Aerial Close Up of the Towers of the Virgin in Zion National Park Utah

Zion National Park in Utah is an incredibly harsh and rugged geologic oddity. These bizarre and unusual formations represent about 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation in that part of North America.  

Uplift has affected the entire region by slowly raising these formations more than 10,000 feet (3,000 m) higher than where they were originally deposited. This steepened the stream gradient of the ancestral Virgin and other rivers that cut through the plateau. 

The faster-moving streams took advantage of uplift-created joints in the rocks. Eventually, all Cenozoic-aged formations were removed and gorges were cut into the plateaus. Zion Canyon was cut by the North Fork of the Virgin River in this way. During the latter part of this process, lava flows and cinder cones covered parts of the area.
(Research Source)  

In this image in the immediate foreground to the right, that flat topped 2 level towering mesa is called the "Eastern Temple", to its left is "Pine Creek" and right above it, the other close by flattop mesa is called "Mount Spry". On the far right of the image from Mount Spry you can see those 2 side by side peaks, these are known as the "Twin Brothers".

On the other side of Mount Spry, that tangled set of formations is known as the "Bee Hive" and to the left of that, along that wall of stratified layers you can see yet another double layered mesa, this is called the "Western Temple". 

This entire section of Zion is known collectively as the "Towers of the Virgin". 

If you want to dig deeper into the reason Zion and all of its various formations were named as they are then I suggest this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zion_National_Park

I lensed this image while exploring the area all around Zion National Park in early winter. This is from my ongoing project in which I am trying to  raise awareness of the 47% of the USA and 90% of Canada that remain unpopulated wilderness.     

Where Eagles Fly - The American Wilderness Expedition is my personal mission to introduce people to these amazing  locations that surround us.     

If you are interested in helping with this project please consider upvoting and resteemit so that others may experience these wondrous places as well.    

Yehaw!!