Deserts: Geology and Resources

by A. S. Walker

U. S. Department of the Interior / U. S. Geological Survey

Deserts:
Geology and Resources

by A. S. Walker

Great Sand Dunes National Monument, Colorado (photograph by John Keith).

Beauty is before me

And beauty behind me,

Above and below me hovers the beautiful,

I am surrounded by it,

I am immersed in it.

In my youth I am aware of it,

And in old age

I shall walk quietly

The beautiful trail.

from a Navajo benedictory chant describing the desert

Cacti dominate the Sonoran Desert vegetation near Tucson, Arizona (photograph by Peter Kresan).