NATIONAL PARKS IN THE SOUTH-WEST OF THE U.S.A.

The south-west part of the U.S.A. is home to many fantastic national parks and state parks. If you ever travel to the U.S.A. be sure to visit as many parks as you can. They are well run and informative. Information about the geology of the parks is prominent, and most parks run very informative ranger lectures in the evenings which are well worth attending. When you visit the parks you will find yourself in the midst of many geological features which, due to the dry climate in the south-west, are readily visible.


Death valley, California, as viewed from Zabriskie Point.	Death valley, showing the erosion patterns and different coloured strata.
The varied colours of the different strata produce some fantastic views in death valley.	Death Valley, view over 'Badwater basin' which has an elevation of -282'. At the base of the mountains on the far side (west) of the valley you can see several alluvial fans.
The salt pan at 'Badwater', 282' below sea level.	Ubehebe crater at the northern end of death valley
Little Hebe crater which is located next to Ubehebe crater.	The sand dunes at 'Stovepipe Wells' occur where north and south bound winds meet and deposit their loads of airborne sand.
The Grand Canyon in Arizona where the colorado river has carved its way thru the strata that now form the canyons walls.	The grand canyon
The strata in the grand canyon.	Chiricahua national park in south east Arizona, which has pinnacles which originated some 27 million years ago when volcanic ash covered the area and formed layers of grey rhyolite.
Cooling and uplifting formed joints and cracks in the rock.	The rhyolite rock stacks have formed as the cracks have been enlarged as a result of erosion by water and 'weathering by ice wedging'.
Zion national park in Utah, the upper strata are sandstones, below which there are mudstones, shales and conglomerates.	The canyons in Zion have been formed by erosion by the 'Virgin river', which is feed by rainfall on the Colorado plateau.
The many layers of rock in 'Zion' n.p.	Monument valley Navajo tribal park is some 5500' above sea level.
The formations in Monument valley result from the erosion of the sandstone and shale layers of differing hardness.	The red coloured sandstones are approximately 160 m.y.o.
Petrified forest n.p., showing a petrified log.	The top end of the Petrified forest n.p. provides great views of the 'Painted Desert' with its many colours provided by different strata. The colouring of the strata is due to common cementing agents such as iron oxide (red) and manganese oxide.
The 'Teepees' in the Petrified Forest park show the eroded strata clearly.	There are hundreds of large sections of petrified wood throughout the park.
The petrified logs at 'Crystal Forest' are gem quality.	Canyon De Chelly in arizona, showing the 800' rock spire viewed from the 'spider rock lookout'.