Misplaced Pages

#2997

13-565: The Pink Cliffs are a series of highly dissected cliffs on the Colorado Plateau in Garfield , Iron , and Kane counties in southwestern Utah , United States . Contrary to the implication of the name, the cliffs are not a single set of rock formations, but actually a geological formation that manifests itself in multiple sets of rock formations. The cliffs form a large number of unique rock formations, many of which are protected by either

26-734: A continuous deposit of compressed volcanic ash (the Bandelier Tuff ). Water then cut the tuff into nearly equidistant canyons. When the ancient Pueblos abandoned Chaco Canyon , some relocated to the Pajarito Plateau and carved grand dwellings directly into the soft tuff at the bases of the potreros. They also built atop the potreros and on the canyon floors. Some of these dwellings and the surrounding potreros are protected at Bandelier National Monument . Historically, these potreros were used as winter pasture for livestock (horses, sheep, and cattle) that were driven to and from lush summer pastures in

39-414: Is a plateau area that has been severely eroded such that the relief is sharp. Such an area may be referred to as mountainous, but dissected plateaus are distinguishable from orogenic mountain belts by the lack of folding , metamorphism , extensive faulting , or magmatic activity that accompanies orogeny . A dissected plateau may also be formed, or created, usually on a comparatively small scale, by

52-518: Is a long mesa that at one end slopes upward to higher terrain. This landform commonly occurs on the flanks of a mountain, as part of a dissected plateau . A loan word from the Spanish language , potrero is in current use in the southwestern United States , where it is sometimes translated as "tongue of land" and "enclosed piece of pasture land". In the Spanish language, however, the "tongue of land" sense

65-592: Is archaic. Also archaic is the related sense of potrero referring to someone who wrangles foals ( potros in Spanish) kept as breeding stock (not saddle or pack stock). In Spanish, the usual sense of potrero now refers to any land (such as a ranch, open range , or community pasture) where such horses are kept. Notable examples of potreros include some of the many mesas of the Pajarito Plateau near Santa Fe, New Mexico ( United States ).These "finger mesas" were once

78-695: Is still widely known in Britain by the older name of boulder clay. Dissected volcanic plateaus include the Pajarito Plateau in New Mexico , on the skirt of the enormous Valles Caldera . Isolated portions of this plateau are known as mesas , and long, connected portions are known as potreros . The Allegheny Plateau , the Cumberland Plateau , the Ozark Plateau , and the Catskill Mountains in

91-882: The Bryce Canyon National Park or the Cedar Breaks National Monument . Most of the other formations are located within the Dixie National Forest . Geologically the cliffs are pink- and red-colored Claron Formation limestones , forming the upper riser of the Grand Staircase (which descends southward to the Grand Canyon in Arizona ). The Pink Cliffs, as well as the other layers of the Grand Staircase, were named by geologist Clarence Dutton in

104-728: The Markagunt Plateau (mostly within Cedar Breaks National Monument) in southeastern Iron County and the easternmost part of the cliffs are located on the southeastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in southwestern Garfield County (mostly within Bryce Canyon National Park). From the national monument on the west, the cliffs wrap south around the southern edge of the Markagunt Plateau (roughly along

117-530: The 1870s. While it is not an uncommon belief that the extent of the Pink Cliff is limited to the Bryce Canyon National Park area (being one of the best and most popular areas to view the cliffs), geographically , the cliffs actually extend well beyond the national park, forming a rough, but wide, "U" shape that spans three counties. The westernmost part of the cliffs are located on the western edge of

130-786: The United States, the Blue Mountains and Hornsby Plateau in Australia and the Deccan Plateau in India are examples of dissected plateaus formed after regional uplift. These older uplifts have been eroded by creeks and rivers to develop steep relief not immediately distinguishable from mountains . Many areas of the Allegheny Plateau and the Cumberland Plateau, which are at

143-565: The border of the Dixie National Forest ) and run just south of Navajo Lake in northeastern Kane County. After being bisected by the Long Valley and the valley of Kanab Creek , the cliffs wrap around the southern and southeastern edges of the Paunsaugunt Plateau and extend north through and just beyond the national park. [REDACTED] Media related to Pink Cliffs at Wikimedia Commons Dissected plateau A dissected plateau

SECTION 10

#1732847988003

156-406: The levelling of terrain by planing and deposition beneath an ice sheet or perhaps, an ice cap . Subsequently, during the same or a later glacial , the margins of the glacial till plain are removed by glaciers , leaving the plateau into which erosion by water incises valleys . Such a plateau may be level or gently sloping but may be distinguished by the till caps on its hills. Glacial till

169-484: The western edge of the Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America , are called "mountains" but are actually dissected plateaus. One can stand on the top of one of these high "mountains" and note that all the other tops are nearly the same height, which represents the original elevation profile of the plain before uplift, and thereafter the subsequent weather erosion. Potrero (landform) A potrero

#2997