This image shows a mountain that was once an ancient seabed. Through tectonic activity, this seabed was uplifted, then folded and faulted until it became part of the Canadian Rockies near Canmore, Alberta. You can see millions of years of deposition in the strata that are now angled at almost 45 degrees. Some think the Canadian Rockies were once as tall as the Himalayas. But the soft sedimentary and carbonate rock has been quickly eroded by ice at this high latitude. The sloping mass of rock fragments at the foot of the cliffs is called a talus pile. The fact that it has not yet been covered by vegetation is evidence of how quickly weather is eroding the Canadian Rockies.