The Wind Mariah

The wind blows sometimes in Colorado, but not enough to cause these rocks in the Garden of the Gods to lean as you see here. Red rocks are exposed... more

by Jon Burch Photography

Title

The Wind Mariah

Artist

Jon Burch Photography

Medium

Photograph - Digital Capture/faa Watermark Will Not Be On Your Finished Photograph.

Description

The wind blows sometimes in Colorado, but not enough to cause these rocks in the Garden of the Gods to lean as you see here. Red rocks are exposed in several places across the Front Range on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains in central Colorado. The Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs, just a short drive from interstate 25, contains narrow bands of red and white Lyons sandstone inclined at 90 degrees, surrounded by lush green vegetation of a contrasting deep green color. The tilting of the strata was a by-product of geological uplift associated with creation of Pikes Peak located 9 miles to the southwest and other nearby mountains. The rocks are quite angular and eroded, those in the Central Garden area rise to heights of 300 feet, forming several lines of thin, jagged peaks poking out of the ground.

Near the town of Lyons, Colorado, modern industry created quarries to mine sandstone for flagstone used in sidewalks and terraces in Denver and other cities along the Front Range. Some of the Lyons Sandstone found along the Front Range is a mix of white, red, grey, and pink, the result of the removal of iron as the sand was re-worked.

About 280 million years ago, sea levels were low and present-day Colorado was part of a super-continent called Pangaea. Sand deserts covered most of the area spreading as dunes seen in the rock record, known today as the Lyons Sandstone. The white rocks found in the Garden of the Gods are part of that formation.

Image copyright 2016 Jon Burch Photography all rights reserved.

Uploaded

July 30th, 2016