Road Trip–Painted Hills 3

Photograph of The Painted Hills, one of the three units of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, near Mitchell, OregonOver millennia, layers of ash were covered by water and became the bottom of a lake bed. Over time, climate change  dried the lake, the lake bed was lifted by geologic motion and wind and rain were the agents of erosion. Oxidized minerals in the ancient ash were transformed into the colorful claystone.

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