Sliced sandstone
At many spots on the Vermilion Cliffs, portions of the Navajo sandstone look like they were sliced with a knife—not literally, but appearing so. How this happens I am not sure. It may be a result of faulting, fracture or slumping. Whatever happened, I cannot see it occurring when the sand was still soft and unconsolidated. Notice, too, the lack of detritus at the base of the flat portion. Perhaps someone would like to offer a hypothesis.
I've seen this phenomenon near The Wave, northeast of Steamboat Rock, and a few other places. This example is at the Lost City. I have also noticed a number of parallel fractures crossing the northern Paria Plateau (many obvious on Google Earth), but they are not aligned with the four "crack" faults intersecting the canyon.
Sliced sandstone
At many spots on the Vermilion Cliffs, portions of the Navajo sandstone look like they were sliced with a knife—not literally, but appearing so. How this happens I am not sure. It may be a result of faulting, fracture or slumping. Whatever happened, I cannot see it occurring when the sand was still soft and unconsolidated. Notice, too, the lack of detritus at the base of the flat portion. Perhaps someone would like to offer a hypothesis.
I've seen this phenomenon near The Wave, northeast of Steamboat Rock, and a few other places. This example is at the Lost City. I have also noticed a number of parallel fractures crossing the northern Paria Plateau (many obvious on Google Earth), but they are not aligned with the four "crack" faults intersecting the canyon.