Copyright Information: All images are in the public domain and available for free. If you use this image, credit NOAA/NGDC, John Lockridge, Longmont, Colorado. |
Erosion shapes the sandstone into plateaus, mesas, buttes, pinnacles, and gullies-all are visible in this image. Where erosion is rapid, little soil is left and plants cannot grow. This sort of landscape has a smooth appearance, resulting in the name "slick rock desert." Note the white deposit known as desert pavement. Differential erosion has produced alternating cliffs and slopes. Cliffs form on resistant sandstone and limestone formations; slopes develop in nonresistant shale. Talus slopes abound where weathering of the fins and columns has proceeded more rapidly than removal of the eroded material. Image Credit: John Lockridge, Longmont, Colorado. The hydrologic system, which includes all possible paths of motion of Earth's near-surface fluids including air and water, is largely responsible for the variety of landforms found on the continents. Heat from the sun evaporates water from oceans, lakes, and streams. Although most of the water returns directly as precipitation to the oceans, some of the water is recipitated over land as rain or snow. If it is precipitated over land, it then begins its journey back to the sea as "runoff." The relentless action of surface runoff, streams, and rivers, glaciers, and waves sculpts the rock into intriguing and bizarre shapes. This set of slides includes examples of wave erosion, wind and water erosion, valley shapes, and glacial rosion. The views are often dramatic. Many were taken at U.S. National Parks and Monuments. |
|
