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
Porcupine Gorge and other sandstone canyons carving through a basalt plateau create dramatic topography in central Queensland.
Published Jan 18, 2009
Striking landforms and broad vistas mark the Utah-Arizona border region of the Colorado Plateau.
Published Mar 25, 2013
This ancient rock is one of Australia’s major tourist attractions and a sacred place for indigenous people.
Published Dec 19, 2016
Forests thrive in Mount Mulanje’s many valleys and ravines, but the trees have to compete with people who depend on them for firewood and charcoal.
Published Jan 2, 2015
Acquired January 16, 2005, this true-color image shows part of the inhospitable limestone landscape of western Madagascar, with bare rocks and vegetation forming a patchwork of gray and green.
Published Nov 27, 2009
Seismic surveying that was part of oil exploration left this distinctive grid on the Messak Settafet plateau.
Published Jun 27, 2015
The 2012 U.S. Capitol Christmas tree — a 73-foot Engelmann spruce — hails from northwestern Colorado.
Published Dec 22, 2012
