The Colorado Plateau of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah is made of mostly flat-lying layers of sedimentary rock that record paleoclimate extremes ranging from oceans to widespread deserts over the last 1.8 billion years. Navajo Mountain in southeastern Utah is a dome-shaped chunk of igneous rock that intruded into the sedimentary layers and lifted up the overlying layer. Navajo Mountain is one of several of these rock formations, called laccolith by geologists, in southeastern Utah’s portion of the Plateau. This oblique (from-the-side) astronaut photograph highlights Navajo Mountain in the center of the image, surrounded by light red-brown Navajo Sandstone (also visible in the canyon at bottom of the image). The igneous rock at the core of the mountain is wrapped in sedimentary layers. The peak of Navajo Mountain, at approximately 3,148 meters (10,388 feet) elevation, is comprised of uplifted Dakota Sandstone deposited during the Cretaceous Period (approximately 66-138 million years ago).
Published Oct 31, 2005
Adjoining Galway Bay to the north, the Burren Plateau (Burren is Gaelic for “stony place”) is an example of karst terrain. Karst terrain is generally formed when sedimentary rocks are dissolved by groundwater. This astronaut photograph illustrates the northwestern-most portion of the Burren Plateau, which is characterized by the distinctive bare exposures of almost horizontal, layered Paleozoic-age limestone rocks that form Gleninagh Mountain.
Published May 5, 2008
The “Mountain of Sulfur” rises from the desert in north-central Iran.
Published Sep 26, 2015
The risk of hazards around this active volcano are well known, but it does not deter people from enjoying skiing and mountaineering on this rugged “fourteener” peak.
Published May 20, 2018
The hills of this rugged Mediterranean island tell a diverse and fascinating geologic story.
Published Oct 25, 2017
Atop a mountain peak in eastern California, rare earth elements are concentrated around some complex geological features.
Published Jan 15, 2012
Despite being quite close to each other, two mountain ridges in western Virginia have very different origins.
Published Mar 15, 2017
The Flinders Ranges—the largest mountain range in South Australia—is a classic example of a folded mountain range.
Published May 4, 2019
