Buttes, Plateaus and Mesas- What’s the Difference?
The images below shot last week along the Arizona/Utah border show buttes, plateaus and mesas, geologic land forms that permeate America’s Desert Southwest. In general terms, buttes are smaller than mesas and mesas are smaller than plateaus. Buttes were probably once mesas but shrunk in size due to erosion. Plateaus are bigger than both mesas and buttes. But specific sizes of each land form are not normally defined.
Mesas, Buttes and Plateaus make up the landscape near Fredonia, Arizona
Storm clouds hover over Gooseberry Mesa in Southern Utah. The smaller hills at the base can be categorized as buttes.
Desert Flora at Sunset
While mountain biking this week near Gooseberry Mesa in Southern Utah, I captured some pics over a few evenings of the changing colors of the flora and the sunsets.
Glen Canyon Moonrise/Sunset
Glen Canyon is that canyon that pretty much disappeared once construction started on the Glen Canyon Dam in 1956. It was finished in 1966. But the Colorado River was backed up into the canyon which later formed Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. There still is a canyon but not nearly as deep as it was. The two images here were shot within 5 minutes of each other. More images from the area to follow.
Leftovers From Death Valley
Leftovers can be good. Like pizza or Chinese food, leftovers may be better than the originals.
Visitors explore the Stovepipe Wells Sand Dunes at Death Valley National Park, California. I don’t walk on these dunes because of the extreme foot traffic it receives. Doesn’t make for good photos except from a distance.
The Furnace Creek Inn at Death Valley rents for a cool $499 per night. They also charge a $13.44 per day resort fee. Really?
The bright colors of Mustard Hills at Death Valley National Park, California
Death Valley’s Panamint Valley
Another large valley at Death Valley National Park is Panamint Valley. It is 65 miles long and up to 10 miles wide and stretches from Panamint Dunes, located inside the park, to the China Lake Naval Air Weapons Center. It is also home to the Barker Ranch, infamous as the temporary home of the Charles Manson gang in the late 1960s.
Wide expanses and elevation changes are the predominant features at Panamint Valley. That’s snow-covered Telescope Peak, at 11,043 feet, the highest point in Death Valley NP.
The main road meanders through the valley and has some incredible elevation changes.
Panamint Dunes was formed when high winds forced sand into the north end of Panamint Valley.
Brightly colored Zinc Hill in the Argus Range.
The Remote Eureka Valley
Eureka Valley is located within Death Valley National Park and was added to the park when Death Valley became a national park in 1994. Death Valley NP is now the largest national park in the lower 48 states at over 3.3 million acres, 50% more than Yellowstone. Ninety One per cent of the park is designated wilderness and Eureka Valley is definitely wilderness. It is approximately 28 miles long and up to 10 miles wide. Eureka Valley could be its own national park. The valley is known for its soaring sand dunes, the colorful Last Chance Range and views to the snow-capped White Mountains that reach some 14,000 feet into the air.
Clouds pass over Eureka Valley at Death Valley National Park, California
Eureka Valley, upper left on map, is a 2 hour drive from the center of Death Valley NP, mostly on dirt and gravel roads.
Colorful strata are the predominate feature of the aptly named Last Chance Range.
The snow-covered White Mountains as seen from Eureka Valley.
Lazy clouds pass over Eureka Valley.
A full moon lights up the landscape over Eureka Dunes.
High winds kick up sand at Eureka Valley and eventually settles at the south end where the dunes reside.
The dunes rise up to 700 feet, amongst the tallest in North America.
The dunes look rather insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
Sunset over the valley.
It’s amazing that anything grows or survives here.
Small mammals survive here by burrowing into the sand for relief. These nests are home to the kangaroo rat.
Rain makes an occasional appearance at Death Valley, but only a few inches annually.
It Never Rains In Death Valley
Well, almost, it did a little this past Friday. Death Valley only receives 2 inches per year, mostly in the winter. In a lot of locations in this world, you can receive 2 inches of rain in less than an hour. The storm clouds gave Death Valley National Park a look I normally don’t see. The clouds and filtered sunlight produced some memorable images.
Paria Clay Beds
Also known in geologic terms as the Chinle Formation located at Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. This spot is located at the old Paria Movie Set where The Outlaw Josie Wales was filmed. I half expected Clint Eastwood to come walking out of the landscape. These were shot an hour or two before sunset and with the clouds, made for some great light!
Colorful clay beds of the Chinle Formation are revealed due to erosion at the The Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, Utah
One Amazing Little Rainbow
Caught this rainbow dancing along the desert floor near Marble Canyon at Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. It played with the monsoonal clouds passing through to provide some abstract images. A time lapse video of this rainbow and surrounding storms will follow soon. These images are available as prints or downloadable files for personal use at Dawn2dawnPhotography.com
A rainbow appears during a thunderstorm at Marble Canyon at Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona.
Just before the rainbow disappeared.
Colors of The Grand Canyon
Mineral deposits and vegetation produce various colors in The Grand Canyon at Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
