June 5, 2019
Arches National Park lies atop an underground salt bed that is responsible for the arches, balanced rocks, sandstone fins and more. Thousands of feet thick in places, this salt bed was deposited across the Colorado Plateau 300 million years ago when a sea flowed into the region and then evaporated. Over millions of years residue from floods, winds, and the oceans that came and went blanketed the salt bed. The debris was compressed as rock, possibly a mile thick. Salt under pressure is unstable, and the salt bed lying below Arches was no match for the weight of this thick cover of rock. The salt layer shifted, buckled, liquified and repositioned itself, thrusting the rock layers upward as domes, and whole sections fell into the cavities. Faults deep in the earth made the surface even more unstable. Over time water seeped into cracks and folds. Ice formed in the fissures, expanding the rock, breaking off bits and pieces. Wind later cleaned out the loose particulate, leaving a series of freestanding fins.
I got these shots at sunset thus the beautiful color. Fins
Wind and water then attacked these fins until the cementing material in some gave way and chunks of rock tumbled out. These became the famous arches. Over 2,000 have been catalogued in the Park.
North Window
South Window
Turret Arch
But my favorite and scariest (I’m afraid of heights) was Delicate Arch. We got up at 6am to beat the heat and people. It was perfect!
If you scroll way in on the next picture you can see the parking lot
Petroglyphs
Three Gossips
Balanced Rock
We spent several days in Moab traveling to and from Arches. I have to say that this experience was one of my favorites – an absolutely beautiful park.
After doing the hike to Delicate Arch we took a drive to Dead Horse Point State Park to take in the views of the canyon.
We totally enjoyed Moab, dining, shopping and the people.
2 @ $39 Moab Rim RV Park – hot as all get out- we needed electricity to run A/C
Places we dined: Moab Diner, Moab Brewery, Moab Garage Co., Zax’s
Wow, Barb! The landforms, colors, and photos are spectacular!! I can’t believe there is a snow capped mountain in the background. Thanks for sharing…Love you.
I’m enjoying my morning cup of coffee, and living in the moments of your “time to explore and discover”! Aside from Bryce, Arches was next in line as one of my favorites!
Thank you both for the tour!