Explore how ancient environments, tectonic uplift and erosion shaped the Colorado Plateau's red rock landscapes.
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The dramatic rock towers of Arizona's Chiricahua region are associated with thick deposits of volcanic ash that cooled and welded together. Later weatherin
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The Capitan Reef of West Texas and New Mexico is a major Permian carbonate system preserved around the margins of an ancient basin. Its rocks record a mari
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The San Juan volcanic region of southwestern Colorado contains a complex record of volcanic activity, including large caldera systems and younger volcanic
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Salt flats develop where water collects in a closed basin and evaporates, leaving dissolved minerals behind. Death Valley's playa surfaces preserve a chang
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White Sands in New Mexico is known for its bright dune field, which is unusual because the dunes are made largely of gypsum rather than the quartz sand com
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Petrified wood forms when buried plant material is gradually mineralised, preserving aspects of the original wood structure. It is a fossil record of ancie
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The Basin and Range Province is recognised by alternating mountain ranges and broad valleys. Much of this pattern developed as the crust stretched and brok
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The Rio Grande Rift is an extensive zone where the continental crust of the southwestern United States has been stretched. Its basins, fault scarps and vol
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