Natural Arch - Weather-eroded Arches

Weather-eroded Arches

  1. Deep cracks penetrate into a sandstone layer.
  2. Erosion wears away exposed rock layers and enlarges the surface cracks, isolating narrow sandstone walls, or fins.
  3. Alternating frosts and thawing cause crumbling and flaking of the porous sandstone and eventually cut through some of the fins.
  4. The resulting holes become enlarged to arch proportions by rockfalls and weathering. Arches eventually collapse, leaving only buttresses that in time will erode.
  • Many of these arches are found within Arches National Park and Rainbow Bridge National Monument in Utah.

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