White Pocket # 19

by Allen Beatty

Title

White Pocket # 19

Artist

Allen Beatty

Medium

Photograph - Photographs

Description

The White Pocket is an isolated, notoriously hard-to-reach patch of sandstone hidden within the desert expanse of the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument near the Arizona/Utah border. It has twists, multi-color striations of white, yellow, red, orange, and pink, pock marks and pools that sometimes fill with water, mushroom like protrusions, strange bulges that look like brains, polygonal fracturing, and wave-like features. The processes that have given yield to these bizarre rock formations stump even expert geologists. Some think that the area was liquefied in an ancient earthquake which distorted the sandstone layers while they were still soft, before they were buried under the oceans for 100 million years and turned to stone under the enormous heat and pressure. People who have been to White Pocket say it is as if they have entered a fantasy landscape on an alien planet. That's just how striking the natural rock features are to behold. The Wave is the more famous geological phenomenon but you have to hike 6 miles round trip and you can't go without a permit which are extremely hard to come by. White Pocket requires no permit and your guide drives you right to it. An amazing day.

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June 18th, 2016

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