Landscapes & Geology »
Ancient sandbeds, shallow oceans and dinosaur-trapping marshes - long dried up from Jurassic and Triassic periods - solidified into orderly layers of stone in vast expanses across the southwest. These stone layers each eroded at varying rates as they were pushed slowly upward by volcanic forces deep beneath the layered crust - becoming what is today known as the Colorado Plateau - or more descriptively, “The Grand Staircase”.
Why so many arches here? This NPS website has a great explanation, but simply stated: It was the right kind of rock to split into parallel cracks, the right amount of rain, very few earthquakes, and just the right timing to see arches and not rubble! It's time to visit Moab.