Funny Little Rock

[John Fowler]

Last week ladigue_99 and I were out hiking in GS/E off fortymile ridge road when we came across this strange little rock, perched on three legs. It looks like it could fall over at any moment. My first impression was that it was a joke that somebody had perpetrated, but on closer inspection it appeared to be all natural. There were other similar rocks implausibly perched up on spindly legs nearby. So I am wondering: Is this rock well-known? Have any of you seen it already? It's only about a foot high. (Full trip report is in preparation.)

 

[intuitive cat]

these types of formations happen all over the escalante canyons region underneath limestone & basalt boulders (and a few other more resistant types of rock). they are caused by water running under them and wearing away the soft sandstone. I've come across whole gardens of these (there is a great one towards the upper end of Dry Hollow in a basalt boulder field.I think the legs left are a mix of random chance of flow/hardness/and i wonder if maybe pressure points somehow compress the sandstone to make it less wear resistant(?).
It is also usually on the pale navajo sandstone like this one appears to be.

 

[John Fowler]

these types of formations happen all over the escalante canyons region underneath limestone & basalt boulders (and a few other more resistant types of rock). they are caused by water running under them and wearing away the soft sandstone. I've come across whole gardens of these (there is a great one towards the upper end of Dry Hollow in a basalt boulder field.I think the legs left are a mix of random chance of flow/hardness/and i wonder if maybe pressure points somehow compress the sandstone to make it less wear resistant(?).
It is also usually on the pale navajo sandstone like this one appears to be.

Thanks. It looks so improbable.

 

[intuitive cat]

Thanks. It looks so improbable.

yeah, now matter how many i see, they always get my attention. sometimes they will look like3 foot tall mushrooms as well.
it's hard to believe that those little legs of sandstone can hold all of that weight - and to think of how many hundreds or thousands of years they have been doing it!

 

[intuitive cat]

a few that i have come across...


perched boulders by intuitive cat studio, on Flickr

this next one is a textbook example of the early stages of a Hoodoo forming. remember that all of the tall hoodoos one sees were once smaller like this and never actually extend in height, but rather, the ground erodes away below them leaving the towers with cap-rock.


volcanic toadstool by intuitive cat studio, on Flickr


perched precariously by intuitive cat studio, on Flickr

and this last one was on top of the dome/mesa i watched the may 2012 eclipse from.