Palo Duro Canyon

by Jon Burch Photography

Title

Palo Duro Canyon

Artist

Jon Burch Photography

Medium

Photograph - Digital Capture/faa Watermark Will Not Be On Your Finished Photograph.

Description

In the Texas panhandle, it can be said that never has one been able to look so far and see so little - that is, until you come upon the Palo Duro Canyon...

Palo Duro Canyon is a canyon system of the Caprock Escarpment located in the Texas Panhandle near the city of Amarillo, Texas. As the second-largest canyon in the United States, it is roughly 70 miles long and has an average width of 6 miles, but reaches a width of 20 miles at places. Its depth is around 820 feet, but in some locations, it can increase up to 1,000 feet. Palo Duro Canyon in Spanish means "hard stick" and has been named "The Grand Canyon of Texas" both for its size and for its dramatic geological features, including the multicolored layers of rock and steep mesa walls similar to those in the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

The canyon was formed by the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River, which initially winds along the level surface of the Llano Estacado of West Texas, then dramatically runs off the Caprock Escarpment. Water erosion over the millennia has shaped the canyon's geological formations.

The first evidence of human habitation of the canyon dates back about 10,000 years, and is believed to have been continuously inhabited to the present day. Native Americans were attracted to the water of the Prairie Dog Town Fork, Red River, as well as the consequent ample game, edible plants, and protection from weather the canyon provided.

The first European explorers to discover the canyon were members of the Coronado expedition, who visited the canyon in 1541. Apache Indians lived in Palo Duro at the time, but they were later displaced by Comanche and Kiowa tribes, who had the advantage of owning horses brought over by the Spanish. They had contact with traders, called Comancheros, in nearby New Mexico.

Palo Duro Canyon was cut during the Pleistocene Epoch, when the whole region was uplifted. Most of the strata visible in the Canyon were deposited during the Permian and Triassic periods.

Some digital effects were applied to the original image after the photograph was made. No electrons were harmed during the transition. Your finished photograph will not contain the Fine Art America watermark.

Image copyright 2016 Jon Burch Photography all rights reserved.

Uploaded

August 3rd, 2016

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Viewed 380 Times  -  Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/14/2024 at 11:41 PM

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