Cathedral escarpment

Part of a series on
The Burgess Shale
Preservation Biota History
Geology and localities Stephen Formation Cathedral escarpment Walcott Quarry (containing the Phyllopod bed) Raymond Quarry Mount Stephen trilobite beds Mount Stephen localities Odaray Mountain Stanley Glacier
Fossils Marrella Anomalocaridids Halwaxiids Opabinia Odontogriphus
Key organisms Ediacara biota Kimberella Vernanimalcula Burgess-type Marrella Anomalocaridids Halwaxiids Opabinia Odontogriphus Small shelly fauna Helcionellids
Evolutionary concepts Cambrian explosion Trends Cambrian substrate revolution Themes Cladistics Convergent evolution Stem and crown groups

The Cathedral escarpment was a submarine cliff during the Cambrian period, and is often associated with the exquisite preservation of the Burgess Shale. It runs for around 100 km through and around Yoho national park, British Columbia.^[1] During the Cambrian period mudflows ran down and along the escarpment, trapping and quickly burying organisms, and preventing their decay, permitting the preservation of soft tissue in the rocks that now comprise the Stephen formation.^[1]

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