Challenge? Potash

[CCC]

Is anyone up for a challenge? The idea i have in mind is to recreate the Potash area in Utah near Moab. I provided a photo and beginning file of what i have in mind and what needs to be worked on. The hard part is isolating various Strata and Outcrop shaders (might need 3 or 4 shaders here), creating the talus buildup, creating the vertical deeps cuts which vary in depth and isolating the large plateau walls, the lower strata rises below in the basin and softening the lower surrounding sections as well. The highest parts look to be 2 to 3,000 feet i think. Getting the colors down in a whole other matter for later.

[choronr]

I am very familiar with this area as well as most of the southern half from Moab down to Monument valley and west to the border ...magnificent country - when there, you feel like you are on another planet.

A great challenge!

[CCC]

I am very familiar with this area as well as most of the southern half from Moab down to Monument valley and west to the border ...magnificent country - when there, you feel like you are on another planet.

A great challenge!

Indeed. Three days out there and over 900 Photographs. It will be with me forever i think.   

Right now i am trying to isolate the strata shader to specific elevations but using the distribution and surface layer shaders i am having no success there. Say the terrain is 2000 meters high and i am minimizing the altitude of the strata shader to 500 meters and below with a 490 meter feather. There is no change. Am i missing something obvious here?

[FrankB]

the "talus build-up" is actually just a "not stratified" area, in TG2 terms
The strata's blend shader input can generate this wonder for you

Frank

[CCC]

Talus being a result of erosion from thermal weathering and or fluvial rain forces which sometimes can create larger alluvial fans and even more so huge flood plains as this is a never ending challenge for me and i still can not get it. I used the blend output for the strata shader all of the time but what makes it hard is how to taper the vertical blends of the fractal blend as it goes down in elevation therefore resulting in the talus.