The National Park Is Truly One Of America 's Greatest Gems

The Yellowstone volcano is very active volcanic system which requires much observation. The geysers, mudd pots, hotsprings and steam vents are all examples of the heat from molten rock of a volcano. For many years the Yellowstone volcano could not be located. There is not obvious signs of a volcano, but scientists looked for other clues. Rhyolite is present in a location that has pinetress and many mosquitoes can be found due to the lakes that have formed. Rhyolite is a very violent eruption, due to the high silica content,  it flows slowly, like honey, and tends to pile up and form lava

Rock Canyon is an excellent site for geologic research and has been investigated by geologists from around Utah and neighboring states. With outstanding extrusions of quartzite, tillite and limestone, it’s a favored destination for hikers, rock climbers and scientists. The quartzite is considered the most unique feature of Rock Canyon as it’s one of the few clear and distinct examples of the sedimentary processes involved with a shallow marine setting. The tillite beneath the quartzite draws attention to the ancient glaciers to the past. In conjunction with the active Wasatch Fault found at its doorstep, Rock Canyon is an important place in Utah for geologists.

Next, these rocks undergo erosion, which is the process of moving sediments from one place to another. Then, these sediments are deposited all at one place and over time they start to converge and cement as layers which are also known as strata. As time keeps going, new sediments deposit and cement together over old ones forming new layers. This is a repetitive process that eventually build up layers to make up a Sedimentary rock. Approximately 40 major sedimentary rock layers exposed in the Grand Canyon National Park area range in age from about 200 million to nearly 2 billion years old. As you can see, sedimentary rock formation takes an excessive amount of time.

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

Yellowstone National Park is one of the largest and oldest national parks in American history. Yellowstone was the first park to be protected by private investment on March 1, 1872, and the first to be put under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service in 1918, no doubt due to its unique and inspiring landscape and geothermal features. In fact, Yellowstone National Park is home to half of the world’s total hydrothermal features. These awesome attractions draw an incredible amount of visitors, an average of two to three million each year, to Yellowstone’s immense landscape. The park has a total size of 28,125 square miles, is found in three distinct states, and is considered to be one of the largest

The west coast of North America has been tectonically and volcanically active for billions of years. The Sierra Nevada Mountains in eastern California were born of volcanoes, and magma has been erupting in the Long Valley to the east of the mountains for over three million years (Bailey, et. al., 1989). However, the climactic eruption of the region occurred relatively recently in the region's geologic history. About 760,000 years ago, a huge explosion of magma warped the Eastern Sierra into the landscape that exists today. The eruption depleted a massive magma chamber below the earth's surface so that the ceiling of the chamber imploded, forming what is now known as

We learned that Little Cottonwood Canyon is home to geological history, varying rock formations, earthquake potential, ancient glacial formations, landslides, and our effect. This Canyon runs along the Wasatch fault and has much potential for large earthquakes. The mountains have been carved by glacial formations dated back to the Ice Age. Rock falls and landslides have left large boulders as evidence of erosion and moisture in the rocks. The hazards on this mountain range are mass wasting, radon, earthquakes, and the flooding of Little Cottonwood

First, we must examine the sedimentary formations; when they were formed, how they were formed, and what materials they consist of. About ninety-three to one hundred million years ago, the Western Interior Seaway rolled through the North American continent, eventually reaching the geographical area of today’s Mesa Verde National Park (National Park Service 2005). This sea deposited a thick, hard sandstone base that is called Dakota Sandstone, although this layer is not exposed in the park

A description of the grand canyon rock layers would include the Colorado River running at the bottom of the inner gorge with flats on both sides which consist of tapeat sandstone layers. There is also the Vishnu Complex, consisting of rocks that have been changed by heat and are buried at the lowest layers. These are tilted and are called the “Grand Canyon Supergroup” the Grand Canyon supergroups are at least 12,000 ft in thickness. These rocks or (the “Inner Gorge”) are usally steep and narrow with hard deep cuts in the lower tilted layers which raise above sea level.

Our hike will start here, at the north rim of the Grand Canyon. We will go all the way to the bottom of the canyon. But first, a description of this area. The Grand Canyon is one on the most visited and studies sites for geologists on Earth. There are almost forty major sedimentary rock layers exposed in the Grand Canyon. Some of these rocks layers are two hundred million years old or two billion years old. Most of the sediment that makes up the rocks was deposited by oceans and seas, which now, are long gone. We know this because there are many fossils and and other records on large bodies of water in the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is found in the Colorado Plateau. The Colorado Plateau is lifted almost two miles, or four and a fifth kilometers. It started to lift up seventy-five million years ago. This started a mountain-building period of time called the Laramide orogeny. During this period, the Rocky Mountains were created. The main types of rocks found in the Grand Canyon are limestone, siltstone, shale, and sandstone. Many of the layers are made up of limestone. Some examples of these are the Kaibab Limestone, the Redwall Limestone the Temple Butte Limestone, and the Muav

Especially in the area around the Great Basin, since that covers most of the state. This area is surrounded by the mountain ranges and gets all the run off . This water helps with the water shortage throughout the year but at the time it is too much for the area to handle as there is no drainage to the ocean from this area. Groundwater is used throughout the state. Sometimes, the water is pumped out faster than it can be replenished. When this happens, the land surface can be affected. There are many cracks in the ground near Las Vegas, and in some places the land has sunken in over six feet within the last sixty years. An increase in the population of the state is to blame for the increased demand on the groundwater and therefore, the increased damage being done to the landscape as a whole. More people, more water, more land being developed, means less of the natural preservers being available. Also, with these floods the state sees landslides. The rocks of the area show the different ways the terrain was built

Erosion continues to alter the geology of Yosemite Valley, causing many alterations in the landscape. Erosion causes frost wedging, which is an occurrence of when water freezes and expands in the crack of rocks, which wedge them and break them apart. Also, earthquakes are relatively common in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range and tend to also play an important role in the changing landscape of Yosemite Valley. The most considerable form of erosion that is acting on Yosemite right now is rock falls. While most of them are pretty insignificant, large rockfalls prove to be catastrophic and help to sculpt Yosemite

Weathering, geologic processes such as erosion, and climatic shifts allow for this immense desert ecosystem to continually evolve and change which has taken place for millions of years. This geologically wealthy environment is composed of alternating flat-lying layers of soft and hard deposits of mostly sedimentary rocks. Interchanging slopes and cliffs along the landscape helped form these layers of rock which can be seen fully exposed in areas of the mesa. Deposition of this landscape mainly occurred during the Permian, Pennsylvanian, Triassic and Jurassic time periods. The assortment of warm hues of sandstone were produced by varying levels of iron oxide minerals during formation.

Yosemite area was formed by the action of tectonic movement and volcanic activity. It caused the heated magma that was below the pacific and the North American plate to be exposed (Yosemite National Park:The Kingdom of Granite and Glaciers). Further tectonic activity exposed the hidden magma exposing the valley. Yosemite Valley is cut from a granitic rock of the Sierra Nevada Batholith. Sedimentary and metamorphosed rocks, also known as roof pendants, comprise approximately 5% of the park’s landforms. Due to erosion on master joints, valleys, and later canyons are formed. The tendency of crystals in plutonic rocks to exfoliate, which acts on the granitic rock, is responsible for the formation of domes.

Lava flows of rhyolite and basalt have flowed through parts of Yellowstone as recently as 70,000 years ago. These lava flows destroyed everything in their paths while moving slowly at a rate of a few hundred feet per day, flowing months, or sometimes even several years. They are thick and cover as much as 130 square miles. They have nearly filled the Yellowstone Caldera, and spilled beyond the caldera’s border. These lava flows are responsible for forming four of the nine named plateaus in