Landscapes of the Western US 10: Monument in Rain

Image Commentary

Winter storms blow cold, and occasionally wet, across the normally parched terrain of Monument Valley, Arizona, where the Monument Uplift, a large, broad, low-relief upwarp of the Colorado Plateau, has been denuded by sub-aerial weathering and erosion, creating a terrain of spectacular buttes in the Permian age stratigraphy. The gentle eastward dip of the flank of the uplift can be observed in the lie of the Organ Rock Formation that forms the lower scree slope of the mid-ground butte. The cliff-forming massive sandstone above it is the DeChelly Sandstone, comprised of stacked paleo-sand dunes that once filled a massive desert dune field.