Video
Pa'rus: Creation from Destruction
Transcript
Hi there! I’m ranger Kess, and I’m thrilled to be hanging out on the Pa’rus with you today. All around us right now, we’re surrounded by impressive slopes and cliffs of brilliant red rock – but without the Virgin River’s powerful and destructive pattern of flash flooding, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy this wonderful landscape.
Every year during the monsoon season in the late summer, we experience dozens of these abrupt, fast-moving floods. Flash floods can rip trees from the ground, destroy roads, or even alter the course of the river entirely. Despite how terrifying these displays of power can be, there’s beauty in them, too: Flash floods are responsible for the majority of canyon ng the canyon walls like sandpaper, leaving a slightly wider, deeper canyon in its wake. Over the past few million years, these flash floods have continued carving Zion Canyon, exposing layers of vibrantly colored sandstone and giving us the geological wonder we’re standing in today.
As you continue your walk down the Pa’rus, be sure to keep an eye out for evidence of past flash floods like downed trees or logs jammed in the riverway. Remember, if you are spending time near or in this river check the flood potential at the visitor center and always alert for flash floods. Thanks for joining me, and enjoy your park!
Description
Join Ranger Kess to learn about how the erosive force of flash floods in the Virgin River carves Zion Canyon.
Duration
1 minute, 23 seconds
Credit
NPS
Date Created
08/12/2023
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