The “Tower of Silence” along Wahweap Creek, Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Kane County, Utah
Photographer: Gregg Beukelman; © 2013
Boulders of Cretaceous-age Dakota Sandstone act as protective caps and inhibit erosion of the soft Jurassic-age Entrada Sandstone beneath, allowing hoodoo spires to form. Water cascading over the Entrada Sandstone during rainstorms has carved an intricate network of rills.
Long Canyon viewed from Pucker Pass, Grand County, Utah
Photographer: Gregg Beukelman; © 2013
At Long Canyon, stream erosion has carved a deep gorge into the east limb of the Cane Creek anticline. The canyon exposes dark-brown Triassic-age shale and sandstone of the Moenkopi and Chinle Formations capped by vertical cliffs of Triassic and Jurassic-age sandstone of the Wingate and Kayenta Formations.