A tall, thin spire of rock that projects from the bottom of a canyon or badland. Formed by erosion when a caprock protects softer rock layers beneath from weathering.
From Haitian Creole 'hoodoo' meaning 'magic' or 'spell,' reflecting how these bizarre rock formations seemed supernatural to early observers. The geological term emerged in the American West in the late 1800s.
Bryce Canyon's famous hoodoos aren't actually in a canyon at all – they're on the edge of a plateau where erosion has carved these alien-looking spires! The Paiute people called them 'red rocks standing like men in a bowl-shaped recess.'
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