page_title: Natural arch
section_title: United States
hierarchical_section_title: Natural arch / Notable natural arches / North America / United States
caption_attribution_description: English: Landscape Arch in Arches National Park, Utah, USA Deutsch: Landscape Arch im Arches-Nationalpark, Utah, USA
context_page_description: A natural arch, natural bridge, or rock arch is a natural rock formation where an arch has formed with an opening underneath. Natural arches commonly form where inland cliffs, coastal cliffs, fins or stacks are subject to erosion from the sea, rivers or weathering.
  Most natural arches are formed from narrow fins and sea stacks composed of sandstone or limestone with steep, often vertical, cliff faces. The formations become narrower due to erosion over geologic time scales. The softer rock stratum erodes away creating rock shelters, or alcoves, on opposite sides of the formation beneath the relatively harder stratum, or caprock, above it. The alcoves erode further into the formation eventually meeting underneath the harder caprock layer, thus creating an arch. The erosional processes exploit weaknesses in the softer rock layers making cracks larger and removing material more quickly than the caprock; however, the caprock itself continues to erode after an arch has formed, which will ultimately lead to collapse.
  The choice between bridge and arch is somewhat arbitrary. The Natural Arch and Bridge Society identifies a bridge as a subtype of arch that is primarily water-formed.
context_section_description: Anacapa Island, Channel Islands National Park, California
  Arch Creek, Florida
  Arch Rock, Michigan
  Ayres Natural Bridge Park, Wyoming
  Bell Smith Springs, Illinois
  Blackwater Natural Bridge, Wyoming
  Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
  Corona Arch, Utah
  Creelsboro Natural Bridge, Kentucky
  Delicate Arch, Utah
  Eye of the Needle, Montana
  Goat Rock Beach, California
  Grosvenor Arch, Utah
  Holei Sea Arch, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii
  Honopū Arch, Hawaii
  Koger Arch, Kentucky
  Kolob Arch, Zion National Park, Utah
  Landscape Arch, Utah
  Mesa Arch, Utah
  Natural Arch, Kentucky
  Natural Bridge, Virginia
  Natural Bridge Caverns, Texas
  Natural Bridge Park, Alabama
  Natural Bridge State Park, Kentucky
  Natural Bridge State Park, Massachusetts
  Natural Bridge State Park, Wisconsin
  Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah
  Natural Bridges State Beach, California
  Rainbow Bridge National Monument, Utah
  Rattlesnake Canyon, Colorado
  Rockbridge State Nature Preserve, Ohio
  Sewanee Natural Bridge, Tennessee
  Sipapu Bridge, Utah
  An arch at Tettegouche State Park, Minnesota, collapsed in 2010.
  Three Arch Rocks National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon
  Tonto Natural Bridge, Arizona
  Twin Arches, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Tennessee
  Window Rock, Arizona
  Wrather Arch, Arizona
  Yahoo Arch, Kentucky
caption: Landscape Arch, Utah, United States - one of the longest natural arches in the world[13]
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