NATIONAL PARKS
National Parks
Introduction
Acadia National Park
The Acadia National Park is federal parkland located in New England, United States. This national park is made up of mountains, lakes, woodlands, ocean shoreline and so forth. It also includes a small island located to the southwest of Mount Desert Island, and parts of Baker Island, also nearby. This makes up much of the Isle au Haut. A part of the Schoodic Peninsula situated on the mainland of Maine is also included in this park. The national park is the first to be established in the East of the Mississippi River and in fact, it is the only national park in New England. The Acadia National Park is said to be have been in existence for millions of year, and the rocks have persisted even with the enormous erosion that takes place in the region. Continued geologic processes and activities such as the weathering of granite ridges have taken place in the Acadia National Park over the years. Subsequently, this has resulted in the diverse landscape of the park. The park is marked by a variety of species and specifically, one can find up to 40 different species of mammalian wildlife in the park (New World Encyclopedia, 2015). Among these are red and gray squirrels, white tailed deer, beaver, bobcats, porcupine, chipmunks, coyote, muskrats, black bears, foxes, and so forth. Acadia’s shores are made up of numerous beaches. The energy waves that create the beaches determine the size of the material that makes up the beach. This implies that stronger wave action would carry larger materials. As one would expect, the park with its avalanche of amenities and infrastructures attracts more than 2 million visitors to the region annually (New World Encyclopedia, 2015).
The Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is one of the oldest features in the world. The geographical feature was formally thought to be 6 million years old, but recent research by scientists uncovered the fact that it is up to 70 million years old. However, the age of the Canyon is still controversial, and more research are still needed to validate it. Various features make the Grand Canyon unique. One such feature is the exhibit known as the Trail of Time. The Canyon offers a wonderful stratigraphic record as it reveals sedimentary rocks that were formed hundreds of millions of years ago (Achenbach, 2012). Among the interesting geographical features in the Canyon is the Colorado River, which flows through the heart of the Canyon (NPS, 2016a).
Being an ancient feature, no one actually knows for sure how this Canyon was formed, but no doubts a number of processes came together to create the awesome feature. Erosion due to water, ice and wind played wonderful roles in the formation of the Canyon as well as the course of the Colorado River. There is also volcanism, continental drift and slight variations in the earth's orbit which result to seasonality and climates contributed immensely in the formation of the Canyon. The Grand Canyon is composed primarily of sedimentary rocks formed at the bottom of the ocean or in shallow coastal plains. The current top of the Canyon is the Kaibab Limestone, and this is made up primarily of sandy limestone. The roots of the ancient mountain range situated at the bottom of the Canyon are estimated to be formed around 1.7 billion years ago (Ribokas, 2009)
Mt. Rainier National Park
The Mount Rainier National Park covers about 236,381.49 acres of land, and it is found on the west-side of the Cascade Range which is situated about 100 kilometer or 50 miles to the southeast of Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area. The national park is almost covered with wilderness about 97 percent, and 3 percent of the park is comprised of National Historic Landmark District (NPS, 2016b). According to Mullineaux (1974), one of the postglacial deposits in the Mount Rainier National Park is the 22 layer tephra – volcanic ash and coarser airfall pyroclastic debris. The eruptions result to a thin, widespread layer of volcanic airfall debris known as tephra which covers a greater part of the park in the western part of Washington.
The Mount Rainier National Park is unique for its complex ecosystem with 58 percent forested and 23 percent subalpine park and the remainder alpine and also it is very famous for numerous species. In fact, up to 964 vascular plants which include hundreds of species of wildflowers, 182 birds, 11 amphibians, 65 mammals, 4 reptiles and 12 native fishes are available in the park. Moreover, the park has been the home of species like gray wolf, grizzly bear, and Canada lynx which no longer exist in the park. Climatic change is a very crucial factor that determines the distribution of species. In the Mount Rainer, climatic change is responsible for altering the landscape of the park. Hence, the park forms an important destination for research by students and professionals alike on climatic change (NPS, 2016b).
Yellowstone National Park
The geology of the Yellowstone National Park is an interesting one. This is the world’s first national park, established in 1872 in parts of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. The park is named Yellowstone because it is peculiar for Yellowstone Falls and moreover it is also characterized by geysers and hot springs ("Yellowstone National Park", 2009).
The physical landscape of the Yellowstone National is due to the interplay of various geological forces. In this park, foreground, mid-ground and background forces including glacial erratic, ground moraines and Cutoff Mountain appear near the Junction Butte. Interestingly, the ecosystem of the park is characterized by the spontaneous occurrence of lots of geologic processes, and these processes occur in different proportions. The canyons and mountains are highly dynamic and variable. The geologic processes that contribute in creating the park’s physical landscape include some of the Earth’s most active volcanic, hydrothermal and earthquake systems. As a matter of fact, the park became the world’s first national park due to the remarkable and dramatic hot springs, geysers, mudpots and steam vents and characterizes it (NPS, 2016c).
A solid understanding of the earth crust and structure is necessary to understand the interplay of forces that formed this park. As a matter of fact, the volcanic forces that formed the National Park are due to plate movement coupled with up-welling of molten rock. Moreover, observatory studies conducted by the University of Utah’s seismograph stations detected over 3200 earth quakes in the park in 2010 which is the largest count since 1985. This park is of great geologic significance because one of the largest volcanic eruptions known to have occurred on earth and which created one of the largest known calderas occurred here and so forth (NPS, 2016c).
Grand Circle National Parks
The Grand Circle is a national park that covers a distance of about 1000 miles and requires at least seven days to cover its route. The park comprises some remarkable geologic vistas and historic sites such as the Four Corners, Canyon de Chelly, the Petrified Forest, Monument Valley, Rainbow Bridge National Monument, Utah’s Canyonlands, Meteorite Crater, Mesa Verde and so forth. The spread of the park is from the southwestern Colorado to the northwestern New Mexico westward to the north of Arizona up to the southern Utah. Some of the most amazing and thrilling geologic features include bizarre plants and animals, and stunning prehistoric ruins and sites characterize this park (Sharp, 2016).
According to Sharp (2016), the park was formed over 600 million years ago, and it is basically situated on the Colorado Plateau. The influential forces responsible for the formation of the park are wind and water. These two forces together with the sheer age of the exposed rock created a bizarre land of natural arches, balanced rocks, bridges and basaltic dikes of awesome beauty. Furthermore, the diversity of the park rubs off on the plants and animals that can be found in the region. As would be expected of such a great geologic age, fossil record of the park shows ancient single cell organisms as well as frightened forests and animals from the dinosaurs to the Ice Age. Due to the diversity of the park’s landscape, various kind of animal species are able to survive and thrive here. Some of these species include pronghorn, elk, Colorado chipmunks, black-chinned hummers, golden eagles, rattlesnakes, collared lizards, and pond animals. Furthermore, up to 80 species of fish and 340 species of plants have this park as their habitat (Sharp, 2016).
Yosemite National Park
The Yosemite National Park was constructed in 1890. It is located in east central California in the Sierra Nevada range. The park is also characterized by some unique scenery as well as the Yosemite Valley, Vernal and Nevada Falls, Bridalveil Fall, Half Dome, Hetch Hetchy and the Mariposa Grove sequoia trees and marvelous variety of other features. The Sierra Nevada Range and the Yosemite Valley are believed to have been created by the rise in the earth crust millions of years ago. The U-shaped valley was formed during the ice age by the widening and deepening of the valley through glacier action ("Yosemite National Park", 2009). The park is essentially a glaciated landscape, and the basis of the preservation of the park is basically the scenery that results from the interplay of the glaciers and the underlying rocks. The Yosemite is composed primarily of plutonic igneous rocks which form deep underground when molten rock cools and solidifies very slowly and therefore giving room for the formation of crystals. Examples of the plutonic rocks, known as granite rocks, found in the Yosemite include granite, granodiorite, tonalite, quartz monzodiorite and quartz monzonite (NPS, 2016d).
Besides igneous rocks, the park is also characterized by metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. However, the temperature, pressure and shearing stress which results from the rock being buried in the changed earth’s crust or metamorphoses rock. The park is also characterized by metamorphic and sedimentary rocks of volcanic origins known as metavolcanic rocks and metasedimentary rocks respectively. The Yosemite is also relevant for some geologic significance including the Ahwiyah Point rock fall and lots more (NPS, 2016d).
Conclusion
National parks hold a lot of geologic virtues. The national parks discussed including Acadia, Grand Canyon, Mt. Rainier, Yellowstone, Grand Circle and Yosemite National Park are all of the great geologic relevance as they offer insight on some prehistoric and geologic features and lends ideas on the origin and nature of the earth.
References
Achenbach, J. (2012). Grand Canyon 70 million years old, formed during era of dinosaurs, new study claims. Washington Post. Retrieved 19 April 2016, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/grand-canyon-70-million-years-old-formed-during-era-of-dinosaurs-new-study-claims/2012/11/29/5788b9d0-3a45-11e2-b01f-5f55b193f58f_story.html
Mullineaux, D. (2012). . Pumice and Other Proclastic Deposits in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington. Washington, D.C: United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved from http://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/1326/report.pdf
National Park Service (NPS), (2016a). A Study of Seeps and Springs - Grand Canyon National Park (U.S. National Park Service). Nps.gov. Retrieved 19 April 2016, from https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/nature/seepspringstudy.htm
National Park Service (NPS), (2016b). Geology - Yellowstone National Park. Nps.gov. Retrieved 19 April 2016, from https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/geology.htm
National Park Service (NPS), (2016c). Geology - Mount Rainer. Nps.gov. Retrieved 19 April 2016, from https://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/nature/geology.htm
National Park Service (NPS). (2016d). Geology - Yosemite National Park. Nps.gov. Retrieved 19 April 2016, from https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/nature/geology.htm
New World Encyclopedia,. (2015). Acadia National Park. Newworldencyclopedia.org. Retrieved 19 April 2016, from http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Acadia_National_Park
Ribokas, B. (2012). The Geology of the Grand Canyon. Bobspixels.com. Retrieved 19 April 2016, from http://www.bobspixels.com/kaibab.org/geology/gc_geol.htm
Sharp, J. (2016). The Grand Circle and the Colorado Plateau. Desertusa.com. Retrieved 19 April 2016, from http://www.desertusa.com/grand-circle.html
Yellowstone National Park. (2009). In Microsoft Encarta 2009 Encyclopedia.
Yosemite National Park. (2009). In Microsoft Encarta 2009 Encyclopedia.
