[USA.UTAH 28165] 'Badlands near North Caineville Mesa.’ The otherworldly landscape at the foot of North Caineville Mesa near the village of Caineville is complete devoid of vegetation and has been described as the "baddest of the badlands". The grey shale and sandstone is part of the Mancos Shale Formation and dates from the Cretaceous period. Photo Paul Smit & Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.UTAH 28183] 'Waterpocket Fold seen from Strike Overlook.’ In the Waterpocket Fold, a 65 million year old earthfold at Capitol Reef National Park, different rock-formations surface in straight lines. The geologic layers, which were originally horizontal, were formed from sediments deposited over hundreds of millions of years in seas, tidal flats and deserts. As wind and water continue slowly to erode the fold, new features are created from the rock. The view is from Strike Overlook, looking north. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[BRITAIN.HEBRIDES 27761] ‘The Old Man of Storr seen from the north.’ On Skye's Trotternish Peninsula the pinnacle of the Old Man of Storr gives a dramatic touch to the landscape. Its geological history is no less dramatic. As most of northern Skye, the Old Man consists of lava that welled up from the earth as The Atlantic Ocean opened up and Western Europe and America started to drift apart 60 millions years ago. On the eastern edge of the Trotternish peninsula parts of the formed lava sheet tumbled down in massive landslides, creating jagged peaks such as the Old Man. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.UTAH 28060] ’Sandstone disks in Paria Canyon.’ The Paria river (a tributary of the Colorado) is surrounded by a landscape of finely layered sandstone. On the bedrock surface many stone balls can be found: globular concretions which have been eroded out of the encasing sandstone. When these balls themselves are degraded by erosion they fall apart in disks. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.UTAH 28024] ’Erosion forms in Paria Canyon.’ In the canyon of the Paria River (a tributary of the Colorado) erosion has formed weird shapes in the local Navajo Sandstone. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.ARIZONA 27986] ’Hiker in The Wave.’ The hiker who enters "The Wave" in the Coyote Buttes nature reserve (part of the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) may think he is stepping into a sticky red fluid with white stripes, something like sour cream stirred into pumpkin soup. But this geological wonder actually consists of 200 million years old fossilized sand dunes. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.UTAH 28089] 'Stegosaur in Buckskin Gulch.’ The spectacular ‘polished’ walls of the Buckskin Gulch, a branch canyon of the Paria River, are formed during flash floods as stones and pebbles hit the walls at great speed. At some points they seem to resemble the scaly back plates of a Stegosaur. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.UTAH 28083] 'Paria Canyon.’ A trek through the colourful Paria Canyon involves crossing the water every hundred meters. Using a stick can help you to avoid quicksand. The canyon of the Paria (a tributary of the Colorado) can be found east of Kanab and south of route 89. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.UTAH 28072] 'Dinner table.’ Hiking and camping in the Paria Canyon can have its unexpected pleasures, such as this dinner table which has been eroded out of finely layered sandstone that was deposited in a vast desert 200 million years ago. The canyon of the Paria (a tributary of the Colorado) can be found east of Kanab and south of route 89. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.UTAH 28055] ’Overhanging canyon cliff.’ The base of this sandstone wall in the Paria Canyon has been undercut during floods by swirling water and hard stones transported from upstream. The canyon of the Paria (a tributary of the Colorado) can be found east of Kanab and south of route 89. Photo Mick Palarczyk & Paul Smit.

[USA.UTAH 28045] ’Crooked pillars.’ The base of this vertical sandstone wall in the Paria Canyon has been undercut during floods by swirling water and hard stones transported from upstream. The resulting overhanging cliffs seem to lean on crooked pillars that look like the work of crazy sculptors. The canyon of the Paria (a tributary of the Colorado) can be found east of Kanab and south of route 89. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.UTAH 28033] ’Paria Canyon entrance.’ At the entrance of the Paria Canyon east of Kanab (and south of route 89) weird shapes have been eroded in the sandstone landscape. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.UTAH 28193] 'Thunderstorm over the Waterpocket Fold.’ In the Waterpocket Fold, a 65 million year old earthfold at Capitol Reef National Park, different rock-formations surface in straight lines. The low ridge of Oyster Shell Reef, which in the distance can be seen to form a S-curve, forms a kind of back bone that divides the expanse of the valley. The view is from Strike Overlook, looking south. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.UTAH 28171] 'Austere city.’ The cliffs of the Lower Blue Hills between Caineville and Hanksville have the appearance of a gloomy city with austere cylindrical towers. The grey shale and sandstone is part of the Mancos Shale Formation and dates from the Cretaceous period. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.UTAH 28058] ’Sandstone disks in Paria Canyon.’ View in downstream direction through the canyon of the Paria. (a tributary of the Colorado.) The river is surrounded by a landscape of finely layered sandstone. On the bedrock surface many stone balls can be found: globular concretions which have been eroded out of the encasing sandstone. When these balls themselves are degraded by erosion they fall apart in disks. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.UTAH 28022] ’Erosion forms in Paria Canyon.’ In the canyon of the Paria River (a tributary of the Colorado) erosion has formed weird shapes in the local Navajo Sandstone. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.ARIZONA 28019] ’Pavement of giants.’ Examining the surface of the Brain Rocks, which seems to be paved with enormous pentagonal stones, you feel like an archaeologist studying a long-lost world of giants. The Brain Rocks can be found in Coyote Buttes nature reserve (in the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) and are made up by a 200 million years old geological formation called Navajo Sandstone. The polygonal jointing is the result from expansion and contraction of the rock near its surface where temperature fluctuations are most extreme. Photo Paul Smit

[USA.ARIZONA 27989] ’Hiker in The Wave.’ The hiker who enters "The Wave" in the Coyote Buttes nature reserve (part of the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) may think he is stepping into a sticky red fluid with white stripes, something like sour cream stirred into pumpkin soup. But this geological wonder actually consists of 200 million years old fossilized sand dunes. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.UTAH 28086] 'Satin sail in Buckskin Gulch.’ The spectacular ‘polished’ walls of the Buckskin Gulch, a branch canyon of the Paria River, are formed during flash floods as stones and pebbles hit the walls at great speed. Sometimes you seem to encounter the gracefully curved sail of a ship from the underworld, woven of the most delicate satin. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.UTAH 28076] 'Potato on pillars.’ Many years of erosion have reduced the sandstone surface, on which this potato-shaped rock once fell, into three slender pillars. The 70 cm long stone is one of the many weird erosion forms that can be found in the Paria Canyon. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.UTAH 28059] ’Sandstone landscape in Paria Canyon.’ View in downstream direction through the canyon of the Paria (a tributary of the Colorado). The river is surrounded by a landscape of finely layered sandstone. On the bedrock surface many stone balls can be found: globular concretions which have been eroded out of the encasing sandstone. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.UTAH 28047] ’Holes in the rock.’ The base of this sandstone wall in the Paria Canyon has been undercut during floods by swirling water and hard stones transported from upstream. The canyon of the Paria (a tributary of the Colorado) can be found east of Kanab and south of route 89. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.UTAH 28042] ’Crooked pillars.’ The base of this vertical sandstone wall in the Paria Canyon has been undercut during floods by swirling water and hard stones transported from upstream. The resulting overhanging cliffs seem to lean on crooked pillars that look like the work of crazy sculptors. The canyon of the Paria (a tributary of the Colorado) can be found east of Kanab and south of route 89. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.UTAH 28027] ’Marbles of sandstone.’ These marbles of sandstone on the plateau above the Paria Canyon are the same things as the blueberries found on Mars. They are concretions that are a bit harder than the encasing sandstone and were incorporated in the pinnacle. When they were eroded out of the surrounding stone, the marbles rolled down. NASA came to Utah to study the phenomenon. Photo Paul Smit.