De Chelly Sandstone (Lower Permian; Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, USA) 33

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 · Flickr (Creative Commons) · 2007

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Sandstones in the Permian of Arizona, USA. The sheer walls of this Arizona canyon consist of Permian-aged De Chelly Sandstone (pronounced "De Shay"). Most of the unit is horizontally-bedded and cross-bedded quartzose sandstones representing ancient sand sheets and desert sand dunes. A vast sand dune "sea" was present at the time - such an environment is called an "erg" (a modern example is northern Africa's Sahara Desert). The reddish-brown coloration is from hematite (iron oxide, Fe2O3). Stratigraphy: De Chelly Sandstone, Leonardian Stage, Lower Permian Locality: view from Massacre Cave overlook, "Canyon del Muerto" (= Canyon of the Dead), Canyon de Chelly National Monument, northeastern Arizona, USA

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James St. John — Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (via Flickr (Creative Commons))

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chelly sandstone permian canyon national monument arizona

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