Dubbed Mount Sharp, it appears to be an unusual layer-cake of clay and other sedimentary deposits that may be relics of ancient water flows and organic chemistry.

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It is a cracked and crumpled layer-cake of rocks, 480 million years in the making, a landscape sculpted by ice then transformed by man and a witness to the birth of the Industrial Revolution.

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The mountain is a giant, putrid layer-cake, with dozens of strata of rubbish separated by soil and plastic liners designed to contain the brew of noxious chemicals that would otherwise leach into groundwater.

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Herman Cain wants to bake up a new three-layer tax cake to replace the current federal tax stew.

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The guests were served an all-white, seven-layer white rum wedding cake that was covered in white fondant and sugar crystals, and adorned with crystal brooches and the couples' monogram on the top layer.

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And much to my delight, I discovered that I was able to see the city's past as well as its present: the London of my imagination superimposed upon the reality, a transparent city in which the old was encased in the new like an ancient layer cake wrapped in glistening sandwich-wrap.

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For dessert, try coconut invasion (coconut layer cake, mango ice cream and warm chocolate sauce).l La Ripaille--605 Hudson St.

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