Over 3.7 million people a year visit the beautiful and majestic Yosemite Park, or 747, 956 acres of pure nature and paradise. There is the famous El Capitan, the Half Dome, the 739 meters of Yosemite Falls and other numerous waterfalls, so many trails to hike, diverse wildlife, with animals including the California ground squirrel and the bobcat, and a number of different trees and plants, such as the California black oak and the giant sequoia. With so many natural landmarks and wildlife to see, no wonder Yosemite is a very popular park to visit! Yosemite Park is famous and well known for its rock formations and geological landmarks, including the Half Dome and El Capitan. About 95% of the landforms in Yosemite, including Half Dome and El Capitan, are formed from the granitic rock of the Sierra Nevada Batholith, with erosion creating the valleys canyons, domes, and other visible features. The other 5% …show more content…
The making of the geology of Yosemite can be described in two different parts: deposition and deformation of metamorphic rocks and the emplacement of the granitic rocks, which occurred during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic Eras; and the uplift, erosion, and glaciation of these rocks, which occurred during the Cenozoic Era, to form the landscape seen today at Yosemite.
The Half Dome, originally called “Tis-sa-ack,” or Cleft Rock by the Ahwahnechee people, the natives who lived on Yosemite nearly 3000 years ago, is located at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley, rises 1444 meters above the Valley floor, and is over 2695 meters above sea level. Even though thought to be a round dome that has lost its northwest half, if seen from Washburn Point, the Half Dome can be seen as a thin ridge of rock, or an arête, with the southeast side almost as steep as its
...e morphed it into the quartzite that is seen surrounding the butte (4). Rocks that undergo this process are called metamorphic rock, which is the same as the rock seen years ago by dinosaurs and other extinct creatures. The quartzite rocks were formerly seafloor sediment that was forced upwards, and then surrounded by lava basalt flows. Once erupted through fissures and floods through out most of the area, lava flow eventually created enough basalt to form a thickness of about 1.8 kilometers (1). All of this basalt flow eventually led to the covering of most mountains, leaving the buttes uncovered. The igneous lava flows and loess is reasons that the Palouse consists of such sprawling hills, and rich soil for farming (2). In result of the lava flows, the Precambrian rock Quartzite was formed. And lastly covered by the glacial loess, which were carried by the wind.
Harris, Ann G., Esther Tuttle, and Sherwood D. Tuttle. "Katmai National Park and Preserve." Geology of National Parks. 4th ed. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Pub., 1990. 441-48. Print.
There exists the Dome of Yosemite by Albert Bierstadt, with dramatic rock outcroppings, the sun burst...
Stone Mountain is an igneous intrusion often referred to as a geological pluton. The granite pluton is part of the Piedmont Plateau region of the Appalachian Mountains and was formed along the same geological fault line that created the Blue Ridge Mountains but is not part of the Blue Ridge chain. Northern and Eastern Georgia have relatively frequent seismic activity with ten quakes recorded in 2013. These quakes occurred at an average depth of 9.6 km which make them less obvious and cause less property damage. This same seismic activity created Stone Mountain 300 million years ago during the last stages of the Alleghenian Orogeny when massive tectonic plate shifting allowed a large mass of magma from beneath the earth’s crust to well up . Flow structure markings on the mountain show the stone was formed underground after several eruption pulses failed to break through and then cooled to form, ultimately creating granite mass that rises 825 feet above ground, extends 9 miles underground and has a circumference of 5 miles at its base, making it the largest exposed dome in the world . Rising 1683 feet above sea level the summit of the dome is bare stone with rock pools and an unobstructed view that extends to Kennesaw Mountain, Amicacola Falls and Mt. Yonah state parks, including a breathtaking view of the Atlanta Skyline.
" National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, 26 Feb. 2014. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. “Yosemite National Park.”
Yosemite and its history, young to old the story of an area of land that is doomed to be mined, forcibly stripped naked of its natural resources. In 1864 Yosemite land grant was signed into act by president Abraham Lincoln, the first area of land set aside for preservation and protection. Yosemite being a very important historical plot of land, some time ago president Theodore Roosevelt visited the park managing to disappear from the secret service with John Muir. Through the years the contrast of ideas between the industrialists and the preservationists have clashed, Yosemite’s history both interesting and mysterious but more importantly inevitable .
The Grand Canyon is one of the most amazing natural wonders in the world. It was originally deposited sediment that was lithofied, and turned into sedimentary rock. The rock was then carved out by hydraulic processes (Warneke). These processes, all combined, took almost three to six million years to form the Grand Canyon. Continued erosion by wind and rain in the present time continues to shift what the canyon looks like, and make it different as time goes on ("Grand Canyon Facts").
Located in the popular Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Falls is the tallest waterfall in California. Every year, mother nature’s breathtaking beauty attracts millions of people from around the world. People hike for three long and fatiguing hours in anticipation of witnessing forceful water rushing down the steep mountain from 2,425 feet above. Last summer, my family and I backpacked through the Yosemite Falls Trail and I came to learn what a truly exhausting experience it is.
Yosemite National Park, is a beautiful piece of nature it is a 195 mile nature getaway from the urban life that is lived San Francisco, CA and 315 miles away from the fast pace and overwhelming life that is lived in Los Angeles CA. This place is like no other in the beauty of its nature. The park is “747,956 acres, and is the home to hundreds of wildlife species and thousands of Yosemite plants” (U.S. Nat. Park Service). Yosemite is known for so many beautiful features, from its granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequoia groves and biological diversity. And also for its two rivers which are the Tuolumne and Merced rivers. These rivers begin in the park and flow as far as west to the Central Valley.
"Yosemite Flora (Plants & Flowers)." Yosemite Trees, Plants & Flowers. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013. .
Mauna Loa is a shield volcano. Mauna Loa, “is a gently sloping mountain produced from a large number of generally very fluid lava flows” (Mauna Loa Volcano). Also an elevation map can show how high and wide the volcano is. According to Britannica, Mauna Loa is 64 miles (103 km) wide. As a result, this can be seen on an elevation map because, one can see how far it goes down. Mauna Loa is the largest gently sloping mountain in the world.
Miesse, Willian C. "Mount Shasta Geology and History." USGS: Volcano Hazards Program - Mount Shasta Geology and History. College of the Siskiyous Library, n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.
Canyonlands National Park, immense amounts of wilderness and rock, is located at the heart of the Colorado Plateau (Canyonlands National Park-Geology). Millions of years have formed specific features to the rock and surrounding wilderness that make it so special. Throughout the park, you will find that the sedimentary rock has formed many features such as hundreds of colorful canyons, mesas, buttes, fins, arches, and spires. The Green and Colorado rivers have played a major role in the formation of many of these features. These rivers cut through the park forming two massive canyons. This further splits the park into three distinct zones. “Island in the Sky” sits to the north while “The Maze” sits off to the west and “The Needles” to the east (Canyonlands National Park Information Guide). “Island in the Sky” serves as Canyonlands’ observation tower; it allows tourists to see overwhelming vistas of the rest of the land. “The Maze,” as hinted at by the name has been described as a “30 square mile puzzle in sandstone” (NPS: Nature & Science» Geology Resources Division). This section of the park often ranks as one of the most remote and inaccessible areas of the United States. Lastly, “The Needles” is known for its diversity in rock features. Throughout this land, features such as sculptured rock spires, arches, canyons, grabens, and potholes can be seen. The varying names hint at the diversity of the land as a whole. As said by The National Park Service’s Geology Resources Division, “Traces of the Anasazi can be found in almost every canyon in the Needles. Many of their stone and mud dwellings and storehouses are remarkably well-preserved. Tower Ruins, built high on a cliff ledge in a side canyon of Horse Canyon, is an outstanding ex...
Yellowstone Park is the world’s first national park and the 8th largest national park in the United States. The park is primarily located in Wyoming and parts of Idaho and Nevada (56 Interesting Facts About . . . Var Addthis_config = ) It is a tourist attraction due it’s 5,000 to 15,000 years old geysers, over 45 waterfalls, canyons, rivers, hot springs, and its massive concentration of natural wildlife. Two of the most popular park attractions are the Old Faithful geyser and the Grand Prismatic springs. ("Fun Facts." - 32 Interesting Facts Yellowstone National Park.)
From the mighty mountains, waterfalls and forests that cover our country, the energy that has gone into preserving these earth-given gifts alive is extensive. The environments created by thousands of years of natural progression have within themselves kept a piece of the world to themselves. Beginning in 1872 with the Yellowstone National Park located in the previously known territories of Montana, people began to protect these places, placing them within national parks boundaries. Since then, national parks have appeared across the country from “sea to shining sea”. With the creation of fifty-nine of national parks to date, people across the country travel to visit these sites where nature has been left alone to be as it was before human