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Rock Formations Caused by Weathering

Weathering is the process by which rocks are transformed due to their exposure to wind, water or other organic fluids. This process, which occurs over millions of years, has produced distinctive formations around the world.

North America
- Utah's Bryce Canyon is a limestone formation caused by frost-wedging and dissolving rainwater.
  
  North America is home to dozens of notable formations. Several are located in Yosemite National Park, including the Half Dome and Three Brothers. The sandstone formation known as The Wave is found on the slopes of Coyote Buttes on the Utah-Arizona border, while the Delicate Arch, also in Utah, is the result of millions of years of erosion.
Australia
- Ayers Rock stands 1,135 feet high and measures nearly five miles around.
  
  Located in the heart of Australia's Nambung National Park is the Pinnacles Desert, home to thousands of huge limestone pillars collectively referred to as The Pinnacles. The country's massive sandstone formation Uluru, or Ayers Rock, is considered sacred to the local Aborigines.
Asia and Europe
- The Stone Mushrooms, located in Bulgaria, were created by long-continued erosion by lapping waves.
  
  Bulgaria and China are home to "stone forests," or concentrations of rock formations molded into tree shapes. Each was formed by alternating erosion patterns that created individual rock pillars.
South America
- The Stone Tree is located in the Siloli Desert, part of the National Reserve Eduardo Abaroa.
  
  Located in Peru, the Huayllay Stone Forest, once a seabed, is now the location of about 4,000 geological formations created by air and glacier movements, while Bolivia's Stone Tree, is believed to have formed during the uprising of the Andes Mountains.

Rocks & Minerals