Bryce Canyon, digital painting, USA by Rietje Bulthuis

About "Bryce Canyon, digital painting, USA"

by Rietje Bulthuis

About the artwork

Bryce Canyon, digital painting.
You can find more pictures of Bryce in my album Bryce Canyon.
Rock formations in Bryce Canyon National Park.
Bryce Canyon is a National Park located in the southwest of the American state of Utah. Bryce Canyon is famous for its unique geological rock formations. Due to the combined forces of freezing and thawing, the limestone and sandstone formations are slowly eroded to form the so-called hoodoos. The worn buds create beautiful formations that seem very mysterious in the sunlight. The sun causes shades of the colours of the rocks. The colours vary from pink to orange. It's part of the Grand Staircase.
Hoodoos in Bryce Canyon are formed by two processes. The first process, frost weathering, is particularly influential in winter. Water seeps into the rock in small cracks. When the water freezes, it expands, increasing the crack. The ice melts, more water runs into the crack and the water freezes again. Tears can become so big in this way that pieces of rock break off.
That's where the second process continues: rain takes the pieces of rock that have been broken down by freezing and thawing water into cracks. The rain also contributes to the erosion of the rock because it is a bit acidic. Limestone, which consists of hoodoos, dissolves in it.
These processes have led to the creation of these rock formations, but they will also lead to their degradation. In Bryc