The Pink Cliffs are a series of highly

dissected Dissection (from Latin ' "to cut to pieces"; also called anatomization) is the dismembering of the body of a deceased animal or plant to study its anatomical structure. Autopsy is used in pathology and forensic medicine to determine the cause ...

cliffs on the

Colorado Plateau The Colorado Plateau, also known as the Colorado Plateau Province, is a physiographic and desert region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States. This province covers an area of ...

in Garfield,

Iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

, and Kane counties in southwestern

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Contrary to the implication of the name, the cliffs are not a single set of rock formations, but actually a

geological formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exp ...

that manifests itself in multiple sets of rock formations.

Description

The cliffs form a large number of unique rock formations, many of which are protected by either the Bryce Canyon National Park or the Cedar Breaks National Monument. Most of the other formations are located within the Dixie National Forest. Geologically the cliffs are pink- and red-colored

Claron Formation The exposed geology of the Bryce Canyon area in Utah shows a record of deposition that covers the last part of the Cretaceous Period and the first half of the Cenozoic era in that part of North America. The ancient depositional environment of th ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

s, forming the upper riser of the

Grand Staircase The Grand Staircase is an immense sequence of sedimentary rock layers that stretch south from Bryce Canyon National Park and Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, through Zion National Park, and into Grand Canyon National Park. Ch ...

(which descends southward to the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

). The Pink Cliffs, as well as the other layers of the Grand Staircase, were named by geologist Clarence Dutton in the 1870s. While it is not an uncommon belief that the extent of the Pink Cliff is limited to the Bryce Canyon National Park area (being one of the best and most popular areas to view the cliffs),

geographically Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

, the cliffs actually extend well beyond the national park, forming a rough, but wide, "U" shape that spans three counties. The westernmost part of the cliffs are located on the western edge of the Markagunt Plateau (mostly within Cedar Breaks National Monument) in southeastern Iron County and the easternmost part of the cliffs are located on the southeastern edge of the

Paunsaugunt Plateau The Paunsaugunt Plateau (pronounced "PAWN-suh-gant") is a dissected plateau, rising to an elevation of , in southwestern Utah in the United States. Located in northern Kane County and southwestern Garfield County, it is approximately wide, and ...

in southwestern Garfield County (mostly within Bryce Canyon National Park). From the national monument on the west, the cliffs wrap south around the southern edge of the Markagunt Plateau (roughly along the border of the Dixie National Forest) and run just south of Navajo Lake in northeastern Kane County. After being bisected by the Long Valley and the valley of

Kanab Creek Kanab Creek ( ) is one of the many tributaries of the Colorado River. It begins in Kane County, Utah, just south of the drainage divide, watershed to the Great Basin and flows south to the Colorado River. The stream headwaters arise at at an el ...

, the cliffs wrap around the southern and southeastern edges of the Paunsaugunt Plateau and extend north through and just beyond the national park.

References

External links

{{commons category-inline, Pink Cliffs Bryce Canyon Cliffs of the United States Sandstone formations of the United States Colorado Plateau Geology of Utah Landforms of Garfield County, Utah Landforms of Iron County, Utah Landforms of Kane County, Utah Bryce Canyon National Park Cedar Breaks National Monument Dixie National Forest

Description

See also

References

External links