Phallus Dei
Cold season frost and thunderstorm flash floods create a bizarre landscape of erosion on the brink of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in Utah. These limestone hoodoos erode with a rate of 30 cm in 50 years. Their deep red color turns into a copper glance when lighted by the early morning light. The intense colors come from constituents of iron and manganese oxide. These limestone and clay was sedimented in ancient Lake Flagstaff 40 to 60 million years ago. The lake sediments cracked into blocks during the irregular uplift of the Plateau. Since this time they are exposed to surface weathering.
August 2005
Canon 20D, EF-L 100-400mm, f/8, 1/60sec, ISO 100, polarization filter, tripod