What to see in Arches National Park, among marvelous arches and cemented sand castles, in an imaginative scenario worthy of being visited by those who pass by nearby.
Arches National Park
Located in eastern Utah, between 1200 and 1700 meters above sea level, Arches National Park has been a protected area since 1929, covering an area of 296 square kilometers, declared a national park in 1971.
Its name derives from the numerous arches that create a suggestive scenario including windows, spiers, towers and domes carved by erosion in red sandstones.
Arches National Park covers a part of the semi-desert area, consisting of red rocks, which develops between the Colorado chain and the large Nevada basin, commonly called by the geographers the Colorado Plateau.
A series of sand deposits, about a hundred meters thick, have accumulated due to the action of the wind to create a large desert, then they have solidified.
The sandstones are formed almost entirely from pure quartz and their cementing took place by infiltration of iron oxide, which gave the material its characteristic red color.
The grains of sand, being composed of pure quartz, are difficult to attack by erosive agents.
Cement, on the contrary, is sensitive to the aggression of atmospheric agents.
The erect forms of exceptional beauty, which can be observed in the Arches National Park, are therefore due to the differentiated degradation of the rocks.
Among the most particular forms of this park, it is worth mentioning the Landscape Arch, located on the edge of a huge sandstone amphitheater.
Although there is still a certain level of erosion, this acts on the relief in an almost imperceptible way and the current disintegration is mainly due to the strong temperature range.
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The action of the weather and a climate that in the past was very different from the current, have contributed to creating a fantastic landscape.
