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Yellowstone National Park

Alexis Spurlock

Precambrian Era

Precambrian

Era

The oldest rocks in Yellowstone National Park date all the way back to the Precambrian Era, about 2.7 billion years ago. These depositions are visible in the Northern area of the park.

Gneiss

Gneiss, an example of metamorphic rock, was one of the first rocks to be deposited in this national park. It is thought it was originally granite, but due to the heat and pressure the structure of the rock was transformed into gneiss, thus deeming it a metamorphic rock.

Gneiss

Schist

This rock, another example of a metamorphic rock, also makes up the oldest rocks in Yellowstone National Park. Schist was thought to have originally been shale or sandstone.

Schist

Mesozoic Era

Mesozoic Era

During the Paleozoic and Mesozoic Eras, the land that Yellowstone lies on was overtaken by water at times and underwent many geological changes.

Deposition

Due to the flooding in the Yellowstone area during the Mesozoic and Paleozoic eras, sediments such as sand, silt, clay, and mud were deposited. This led to the creation of sedimentary rocks within the park. There are about 25 formations of this rock throughout Yellowstone. These sedimentary rocks are exposed along the Snake River.

Deposition

Folding and Faulting

The geological changes that ocurred during the Mesozoic Era took place towards the close of that time period. At this time, the earth had undergo a lot of geoloical changes due to what scientist theorize is seafloor spreading and continental drift. The Mezoic era was charactized mostly by faulting and folding. Upfolds and reverse faults were both seen from this occurance. This mainly disturbed the sedimentary rocks that had been previously deposited.

Cenozoic Era

Cenozoic

Era

During the current era, Cenozoic, Yellowstone National park has experienced many different geological occurances. From volcanic activity to glaciers, the park changes have occured the most in this time period.

Uplift and Block Faulting

During the beginning of the Cenozoic Era, the faulting continuted on. Along one of the biggest faults in the park, the Precambrian gneiss and schist has been pushed over Cenozoic rocks.

Uplift and Block Faulting

Caldera

The infamous Yellowstone Caldera was formed during the Cenozoic era. Due to the magma chamber creating arches within the rocks, forming a ring. Magma then pushed up to the surface and created pyroclastic and lava flows as well as ash fall. Two other parks with volcanic activity are Lassen Volcanic Park, which features a dormant, cascade Volcano, and Crater Lake National Park, which is very similar to Yellowstone in which it houses a Caldera as well. All three parks have examples of volcanic rock such as rhyolite. They each have some variations as well.

Glaciation

During the past 2.6 million years, periods of glaciation have been present in Yellowstone. Glaciers are formed when snow falls more than it melts for a long period of time. The snow then compacts into ice. Many different glaciers have been discovered at Yellowstone, however Pinedale has been the most studied. It is the most recent glacier at the park and during it's peak it covered about the whole park and was 4,000 feet thick.

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