Zion Canyon, Utah (IMAGE)

University of Utah

Zion Canyon, Utah

Caption

This view of Zion Canyon in Utah's Zion National Park shows the flat valley floor created when part of the peak named the Sentinel collapsed in a gigantic landslide, creating a dam and forming a lake, which eventually filled in with sediment. A new University of Utah study provides the first direct date for the landslide, determining it happened 4,800 years ago and showing it was so large that it would have covered New York City's Central Park with 275 feet of debris. This photo is the cover image for the June issue of the Geological Society America's journal GSA Today, which is publishing the Utah study.

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Courtesy of Sarah Meiser

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