Fruitland Formation the Colorado-New Mexico state line, and is one of the most productive areas for coalbed methane in the United States. The Fruitland is underlain by the Pictured Cliffs Sandstone, and overlain by the more recent Kirtland Formation. The sequence of rocks represents the final filling of the Cretaceous seaway. The underlying Pictured Cliffs is a marginal marine sandstone, deposited in an environment similar to offshore barrier islands of the southeast United States. As the seaway retreated, the Pictured Cliffs was covered by the Fruitland Formation, which was deposited in near-shore swampy lowlands. The formation is dated to the late Campanian
Pink Cliffs cliffs are pink- and red-colored Claron Formation limestones, forming the upper riser of the Grand Staircase (which descends southward to the Grand Canyon in Arizona). The Pink Cliffs, as well as the other layers of the Grand Staircase, were named by geologist Clarence Dutton in the 1870s. While it is not an uncommon belief that the extent of the Pink Cliff is limited to the Bryce Canyon National Park area (being one of the best and most popular areas to view the cliffs), geographically, the cliffs actually extend well beyond the national park, forming a rough, but wide, "U" shape