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Geology of the Grand Teton area

Beautiful photo of these amazing mountains

Photo credit:Jon Sullivan, PD Photo. http://pdphoto.org/PictureDetail.php?mat=pdef&pg=8145

Zoom in in order to get a more detailed view of the parks map

Photo credit: [http://home.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/upload/geology.pdf Grand Teton] by the National Park Service.

While being one of the youngest mountain ranges in North America, the Grand Teton area consists of some of the oldest rocks you will find. The Teton range is estimated to have grown some 9-10 million years ago, and is composed of mostly 2.5 billion year old metamorphic rock that is not only found in the teton range, but buried deep inside Jackson hole.

Mount Moran

Picture of Mount Moran

Photo cred:http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=893779&tn=20

Photo Credit: http://schipperhaven.org/journey/the-journey/page/7/

Looking back on my experience, I found Mount Moran to be the most incredible mountain in the Grand Teton National park. This mountain was formed from a massive block of metamorphic Gneiss, cut by dikes of igneous granite and diabase, caped by sedimentary sandstone, and lined with glaciers. This peak dominates the parks Northern skyline, and is difficult to go unnoticed.

Like the other high peaks in the Teton Range, most of Mount Moran is composed of metamorphic gneiss. This rock formed when two continents collided almost 3 Billion years ago, much like India and Asia are colliding to form the Himalayan Range today. Burial, heat, and pressure are responsible for metamorphosing sediments and volcanic debris into layered gneiss. The white layers are rich in quartz and Feldspar, which alternate with the black layers rich in biotite mica, and hornblende to produce the zebra stripped rock.

Photo credit: http://www.discovergrandteton.org/teton-geology/teton-rocks/

Photo Credit: http://www.grand-teton-scenic-floats.com/snake-river-map/

Another great feature about the Grand Teton National Park is the Snake River, which flows through the park providing world-class fishing, wildlife viewings, and mild rapids. The Snake River was created by a volcanic hotspot, which now lies underneath Yellowstone National Park. Glacial retreat created flooding episodes that occurred during the previous Ice Age and carved out many topographical features including various canyons and ridges along the middle and lower parts of the Snake River. The Native Americans who once lived along this river depended significantly on the salmon that the river supported.

Photo Credit:https://liprippersfishing.wordpress.com/category/snake-river-lower/

Works cited

  • Bentley, Callan. "Mount Moran." Mountain Beltway Site Wide Activity RSS. N.p., 09 Sept. 2010. Web. 30 July 2015.

  • "Glaciation." Web. http://www.nps.gov/grte/learn/nature/glaciers.htm

  • Grand Teton. Washington, D.C.?: National Park Service, 1989. Web. http://www.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/upload/geology12.pdf

  • Rowan, Chris. "The Fault That Made a Mountain Range." Highly Allochthonous. Web. 01 Aug. 2015.

Mount Moran Continued

Photo Credit: Callan Bentley.. https://mountainbeltway.wordpress.com/category/sandstone/

When looking at these mountains you can't help but ask yourself where do they come from? What is responsible for creating something so beautiful? The short answer is a fault. The Teton Range is a normal fault-bounded block of rock that has rotated along a north-south axis, with the west side dropping down and the east side rising up relative to the floor of Jackson Hole. This Information can be backed up by using the Flathead sedimentary sandstone as a marker, which can be found not only at the top of Mount Moran but also buried beneath Jackson Hole at a depth of 20,000ft.

Photo Credit: Chris Rowan.. http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/2010/09/the-fault-that-made-a-mountain-range/

Photo Credit: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/444800900673598750/

If you were able to stand at the summit and examine the rock at your feet, it wouldn't take long to realize that the rock there is different from the surrounding rocks. This rusty tan rock is Sedimentary Sand Stone deposited by a beach some 500 million years ago. As the range began to rise roughly 10 million years ago erosion striped this sandstone from the other high peaks, leaving this odd patch behind.

Photo Credit: http://www.inetours.com/Photographs/Grand-Teton-NP.html

All throughout the winter snow is covering Grand Teton National park, on average 450 inches of snow falls on the Teton rage each year. However as summer approaches the only snow and ice that are present are in the form of glaciers. In general glaciers are known for their ability to take rocky debris from higher to lower elevations. This material can be carried on the surface, inside them or even frozen to the bottom. Throughout history glaciers have had a great impact on this area. Starting over two million years ago, ice flowed across this valley many times only to melt and begin again. At one point ice over 3,000ft thick flowed south from Yellowstone and across the valley floor burying the town of Jackson with 1,500 feet of ice. Unfortunately due to climate change these glaciers are quickly receding, so enjoy them before their gone completely.

Photo Credit:http://www.mountainproject.com/v/106083210

Photo Credit: http://www.discovergrandteton.org/teton-geology/geologic-timeline/

Upon examination of the mountain you will find it hard to miss the 200ft wide vertical black dike that transects the face. This igneous dike is made up of diabase, nearly a billion years ago when iron rich magma squeezed into cracks and cooled. Today the dike protrudes so sharply from the face of the mountain because diabase resists erosion more then the surrounding gneiss.

When looking closely at the mountain you will see light colored strips slicing across the gneiss, which are veins or dikes of granite. As these ancient continents collided part of the crust melted and magma squeezed into cracks crystalizing around two and a half billion years ago. The picture on the right shows a vivid image of these veins.

Photo Credit: http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfjps/1300/igneous_images.html

Photo Credit: http://schipperhaven.org/journey/the-journey/page/7/

Photo Credit: Grand Teton National Park animation video on youtube..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXfRbJFd0g

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