Bryce Canyon, Utah, USA

Bryce Canyon is a canyon system found in Utah in the United States that has been formed by headward erosion of the Colorado Plateau at the origin of rivers and streams. It is known for its many spire-like structures called hoodoos, which generally consist of thick layers of relatively soft and easily eroded rocks, such as mudstones, overlain by thin layers of harder and more resistant rocks, such as sandstones or limestones. Hoodoos attain their characteristic shapes because this protective cover of resistant rocks shields the underlying layers from the elements, while the surrounding rocks are subjected to frost weathering and river erosion.


Information source: Bryce Canyon National Park Service

Image: Thor’s Hammer and other hoodoos in Bryce Canyon in the Colorado Plateau of Utah, USA. Source: Luca Galuzzi, Wikimedia Commons.

Colorado Plateau, Southwestern USA

The Colorado Plateau is a geological province in the southwestern United States, located in the Four Corners of Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. It is bounded by the Rocky Mountains to the north and east, and the Basin and Range Province to the west and south. Having suffered relatively little deformation through geological time, the stratigraphy of the Colorado Plateau is exceptionally well preserved. The landscape is mostly characterized by hot, high desert plateaus and dramatic weathering and erosion structures, dominated by the massive Grand Canyon.


Information source: United States Geological Survey

Image: The Organ, a rock structure in the Colorado Plateau of Utah, USA. Source: Sanjay Acharya, Wikimedia Commons.