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Comments on Gigapan: Mexican Hat, Utah

  2. Alongside Route 163 lies the balancing rock feature that gives the area its name. Behind the hat is a remarkable geological formation that looks like a zig-zag pattern on a bolt of cloth. The ridge is one of multiple folds in the top layers of sandstone that run north-south called The Comb.

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        May 30, 2010
        Date Taken
        May 14, 2010
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GigaPan Comments (2)

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  1. David Pivin

    David Pivin (June 09, 2010, 01:41PM )

    The entire region is covered with layers of varying density. This particular erosion is likely a combination of wind and rain and even a river nearby that isolated this butte over a long time. There are many cliffs nearby that have a more durable layer on top that is constantly flaking off as the soft sandstone layers below are eroded by rainfall and freezing combined with wind. Here is a perfect example of wind/rain erosion: Note the caps of harder stone on each of the tall hoodoos in this shot I took at Bryce, about 130 miles away from this spot.

  2. Simon Martin

    Simon Martin (June 09, 2010, 01:08PM )

    It looks similar to rock formations near a beach where the sea has eroded the lower layers of a rock but the part out of the water is left unharmed. Do you know if this is how it was created?