panorama Point at sunrise. Erosion has exposed layers of ancient colorful sediments. Badlands National Park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. South Dakota, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1709US2-496-98-Pano_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • Reddish twilight illuminates clouds in darkening blue sky over layers of ancient sediments on the Loop Road near the Interior Entrance of Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA. This park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1709US1-2643-62-pan_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • Reddish twilight illuminates clouds in darkening blue sky over layers of ancient sediments on the Loop Road near the Interior Entrance of Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA. This park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States.
    1709US1-2673-77-Edit_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • Golden sunset illuminates layers of ancient sediments on the Loop Road near the Interior Entrance of Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA. This park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1709US1-2603-06-Pano_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • Golden sunset illuminates layers of ancient sediments on the Loop Road near the Interior Entrance of Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA. This park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1709US1-2526-27-Pano_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • Golden sunset illuminates layers of ancient sediments on the Loop Road near the Interior Entrance of Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA. This park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States.
    1709US1-2603-p1_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • Erosion has exposed layers of ancient colorful sediments. Badlands National Park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. South Dakota, USA.
    1709US1-2250_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • Pancake Rocks weathered from limestone sediment layers at Punakaiki, Paparoa National Park, New Zealand. Published in Sierra Magazine, Sierra Club Outings January/February 2004.
    81NZ-06-23_Pancake-Rocks-hiker.jpg
  • A stream descends strikingly striated rock layers above Gunsight Lake, in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA
    2209RV-0376.jpg
  • Conglomerate sedementary rock layers in Lava Canyon. Day 4 of 16 days boating 226 miles down the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA.
    2103SW-B0205.jpg
  • Striped rock layers in Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA. The intricately carved cliff of the Badlands Wall constantly retreats as it erodes and washes into the White River Valley below.
    20.10US1-0521.jpg
  • Striped rock layers in Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA. The intricately carved cliff of the Badlands Wall constantly retreats as it erodes and washes into the White River Valley below.
    20.10US1-0524.jpg
  • Tilted rock layers of Mount Lyautey (9990 ft / 3045 m), seen from Forks Backcountry Campground (10 miles round trip, 500 ft gain in, 300 ft out). Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada.
    1807CAN-1092.jpg
  • Yellow Mounds Overlook. Erosion has exposed layers of ancient colorful sediments. Badlands National Park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. South Dakota, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1709US1-2795-2812-Pano_Badlands-NP-S...jpg
  • Yellow Mounds Overlook. Erosion has exposed layers of ancient colorful sediments. Badlands National Park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. South Dakota, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1709US1-2783-85-Pano_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • Yellow Mounds Overlook. Erosion has exposed layers of ancient colorful sediments. Badlands National Park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. South Dakota, USA.
    1709US1-2768_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • Yellow Mounds Overlook. Erosion has exposed layers of ancient sediments. Badlands National Park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. South Dakota, USA.
    1709US1-2761_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • Panorama Point at sunrise. Erosion has exposed layers of ancient colorful sediments. Badlands National Park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. South Dakota, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1709US1-2723_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • Erosion exposed layers of ancient colorful sediments, on the Loop Road near the Interior Entrance of Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA. This park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States.
    1709US1-2390_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • Erosion has exposed layers of ancient colorful sediments. Badlands National Park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. South Dakota, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1709US1-2265-68-Pano_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • Erosion has exposed layers of ancient colorful sediments. Badlands National Park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. South Dakota, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1709US1-2279-82-Pano_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • Erosion has exposed layers of ancient colorful sediments. Badlands National Park has the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. South Dakota, USA.
    1709US1-2270_Badlands-NP-SD.jpg
  • A rainbow of mineral colors in cracked lava layers in Holei Pali, by Chain of Craters Road, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, on the Big Island, Hawaii, USA. Established in 1916 and later expanded, the park (HVNP) encompasses two active volcanoes: Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and Mauna Loa, the world's most massive shield volcano. The park portrays the birth of the Hawaiian Islands with dramatic volcanic landscapes, native flora and fauna, and glowing flowing lava. Most recently erupted in 1984, Mauna Loa may have emerged above sea level about 400,000 years ago and has likely been erupting for at least 700,000 years. Measured from its base on the ocean floor, it rises over 33,000 ft, significantly greater than the elevation of Mount Everest above sea level. HVNP is honored as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve.
    1701HAW-2786.jpg
  • Atmospheric layers distort the orange ball of the sun behind clouds, seen from Kalalau Lookout at 4000 feet above the Pacific Ocean. Koke'e State Park, island of Kauai, Hawaii, USA.
    1701HAW-1878.jpg
  • Ash layers on Osorno Volcano rise above Lago Todos Los Santos (Lake of All Saints) in the Andes mountain range, in Los Lagos Region, Chile, South America. This stratovolcano rises to 2652 meters (or 8701 feet elevation) between Osorno Province and Llanquihue Province. Volcan Osorno is one of the most active volcanoes of the southern Chilean Andes, with 11 historical eruptions recorded between 1575 and 1869, where basalt and andesite lava flows reached Lakes Llanquihue and Todos los Santos. Osorno sits on top of a 250,000-year-old eroded stratovolcano, La Picada, with a 6-km-wide caldera. Despite its modest altitude and latitude, the cone of Volcan Osorno is covered by glaciers deposited by heavy snowfall wrung from the moist maritime climate. What international tourist literature calls the "Chilean Lake District" usually refers to the Andean foothills between Temuco and Puerto Montt including three Regions (XIV Los Ríos, IX La Araucanía, and X Los Lagos) in what Chile calls the Zona Sur (Southern Zone).
    93CHI-14-35_Volcan-Osorno-ash_Lago-d...jpg
  • Antarctic glaciers compress years of snowfall into banded ice layers, which calve into the Southern Ocean as icebergs with odd shapes and patterns.
    05ANT-20172.jpg
  • Antarctic glaciers compress years of snowfall into banded ice layers, which calve into the Southern Ocean as icebergs with odd shapes and patterns.
    05ANT-20174.jpg
  • Chiricahua National Monument, Arizona: The Heart of the Rocks Loop Trail (7 to 9 miles) makes a perfect day hike through the hoodoos here. 27 million years ago, huge volcanic eruptions laid down 2000 feet of ash and pumice in this area, which fused into a rock known as rhyolitic tuff.  Since then this rock has eroded into fascinating hoodoos, spires, and balanced rocks which lie above the surrounding desert grasslands at elevations between 5100 and 7800 feet. At Chiricahua, the Sonoran desert meets the Chihuahuan desert, and the Rocky Mountains meet Mexico's Sierra Madre, making one of the most biologically diverse areas in the northern hemisphere. While we drove the dirt road to nearby Portal, Arizona, Carol saw a mountain lion crossing the road! Other animals here include javelina, coatimundi, bears, skunks, and deer. Published in "Light Travel: Photography on the Go" book by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010.
    03AZ-13-07-Chiricahua-NM.jpg
  • A hiker admires hoodoos at Chiricahua National Monument, Arizona, USA. The Heart of the Rocks Loop Trail (7 to 9 miles) makes an excellent day hike through fascinating arrays of hoodoos. 27 million years ago, huge volcanic eruptions laid down 2000 feet of ash and pumice which fused into rhyolitic tuff. This rock has eroded into fascinating hoodoos, spires, and balanced rocks which lie above the surrounding desert grasslands at elevations between 5100 and 7800 feet. At Chiricahua, the Sonoran desert meets the Chihuahuan desert, and the Rocky Mountains meet Mexico's Sierra Madre, making one of the most biologically diverse areas in the northern hemisphere. While we drove the dirt road to nearby Portal, Arizona, Carol saw a mountain lion crossing the road! Other animals here include javelina, coatimundi, bears, skunks, and deer. For licensing options, please inquire.
    03AZ-12-01_Chiricahua-NM.jpg
  • A hiker rests on a hoodoo at Chiricahua National Monument, Arizona, USA. The Heart of the Rocks Loop Trail (7 to 9 miles) makes an excellent day hike through fascinating arrays of hoodoos. 27 million years ago, huge volcanic eruptions laid down 2000 feet of ash and pumice which fused into rhyolitic tuff. This rock has eroded into fascinating hoodoos, spires, and balanced rocks which lie above the surrounding desert grasslands at elevations between 5100 and 7800 feet. At Chiricahua, the Sonoran desert meets the Chihuahuan desert, and the Rocky Mountains meet Mexico's Sierra Madre, making one of the most biologically diverse areas in the northern hemisphere. While we drove the dirt road to nearby Portal, Arizona, Carol saw a mountain lion crossing the road! Other animals here include javelina, coatimundi, bears, skunks, and deer.
    03AZ-11-15_Chiricahua-Hoodoos.jpg
  • Purple heather and green grass cover the cliffs of Trotternish Peninsula above the Sound of Raasay, on Isle of Skye, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe. Enjoy this view southwards towards Brothers Point from the same viewpoint as Kilt Rock & Mealt Falls along the A855 road, 15 km north of Portree (2 km south of Staffin) on Skye, the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides. Between 61 and 55 million years ago, volcanic activity on the west coast of Scotland covered the northern half of Skye in layers of molten rock over 1200m thick. Molten rock squeezed between layers of Jurassic sandstone rocks then cooled slowly and shrank into striking polygonal columns seen along this coast.
    17SC1-3430_Scotland.jpg
  • Purple heather and green grass cover the cliffs of Trotternish Peninsula above the Sound of Raasay, on Isle of Skye, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe. Enjoy this view southwards towards Brothers Point from the same viewpoint as Kilt Rock & Mealt Falls along the A855 road, 15 km north of Portree (2 km south of Staffin) on Skye, the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides. Between 61 and 55 million years ago, volcanic activity on the west coast of Scotland covered the northern half of Skye in layers of molten rock over 1200m thick. Molten rock squeezed between layers of Jurassic sandstone rocks then cooled slowly and shrank into striking polygonal columns seen along this coast.
    17SC1-3420_Scotland.jpg
  • Purple heather and green grass cover the cliffs of Trotternish Peninsula above the Sound of Raasay, on Isle of Skye, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe. Enjoy this view southwards towards Brothers Point from the same viewpoint as Kilt Rock & Mealt Falls along the A855 road, 15 km north of Portree (2 km south of Staffin) on Skye, the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides. Between 61 and 55 million years ago, volcanic activity on the west coast of Scotland covered the northern half of Skye in layers of molten rock over 1200m thick. Molten rock squeezed between layers of Jurassic sandstone rocks then cooled slowly and shrank into striking polygonal columns seen along this coast.
    17SC1-3406_Scotland.jpg
  • Bands of pink and white layers demark the 1.19-billion-year-old Bass limestone of the Grand Canyon Supergroup, on the fascinating Trail of Time interpretive exhibit on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA. Starting west of Yavapai Geology Museum, walk for 1.3 miles on the paved trail backward in time from today toward the oldest rock in Grand Canyon, Elves Chasm gneiss, 1.840 billion years old. Or begin east of Verkamp's Visitor Center, walking forward in time toward the youngest rock in the Grand Canyon, Kaibab Limestone, 270 million years old. Starting at least 5 to 17 million years ago, erosion by the Colorado River has exposed a column of distinctive rock layers, which date back nearly two billion years at the base of Grand Canyon. While the Colorado Plateau was uplifted by tectonic forces, the Colorado River and tributaries carved Grand Canyon 6000 feet deep, 277 miles  long and up to 18 miles wide.
    1804SW-1675.jpg
  • Bands of pink and white layers demark the 1.19-billion-year-old Bass limestone of the Grand Canyon Supergroup, on the fascinating Trail of Time interpretive exhibit on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA. Starting west of Yavapai Geology Museum, walk for 1.3 miles on the paved trail backward in time from today toward the oldest rock in Grand Canyon, Elves Chasm gneiss, 1.840 billion years old. Or begin east of Verkamp's Visitor Center, walking forward in time toward the youngest rock in the Grand Canyon, Kaibab Limestone, 270 million years old. Starting at least 5 to 17 million years ago, erosion by the Colorado River has exposed a column of distinctive rock layers, which date back nearly two billion years at the base of Grand Canyon. While the Colorado Plateau was uplifted by tectonic forces, the Colorado River and tributaries carved Grand Canyon 6000 feet deep, 277 miles  long and up to 18 miles wide.
    1804SW-1677.jpg
  • Purple heather and green grass cover the cliffs of Trotternish Peninsula above the Sound of Raasay, on Isle of Skye, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe. Enjoy this view southwards towards Brothers Point from the same viewpoint as Kilt Rock & Mealt Falls along the A855 road, 15 km north of Portree (2 km south of Staffin) on Skye, the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides. Between 61 and 55 million years ago, volcanic activity on the west coast of Scotland covered the northern half of Skye in layers of molten rock over 1200m thick. Molten rock squeezed between layers of Jurassic sandstone rocks then cooled slowly and shrank into striking polygonal columns seen along this coast.
    17SC1-3425_Scotland.jpg
  • Purple heather and green grass cover the cliffs of Trotternish Peninsula above the Sound of Raasay, on Isle of Skye, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe. Enjoy this view southwards towards Brothers Point from the same viewpoint as Kilt Rock & Mealt Falls along the A855 road, 15 km north of Portree (2 km south of Staffin) on Skye, the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides. Between 61 and 55 million years ago, volcanic activity on the west coast of Scotland covered the northern half of Skye in layers of molten rock over 1200m thick. Molten rock squeezed between layers of Jurassic sandstone rocks then cooled slowly and shrank into striking polygonal columns seen along this coast. This image was stitched from several overlapping photos.
    17SC1-3408-10-Pano_Scotland.jpg
  • Mealt Falls plunges 60 m into the Sound of Raasay, on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe. In the background is Kilt Rock. Between 61 and 55 million years ago, volcanic activity on the west coast of Scotland covered the northern half of Skye in layers of molten rock over 1200m thick. The pleats of Kilt Rock formed as molten rock squeezed between layers of Jurassic sandstone rocks then cooled slowly and shrank into striking polygonal columns. Enjoy this viewpoint along the A855 road 15 km north of Portree (2 km south of Staffin), on the Trotternish Peninsula, on Skye, the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides. This image was stitched from several overlapping photos.
    17SC1-3396-97-Pano_Scotland.jpg
  • Hike through Grand Wash, in Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, USA. Capitol Reef National Park is centered upon the 100-mile-long Waterpocket Fold, the steep eastern limb of the Circle Cliffs Uplift, formed in Late Cretaceous time, during the Laramide Orogeny. Pressure caused by the subduction of the Farallon Plate beneath the North American Plate along the west coast caused several huge folds like this in southeast Utah, USA. Steeply tilted Triassic and Jurassic rocks form the hogbacks of the Waterpocket Fold and Capitol Reef, which is built of dark-red dune-formed Wingate Sandstone, thinly bedded river deposits of the Kayenta Formation, crested by the massive, white, dune-formed Navajo Sandstone. Honeycomb weathering: rainwater soaks into sandstone, dissolves its cement, and redeposits it near the surface as the water evaporates, forming a resistant outer layer, pockmarked with holes into the soft inner layers enlarged by wind and moisture.
    1503SW-0493_sandstone-pattern.jpg
  • Jurassic sandstone erodes into a honeycomb of rock in Wild Horse Canyon on federal BLM land, San Rafael Swell, Utah, USA. Honeycomb weathering: rainwater soaks into sandstone, dissolves its cement, and redeposits it near the surface as the water evaporates, forming a resistant outer layer, pockmarked with holes into the soft inner layers enlarged by wind and moisture. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior that administers American public lands.
    1503SW3-120_Jurassic-honeycomb.jpg
  • Intricate honeycombs of weathered sandstone decorate Crack Canyon, on federal BLM land in San Rafael Swell, near Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, USA. Honeycomb weathering: rainwater soaks into sandstone, dissolves its cement, and redeposits it near the surface as the water evaporates, forming a resistant outer layer, pockmarked with holes into the soft inner layers enlarged by wind and moisture. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior that administers American public lands.
    1503SW3-091_Crack-Canyon_pattern.jpg
  • Intricate honeycombs of weathered sandstone decorate Crack Canyon, on federal BLM land in San Rafael Swell, near Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, USA. Honeycomb weathering: rainwater soaks into sandstone, dissolves its cement, and redeposits it near the surface as the water evaporates, forming a resistant outer layer, pockmarked with holes into the soft inner layers enlarged by wind and moisture. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior that administers American public lands.
    1503SW3-063_Crack-Canyon_pattern.jpg
  • Sandstone erodes into honeycomb depressions in Crack Canyon, on federal BLM land in San Rafael Swell, near Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, USA. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior that administers American public lands. Honeycomb weathering: rainwater soaks into sandstone, dissolves its cement, and redeposits it near the surface as the water evaporates, forming a resistant outer layer, pockmarked with holes into the soft inner layers enlarged by wind and moisture.
    1503SW-0622_Crack-Canyon_pattern.jpg
  • 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).
    1403NM-0024_Bisti_De-Na-Zin-Wilderne...jpg
  • 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).
    1403NM-0016_Bisti_De-Na-Zin-Wilderne...jpg
  • Snail-shaped rock, 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).
    1403NM-0005_Bisti_De-Na-Zin-Wilderne...jpg
  • 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).
    1403NM-0082_Bisti_De-Na-Zin-Wilderne...jpg
  • 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).
    1403NM-0092_Bisti_De-Na-Zin-Wilderne...jpg
  • 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).
    1403NM-0072_Bisti_De-Na-Zin-Wilderne...jpg
  • 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.
    1403NM-0064-66pan_Bisti_De-Na-Zin-Wi...jpg
  • 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 6 overlapping photos.
    1403NM-0050-55pan_Bisti_De-Na-Zin-Wi...jpg
  • 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).
    1403NM-0035_Bisti_De-Na-Zin-Wilderne...jpg
  • 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).
    1403NM-0030_Bisti_De-Na-Zin-Wilderne...jpg
  • Stairs descend the Historic Entrance of Mammoth Cave, surrounded by trees with yellowing fall leaves. Mammoth Cave National Park was established in 1941 in Edmonson County, Kentucky, USA and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 and international Biosphere Reserve in 1990. With over 390 miles (630 km) of passageways, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System is the longest known in the world. Mammoth Cave developed in thick Mississippian-aged limestone strata capped by a layer of Big Clifty Sandstone. Descending limestone layers include the Girkin Formation, Saint Genevieve Limestone, and Saint Louis Limestone. Panorama stitched from 6 overlapping photos.
    10MAM-112-117pan_Mammoth-Cave-KY.jpg
  • Stairs descend the Historic Entrance of Mammoth Cave, surrounded by trees with yellowing fall leaves. Mammoth Cave National Park was established in 1941 in Edmonson County, Kentucky, USA and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 and international Biosphere Reserve in 1990. With over 390 miles (630 km) of passageways, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System is the longest known in the world. Mammoth Cave developed in thick Mississippian-aged limestone strata capped by a layer of Big Clifty Sandstone. Descending limestone layers include the Girkin Formation, Saint Genevieve Limestone, and Saint Louis Limestone. Panorama stitched from 8 overlapping photos.
    10MAM-103-110pan_Mammoth-Cave-KY.jpg
  • Stairs descend the Historic Entrance of Mammoth Cave, which drips with water and is surrounded by trees with yellowing fall leaves. Mammoth Cave National Park was established in 1941 in Edmonson County, Kentucky, USA and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 and international Biosphere Reserve 1990. With over 390 miles (630 km) of passageways, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System is the longest known in the world. Mammoth Cave developed in thick Mississippian-aged limestone strata capped by a layer of Big Clifty Sandstone. Descending limestone layers include the Girkin Formation, Saint Genevieve Limestone, and Saint Louis Limestone.
    10MAM-092-p1.jpg
  • This funny vehicle patrols Mammoth Cave National Park, which was established in 1941 in Edmonson County, Kentucky, USA and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 and international Biosphere Reserve in 1990. With over 390 miles (630 km) of passageways, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System is the longest known in the world. Mammoth Cave developed in thick Mississippian-aged limestone strata capped by a layer of Big Clifty Sandstone. Descending limestone layers include the Girkin Formation, Saint Genevieve Limestone, and Saint Louis Limestone.
    10MAM-075.jpg
  • Tourists ascend a stairway in Mammoth Cave National Park, which  was established in 1941 in Edmonson County, Kentucky, USA and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 and international Biosphere Reserve 1990. With over 390 miles (630 km) of passageways, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System is the longest known in the world. Mammoth Cave developed in thick Mississippian-aged limestone strata capped by a layer of Big Clifty Sandstone. Descending limestone layers include the Girkin Formation, Saint Genevieve Limestone, and Saint Louis Limestone.
    10MAM-060.jpg
  • Stalagmites and stalactites form in Mammoth Cave National Park, which was established in 1941 in Edmonson County, Kentucky, USA and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 and international Biosphere Reserve 1990. With over 390 miles (630 km) of passageways, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System is the longest known in the world. Mammoth Cave developed in thick Mississippian-aged limestone strata capped by a layer of Big Clifty Sandstone. Descending limestone layers include the Girkin Formation, Saint Genevieve Limestone, and Saint Louis Limestone.
    10MAM-056.jpg
  • Mammoth Cave National Park was established in 1941 in Edmonson County, Kentucky, USA and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 and international Biosphere Reserve 1990. With over 390 miles (630 km) of passageways, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System is the longest known in the world. Mammoth Cave developed in thick Mississippian-aged limestone strata capped by a layer of Big Clifty Sandstone. Descending limestone layers include the Girkin Formation, Saint Genevieve Limestone, and Saint Louis Limestone.
    10MAM-034.jpg
  • Tourists file through Mammoth Cave National Park, which  was established in 1941 in Edmonson County, Kentucky, USA and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 and international Biosphere Reserve 1990. With over 390 miles (630 km) of passageways, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System is the longest known in the world. Mammoth Cave developed in thick Mississippian-aged limestone strata capped by a layer of Big Clifty Sandstone. Descending limestone layers include the Girkin Formation, Saint Genevieve Limestone, and Saint Louis Limestone.
    10MAM-031.jpg
  • Mammoth Cave National Park was established in 1941 in Edmonson County, Kentucky, USA and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 and international Biosphere Reserve 1990. With over 390 miles (630 km) of passageways, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System is the longest known in the world. Mammoth Cave developed in thick Mississippian-aged limestone strata capped by a layer of Big Clifty Sandstone. Descending limestone layers include the Girkin Formation, Saint Genevieve Limestone, and Saint Louis Limestone.
    10MAM-019.jpg
  • A man stoops to enter Mammoth Cave. This National Park was established in 1941 in Edmonson County, Kentucky, USA and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 and international Biosphere Reserve 1990. With over 390 miles (630 km) of passageways, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System is the longest known in the world. Mammoth Cave developed in thick Mississippian-aged limestone strata capped by a layer of Big Clifty Sandstone. Descending limestone layers include the Girkin Formation, Saint Genevieve Limestone, and Saint Louis Limestone.
    10MAM-015.jpg
  • Mammoth Cave National Park was established in 1941 in Edmonson County, Kentucky, USA and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 and international Biosphere Reserve 1990. With over 390 miles (630 km) of passageways, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System is the longest known in the world. Mammoth Cave developed in thick Mississippian-aged limestone strata capped by a layer of Big Clifty Sandstone. Descending limestone layers include the Girkin Formation, Saint Genevieve Limestone, and Saint Louis Limestone.
    10MAM-003.jpg
  • Intricate honeycombs of weathered sandstone decorate Crack Canyon, on federal BLM land in San Rafael Swell, near Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, USA. Honeycomb weathering: rainwater soaks into sandstone, dissolves its cement, and redeposits it near the surface as the water evaporates, forming a resistant outer layer, pockmarked with holes into the soft inner layers enlarged by wind and moisture. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior that administers American public lands.
    1503SW3-108_Crack-Canyon_pattern.jpg
  • Intricate honeycombs of weathered sandstone decorate Crack Canyon, on federal BLM land in San Rafael Swell, near Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, USA. Honeycomb weathering: rainwater soaks into sandstone, dissolves its cement, and redeposits it near the surface as the water evaporates, forming a resistant outer layer, pockmarked with holes into the soft inner layers enlarged by wind and moisture. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior that administers American public lands.
    1503SW3-107_Crack-Canyon_pattern.jpg
  • Sandstone erodes into honeycomb depressions in Crack Canyon, on federal BLM land in San Rafael Swell, near Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, USA. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior that administers American public lands. Honeycomb weathering: rainwater soaks into sandstone, dissolves its cement, and redeposits it near the surface as the water evaporates, forming a resistant outer layer, pockmarked with holes into the soft inner layers enlarged by wind and moisture.
    1503SW-0623_Crack-Canyon_pattern.jpg
  • Sandstone erodes into honeycomb depressions in Crack Canyon, on federal BLM land in San Rafael Swell, near Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, USA. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior that administers American public lands. Honeycomb weathering: rainwater soaks into sandstone, dissolves its cement, and redeposits it near the surface as the water evaporates, forming a resistant outer layer, pockmarked with holes into the soft inner layers enlarged by wind and moisture.
    1503SW-0619_Crack-Canyon_pattern.jpg
  • Crack Canyon, on federal BLM land in San Rafael Swell, near Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, USA. Honeycomb weathering: rainwater soaks into sandstone, dissolves its cement, and redeposits it near the surface as the water evaporates, forming a resistant outer layer, pockmarked with holes into the soft inner layers enlarged by wind and moisture. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior that administers American public lands.
    1503SW-0676_Crack-Canyon_pattern.jpg
  • Driftwood lodges into the sandstone honeycomb weathered over time in Crack Canyon, on federal BLM land in San Rafael Swell, near Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, USA. Honeycomb weathering: rainwater soaks into sandstone, dissolves its cement, and redeposits it near the surface as the water evaporates, forming a resistant outer layer, pockmarked with holes into the soft inner layers enlarged by wind and moisture. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior that administers American public lands.
    1503SW-0662_Crack-Canyon_pattern.jpg
  • A hiker explores beautiful Crack Canyon on public federal BLM land in San Rafael Swell, near Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, USA. As part of the Colorado Plateau, the San Rafael Swell is a giant dome-shaped anticline of sandstone, shale, and limestone (160-175 million years old) that was pushed up during the Paleocene Laramide Orogeny 60-40 million years ago. Since then, infrequent but powerful flash floods have eroded the sedimentary rocks into valleys, canyons, gorges, mesas, and buttes. Honeycomb weathering: rainwater soaks into sandstone, dissolves its cement, and redeposits it near the surface as the water evaporates, forming a resistant outer layer, pockmarked with holes into the soft inner layers enlarged by wind and moisture. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior that administers American public lands.
    1503SW-0638_Crack-Canyon_pattern.jpg
  • Crack Canyon, on federal BLM land in San Rafael Swell, near Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, USA. Honeycomb weathering: rainwater soaks into sandstone, dissolves its cement, and redeposits it near the surface as the water evaporates, forming a resistant outer layer, pockmarked with holes into the soft inner layers enlarged by wind and moisture. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior that administers American public lands.
    1503SW-0640_Crack-Canyon_pattern.jpg
  • Hike through Grand Wash, in Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, USA. Capitol Reef National Park is centered upon the 100-mile-long Waterpocket Fold, the steep eastern limb of the Circle Cliffs Uplift, formed in Late Cretaceous time, during the Laramide Orogeny. Pressure caused by the subduction of the Farallon Plate beneath the North American Plate along the west coast caused several huge folds like this in southeast Utah, USA. Steeply tilted Triassic and Jurassic rocks form the hogbacks of the Waterpocket Fold and Capitol Reef, which is built of dark-red dune-formed Wingate Sandstone, thinly bedded river deposits of the Kayenta Formation, crested by the massive, white, dune-formed Navajo Sandstone. Honeycomb weathering: rainwater soaks into sandstone, dissolves its cement, and redeposits it near the surface as the water evaporates, forming a resistant outer layer, pockmarked with holes into the soft inner layers enlarged by wind and moisture.
    1503SW-0497_sandstone-pattern.jpg
  • Honeycomb weathering. Hike to Rim Overlook, in Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, USA. (Along the way, don't miss the side trip to majestic Hickman Natural Bridge.) Honeycomb weathering: rainwater soaks into sandstone, dissolves its cement, and redeposits it near the surface as the water evaporates, forming a resistant outer layer, pockmarked with holes into the soft inner layers enlarged by wind and moisture.
    1503SW-0335_Honeycomb-weathering.jpg
  • Cracked mud pattern with pebbles, 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).
    1403SWC-132_Bisti_De-Na-Zin-Wilderne...jpg
  • 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).
    1403NM-0027_Bisti_De-Na-Zin-Wilderne...jpg
  • 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).
    1403NM-0021_Bisti_De-Na-Zin-Wilderne...jpg
  • 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).
    1403NM-0096_Bisti_De-Na-Zin-Wilderne...jpg
  • Mushroom rock, in 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).
    1403NM-0076_Bisti_De-Na-Zin-Wilderne...jpg
  • 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).
    1403NM-0028_Bisti_De-Na-Zin-Wilderne...jpg
  • Stairs descend the Historic Entrance of Mammoth Cave, which drips with water and is surrounded by trees with yellowing fall leaves. Mammoth Cave National Park was established in 1941 in Edmonson County, Kentucky, USA and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 and international Biosphere Reserve in 1990. With over 390 miles (630 km) of passageways, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System is the longest known in the world. Mammoth Cave developed in thick Mississippian-aged limestone strata capped by a layer of Big Clifty Sandstone. Descending limestone layers include the Girkin Formation, Saint Genevieve Limestone, and Saint Louis Limestone.
    10MAM-102.jpg
  • A couple climbs stairs of the Historic Entrance to Mammoth Cave which drips with water. Mammoth Cave National Park was established in 1941 in Edmonson County, Kentucky, USA and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 and international Biosphere Reserve 1990. With over 390 miles (630 km) of passageways, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System is the longest known in the world. Mammoth Cave developed in thick Mississippian-aged limestone strata capped by a layer of Big Clifty Sandstone. Descending limestone layers include the Girkin Formation, Saint Genevieve Limestone, and Saint Louis Limestone.
    10MAM-090.jpg
Next
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
x

Portfolio of Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com

  • Portfolio
  • BLOG | PhotoSeek HOME
  • ALL IMAGES + captions
    • Worldwide favorites
    • ALL GALLERIES
    • CART
    • Lightbox
  • SEARCH
  • ABOUT
  • How to buy my images
  • Camera reviews + sales