Join geologist Kirt Kempter as he explores the geology of Western National Parks over the course of 2023, with an in-depth look at one location every month. Each program’s content is enhanced by geologic maps, photos, and Google Earth imagery.
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Zion and Bryce, Utah
Combined, these parks include a mile-thick package of sedimentary rocks that are part of the Grand Staircase, forming a geologic step ladder of colored cliffs with intervening vegetated plateaus. The geologic star at Zion is the Navajo sandstone, the petrified remains of a vast dune field active between 180 to 190 million years ago. At Bryce, strata of the much younger Claron Formation are eroding to produce stunning hoodoo clusters along amphitheater-shaped canyons carved into the Paunsaugunt Plateau.
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