Painted Hills of Oregon
October 21, 2016
Photographer: Mike Burdic
Summary Author: Mike Burdic
Shown above are the Painted Hills in central Oregon, a unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. This colorful depositional feature ranges from about 100 ft (30 m) to 150 ft (46 m) in height and is approximately three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) in length. The hills formed when two distinct periods of volcanic activity, during the past 40 million years, deposited layers of iron oxides, ash, silicates and other minerals. Over the eons, weathering has brought out the colors and smoothed the hillsides. Contrasts between the layered rocks seem more pronounced late in the day and early in the morning when shadows are extreme. Photo taken on September 26, 2016.
Photo Details: Camera Maker: NIKON; Camera Model: COOLPIX P900; Focal Length: 4.3mm (35mm equivalent: 24mm); Aperture: ƒ/2.8; Exposure Time: 0.0020 s (1/500); ISO equiv: 100; Software: Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 (20060914.r.77) Windows.