Shaping the Earth

The terrain around Flagstaff, Arizona, is an ideal example of the cycle of forces shaping the Earth's crust.  The city is surrounded by 600+ dormant volcanoes (1000 to 6 million years old) and the arid desert terrain is scoured by water channels carved by the infrequent summer thunderstorms.  The more recent arrival (by geological standards) of humans adds another dimension, as the volcanic cinder cones are mined for building materials.

This pano shows many of the volcanoes (every hill & mountain in view is a volcano, including the shooting site).  The low area beyond the tank farm is the upper drainage area of the Rio de Flag that has carved many canyons to the South that include the Walnut Canyon National Monument Cliff Dwellings.  The open pit cinder mine in the initial view has already removed 50% of the cinder cone to be used as building material.

Shaping the Earth; volcanism builds up, water tears down, and humans mix it around....

USA-Canada / USA-Arizona

Lat: 35° 12' 51.1" N
Long: 112° 25' 17.2" W

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: High. Pinpoints the exact spot.

Canon XTi (400D) DSLR, Sigma 8mm f3.5 fisheye lens, Nodal Ninja 3 (NN3) Pano Head, MegaMast 28' Carbon Fiber Stand, Apple 17" MacBook Pro 2010, PTGui Pro 11.31, Photoshop CS5 Extended, Pano2VR 5.2.5