The Three Gossips and the Organ
by Bruce Bley
Title
The Three Gossips and the Organ
Artist
Bruce Bley
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
This panoramic view of "the Three Gossips" and the "Organ" was taken on a recent trip to Arches National Park in the south eastern part of Southern Utah.
Arches National Park is a U.S. National Park in eastern Utah. It is known for preserving over 2000 natural sandstone arches, including the world-famous Delicate Arch, in addition to a variety of unique geological resources and formations.
The park is located just outside of Moab, Utah, and is 76,679 acres (31,031 ha) in area. Its highest elevation is 5,653 feet (1,723 m) at Elephant Butte, and its lowest elevation is 4,085 feet (1,245 m) at the visitor center. Forty-three arches have collapsed due to erosion since 1970. The park receives 10 inches (250 mm) of rain a year on average.
Administered by the National Park Service, the area was originally created as a National Monument on April 12, 1929. It was redesignated as a National Park on November 12, 1971.[3]
The national park lies atop an underground evaporite layer or salt bed, which is the main cause of the formation of the arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths in the area. This salt bed is thousands of feet thick in places, and was deposited in the Paradox Basin of the Colorado Plateau some 300 million years ago when a sea flowed into the region and eventually evaporated. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 Ma) desert conditions prevailed in the region and the vast Navajo Sandstone was deposited. An additional sequence of stream laid and windblown sediments, the Entrada Sandstone (about 140 Ma), was deposited on top of the Navajo. Over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and have been mostly eroded away. Remnants of the cover exist in the area including exposures of the Cretaceous Mancos Shale. The arches of the area are developed mostly within the Entrada formation.
The weight of this cover caused the salt bed below it to liquefy and thrust up layers of rock into salt domes. The evaporites of the area formed more unusual salt anticlines or linear regions of uplift. Faulting occurred and whole sections of rock subsided into the areas between the domes. In some places, they turned almost on edge. The result of one such 2,500-foot (760 m) displacement, the Moab Fault, is seen from the visitor center.
As this subsurface movement of salt shaped the landscape, erosion removed the younger rock layers from the surface. Except for isolated remnants, the major formations visible in the park today are the salmon-colored Entrada Sandstone, in which most of the arches form, and the buff-colored Navajo Sandstone. These are visible in layer cake fashion throughout most of the park. Over time, water seeped into the surface cracks, joints, and folds of these layers. Ice formed in the fissures, expanding and putting pressure on surrounding rock, breaking off bits and pieces. Winds later cleaned out the loose particles. A series of free-standing fins remained. Wind and water attacked these fins until, in some, the cementing material gave way and chunks of rock tumbled out. Many damaged fins collapsed. Others, with the right degree of hardness and balance, survived despite their missing sections. These became the famous arches
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December 13th, 2014
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Viewed 291 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/24/2024 at 2:36 PM
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Comments (26)
Geoff Crego
Bruce, superb b&w panorama; thanks for the commentary. l/v
Bruce Bley replied:
Jeff I truly appreciate the wonderful compliment and L. I am glad you enjoyed this work.
Marvin Spates
Wow what a spectacular image Bruce!!! I love it!!! L/F
Bruce Bley replied:
Thank you for the kind and gracious comment, Marvin. I am glad you enjoyed this work.
Bruce Bley
Karen, I am very grateful for the feature n the group "Nature Landmarks Landscapes Wildlife- ONE PER DAY". I appreciate the honor.
Bruce Bley
Karen, I am very grateful for the feature in the group "Nature Landmarks Landscapes Wildlife- ONE A DAY". Thank you for the honor and your support.
Marianne Campolongo
Fantastic panorama! L/F/T
Bruce Bley replied:
Thank you for the kind comment and promotions, Marianne. I sincerely appreciate it.
Nick Boren
Fantastic B&W SW pano Bruce. I like all aspects of it. FV
Bruce Bley replied:
Thank you for the nice comment, Nick. I am glad you enjoyed this work and thank you for the v.
Bruce Bley
Jeff, I want to thank you for the feature in the group "Pleasing The Eye. I truly appreciate it.
Bruce Bley
Jens, Thank you for the feature in the group "All Natural Scenery Landscapes". I sincerely appreciate the honor.