Canyonlands - the Needles District

The landscape in the Needles District is shaped by a series of fracture systems and grabens that formed from the gentle arching (folding) of the landscape and probably with the migration and dissolution of salt formations at depth ( Barnes, 1993, p. 41-43). The weathering and erosion fractures (joints) and grabens in the Cedar Mesa Sandstone is responsible for nearly all the unique landscape features in the Needles District.