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MONUMENT VALLEY - USA
| Location: | Geographic coordinates: | Area: | Area - comparative: |
| North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico. | 38 00 N, 97 00 W | total: 9,629,091 sq km | About half the size of Russia; about three-tenths the size of Africa; about half the size of South America (or slightly larger than Brazil); slightly larger than China; about two and a half times the size of Western Europe |
| Population: | Languages: | Capital: | Currency: |
| 280,562,489 (July 2002 est.) | English, Spanish (spoken by a sizable minority) | Washington | US dollar |
| Types of rocks used on the monument: | Monument Valley was formed from the carving and erosion of sandstone and shale formations. |
Monument Valley is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of vast and iconic sandstone buttes, the largest reaching 1,000 ft (300 m) above the valley floor. The area is part of the Colorado Plateau. The floor is largely Cutler Red siltstone or its sand deposited by the meandering rivers that carved the valley. The valley's vivid red color comes from iron oxide exposed in the weathered siltstone. The darker, blue-gray rocks in the valley get their color from manganese oxide. The buttes are clearly stratified, with three principal layers. The lowest layer is Organ Rock shale, the middle de Chelly sandstone and the top layer is Moenkopi shale capped by Shinarump siltstone. The valley includes large stone structures including the famed Eye of the Sun.
© Guillermo Rocha, P. G. / Brooklyn College Geology Department