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Sandstone cliff in Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, USA
Ridges of red
Chiselled cliffs like this are a common sight in the curiously named Capitol Reef National Park, found in the US state of Utah. Neither underwater nor near any capitol building, the park is actually named after both its treacherous terrain (settlers used the term "reef" to refer to rocky ridges that made much of this area impassable) and its stately stone domes that evoke a famous landmark in Washington, DC. Those big white domes stand in stark contrast to rust-tinted cliffs like this one, owing to the park's unique and once highly active geology. Capitol Reef is composed of many distinct layers of sediment extending kilometres below the surface and tilted at an angle. Erosion and tectonics have exposed layers at differing rates over millions of years, causing huge variations in both elevation and colour.

This national park's layer-cake look is thanks to millions of years of erosion.