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  • Peeling trunks of white birch trees grow in front of fall foliage colors reflected in Upper Hadlock Pond, in Acadia National Park, on Mount Desert Island, near Bar Harbor, Maine, USA. Hike granite peaks and enjoy Atlantic coastal scenery. Originally created as Lafayette National Park in 1919, the oldest National Park east of the Mississippi River, it was renamed Acadia in 1929. During the last glacial maximum 21,000 years ago, glaciers measuring up to 9,000 feet thick cut into granite ridges, sculpting the fjord-like Somes Sound.
    1410ME-573-p1_Acadia-NP-Maine.jpg
  • Hike Acadia Mountain Trail for good views of Somes Sound and typically peak fall colors in the second week of October, in Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Mount Desert Island, Maine, USA. Hike granite peaks and enjoy Atlantic coastal scenery. Originally created as Lafayette National Park in 1919, the oldest National Park east of the Mississippi River, it was renamed Acadia in 1929. During the last glacial maximum 21,000 years ago, glaciers measuring up to 9,000 feet thick cut into granite ridges, sculpting the fjord-like Somes Sound. The panorama was stitched from 15 overlapping photos.
    1410ME-338-352pan_Acadia-NP-Maine.jpg
  • Acadia Mountain Trail features boulder gardens sprouted with gnarly trees twisted by harsh weather, appearing like a Japanese garden. The trail tops out with good views of Somes Sound and peak fall colors typically in the second week of October, in Acadia National Park, near Bar Harbor, on Mount Desert Island, Maine, USA. Hike granite peaks and enjoy Atlantic coastal scenery. Originally created as Lafayette National Park in 1919, the oldest National Park east of the Mississippi River, it was renamed Acadia in 1929. During the last glacial maximum 21,000 years ago, glaciers measuring up to 9,000 feet thick cut into granite ridges, sculpting the fjord-like Somes Sound.
    1410ME-213_Acadia-NP-Maine.jpg
  • In early spring, leafless trees and desert varnish frame a royal arch in canyon walls along Lower Calf Creek Falls trail in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah, USA. Manganese-rich desert varnish requires thousands of years to coat a rock face that is protected from precipitation and wind erosion. The varnish likely originates from airborne dust and external surface runoff, including: clay minerals, oxides and hydroxides of manganese (Mn) and/or iron (Fe), sand grains, trace elements, and usually organic matter. Streaks of black varnish often occur where water cascades over cliffs, but wind doesn't sculpt its shape. Varnish color varies from shades of brown to black. Manganese-poor, iron-rich varnishes are red to orange, and intermediate concentrations are shaded brown. Manganese-oxidizing microbes may explain the unusually high concentration of manganese in black desert varnish, which can be smooth and shiny where densest. Hike Lower Calf Creek Falls trail 6 miles round trip (600 feet gain). Directions: From the town of Escalante, drive 15 miles east on Scenic Byway 12 to Calf Creek Recreation Area day-use parking and campground.
    1303UT-2275-p1.jpg
  • Explore the elegant subway and slot of Leprechaun Canyon in North Wash, between Hanksville & Hite, Utah, USA. Desert varnish coats the Triassic-Jurassic sandstone. Directions: from Hanksville, drive 26 miles south on Highway 95 to the junction with Utah 276 and stay left on H95 for another 2.0 miles across a wash, then park on the left (east) along a short road within the first 100 feet before its sandtrap end. Walk up the wash of Leprechaun Canyon 2 miles round trip to a subway which narrows to a tight squeeze called Belfast Boulevard.  Nearby, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is just 8 miles south on H95. Manganese-rich desert varnish requires thousands of years to coat a rock face that is protected from precipitation and wind erosion. The varnish likely originates from airborne dust and external surface runoff, including: clay minerals, oxides and hydroxides of manganese (Mn) and/or iron (Fe), sand grains, trace elements, and usually organic matter. Streaks of black varnish often occur where water cascades over cliffs protected from wind. Varnish color varies from shades of brown to black. Manganese-poor, iron-rich varnishes are red to orange, and intermediate concentrations are shaded brown. Manganese-oxidizing microbes may explain the unusually high concentration of manganese in black desert varnish, which can be smooth and shiny where densest. This panorama was stitched from 2 overlapping photos.
    1503SW-0807-808pan_Leprechaun-Canyon.jpg
  • Desert varnish streaks canyon walls along Lower Calf Creek Falls trail in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah, USA. Manganese-rich desert varnish requires thousands of years to coat a rock face that is protected from precipitation and wind erosion. The varnish likely originates from airborne dust and external surface runoff, including: clay minerals, oxides and hydroxides of manganese (Mn) and/or iron (Fe), sand grains, trace elements, and usually organic matter. Streaks of black varnish often occur where water cascades over cliffs, but wind doesn't sculpt its shape. Varnish color varies from shades of brown to black. Manganese-poor, iron-rich varnishes are red to orange, and intermediate concentrations are shaded brown. Manganese-oxidizing microbes may explain the unusually high concentration of manganese in black desert varnish, which can be smooth and shiny where densest. Hike Lower Calf Creek Falls trail 6 miles round trip (600 feet gain). Directions: From the town of Escalante, drive 15 miles east on Scenic Byway 12 to Calf Creek Recreation Area day-use parking and campground.
    1303UT-2261.jpg
  • A desert rock nettle (Eucnide urens or desert stingbush) shrub blooms with creamy yellow flowers in Fall Canyon, a wilderness area in Death Valley National Park, California, USA.
    1804SW-3085.jpg
  • Desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) with lamb, beside Emigrant Canyon Road, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Desert bighorn sheep are native to the deserts of the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico.
    1804SW-2847.jpg
  • A desert rock nettle (Eucnide urens or desert stingbush) shrub blooms with creamy yellow flowers in Fall Canyon, a wilderness area in Death Valley National Park, California, USA.
    1804SW-3182.jpg
  • Explore the elegant subway and slot of Leprechaun Canyon in North Wash, between Hanksville & Hite, Utah, USA. Desert varnish coats the Triassic-Jurassic sandstone. Directions: from Hanksville, drive 26 miles south on Highway 95 to the junction with Utah 276 and stay left on H95 for another 2.0 miles across a wash, then park on the left (east) along a short road within the first 100 feet before its sandtrap end. Walk up the wash of Leprechaun Canyon 2 miles round trip to a subway which narrows to a tight squeeze called Belfast Boulevard.  Nearby, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is just 8 miles south on H95. Manganese-rich desert varnish requires thousands of years to coat a rock face that is protected from precipitation and wind erosion. The varnish likely originates from airborne dust and external surface runoff, including: clay minerals, oxides and hydroxides of manganese (Mn) and/or iron (Fe), sand grains, trace elements, and usually organic matter. Streaks of black varnish often occur where water cascades over cliffs protected from wind. Varnish color varies from shades of brown to black. Manganese-poor, iron-rich varnishes are red to orange, and intermediate concentrations are shaded brown. Manganese-oxidizing microbes may explain the unusually high concentration of manganese in black desert varnish, which can be smooth and shiny where densest.
    1503SW-0811_Leprechaun-Canyon.jpg
  • Desert Primrose (or Dune Evening Primrose,<br />
Oenothera deltoides) flowers bloom white with yellow center, opening in the early evening and closing in mid-morning. Valley of Fire State Park (dedicated in 1935) is the oldest state park in Nevada. Starting more than 150 million years ago, great shifting sand dunes during the age of dinosaurs were compressed, uplifting, faulted, and eroded to form the park’s fiery red sandstone formations. The park also has fascinating patterns in limestone, shale, and conglomerate rock. The park adjoins Lake Mead National Recreation Area at the Virgin River confluence, at an elevation of 2000 to 2600 feet (610–790 m), 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Las Vegas, USA. Park entry from Interstate 15 passes through the Moapa Indian Reservation.
    11NV2-4074_Valley-of-Fire-SP-Nevada.jpg
  • Artwork inside Desert View Watchtower, in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA. The artwork on the lower gallery (the first landing) represents the physical and spiritual origins of Hopi life, as painted by Fred Kabotie, a Hopi from second Mesa. Desert View Watchtower was built by architect Mary Colter in 1932.  Inspired by the architecture of the ancestral Puebloan people of the Colorado Plateau, Mary Colter modelled the tower after Hovenweep and the Round Tower of Mesa Verde, plus she integrated works by other artists. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos.
    1804SW-1544-51-Pano.jpg
  • The Desert Primrose (or Dune Evening Primrose, Oenothera deltoides) flower blooms white with yellow center, opening in the early evening and closing in mid-morning. Valley of Fire State Park, dedicated in 1935, is the oldest state park in Nevada. Starting more than 150 million years ago, great shifting sand dunes during the age of dinosaurs were compressed, uplifting, faulted, and eroded to form the park's fiery red sandstone formations. The park also boasts fascinating patterns in limestone, shale, and conglomerate rock. The park adjoins Lake Mead National Recreation Area at the Virgin River confluence, at an elevation of 2000 to 2600 feet (610-790 m), 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Las Vegas, USA. Park entry from Interstate 15 passes through the Moapa Indian Reservation.
    11NV2-4021_Valley-of-Fire-SP-Nevada.jpg
  • Colorado River seen from Desert View, in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA.
    1804SW-1496.jpg
  • Ordered in 1940 and active in June 1944, the USS Missouri ("Mighty Mo") was the last battleship commissioned by the United States. She is best remembered as the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan which ended World War II on September 2, 1945 in Tokyo Bay. In the Pacific Theater of World War II, she fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and shelled the Japanese home islands. She fought in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. Decommissioned in 1955 into the United States Navy reserve fleets (the "Mothball Fleet"), she was reactivated and modernized in 1984 and provided fire support during Operation Desert Storm in January-February 1991. The ship was decommissioned in March 1992. In 1998, she was donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association and became a museum at Pearl Harbor, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping images.
    1701HAW-0171-72-Pano.jpg
  • Hike Lower Calf Creek Falls trail 6 miles round trip (600 feet gain), in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah, USA. The beautiful cascade drops 126 feet (38 meters) from sandstone cliffs stained with fascinating patterns of desert varnish. Directions: From the town of Escalante, drive 15 miles east on Scenic Byway 12 to Calf Creek Recreation Area day-use parking and campground. More about desert varnish: Manganese-rich desert varnish requires thousands of years to coat a rock face that is protected from precipitation and wind erosion. The varnish likely originates from airborne dust and external surface runoff, including: clay minerals, oxides and hydroxides of manganese (Mn) and/or iron (Fe), sand grains, trace elements, and usually organic matter. Streaks of black varnish often occur where water cascades over cliffs, but wind doesn't sculpt its shape. Varnish color varies from shades of brown to black. Manganese-poor, iron-rich varnishes are red to orange, and intermediate concentrations are shaded brown. Manganese-oxidizing microbes may explain the unusually high concentration of manganese in black desert varnish, which can be smooth and shiny where densest. The panorama was stitched from 3 overlapping photos.
    1303UT-2215-2217pan_Calf-Creek-Falls.jpg
  • A creamy white flower with yellow center blooms at Callville Bay, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada, USA. Formation of Lake Mead began in 1935, less than a year before Hoover Dam was completed along the Colorado River. The area surrounding Lake Mead was established as the Boulder Dam Recreation Area in 1936. In 1964, the area was expanded and became the first National Recreation Area established by US Congress. Three desert ecosystems meet in Lake Mead NRA: Mojave Desert, Great Basin Desert, and Sonoran Desert.
    1303NV-4108.jpg
  • Chiricahua National Monument, Arizona: The Heart of the Rocks Loop Trail (7 to 9 miles) makes a perfect day hike through the hoodoos here. 27 million years ago, huge volcanic eruptions laid down 2000 feet of ash and pumice in this area, which fused into a rock known as rhyolitic tuff.  Since then this rock has eroded into fascinating hoodoos, spires, and balanced rocks which lie above the surrounding desert grasslands at elevations between 5100 and 7800 feet. At Chiricahua, the Sonoran desert meets the Chihuahuan desert, and the Rocky Mountains meet Mexico's Sierra Madre, making one of the most biologically diverse areas in the northern hemisphere. While we drove the dirt road to nearby Portal, Arizona, Carol saw a mountain lion crossing the road! Other animals here include javelina, coatimundi, bears, skunks, and deer. Published in "Light Travel: Photography on the Go" book by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010.
    03AZ-13-07-Chiricahua-NM.jpg
  • Desert varnish streaks Sipapu Bridge, in Natural Bridges National Monument, near Blanding, San Juan County, Utah, USA. White Canyon Creek has cut Sipapu Natural Bridge with a span of 225 feet (with a height of 144 feet, width of 41 feet, and thickness of 53 feet, says www.naturalarches.org) through a meander of white Permian sandstone of the Cedar Mesa Formation. Manganese-rich desert varnish requires thousands of years to coat a rock face protected from precipitation and wind erosion. The varnish likely originates from airborne dust and external surface runoff, including: clay minerals, oxides and hydroxides of manganese (Mn) and/or iron (Fe), sand grains, trace elements, and usually organic matter. Streaks of black varnish often occur where water cascades over cliffs protected from wind. Varnish color varies from shades of brown to black. Manganese-poor, iron-rich varnishes are red to orange, and intermediate concentrations are shaded brown. Manganese-oxidizing microbes may explain the unusually high concentration of manganese in black desert varnish, which can be smooth and shiny where densest.
    1503SW-0962_Sipapu-Natural-Bridge.jpg
  • Hike Lower Calf Creek Falls trail 6 miles round trip (600 feet gain), in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah, USA. The beautiful cascade drops 126 feet (38 meters) from sandstone cliffs stained with fascinating patterns of desert varnish. Directions: From the town of Escalante, drive 15 miles east on Scenic Byway 12 to Calf Creek Recreation Area day-use parking and campground. More about desert varnish: Manganese-rich desert varnish requires thousands of years to coat a rock face that is protected from precipitation and wind erosion. The varnish likely originates from airborne dust and external surface runoff, including: clay minerals, oxides and hydroxides of manganese (Mn) and/or iron (Fe), sand grains, trace elements, and usually organic matter. Streaks of black varnish often occur where water cascades over cliffs, but wind doesn't sculpt its shape. Varnish color varies from shades of brown to black. Manganese-poor, iron-rich varnishes are red to orange, and intermediate concentrations are shaded brown. Manganese-oxidizing microbes may explain the unusually high concentration of manganese in black desert varnish, which can be smooth and shiny where densest.
    1303UT-2186.jpg
  • Purple flower close-up, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada, USA. Formation of Lake Mead began in 1935, less than a year before Hoover Dam was completed along the Colorado River. The area surrounding Lake Mead was established as the Boulder Dam Recreation Area in 1936. In 1964, the area was expanded and became the first National Recreation Area established by US Congress. Three desert ecosystems meet in Lake Mead NRA: Mojave Desert, Great Basin Desert, and Sonoran Desert.
    1303NV-4058.jpg
  • Desert varnish streaks Sipapu Bridge, in Natural Bridges National Monument, near Blanding, San Juan County, Utah, USA. White Canyon Creek has cut Sipapu Natural Bridge with a span of 225 feet (with a height of 144 feet, width of 41 feet, and thickness of 53 feet, says www.naturalarches.org) through a meander of white Permian sandstone of the Cedar Mesa Formation. Manganese-rich desert varnish requires thousands of years to coat a rock face protected from precipitation and wind erosion. The varnish likely originates from airborne dust and external surface runoff, including: clay minerals, oxides and hydroxides of manganese (Mn) and/or iron (Fe), sand grains, trace elements, and usually organic matter. Streaks of black varnish often occur where water cascades over cliffs protected from wind. Varnish color varies from shades of brown to black. Manganese-poor, iron-rich varnishes are red to orange, and intermediate concentrations are shaded brown. Manganese-oxidizing microbes may explain the unusually high concentration of manganese in black desert varnish, which can be smooth and shiny where densest. This panorama was stitched from 11 overlapping photos.
    1503SW-0983-93pan_Sipapu-Natural-Bri...jpg
  • Hike Lower Calf Creek Falls trail 6 miles round trip (600 feet gain), in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, Utah, USA. The beautiful cascade drops 126 feet (38 meters) from sandstone cliffs stained with fascinating patterns of desert varnish. Directions: From the town of Escalante, drive 15 miles east on Scenic Byway 12 to Calf Creek Recreation Area day-use parking and campground. More about desert varnish: Manganese-rich desert varnish requires thousands of years to coat a rock face that is protected from precipitation and wind erosion. The varnish likely originates from airborne dust and external surface runoff, including: clay minerals, oxides and hydroxides of manganese (Mn) and/or iron (Fe), sand grains, trace elements, and usually organic matter. Streaks of black varnish often occur where water cascades over cliffs, but wind doesn't sculpt its shape. Varnish color varies from shades of brown to black. Manganese-poor, iron-rich varnishes are red to orange, and intermediate concentrations are shaded brown. Manganese-oxidizing microbes may explain the unusually high concentration of manganese in black desert varnish, which can be smooth and shiny where densest. The panorama was stitched from 3 overlapping photos.
    1303UT-2233-2235pan_Lower-Calf-Creek...jpg
  • Desert varnish streaks Sipapu Bridge, in Natural Bridges National Monument, near Blanding, San Juan County, Utah, USA. White Canyon Creek has cut Sipapu Natural Bridge with a span of 225 feet (with a height of 144 feet, width of 41 feet, and thickness of 53 feet, says www.naturalarches.org) through a meander of white Permian sandstone of the Cedar Mesa Formation. Manganese-rich desert varnish requires thousands of years to coat a rock face protected from precipitation and wind erosion. The varnish likely originates from airborne dust and external surface runoff, including: clay minerals, oxides and hydroxides of manganese (Mn) and/or iron (Fe), sand grains, trace elements, and usually organic matter. Streaks of black varnish often occur where water cascades over cliffs protected from wind. Varnish color varies from shades of brown to black. Manganese-poor, iron-rich varnishes are red to orange, and intermediate concentrations are shaded brown. Manganese-oxidizing microbes may explain the unusually high concentration of manganese in black desert varnish, which can be smooth and shiny where densest. This panorama was stitched from 4 overlapping photos.
    1503SW-0954-57pan_Sipapu-Natural-Bri...jpg
  • A green sotol plant (Dasylirion leiophyllum) emerges from a field of yellow grass on the McKittrick Canyon Trail in the Chihuahuan Desert. Hike some of the most scenic trails in Texas in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, in the Chihuahuan Desert, near El Paso, USA. The park contains Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas (8749 feet/2667 m). The Guadalupe Mountains are the uplifted part of the ancient Capitan Reef which thrived along the edge of an inland sea more than 250 million years ago during Permian time. Capitan Reef is one of the best-preserved exposed Permian-age fossil reefs in the world. The park also features the landmark peak of El Capitan, along the historic Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach line (1857-1861), which carried passengers and US Mail in just 22 days to San Francisco starting from Memphis, Tennessee or St. Louis, Missouri, twice a week. Hiking the ecologically-diverse McKittrick Canyon in Guadalupe Mountains NP is best when fall foliage turns color.
    1404TX-1107_Guadalupe-Mountains_Texa...jpg
  • White Sands National Monument preserves one of the world's great natural wonders - the glistening white sands of New Mexico. Here in the northern Chihuahuan Desert rises the largest gypsum dune field in the world. Visit the park 16 miles southwest of Alamogordo, NM, USA. White Sands National Monument preserves 40% of the gpysum dune field, the remainder of which is on White Sands Missile Range and military land closed to the public. Geology: The park’s gypsum was originally deposited at the bottom of a shallow sea that covered this area 250 million years ago. Eventually turned into stone, these gypsum-bearing marine deposits were uplifted into a giant dome 70 million years ago when the Rocky Mountains were formed. Beginning 10 million years ago, the center of this dome began to collapse and create the Tularosa Basin. The remaining sides of the original dome now form the San Andres and Sacramento mountain ranges that ring the basin. The common mineral gypsum is rarely found in the form of sand because rain dissolves it in runoff which usually drains to the sea; but mountains enclose the Tularosa Basin and trap surface runoff. The pure gypsum (hydrous calcium sulfate) comes from ephemeral Lake Lucero (a playa), which is the remnant of ice-age Lake Otero (now mostly an alkali flat) in the western side of the park. Evaporating water (up to 80 inches per year) leaves behind selenite crystals which reach lengths of up to three feet (1 m)! Weathering breaks the selenite crystals into sand-size gypsum grains that are carried away by prevailing winds from the southwest, forming white dunes. Several types of small animals have evolved white coloration that camouflages them in the dazzling white desert; and various plants have specially adapted to shifting sands. Based on an application by two US Senators from New Mexico, UNESCO honored the monument on the Tentative List of World Heritage Sites in 2008.
    1404NM-6003_White-Sands-NM.jpg
  • Spring snow coats red sandstone and melts into a waterfall along West Rim Spring and the West Rim Trail, Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah, USA. The North Fork of the Virgin River carved spectacular Zion Canyon through reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone up to half a mile (800 m) deep and 15 miles (24 km) long. Uplift associated with the creation of the Colorado Plateaus lifted the region 10,000 feet (3000 m) starting 13 million years ago. Zion and Kolob canyon geology includes 9 formations covering 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation, from warm, shallow seas, streams, lakes, vast deserts, and dry near-shore environments. Mormons discovered the canyon in 1858 and settled in the early 1860s. U.S. President Taft declared it Mukuntuweap National Monument in 1909. In 1918, the name changed to Zion (an ancient Hebrew name for Jerusalem), which became a National Park in 1919. The Kolob section (a 1937 National Monument) was added to Zion National Park in 1956. Unusually diverse plants and animals congregate here where the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert meet.
    11UT1-2112-13pan_Zion-NP-Utah.jpg
  • Walk the trail behind Lower Emerald Pool waterfall in Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah, USA. The North Fork of the Virgin River carved spectacular Zion Canyon through reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone up to half a mile (800 m) deep and 15 miles (24 km) long. Uplift associated with the creation of the Colorado Plateaus lifted the region 10,000 feet (3000 m) starting 13 million years ago. Zion and Kolob canyon geology includes 9 formations covering 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation, from warm, shallow seas, streams, lakes, vast deserts, and dry near-shore environments. Mormons discovered the canyon in 1858 and settled in the early 1860s. U.S. President Taft declared it Mukuntuweap National Monument in 1909. In 1918, the name changed to Zion (an ancient Hebrew name for Jerusalem), which became a National Park in 1919. The Kolob section (a 1937 National Monument) was added to Zion National Park in 1956. Unusually diverse plants and animals congregate here where the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert meet. The panorama was stitched from 5 overlapping photos.
    1303UT-1236-1240pan_Lower-Emerald-Fa...jpg
  • White Sands National Monument preserves one of the world's great natural wonders - the glistening white sands of New Mexico. Here in the northern Chihuahuan Desert rises the largest gypsum dune field in the world. Visit the park 16 miles southwest of Alamogordo, NM, USA. White Sands National Monument preserves 40% of the gpysum dune field, the remainder of which is on White Sands Missile Range and military land closed to the public. Geology: The park’s gypsum was originally deposited at the bottom of a shallow sea that covered this area 250 million years ago. Eventually turned into stone, these gypsum-bearing marine deposits were uplifted into a giant dome 70 million years ago when the Rocky Mountains were formed. Beginning 10 million years ago, the center of this dome began to collapse and create the Tularosa Basin. The remaining sides of the original dome now form the San Andres and Sacramento mountain ranges that ring the basin. The common mineral gypsum is rarely found in the form of sand because rain dissolves it in runoff which usually drains to the sea; but mountains enclose the Tularosa Basin and trap surface runoff. The pure gypsum (hydrous calcium sulfate) comes from ephemeral Lake Lucero (a playa), which is the remnant of ice-age Lake Otero (now mostly an alkali flat) in the western side of the park. Evaporating water (up to 80 inches per year) leaves behind selenite crystals which reach lengths of up to three feet (1 m)! Weathering breaks the selenite crystals into sand-size gypsum grains that are carried away by prevailing winds from the southwest, forming white dunes. Several types of small animals have evolved white coloration that camouflages them in the dazzling white desert; and various plants have specially adapted to shifting sands. Based on an application by two US Senators from New Mexico, UNESCO honored the monument on the Tentative List of World Heritage Sites in 2008. This panorama was stitched from 4 overlapping photos.
    1404NM-6057-60pan_White-Sands-NM.jpg
  • Broken Arch is a walk of 1.3 miles round trip from Devils Garden Campground, in Arches National Park, near Moab, Utah, USA. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation. This panorama was stitched from 7 overlapping photos.
    1403UT-112-118pan_Broken-Arch_Utah.jpg
  • Eroded badlands of Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, south of Farmington, in San Juan County, New Mexico, USA. This fantasy world of strange rock formations is made of interbedded sandstone, shale, mudstone, coal, and silt. These rock layers have weathered into eerie hoodoos (pinnacles, spires, and cap rocks). This was once a riverine delta west of an ancient sea, the Western Interior Seaway, which covered much of New Mexico 70 million years ago. Swamps built up organic material which became beds of lignite. Water disappeared and left behind a 1400-foot (430 m) layer of jumbled sandstone, mudstone, shale, and coal. The ancient sedimentary deposits were uplifted with the rest of the Colorado Plateau, starting about 25 million years ago. Waters of the last ice age eroded the hoodoos now visible. The high desert widerness of Bisti is managed by the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
    1403NM-0096_Bisti_De-Na-Zin-Wilderne...jpg
  • Hikers walk a dog along a rock face near Northgate Peaks trail, Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah, USA. The North Fork of the Virgin River carved spectacular Zion Canyon through reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone up to half a mile (800 m) deep and 15 miles (24 km) long. Uplift associated with the creation of the Colorado Plateaus lifted the region 10,000 feet (3000 m) starting 13 million years ago. Zion and Kolob canyon geology includes 9 formations covering 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation, from warm, shallow seas, streams, lakes, vast deserts, and dry near-shore environments. Mormons discovered the canyon in 1858 and settled in the early 1860s. U.S. President Taft declared it Mukuntuweap National Monument in 1909. In 1918, the name changed to Zion (an ancient Hebrew name for Jerusalem), which became a National Park in 1919. The Kolob section (a 1937 National Monument) was added to Zion National Park in 1956. Unusually diverse plants and animals congregate here where the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert meet.
    1303UT-1053.jpg
  • Lichen grows into polygons on sandstone polished by water, ice, and erosion in Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah, USA. The North Fork of the Virgin River carved spectacular Zion Canyon through reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone up to half a mile (800 m) deep and 15 miles (24 km) long. Uplift associated with the creation of the Colorado Plateaus lifted the region 10,000 feet (3000 m) starting 13 million years ago. Zion and Kolob canyon geology includes 9 formations covering 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation, from warm, shallow seas, streams, lakes, vast deserts, and dry near-shore environments. Mormons discovered the canyon in 1858 and settled in the early 1860s. U.S. President Taft declared it Mukuntuweap National Monument in 1909. In 1918, the name changed to Zion (an ancient Hebrew name for Jerusalem), which became a National Park in 1919. The Kolob section (a 1937 National Monument) was added to Zion National Park in 1956. Unusually diverse plants and animals congregate here where the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert meet.
    11UT2-4006_Zion-NP-Utah.jpg
  • A seasonal waterfall plunges from Weeping Rock in Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah, USA. The North Fork of the Virgin River carved spectacular Zion Canyon through reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone up to half a mile (800 m) deep and 15 miles (24 km) long. Uplift associated with the creation of the Colorado Plateaus lifted the region 10,000 feet (3000 m) starting 13 million years ago. Zion and Kolob canyon geology includes 9 formations covering 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation, from warm, shallow seas, streams, lakes, vast deserts, and dry near-shore environments. Mormons discovered the canyon in 1858 and settled in the early 1860s. U.S. President Taft declared it Mukuntuweap National Monument in 1909. In 1918, the name changed to Zion (an ancient Hebrew name for Jerusalem), which became a National Park in 1919. The Kolob section (a 1937 National Monument) was added to Zion National Park in 1956. Unusually diverse plants and animals congregate here where the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert meet.
    11UT1-2277_Zion-NP-Utah.jpg
  • The sandstone cliffs of the Court of the Patriarchs tower over the Virgin River in Zion National Park, near Springdale, Utah, USA. The North Fork of the Virgin River carved spectacular Zion Canyon through reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone up to half a mile (800 m) deep and 15 miles (24 km) long. Uplift associated with the creation of the Colorado Plateaus lifted the region 10,000 feet (3000 m) starting 13 million years ago. Zion and Kolob canyon geology includes 9 formations covering 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation, from warm, shallow seas, streams, lakes, vast deserts, and dry near-shore environments. Mormons discovered the canyon in 1858 and settled in the early 1860s. U.S. President Taft declared it Mukuntuweap National Monument in 1909. In 1918, the name changed to Zion (an ancient Hebrew name for Jerusalem), which became a National Park in 1919. The Kolob section (a 1937 National Monument) was added to Zion National Park in 1956. Unusually diverse plants and animals congregate here where the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert meet. (Panorama stitched from 6 photos.)
    11UT1-2007-12pan_Zion-NP-Utah.jpg
  • Partition Arch, Devils Garden Trail, Arches National Park, near Moab, Utah, USA. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    1403UT-194_Partition-Arch_Utah.jpg
  • Ice on branches, Lower Emerald Pool waterfall, Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah, USA. The North Fork of the Virgin River carved spectacular Zion Canyon through reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone up to half a mile (800 m) deep and 15 miles (24 km) long. Uplift associated with the creation of the Colorado Plateaus lifted the region 10,000 feet (3000 m) starting 13 million years ago. Zion and Kolob canyon geology includes 9 formations covering 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation, from warm, shallow seas, streams, lakes, vast deserts, and dry near-shore environments. Mormons discovered the canyon in 1858 and settled in the early 1860s. U.S. President Taft declared it Mukuntuweap National Monument in 1909. In 1918, the name changed to Zion (an ancient Hebrew name for Jerusalem), which became a National Park in 1919. The Kolob section (a 1937 National Monument) was added to Zion National Park in 1956. Unusually diverse plants and animals congregate here where the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert meet.
    1303UT-1186.jpg
  • Lichen grows into polygons on sandstone polished by water, ice, and erosion in Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah, USA. The North Fork of the Virgin River carved spectacular Zion Canyon through reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone up to half a mile (800 m) deep and 15 miles (24 km) long. Uplift associated with the creation of the Colorado Plateaus lifted the region 10,000 feet (3000 m) starting 13 million years ago. Zion and Kolob canyon geology includes 9 formations covering 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation, from warm, shallow seas, streams, lakes, vast deserts, and dry near-shore environments. Mormons discovered the canyon in 1858 and settled in the early 1860s. U.S. President Taft declared it Mukuntuweap National Monument in 1909. In 1918, the name changed to Zion (an ancient Hebrew name for Jerusalem), which became a National Park in 1919. The Kolob section (a 1937 National Monument) was added to Zion National Park in 1956. Unusually diverse plants and animals congregate here where the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert meet.
    11UT1-2126_Zion-NP-Utah.jpg
  • Devils Kitchen rock formation, Colorado National Monument, near Grand Junction and Fruita, Colorado, USA. This desert land is high on the Colorado Plateau dotted with pinion and juniper forests. This panorama was stitched from 3 overlapping photos.
    1503SW-2173-75pan_Devils-Kitchen.jpg
  • The North Fork of the Virgin River cut Zion Canyon through reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone, in Zion National Park. Springdale, Utah, USA. Uplift associated with the creation of the Colorado Plateaus lifted the region 10,000 feet (3000 m) starting 13 million years ago. Zion and Kolob canyon geology includes 9 formations covering 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation, from warm, shallow seas, streams, lakes, vast deserts, and dry near-shore environments. Mormons discovered the canyon in 1858 and settled in the early 1860s. U.S. President Taft declared it Mukuntuweap National Monument in 1909. In 1918, the name changed to Zion (an ancient Hebrew name for Jerusalem), which became a National Park in 1919. The Kolob section (a 1937 National Monument) was added to Zion National Park in 1956. Unusually diverse plants and animals congregate here where the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert meet.
    11UT1-2173-77pan_Zion-NP-Utah.jpg
  • Independence Monument and Monument Canyon, Colorado National Monument, near Grand Junction and Fruita, Colorado, USA. This desert land is high on the Colorado Plateau dotted with pinion and juniper forests. This panorama was stitched from 5 overlapping photos.
    1503SW-1987-91pan_Colorado-National-...jpg
  • Large columns, in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, in the Guadalupe Mountains, Chihuahuan Desert, southeast New Mexico, USA. Hike in on your own via the natural entrance or take an elevator from the visitor center. Geology: 4 to 6 million years ago, an acid bath in the water table slowly dissolved the underground rooms of Carlsbad Caverns, which then drained along with the uplift of the Guadalupe Mountains. The Guadalupe Mountains are the uplifted part of the ancient Capitan Reef which thrived along the edge of an inland sea more than 250 million years ago during Permian time. Carlsbad Caverns National Park protects part of the Capitan Reef, one of the best-preserved, exposed Permian-age fossil reefs in the world. The park's magnificent speleothems (cave formations) are due to rain and snowmelt soaking through soil and limestone rock, dripping into a cave, evaporating and depositing dissolved minerals. Drip-by-drip, over the past million years or so, Carlsbad Cavern has slowly been decorating itself. The slowest drips tend to stay on the ceiling (as stalactites, soda straws, draperies, ribbons or curtains). The faster drips are more likely to decorate the floor (with stalagmites, totem poles, flowstone, rim stone dams, lily pads, shelves, and cave pools). Today, due to the dry desert climate, few speleothems inside any Guadalupe Mountains caves are wet enough to actively grow. Most speleothems inside Carlsbad Cavern would have been much more active during the last ice age-up to around 10,000 years ago, but are now mostly inactive.
    1404NM-5178_Carlsbad-Caverns-NP.jpg
  • Stalactite pattern, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, in the Guadalupe Mountains, Chihuahuan Desert, southeast New Mexico, USA. Hike in on your own via the natural entrance or take an elevator from the visitor center. Geology: 4 to 6 million years ago, an acid bath in the water table slowly dissolved the underground rooms of Carlsbad Caverns, which then drained along with the uplift of the Guadalupe Mountains. The Guadalupe Mountains are the uplifted part of the ancient Capitan Reef which thrived along the edge of an inland sea more than 250 million years ago during Permian time. Carlsbad Caverns National Park protects part of the Capitan Reef, one of the best-preserved, exposed Permian-age fossil reefs in the world. The park's magnificent speleothems (cave formations) are due to rain and snowmelt soaking through soil and limestone rock, dripping into a cave, evaporating and depositing dissolved minerals. Drip-by-drip, over the past million years or so, Carlsbad Cavern has slowly been decorating itself. The slowest drips tend to stay on the ceiling (as stalactites, soda straws, draperies, ribbons or curtains). The faster drips are more likely to decorate the floor (with stalagmites, totem poles, flowstone, rim stone dams, lily pads, shelves, and cave pools). Today, due to the dry desert climate, few speleothems inside any Guadalupe Mountains caves are wet enough to actively grow. Most speleothems inside Carlsbad Cavern would have been much more active during the last ice age-up to around 10,000 years ago, but are now mostly inactive.
    1404NM-5172_Carlsbad-Caverns-NP.jpg
  • Large columns, in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, in the Guadalupe Mountains, Chihuahuan Desert, southeast New Mexico, USA. Hike in on your own via the natural entrance or take an elevator from the visitor center. Geology: 4 to 6 million years ago, an acid bath in the water table slowly dissolved the underground rooms of Carlsbad Caverns, which then drained along with the uplift of the Guadalupe Mountains. The Guadalupe Mountains are the uplifted part of the ancient Capitan Reef which thrived along the edge of an inland sea more than 250 million years ago during Permian time. Carlsbad Caverns National Park protects part of the Capitan Reef, one of the best-preserved, exposed Permian-age fossil reefs in the world. The park's magnificent speleothems (cave formations) are due to rain and snowmelt soaking through soil and limestone rock, dripping into a cave, evaporating and depositing dissolved minerals. Drip-by-drip, over the past million years or so, Carlsbad Cavern has slowly been decorating itself. The slowest drips tend to stay on the ceiling (as stalactites, soda straws, draperies, ribbons or curtains). The faster drips are more likely to decorate the floor (with stalagmites, totem poles, flowstone, rim stone dams, lily pads, shelves, and cave pools). Today, due to the dry desert climate, few speleothems inside any Guadalupe Mountains caves are wet enough to actively grow. Most speleothems inside Carlsbad Cavern would have been much more active during the last ice age-up to around 10,000 years ago, but are now mostly inactive.
    1404NM-5119_Carlsbad-Caverns-NP.jpg
  • Large columns, in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, in the Guadalupe Mountains, Chihuahuan Desert, southeast New Mexico, USA. Hike in on your own via the natural entrance or take an elevator from the visitor center. Geology: 4 to 6 million years ago, an acid bath in the water table slowly dissolved the underground rooms of Carlsbad Caverns, which then drained along with the uplift of the Guadalupe Mountains. The Guadalupe Mountains are the uplifted part of the ancient Capitan Reef which thrived along the edge of an inland sea more than 250 million years ago during Permian time. Carlsbad Caverns National Park protects part of the Capitan Reef, one of the best-preserved, exposed Permian-age fossil reefs in the world. The park's magnificent speleothems (cave formations) are due to rain and snowmelt soaking through soil and limestone rock, dripping into a cave, evaporating and depositing dissolved minerals. Drip-by-drip, over the past million years or so, Carlsbad Cavern has slowly been decorating itself. The slowest drips tend to stay on the ceiling (as stalactites, soda straws, draperies, ribbons or curtains). The faster drips are more likely to decorate the floor (with stalagmites, totem poles, flowstone, rim stone dams, lily pads, shelves, and cave pools). Today, due to the dry desert climate, few speleothems inside any Guadalupe Mountains caves are wet enough to actively grow. Most speleothems inside Carlsbad Cavern would have been much more active during the last ice age-up to around 10,000 years ago, but are now mostly inactive.
    1404NM-5110_Carlsbad-Caverns-NP.jpg
  • Twisted tree silhouette and red rock shadows, in Arches National Park, near Moab, Utah, USA. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    1403UT-102_Arches-NP_Utah.jpg
  • Newspaper Rock State Historic Monument, Utah, USA. The cliffs that enclose the upper end of Indian Creek Canyon are covered by hundreds of ancient Indian petroglyphs (rock carvings), one of the largest, best preserved and accessible groups in the Southwest USA. The petroglyphs have a mixture of human (feet, figures), animal (deer, pronghorn, buffalo, horse), abstract and material forms of uncertain meaning. Starting about 2000 years ago, humans have chipped away the dark natural desert varnish to reveal lighter colored Wingate sandstone beneath.
    06UT_3083-Newspaper_Rock.jpg
  • Sunset shines on the red-orange sandstone of Skyline Arch at Devils Garden Campground, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    1909US1-8275-99-Pano.jpg
  • Independence Monument and Monument Canyon, Colorado National Monument, near Grand Junction and Fruita, Colorado, USA. This desert land is high on the Colorado Plateau dotted with pinion and juniper forests.
    1503SW-1996_Independence-Monument.jpg
  • Devils Kitchen rock formation, Colorado National Monument, near Grand Junction and Fruita, Colorado, USA. This desert land is high on the Colorado Plateau dotted with pinion and juniper forests. This panorama was stitched from 8 overlapping photos.
    1503SW-2126-33pan_Devils-Kitchen.jpg
  • Large column, in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, in the Guadalupe Mountains, Chihuahuan Desert, southeast New Mexico, USA. Hike in on your own via the natural entrance or take an elevator from the visitor center. Geology: 4 to 6 million years ago, an acid bath in the water table slowly dissolved the underground rooms of Carlsbad Caverns, which then drained along with the uplift of the Guadalupe Mountains. The Guadalupe Mountains are the uplifted part of the ancient Capitan Reef which thrived along the edge of an inland sea more than 250 million years ago during Permian time. Carlsbad Caverns National Park protects part of the Capitan Reef, one of the best-preserved, exposed Permian-age fossil reefs in the world. The park's magnificent speleothems (cave formations) are due to rain and snowmelt soaking through soil and limestone rock, dripping into a cave, evaporating and depositing dissolved minerals. Drip-by-drip, over the past million years or so, Carlsbad Cavern has slowly been decorating itself. The slowest drips tend to stay on the ceiling (as stalactites, soda straws, draperies, ribbons or curtains). The faster drips are more likely to decorate the floor (with stalagmites, totem poles, flowstone, rim stone dams, lily pads, shelves, and cave pools). Today, due to the dry desert climate, few speleothems inside any Guadalupe Mountains caves are wet enough to actively grow. Most speleothems inside Carlsbad Cavern would have been much more active during the last ice age-up to around 10,000 years ago, but are now mostly inactive. This panorama was stitched from 6 overlapping photos.
    1404NM-5163-68pan_Carlsbad-Caverns-N...jpg
  • Sharp stalactites, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, in the Guadalupe Mountains, Chihuahuan Desert, southeast New Mexico, USA. Hike in on your own via the natural entrance or take an elevator from the visitor center. Geology: 4 to 6 million years ago, an acid bath in the water table slowly dissolved the underground rooms of Carlsbad Caverns, which then drained along with the uplift of the Guadalupe Mountains. The Guadalupe Mountains are the uplifted part of the ancient Capitan Reef which thrived along the edge of an inland sea more than 250 million years ago during Permian time. Carlsbad Caverns National Park protects part of the Capitan Reef, one of the best-preserved, exposed Permian-age fossil reefs in the world. The park's magnificent speleothems (cave formations) are due to rain and snowmelt soaking through soil and limestone rock, dripping into a cave, evaporating and depositing dissolved minerals. Drip-by-drip, over the past million years or so, Carlsbad Cavern has slowly been decorating itself. The slowest drips tend to stay on the ceiling (as stalactites, soda straws, draperies, ribbons or curtains). The faster drips are more likely to decorate the floor (with stalagmites, totem poles, flowstone, rim stone dams, lily pads, shelves, and cave pools). Today, due to the dry desert climate, few speleothems inside any Guadalupe Mountains caves are wet enough to actively grow. Most speleothems inside Carlsbad Cavern would have been much more active during the last ice age-up to around 10,000 years ago, but are now mostly inactive.
    1404NM-5132_Carlsbad-Caverns-NP.jpg
  • Mist is backlit by the Natural Entrance of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, in the Chihuahuan Desert, southeast New Mexico, USA. Hike in on your own via the natural entrance or take an elevator from the Carlsbad Caverns National Park visitor center. Geology: 4 to 6 million years ago, an acid bath in the water table slowly dissolved the underground rooms of Carlsbad Caverns, which then drained along with the uplift of the Guadalupe Mountains. The Guadalupe Mountains are the uplifted part of the ancient Capitan Reef which thrived along the edge of an inland sea more than 250 million years ago during Permian time. Carlsbad Caverns National Park protects part of the Capitan Reef, one of the best-preserved, exposed Permian-age fossil reefs in the world. The park's magnificent speleothems (cave formations) are due to rain and snowmelt soaking through soil and limestone rock, dripping into a cave, evaporating and depositing dissolved minerals. Drip-by-drip, over the past million years or so, Carlsbad Cavern has slowly been decorating itself. The slowest drips tend to stay on the ceiling (as stalactites, soda straws, draperies, ribbons or curtains). The faster drips are more likely to decorate the floor (with stalagmites, totem poles, flowstone, rim stone dams, lily pads, shelves, and cave pools). Today, due to the dry desert climate, few speleothems inside any Guadalupe Mountains caves are wet enough to actively grow. Most speleothems inside Carlsbad Cavern would have been much more active during the last ice age-up to around 10,000 years ago, but are now mostly inactive.
    1404NM-5019_Carlsbad-Caverns-NP.jpg
  • Landscape Arch, on Devils Garden Trail, Arches National Park, near Moab, Utah, USA. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation. This panorama was stitched from 6 overlapping photos.
    1403UT-162-167pan_Landscape-Arch_Uta...jpg
  • Eroded badlands of Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, south of Farmington, in San Juan County, New Mexico, USA. This fantasy world of strange rock formations is made of interbedded sandstone, shale, mudstone, coal, and silt. These rock layers have weathered into eerie hoodoos (pinnacles, spires, and cap rocks). This was once a riverine delta west of an ancient sea, the Western Interior Seaway, which covered much of New Mexico 70 million years ago. Swamps built up organic material which became beds of lignite. Water disappeared and left behind a 1400-foot (430 m) layer of jumbled sandstone, mudstone, shale, and coal. The ancient sedimentary deposits were uplifted with the rest of the Colorado Plateau, starting about 25 million years ago. Waters of the last ice age eroded the hoodoos now visible. The high desert widerness of Bisti is managed by the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This panorama was stitched from 3 overlapping photos.
    1403NM-0064-66pan_Bisti_De-Na-Zin-Wi...jpg
  • Sunrise sunburst on the red-orange sandstone of Skyline Arch at Devils Garden Campground, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    1909US1-8394-99-Pano.jpg
  • Sunrise light shines on the red-orange sandstone of Skyline Arch at Devils Garden Campground, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    1909US1-8348-61-Pano.jpg
  • Sunrise light shines on the red-orange sandstone of Skyline Arch at Devils Garden Campground, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    1909US1-8382-83-Pano.jpg
  • Sunset shines on the red-orange sandstone of Skyline Arch at Devils Garden Campground, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    1909US1-8213.jpg
  • Dolls Theater, soda straws and columns, in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, in the Guadalupe Mountains, Chihuahuan Desert, southeast New Mexico, USA. Hike in on your own via the natural entrance or take an elevator from the visitor center. Geology: 4 to 6 million years ago, an acid bath in the water table slowly dissolved the underground rooms of Carlsbad Caverns, which then drained along with the uplift of the Guadalupe Mountains. The Guadalupe Mountains are the uplifted part of the ancient Capitan Reef which thrived along the edge of an inland sea more than 250 million years ago during Permian time. Carlsbad Caverns National Park protects part of the Capitan Reef, one of the best-preserved, exposed Permian-age fossil reefs in the world. The park's magnificent speleothems (cave formations) are due to rain and snowmelt soaking through soil and limestone rock, dripping into a cave, evaporating and depositing dissolved minerals. Drip-by-drip, over the past million years or so, Carlsbad Cavern has slowly been decorating itself. The slowest drips tend to stay on the ceiling (as stalactites, soda straws, draperies, ribbons or curtains). The faster drips are more likely to decorate the floor (with stalagmites, totem poles, flowstone, rim stone dams, lily pads, shelves, and cave pools). Today, due to the dry desert climate, few speleothems inside any Guadalupe Mountains caves are wet enough to actively grow. Most speleothems inside Carlsbad Cavern would have been much more active during the last ice age-up to around 10,000 years ago, but are now mostly inactive.
    1404NM-5190_Carlsbad-Caverns-NP.jpg
  • Partition Arch hikers, Devils Garden Trail, Arches National Park, near Moab, Utah, USA. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation. This panorama was stitched from 2 overlapping photos.
    1403UT-169-170pan_Partition-Arch_Uta...jpg
  • Double O Arch, Devils Garden Trail, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA. Double O Arch is the second largest arch within the Devils Garden area. Its larger arch spans 71 feet, stacked atop a 21-foot arch on the same sandstone fin. Double O Arch is 1.93 miles from the Devils Garden trailhead at the far end of the Devils Garden Primitive Loop. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    1909US1-8062-73-Pano.jpg
  • Navajo Arch, Devils Garden Trail, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    1909US1-6022.jpg
  • Partition Arch, Devils Garden Trail, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    1909US1-6009-10-Pano.jpg
  • Landscape Arch, Devils Garden Trail, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    1909US1-5982-83-Pano.jpg
  • Sunset shines on the red-orange sandstone of Skyline Arch at Devils Garden Campground, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA. Three visitors climb up and stand in the arch. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    1909US1-8304.jpg
  • Partition Arch, Devils Garden Trail, Arches National Park, near Moab, Utah, USA. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    1403UT-193_Partition-Arch_Utah.jpg
  • Double Arch erodes from Entrada Sandstone in Arches National Park, Utah. Published in "Light Travel: Photography on the Go" by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    06UT_3078-Double_Arch.jpg
  • Sunset shines on red sandstone rock formations at Devils Garden Campground, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    1909US1-8176.jpg
  • Double O Arch, Devils Garden Trail, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA. Double O Arch is the second largest arch within the Devils Garden area. Its larger arch spans 71 feet, stacked atop a 21-foot arch on the same sandstone fin. Double O Arch is 1.93 miles from the Devils Garden trailhead at the far end of the Devils Garden Primitive Loop. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    1909US1-8075-85-Pano.jpg
  • Navajo Arch, Devils Garden Trail, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping photos. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    1909US1-6037-46-Pano.jpg
  • Sunrise light shines on red sandstone at Devils Garden Campground, Arches NP, Moab, Utah, USA. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    1909US1-8475.jpg
  • Delicate Arch and La Sal Mountains, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    1804SW-0689.jpg
  • North Window arch frames the Windows Section of Arches National Park, Utah, USA. North Window is comprised of the Slick Rock member of Entrada Sandstone on top of the red-brown. or chocolate-brown marker beds of the Dewey .Bridge member. (Panorama was stitched from 10 images.) A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    06UT_3045-3054pan_North-Window.jpg
  • Turret Arch and La Sal Mountains. The Windows Section of Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA. A thick underground salt bed underlies the creation of the park's many arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Some 300 million years ago, a sea flowed into the area and eventually evaporated to create the salt bed up to thousands of feet thick. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic (about 210 million years ago) desert conditions deposited the vast Navajo Sandstone. On top of that, about 140 million years ago, the Entrada Sandstone was deposited from stream and windblown sediments. Later, over 5000 feet (1500 m) of younger sediments were deposited and then mostly worn away, leaving the park's arches eroded mostly within the Entrada formation.
    1804SW-0292.jpg
  • Deer cross Kolob Terrace Road at entrance to Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah, USA. The North Fork of the Virgin River carved spectacular Zion Canyon through reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone up to half a mile (800 m) deep and 15 miles (24 km) long. Uplift associated with the creation of the Colorado Plateaus lifted the region 10,000 feet (3000 m) starting 13 million years ago. Zion and Kolob canyon geology includes 9 formations covering 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation, from warm, shallow seas, streams, lakes, vast deserts, and dry near-shore environments. Mormons discovered the canyon in 1858 and settled in the early 1860s. U.S. President Taft declared it Mukuntuweap National Monument in 1909. In 1918, the name changed to Zion (an ancient Hebrew name for Jerusalem), which became a National Park in 1919. The Kolob section (a 1937 National Monument) was added to Zion National Park in 1956. Unusually diverse plants and animals congregate here where the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert meet.
    1303UT-1118.jpg
  • Kolob Terrace Road entrance to Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah, USA. The North Fork of the Virgin River carved spectacular Zion Canyon through reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone up to half a mile (800 m) deep and 15 miles (24 km) long. Uplift associated with the creation of the Colorado Plateaus lifted the region 10,000 feet (3000 m) starting 13 million years ago. Zion and Kolob canyon geology includes 9 formations covering 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation, from warm, shallow seas, streams, lakes, vast deserts, and dry near-shore environments. Mormons discovered the canyon in 1858 and settled in the early 1860s. U.S. President Taft declared it Mukuntuweap National Monument in 1909. In 1918, the name changed to Zion (an ancient Hebrew name for Jerusalem), which became a National Park in 1919. The Kolob section (a 1937 National Monument) was added to Zion National Park in 1956. Unusually diverse plants and animals congregate here where the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert meet.
    1303UT-1121.jpg
  • Arrowleaf Balsamroot blooms yellow on the Iron Creek to Teanaway Ridge Trail, in Wenatchee National Forest, near Blewett Pass, Washington, USA. Arrowleaf Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata, in the aster/daisy family, Asteraceae/Compositae) is native to much of western North America from British Columbia to California to the Dakotas, growing in many types of habitat from mountain forests to grassland to desert scrub. All of the plant can be eaten, albeit bitter and pine-like in taste. Hike Teanaway Ridge Trail 6-7 miles with 2400 feet cumulative gain.
    1605TEA-041.jpg
  • On the dock beside USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor, "Embracing Peace" (by sculptor Seward Johnson) recalls the iconic Alfred Eisenstaedt photograph, "V-J Day in Times Square," of a US Navy sailor kissing a stranger in New York City's Times Square on Victory over Japan Day (August 14, 1945). The photo was published in Life magazine with the caption, "In New York's Times Square a white-clad girl clutches her purse and skirt as an uninhibited sailor plants his lips squarely on hers." Ordered in 1940 and active in June 1944, the USS Missouri ("Mighty Mo") was the last battleship commissioned by the United States. She is best remembered as the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan which ended World War II on September 2, 1945 in Tokyo Bay. In the Pacific Theater of World War II, she fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and shelled the Japanese home islands. She fought in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. Decommissioned in 1955 into the United States Navy reserve fleets (the "Mothball Fleet"), she was reactivated and modernized in 1984 and provided fire support during Operation Desert Storm in January-February 1991. The ship was decommissioned in March 1992. In 1998, she was donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association and became a museum at Pearl Harbor, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, USA. For this photo’s licensing options, please inquire.
    1701HAW-0100.jpg
  • The Red-footed Booby (Sula sula) is a large seabird of the gannet family, Sulidae. Photo is from Isla Genovesa (or Tower Island, or Bird Island), a shield volcano in the Galápagos Islands, in the eastern Pacific Ocean, Ecuador, South America. Sula sula breeds in colonies and is found widely on tropical islands. The Red-footed Booby is the smallest of all boobies at 71 cm in length and with a 137 cm wingspan, and has red legs with pink and blue bill and throat pouch. They are powerful and agile fliers but clumsy in takeoffs and landings. The brown morph of this species is brown with a white belly, rump, and tail. The white morph is mostly white with black on the flight feathers. Young birds are greyish with browner wings and pink legs. The sexes appear similar. National Park visitors follow licensed guides up the steep path of Prince Philip’s Steps (up a cliff 25 meters vertically) to seabird colonies full of life amidst a thin palo santo forest growing in a rocky desert plain.
    09ECU-3398_Galapagos.jpg
  • An intriguing island of tufa towers reflect in alkaline waters at South Tufa Area, in Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve, Lee Vining, California, USA. The Reserve protects wetlands that support millions of birds, and preserves Mono Lake's distinctive tufa towers -- calcium-carbonate spires and knobs formed by interaction of freshwater springs and alkaline lake water. Mono Lake has no outlet and is one of the oldest lakes in North America. Over the past million years, salts and minerals have washed into the lake from Eastern Sierra streams and evaporation has made the water 2.5 times saltier than the ocean. This desert lake has an unusually productive ecosystem based on brine shrimp, and provides critical nesting habitat for two million annual migratory birds that feed on the shrimp and blackflies. Since 1941, diversion of lake water tributary streams by the city of Los Angeles lowered the lake level, which imperiled the migratory birds. In response, the Mono Lake Committee won a legal battle that forced Los Angeles to partially restore the lake level.
    1507CAL-2500_Mono-Lake-CA.jpg
  • Sierra Nevada peaks and tufa towers reflect in alkaline waters at South Tufa Area, Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve, Lee Vining, California, USA. Orange and yellow algae adds to the color palette of blues. The Reserve protects wetlands that support millions of birds, and preserves Mono Lake's distinctive tufa towers -- calcium-carbonate spires and knobs formed by interaction of freshwater springs and alkaline lake water. Mono Lake has no outlet and is one of the oldest lakes in North America. Over the past million years, salts and minerals have washed into the lake from Eastern Sierra streams and evaporation has made the water 2.5 times saltier than the ocean. This desert lake has an unusually productive ecosystem based on brine shrimp, and provides critical nesting habitat for two million annual migratory birds that feed on the shrimp and blackflies. Since 1941, diversion of lake water tributary streams by the city of Los Angeles lowered the lake level, which imperiled the migratory birds. In response, the Mono Lake Committee won a legal battle that forced Los Angeles to partially restore the lake level.
    1507CAL-2406_Mono-Lake-CA.jpg
  • Japanese kamakaze pilot headgear & goggles, USS Missouri museum, Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, USA. Ordered in 1940 and active in June 1944, the USS Missouri ("Mighty Mo") was the last battleship commissioned by the United States. She is best remembered as the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan which ended World War II on September 2, 1945 in Tokyo Bay. In the Pacific Theater of World War II, she fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and shelled the Japanese home islands. She fought in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. Decommissioned in 1955 into the United States Navy reserve fleets (the "Mothball Fleet"), she was reactivated and modernized in 1984 and provided fire support during Operation Desert Storm in January-February 1991. The ship was decommissioned in March 1992. In 1998, she was donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association and became a museum at Pearl Harbor.
    1701HAW-0056.jpg
  • 1944 USS Missouri: main gun battery. Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, USA. Ordered in 1940 and active in June 1944, the USS Missouri ("Mighty Mo") was the last battleship commissioned by the United States. She is best remembered as the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan which ended World War II on September 2, 1945 in Tokyo Bay. In the Pacific Theater of World War II, she fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and shelled the Japanese home islands. She fought in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. Decommissioned in 1955 into the United States Navy reserve fleets (the "Mothball Fleet"), she was reactivated and modernized in 1984 and provided fire support during Operation Desert Storm in January-February 1991. The ship was decommissioned in March 1992. In 1998, she was donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association and became a museum at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu.
    1701HAW-0040.jpg
  • Intriguing towers of calcium-carbonate decorate the South Tufa Area, in Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve, Lee Vining, California, USA. The Reserve protects wetlands that support millions of birds, and preserves Mono Lake's distinctive tufa towers -- calcium-carbonate spires and knobs formed by interaction of freshwater springs and alkaline lake water. Mono Lake has no outlet and is one of the oldest lakes in North America. Over the past million years, salts and minerals have washed into the lake from Eastern Sierra streams and evaporation has made the water 2.5 times saltier than the ocean. This desert lake has an unusually productive ecosystem based on brine shrimp, and provides critical nesting habitat for two million annual migratory birds that feed on the shrimp and blackflies. Since 1941, diversion of lake water tributary streams by the city of Los Angeles lowered the lake level, which imperiled the migratory birds. In response, the Mono Lake Committee won a legal battle that forced Los Angeles to partially restore the lake level. This panorama was stitched from 11 overlapping photos.
    1507CAL-2464-74pan_Mono-Lake-CA.jpg
  • An intriguing island of tufa towers reflect in alkaline waters colored with yellow algae at South Tufa Area, in Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve, Lee Vining, California, USA. The Reserve protects wetlands that support millions of birds, and preserves Mono Lake's distinctive tufa towers -- calcium-carbonate spires and knobs formed by interaction of freshwater springs and alkaline lake water. Mono Lake has no outlet and is one of the oldest lakes in North America. Over the past million years, salts and minerals have washed into the lake from Eastern Sierra streams and evaporation has made the water 2.5 times saltier than the ocean. This desert lake has an unusually productive ecosystem based on brine shrimp, and provides critical nesting habitat for two million annual migratory birds that feed on the shrimp and blackflies. Since 1941, diversion of lake water tributary streams by the city of Los Angeles lowered the lake level, which imperiled the migratory birds. In response, the Mono Lake Committee won a legal battle that forced Los Angeles to partially restore the lake level.
    1507CAL-2489_Mono-Lake-CA.jpg
  • Arrowleaf Balsamroot blooms yellow on the Iron Creek to Teanaway Ridge Trail, in Wenatchee National Forest, near Blewett Pass, Washington, USA. Arrowleaf Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata, in the aster/daisy family, Asteraceae/Compositae) is native to much of western North America from British Columbia to California to the Dakotas, growing in many types of habitat from mountain forests to grassland to desert scrub. All of the plant can be eaten, albeit bitter and pine-like in taste. This image was stitched from 2 overlapping photos to increase depth of focus.
    1405WA-319-20pan.jpg
  • Arrowleaf Balsamroot blooms yellow on the Iron Creek to Teanaway Ridge Trail, in Wenatchee National Forest, near Blewett Pass, Washington, USA. Arrowleaf Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata, in the aster/daisy family, Asteraceae/Compositae) is native to much of western North America from British Columbia to California to the Dakotas, growing in many types of habitat from mountain forests to grassland to desert scrub. All of the plant can be eaten, albeit bitter and pine-like in taste.
    1405WA-334.jpg
  • Arrowleaf Balsamroot blooms yellow on the Iron Creek to Teanaway Ridge Trail, in Wenatchee National Forest, near Blewett Pass, Washington, USA. Arrowleaf Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata, in the aster/daisy family, Asteraceae/Compositae) is native to much of western North America from British Columbia to California to the Dakotas, growing in many types of habitat from mountain forests to grassland to desert scrub. All of the plant can be eaten, albeit bitter and pine-like in taste.
    1405WA-363.jpg
  • The Moon rises over Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site, which preserves an important Hawaiian temple on the Big Island of Hawaii, USA. Built to fulfill a historic prophecy, Puukohola Heiau is one of the last sacred structures built in the Hawaiian Islands before Christian influence. Kamehameha the Great (born in North Kohala) was advised by his kahuna (priest) to build Puukohola Heiau and dedicate it to the war god Kukailimoku (Ku) to help in his efforts to unite the Hawaiian Islands. The fortress-like heiau (sacred temple of the Hawaiian religion) was built overlooking the Kohala coast between 1790 and 1791. With help from European trade ships, warships, cannon, and military experience, King Kamehameha ultimately united the warring Hawaiian Islands in 1810. At the same time that George Washington was serving as the United States' first president, Kamehameha was using Puukohola Heiau to secure his mana or spiritual power to help unify the Hawaiian people. The massive structure (224 by 100 feet surrounded by walls 16-20 feet high) was built without mortar, using water-worn lava rocks believed to have been passed hand-by-hand in a human chain all the way from Pololu Valley, some 25 miles away. These lonely rocks on a dry desert hill mark an important era in Hawaiian history, just 28 miles north of Kona International Airport. Before it was made a state of the USA in 1959, Hawaii was previously an 1810 kingdom, 1893 protectorate, 1894 republic, and 1898 territory. This image was stitched from multiple overlapping images.
    1701HAW-3643-45-Pano.jpg
  • Sierra Nevada peaks and tufa towers reflect in alkaline waters at South Tufa Area, Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve, Lee Vining, California, USA. The Reserve protects wetlands that support millions of birds, and preserves Mono Lake's distinctive tufa towers -- calcium-carbonate spires and knobs formed by interaction of freshwater springs and alkaline lake water. Mono Lake has no outlet and is one of the oldest lakes in North America. Over the past million years, salts and minerals have washed into the lake from Eastern Sierra streams and evaporation has made the water 2.5 times saltier than the ocean. This desert lake has an unusually productive ecosystem based on brine shrimp, and provides critical nesting habitat for two million annual migratory birds that feed on the shrimp and blackflies. Since 1941, diversion of lake water tributary streams by the city of Los Angeles lowered the lake level, which imperiled the migratory birds. In response, the Mono Lake Committee won a legal battle that forced Los Angeles to partially restore the lake level.
    1507CAL-2429_Mono-Lake-CA.jpg
  • The Red-footed Booby (Sula sula) is a large seabird of the gannet family, Sulidae. Photo is from Isla Genovesa (or Tower Island, or Bird Island), a shield volcano in the Galápagos Islands, in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Sula sula breeds in colonies and is found widely on tropical islands. The Red-footed Booby is the smallest of all boobies at 71 cm in length and with a 137 cm wingspan, and has red legs with pink and blue bill and throat pouch. They are powerful and agile fliers but clumsy in takeoffs and landings. The brown morph of this species is brown with a white belly, rump, and tail. The white morph is mostly white with black on the flight feathers. Young birds are greyish with browner wings and pink legs. The sexes appear similar. National Park visitors follow licensed guides up the steep path of Prince Philip’s Steps (up a cliff 25 meters vertically) to seabird colonies full of life amidst a thin palo santo forest growing in a rocky desert plain. Published in "Light Travel: Photography on the Go" book by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010.
    09ECU-3202_Galapagos.jpg
  • The Red-footed Booby (Sula sula) is a large seabird of the gannet family, Sulidae. Sula sula breeds in colonies and is found widely on tropical islands. The Red-footed Booby is the smallest of all boobies at 71 cm in length and with a 137 cm wingspan, and has red legs with pink and blue bill and throat pouch. They are powerful and agile fliers but clumsy in takeoffs and landings. The brown morph of this species is brown with a white belly, rump, and tail. The white morph is mostly white with black on the flight feathers. Young birds are greyish with browner wings and pink legs. The sexes appear similar. Photographed on Isla Genovesa (or Tower Island, or Bird Island), a shield volcano in the Galápagos Islands, in the eastern Pacific Ocean. National Park visitors follow licensed guides up the steep path of Prince Philip's Steps (up a cliff 25 meters vertically) to seabird colonies full of life amidst a thin palo santo forest growing in a rocky desert plain. Published in "Light Travel: Photography on the Go" book by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010.
    09ECU-3202.jpg
  • Lower Antelope Canyon (or "the Corkscrew") is a beautiful slot canyon in Antelope Canyon Navajo Tribal Park, near Page, Arizona, USA. Antelope Canyon is the most-visited and most-photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest. Flash floods and other erosion have carved Navajo Sandstone into this natural rock cathedral.
    11AZ3C-5042_Lower-Antelope-Canyon.jpg
  • Lower Antelope Canyon (or "the Corkscrew") is a beautiful slot canyon in Antelope Canyon Navajo Tribal Park, near Page, Arizona, USA. Antelope Canyon is the most-visited and most-photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest. Flash floods and other erosion have carved Navajo Sandstone into this natural rock cathedral.
    11AZ1-2236-37pan_Lower-Antelope-Cany...jpg
  • Lower Antelope Canyon (or "the Corkscrew") is a beautiful slot canyon in Antelope Canyon Navajo Tribal Park, near Page, Arizona, USA. Antelope Canyon is the most-visited and most-photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest. Flash floods and other erosion have carved Navajo Sandstone into this natural rock cathedral.
    11AZ1-2202_Lower-Antelope-Canyon.jpg
  • Lower Antelope Canyon (or "the Corkscrew") is a beautiful slot canyon in Antelope Canyon Navajo Tribal Park, near Page, Arizona, USA. Antelope Canyon is the most-visited and most-photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest. Flash floods and other erosion have carved Navajo Sandstone into this natural rock cathedral.
    11AZ3C-5071_Lower-Antelope-Canyon.jpg
  • Lower Antelope Canyon (or "the Corkscrew") is a beautiful slot canyon in Antelope Canyon Navajo Tribal Park, near Page, Arizona, USA. Antelope Canyon is the most-visited and most-photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest. Flash floods and other erosion have carved Navajo Sandstone into this natural rock cathedral.
    11AZ1-2190_Lower-Antelope-Canyon.jpg
  • Square Tower House, built 1100 CE on Chapin Mesa. Mesa Verde National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Montezuma County, Colorado, USA. The park protects some of the best-preserved Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites in the United States. It was established by Congress and President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 near the Four Corners region of the American Southwest. Starting around 7500 BCE, Mesa Verde was seasonally inhabited by nomadic Paleo-Indians. Later, Archaic people established semi-permanent rockshelters in and around the mesa. By 1000 BCE, the Basketmaker culture emerged from the local Archaic population, and by 750 CE the Ancestral Puebloans had developed from the Basketmaker culture. The Mesa Verdeans survived using a combination of hunting, gathering, and subsistence farming of crops such as corn, beans, and squash. They built the mesa's first pueblos sometime after 650, and by the end of the 1100s began building massive cliff dwellings. By 1285, following a period of social and environmental instability driven by a series of severe and prolonged droughts, they abandoned the area and moved south into what is today Arizona and New Mexico.
    1909US1-2936.jpg
  • Golden Canyon Trail under Red Cathedral, in Death Valley National Park, California, USA.
    1804SW-2661.jpg
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