POTD July 30, 2013: Island in the Sky District, Canyonlands National Park, San Juan County, Utah

Island in the Sky District, Canyonlands National Park, San Juan County, Utah
Photographer: Mike Hylland

Desert primrose blooms in thin, gravelly soil along the White Rim Trail. The Permian-aged White Rim Sandstone forms a broad, nearly flat bench above the adjacent Green and Colorado Rivers and below towering cliffs (visible in the distance) of the Triassic-Jurassic-aged Wingate Sandstone and thin cap of Jurassic Kayenta Formation. In the middle distance, Candlestick Tower consists of Kayenta Formation and Wingate Sandstone above sloping Chinle Formation (Triassic) on a base of Moenkopi Formation (Triassic), which overlies the White Rim Sandstone. The gentle tilt of the strata reflects their location on the southwestern flank of the broad downwarp of the Grays Pasture syncline.

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