Natural arch in the context of "Stack (geology)"

Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals (as well as wood and artificial materials) through contact with water, atmospheric gases, sunlight, and biological organisms. It occurs in situ (on-site, with little or no movement), and so is distinct from erosion, which involves the transport of rocks and minerals by agents such as water, ice, snow, wind, waves and gravity.

Weathering processes are either physical or chemical. The former involves the breakdown of rocks and soils through such mechanical effects as heat, water, ice, and wind. The latter covers reactions to water, atmospheric gases and biologically produced chemicals with rocks and soils. Water is the principal agent behind both kinds, though atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide and the activities of biological organisms are also important. Biological chemical weathering is also called biological weathering.

Arches National Park is a national park of the United States in eastern Utah. The park is adjacent to the Colorado River, 4 mi (6 km) north of Moab, Utah. The park contains more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches, including the well-known Delicate Arch, which constitute the highest density of natural arches in the world. It also contains a variety of other unique geological resources and formations. The national park lies above an underground evaporite layer or salt bed, which is the main cause of the formation of the arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths in the area.

The park consists of 310.31 km (76,680 acres; 119.81 sq mi; 31,031 ha) of high desert located on the Colorado Plateau. The highest elevation in the park is 5,653 ft (1,723 m) at Elephant Butte, and the lowest elevation is 4,085 ft (1,245 m) at the visitor center. The park receives an average of less than 10 in (250 mm) of rain annually.

44°54′51″N 35°14′5″E / 44.91417°N 35.23472°E / 44.91417; 35.23472

The Devil's Gate (Crimean Tatar: şeytan qapu) or Golden Gate (Altın Qapı) is an arch-like cliff near the Kara Dag Mountain in the Crimea. The cliff was supposed to have marked a gateway to hell. It is popular with tourists and carnelian hunters. Alexander Pushkin is thought to have been the first to depict the cliff, on the margins of his verse novel Eugene Onegin.

The Butt of Lewis (Scottish Gaelic: Rubha Robhanais) is the most northerly point on the Island of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The headland, which lies in the North Atlantic, is frequently battered by heavy swells and storms and is marked by the Butt of Lewis Lighthouse. The nearest populated area is the village of Eoropie, about 1 mile (1.5 kilometres) to the south.

The road to the lighthouse passes a sheltered cove called Port Stoth. Southwest from the lighthouse is a natural arch called the "Eye of the Butt" (Scottish Gaelic: Sùil an Rubha).

33°04′37″N 35°11′46″E / 33.077°N 35.19614°E / 33.077; 35.19614

The Keshet Cave (Hebrew: מערת קשת, romanized: m'ara keshet; Arabic: مغارة القوس, romanized: maghārat al-qaws; both meaning Arch Cave) is a natural arch on a ridge by the northern bank of Betzet Stream, Upper Galilee, Israel. The cave is located near Adamit Park in the Betzet Stream Nature Reserve, close to the border with Lebanon.

Zion National Park is a national park of the United States located in southwestern Utah near the town of Springdale. Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, the park has a unique geography and a variety of life zones that allow for unusual plant and animal diversity. Numerous plant species as well as 289 species of birds, 75 mammals (including 19 species of bat), and 32 reptiles inhabit the park's four life zones: desert, riparian, woodland, and coniferous forest. Zion National Park includes mountains, canyons, buttes, mesas, monoliths, rivers, slot canyons, and natural arches. The lowest point in the park is 3,666 ft (1,117 m) at Coalpits Wash and the highest peak is 8,726 ft (2,660 m) at Horse Ranch Mountain. A prominent feature of the 229-square-mile (590 km) park is Zion Canyon, which is 15 miles (24 km) long and up to 2,640 ft (800 m) deep. The canyon walls are reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone eroded by the North Fork of the Virgin River. The park attracted 4,946,592 visitors in 2024.

Human habitation of the area started about 8,000 years ago with small family groups of Native Americans, one of which was the semi-nomadic Basketmaker Ancestral Puebloans (who used to be called Anasazi by early non-indigenous archeologists) (c. 300 CE). Subsequently, what has been called the Virgin Anasazi culture (c. 500) and the Parowan Fremont group developed as the Basketmakers settled in permanent communities. Both groups moved away by 1300 and were replaced by the Parrusits and several other Southern Paiute subtribes. Mormons came into the area in 1858 and settled there in the early 1860s.