The Colorful Sandstone Cliffs of Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock is part of the Spring Mountains and the amber red Sandstone Bluffs of Red Rock canyon just west of Las Vegas, Nevada. On the far left of the image is Mount Wilson, then Rainbow Mountain and Bridge Mountain.

The great sandstone cliffs at Red Rock, thousands of feet high, are Aztec Sandstone and are estimated to be about 180 – 190 million years old. They are the remains of ancient lithified sand dunes from a vast desert that covered a large part of the Jurassic southwest.
(Research Source)

Lithification is the process of changing unconsolidated sediment into sedimentary rock. The red color striping across some of the outcrops are from iron oxide or hematite when exposure to the elements caused iron minerals to oxidize or “rust,” resulting in red, orange, and brown-colored rocks.
(Research Source)

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This image is from my ongoing project in which I am trying to raise awareness of the 47% of the USA and 90% of Canada that remain unpopulated wilderness. 

Where Eagles Fly - The American Wilderness Expedition is my personal mission to introduce people to these amazing locations that surround us.

If you like what you see here then upvote and then resteemit so that others may experience these wondrous places as well.   Yehaw!!