This moonscape of hills and gullies is called badlands. The Blue Mesa badlands are made up of rock known as the Chinle Formation, which extends from Texas, across northern Arizona, and into Utah. The rock is mostly fine-grained clay and siltstone, but also contains sandstone and conglomerate. Bentonie, a major ingredient, swells and becomessticky when wet and cracks and shrinks when it dries. The constant shrinking and swelling of the surface gives the Chinle its elephant-skin texture.
Petrified logs appear to be perched on pedestals of the softer clays. Once the clay erodes under the logs, they will topple down the hillside.

Badlands

 

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