Delicate Arch

This view is of Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, Utah. Most of the arches and famous landscape features in the park occur in the Entrada Sandstone, a sedimentary rock formation of Jurassic age (Lohman, 1975). Note the gentle dip of the strata; in the foreground the layers dip gently to the right. The Jurassic Morrison Formation is exposed in the valley and on the ridge beyond. Most of the interesting landscape features are associated with the erosion of the gentle structure of the Salt Creek anticline that trends in a northwest direction across the park. The La Sal Mountains in the distance (left) are remnants of Tertiary-age igneous intrusions.