Grand Staircase
The rocks exposed in Bryce Canyon are about 100 million years younger than those in nearby Zion National Park, and the rocks exposed in Zion are younger than those in the Grand Canyon to the south.
There are, however, shared rock units between all three, creating a supersequence of formations that geologists call the Grand Staircase. Together the formations of the Grand Staircase record nearly 2000 million years of the Earth's history. Bryce Canyon's formations are the youngest known units in the Grand Staircase. Younger rock units, if they ever existed, have been removed by erosion.
Read more about this topic: Geology Of The Bryce Canyon Area
Famous quotes containing the words grand and/or staircase:
“If the Christ were content with humble toilers for disciples, that wasn’t good enough for our Bert. He wanted dukes’ half sisters and belted earls wiping his feet with their hair; grand apotheosis of the snob, to humiliate the objects of his own awe by making them venerate him.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)
“To be ashamed of one’s immorality: that is a step on the staircase at whose end one is also ashamed of one’s morality.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)