Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas Nevada

 These are the Spring Mountains and the amber red Sandstone Bluffs of Red Rock canyon just west of Las Vegas, Nevada. On the far left of the image is Potosi Mountain rising above Cottonwood Valley and moving to the right we have Mount Wilson, Rainbow Mountain and Bridge Mountain. To the right of that on the horizon in the distance is Mount Charleston, cloaked in clouds. 

 The great sandstone cliffs at Red Rock, thousands of feet high, are Aztec Sandstone and are 180 – 190 million years old. They are the remains of ancient lithified sand dunes from a vast desert that covered a large part of the Jurassic southwest. Lithification is the process of changing unconsolidated sediment into sedimentary rock. The red color striping across some of the outcrops are from iron oxide or hematite when exposure to the elements caused iron minerals to oxidize or “rust,” resulting in red, orange, and brown-colored rocks. 

I lensed this image of Red Rock Canyon as I was flying to the east of the formation in between rain storms.