Cliff Chinmeys at Mesa de las Viejas #999

Cliff Chinmeys at Mesa de las Viejas, New Mexico -  artwork by Emily Miller
Exposed cliffs above the Chama River Canyon tell the story of geologic time in the high desert of northern New Mexico. These red and yellow cliffs are rich with fossil beds from the Triassic and Jurassic periods.

The lowest layer of reddish hills has been identified as the Triassic Petrified Forest, with mudstone and sandstone deposited by major rivers that supported an ancient forest.

Above these low hills, the sheer cliffs of yellow, orange, and light gray sandstone date from the Jurassic Entrada period, when a vast field of sand dunes covered the southwest high desert.

The narrow band of light gray capping these sheer cliffs dates to the Jurassic Todlito period, when the Entrada dune field was flooded catastrophically, leaving behind a lighter layer of limestone, gypsum, and shale above the red and yellow sandstones.

Rising above these sharp cliff faces are the softer hills of the most recent Jurassic Summerville period, representing a return to wind-blown sand dunes which petrified into today's sandstone and mudstone mesas. The highest mesa in this canyon rim view is known as Mesa de las Viejas (Cliff of the Widows).

Plein air watercolor, 2024

7.5" x 17.5"

Original Painting Available (unframed)

$400

Only 1 in stock!

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