The Landscape

[USA.UTAH 28261 'Sunset at Monument Valley.’ A last ray of sunlight illuminates the plain at Monument Valley. Soft shales at the base of the buttes crumble under the influence of water and frost erosion, undermining the more resistant overlying sandstone which forms vertical cliffs when it collapses. The shales and sandstone date from the Permian period. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.UTAH 28206 'Pleasant Creek.’ Cottonwoods in autumn garb line the banks of Pleasant Creek, a little river that periodically drains floodwater from the elongated depression of the Water Pocket Fold in Capitol Reef National Park. Here we are looking to the west with the western rim of the Fold on the horizon. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.UTAH 28186 '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.

[USA.UTAH 28134 'Aspens north of Boulder.’ The white trunks of American aspens (Populus tremuloides) form a bright contrast with the orange and purple-grey undergrowth on the slopes of the Dixie National Forest north of Boulder. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.UTAH 28113 'Table Cliff Plateau seen from Bryce.’ Bryce Canyon National Park is famous for its weird landscape of pinnacles (hoodoos) which consist of a poor grade of limestone that is easily eroded by flashfloods descending from the nearby plateau. The eastern edge of the park shows the final stage of erosion: the spectacular towers are reduced to undulating hills of red ruble. In the distance you can see the valley of the Paria River with on the horizon the Table Cliff Plateau, ending to the right in Powell Point. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[BURMA 24.880] ’Bagan plain seen from Bulethi Stupa .’ The Bagan plain houses some two thousand temples and stupas. They are the 11th-13th century remnants of the now vanished royal city of Bagan. Here the plain is seen in the early morning from the Bulethi Stupa, looking west, with on the horizon the Thatbyinnyu Temple (left, with small golden spire) and the Ananda Temple (with big golden spire). Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[BURMA 24.940] ’Cactoid trees.’ Cactoid trees near a small temple on the Bagan plain west of Pwasaw village. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[BRITAIN.IRELANDNOR 21.853] ‘Natural hexagons.’ The hexagonal columns of Giant’s Causeway look like man made objects but are in fact the result of the cooling and shrinking process in a 60 million old lava flow. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.UTAH 28222 'Landscape near Fruita.’ Landscape northwest of Fruita in Capitol Reef National Park. Photo Mick Palarczyk & Paul Smit.

[USA.UTAH 28196 'Thunderstorm over the Waterpocket Fold.’ As a thunderstorm crosses Capitol Reef National Park, an isolated beam of light illuminates the Waterpocket Fold, a 65 million year old earthfold. The view is from Strike Overlook, looking south. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.UTAH 28162 'Cottonwoods along Fremont River.’ The yellow autumn colours of Fremont cottonwoods (Populus fremontii) in the floodplain of the Fremont River form a stark contrast with the barren grey slopes of the South Caineville Mesa near the village of Caineville. The grey shale and sandstone is part of the Mancos Shale Formation and dates from the Cretaceous period. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.UTAH 28119 'Cottonwoods in Escalante floodplain.’ In autumn the floodplain of the Escalante River (seen here east of the town of Escalante) colours brilliantly yellow with the leaves of cottonwoods. The Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) is exceptionally tolerant of flooding, erosion and flood deposits filling around the trunk. The tree derives its name from cottony structures around its seeds which allow them to be blown long distances. Photo Mick Palarczyk & Paul Smit.

[USA.UTAH 28021] ’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 Mick Palarczyk.

[BURMA 24.935] ’Dhammayazika Stupa.’ Near Pwasaw village on the Bagan plain, a shepherd leads his goats from one acacia tree to the next. He carries a long pole with a hook with which he shakes seed-pods from the trees that serve as food for the animals. In the background shimmers the golden dome of the Dhammayazika Stupa. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[IRELAND.DONEGAL 21.771] ‘Cows on beach.’ On the shore of Donegal Bay near St. John’s Point, cows have chosen a tranquil beach to ruminate. Photo Mick Palarczyk.