The Pinnacles High Peaks consists of a relatively strong, well-consolidated breccia. The layers of breccias are thought to have formed as the result of material slumping off the sides of the volcano near the vents causing large landslides. The volcano (that caused these formations) was likely near water and the landslides traveled as massive turbidity currents under water that spread the material considerable distances until coming to rest near distant edges of the volcano. Volcanic ash and rhyolitic lava flows are inter-layered with these breccias. Subsequent burial and compaction hardened these layers into the consolidated rock we see today. Recent faulting, fracturing and erosion have sculpted these rock layers into vertical cliffs and spires sometimes several hundred feet high. Pinnacles National Park, California, USA.
California Condor Number 26, Pinnacles National Park, California, United States. To date, there are only 463 California Condors after making a comeback from near extinction. They are the largest bird in North America with a wingspan of 10 feet.
California Condor #63, Pinnacles National Park, California, United States.
