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.
Thunderstorms strike Gooseberry Mesa Area
Monsoonal thunderstorms visited the Gooseberry Mesa area near Zion National Park, Utah. The play with sunlight and landscape produced some dramatic scenes. These images and more are available for purchase as prints or downloadable files at Latest Images at Dawn 2 Dawn Photography
Utah’s Colorful Caineville Mesa
The colorful and unusual sandstone rock formations and clay beds along Caineville Mesa in Southern Utah
Some More Zion Pics!
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The sandstone pinnacles and sheer walls of Eagle Crags are ubiquitous on the drive just before entering Zion National Park, Utah. This panorama is actually 3 shots stitched together in Photoshop.
Kind of looks like Mordor from Lord Of The Rings
Classic Sedimentary rocks at Zion National Park, Utah
The light from the setting sun provides a silhouette of a canyon wall at Zion National Park, Utah
Hidden Zion
There’s a place in Zion National Park that few people venture. It is accessed along the Chinle Trail that is not well-known. Over the years that I’ve hiked the trail, I’ve noticed some clay beds a few hundred yards off the beaten path but didn’t think they presented much of a photo op. I finally decided to check it out and I’m glad I did!
Bryce Is Twyce As Nyce In The Winter
With a foot or two of fresh snow, Bryce Canyon National Park was a required venture. The hoodoos never looked better. The weather forecast called for a high of 20 degrees(F) with a windchill of minus 22, so I quickly took care of business.
Someone wrote in the snow, a love note that I believe is in Japanese. There were a lot of Japanese tourists around.
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
Cedar Breaks National Monument
Cedar Breaks National Monument in Southern Utah is often called the mini-Bryce. Similar to Bryce Canyon National Park but not quite as hoodooish(New Word).
Erosion and time have shaped the sandstone landscape at Cedar Breaks National Monument in Southern Utah, USA
Paw Hole
Paw Hole is an area at South Coyote Buttes that is part of Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona. Its unusual sandstone rock formations are a photographer’s playland.
Some More Surreal Clay Bed Images
The location for these clay beds is very close to my formerly somewhat secret spot of colorful clay beds.
