Arches national park, moab, utah
By Duane Salstrand
30 September 2008
"Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter." - Ansel Adams
I understood that sentiment visiting Arches National Park in Moab, Utah. There's an energy to the landscape, from the sandstone around you to the earth beneath your feet, that you feel as you walk through multicolored rock formations.
As a geographer/geologist turned photographer I had a feeling of awe regarding the the power embodied in this place. The strong sense of what time and the power of the earth had achieved in this place, was simply amazing.
Geologically, you are standing on a deep salt bed, in what used to be the bottom of a warm inland sea that that evaporated 300 million years ago. Subsequently, several more oceans came and went, depositing sand and mud on top of the salt bed. The weight of this thick heavy covering of sedimentary rock onto the salt flats underneath it, makes for a very unstable area. The salt layer underneath has shifted, liquified and buckled resulting in the movement and shaping of the rock formations that exsist there today. The arches that are seen in the park result from this movement, as well as the added effects of wind and water on the exposed sandstone.
2 Responses
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On 3 October 2008 Paul Michael Kane gave props:
Great read . . . fantastic images . . . well done!!!
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On 12 October 2008 Michael Persch said:
This is an amazing story ! thanks for the notifying message
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