Patterns in Stone
Checkerboard Mesa
The Navajo sandstone before you also forms
the spectacular cliffs within Zion. This
geographically widespread formation reaches
a thickness of 2,200 feet in the park and
consists almost entirely of desert sand dunes.
The Checkerboard Mesa, made of Navajo
sandstone, has two sets of lines forming the
checkerboard pattern.
The horizonal lines, commonly called
crossbedding, represent layers of
wind-blown sand that built up into
sand dunes. These dunes were then
buried, and the sand grains glued
together by calcite and iron oxide to
form sandstone. Crossbedding can be
seen in many places along the Zion-
Mt. Carmel Highway.
The vertical lines are less common.
They are actually shallow cracks
that result from stress and erosion
on the rock surface. These cracks
are probably caused by expansion
and contraction, temperature
changes, wetting, drying, or a
combination of these processes.
