How tall is canyon de chelly

History of this area goes far in the past, maybe years. The documented finds date Anasazi the ancient ones from about year to about when they disappeared from here, possibly moved. The vacuum was filled in s with present Navajo Nation, who call themselves Dine.

Ancient ruins a geological features are well visible from the rim of the canyons. The geological formation come mostly in colours of Navajo sandstone, in this case called de Chelly sandstone, originating in Permian million years old , in shades of red and yellow.

The most conspicuous of all is the Spider Rock, a twin sandstone spire, over m tall, which is located at the junction of Canyon de Chelly and Monument Canyon. According to a Navajo legend, the taller spire is the home of Spider Grandmother. While eroded rock walls are picturesque enough, de Chelly sandstone cleaves to produce immense arches and bays and all manner of rippled and shell-like structures.

Imposed on these shapes, giving emphasis by contrast, oxidation has added to to the yellow, and orange stone, a blue and purple cast; and lichens and minute vegetation in the cracks of the rocks are adding a texture of tapestry. Surrounding landscape is typical desert-like Colorado Plateau with elevation around the canyons of about m.

Unfortunatelly in Canyon de Chelly the native trees have to compete with 2 aggressively invasive pests, Tamarisks Tamarix parviflora , T. On the rim two species of yucca can be seen, Narrow-leaf Yucca Yucca angustissima and Banana Yucca Yucca baccata along with 13 species of cacti, namely three colourful Echinocereus , E.

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Sign up below or read more about the DesertUSA newsletter here. It's Free. Enter E-Mail address:. Enter Email:. By this point, we had seen a lot of aeolian sandstones, so my interest was not in the geology but more in the White House Ruins and the locals. It was great to talk to the local Navajo people that lived in the Canyon and purchase some of the jewelry they had crafted.

Craigg, S. Grant, C. Stanesco, J. Skip to content — Skip to search. The University of Rhode Island.