Pillows of sandstone glow with the first rays of sunlight in this photograph at the eastern edge of the jagged San Rafael Reef in south-central Utah. A huge block of the Earths crust was thrust into the sky by an underground fault which did not break the surface to form the San Rafael Swell around 50 million years ago. The vertical displacement of this underground fault was most pronounced here along the eastern edge of the Swell to create the jagged San Rafael Reef. As these various layers of Navajo, Kayenta, and Wingate Sandstones were lifted into the sky, the erosive force of water began to carve deep, narrow canyons all along this front. These long sandstone fronts were called reefs by early pioneers due to the hindrance they caused in traveling through this region. This panoramic photograph was captured with a 6x17 panorama format camera. All photos in these fine art photo galleries may be ordered as fine art framed prints or for stock photography usage.