Monument Valley
Monument Valley
Monument Valley is officially a large area that includes much
of the area surrounding Monument
Valley Navajo
Park,aNavaj Nation
equivalent to a national park.
Monument Valley is part, Mesa
Verde National
Park, Bryce Canyon National Park,
Zion National
Park, Capitol Reef National Park,
Canyonlands National
Park, Natural Bridges National Monument,
Hovenweep National Monument, Arches Natinaark and
many other attractions.
Monument Valley (Navajo, meaning valley
of the rocks) is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of
vast sandstone buttes, the largest reaching 1,000ft(300m) above the valley
floor.It is located on the Arizona-Utah state line(around36o 59’N
110o6’W), near the Four Corners area.The valley lies within the
range of the Navajo Nation Reservation and is accessible from U.S. Highway 163.
Geography and geology : The area is part
of the Colorado Plateau. The floor is largely siltstone of the Cutler
Formation, or sand derived from it, deposited by the meandering rivers that
carved the valley. The valley’s vivid red colour comes from iron oxide exposed
in the weathered siltstone. The darker, blue-grey rocks in the valley get their
colour from manganese oxide. The buttes are clearly stratified, with three
principal layers. The lowest layer is Organ Rock shale, the middle de Chelly
sandstone and the top layer is Moenkopi shale capped by Shinarump siltstone.
The valley includes large stone structures including the famed Eye of the Sun.
By Gaurav
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