Geology report

Running Head : Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park

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Yosemite National Park The Yosemite Valley is regarded by its visitors as one of the World 's greatest natural wonders . People were attracted to its crowding beautiful scenery all in one small area . These include the five domes lakes and caverns , cliffs and mountains elevated form 13 ,000 up to 15 ,000 feet (Hittell 1868 . Yosemite National Park is found in eastern parts of Tuolumne , Mariposa and Madera countries located in east central California , United States . Extending across the

Sierra Nevada mountain chain , the park area was measured 3 ,081 square kilometers (Harris 1997 According to Hamilton and Hamilton (2006 , majority of Yosemite is composed of Plutonic igneous rocks which forms underground when magma cools and solidifies slowly forming large crystals . Yosemite Park is composed of plutonic rocks including tonalite , quartz monzonite granodiorite and granite which were loosely treated as granitic rocks Gabbro , quartz diorite and diorite are plutonic rocks which cannot be technically recognized as granitic rocks . Minerals including potassium feldspar , biotite , hornblende , plagioclase feldspar and quartz constitute plutonic rocks . The texture and relative extent of quartz and feldspar largely differs in plutonic rocks . The formation of different bodies of individual plutonic rocks was due to the repetition of magma intrusions into host rocks beneath the Earth 's surface taking 130 million years ago . The plutonic rocks previously inside the Earth are already out at the surface due to deep erosion and elimination of the previously overlying rocks . Within Yosemite , only small amounts of volcanic igneous rocks were found . Beneath the surface , latite lava flows , basaly flows and latite tuff are found while obsidian , ash-flow tuff , rhyolite and pumice were found on the surface . Huber (1987 ) stated that on each side of the batholith of plutonic rocks , metamorphic rocks of two northwest-trending belts were found . He added that metamorphic rocks were formed from the alteration of sedimentary and volcanic rocks due to high pressure , cutting stress and temperature beneath the Earth 's crust . Volcanically originated rocks are called metavolcanic rocks while those with sedimentary origin are called metasedimentary rocks . As explained by Lawson (1921 ) from the Handbook of Yosemite National Park Sierra Nevada belongs to the class of mountains of the Basin Range type The Great Basin is a region being described as without drainage to the sea which lies between Wasatch and Sierra Nevada . The blocks which were found in this region of the Earth 's crust were broken and elongated in a north to south direction . The blocks under the wide valleys of the desert have been reclined and depress while the others was uplifted and composed the linear mountain ranges

Matthes (1930 ) indicated in his work that the characteristic , structure and history of the two mountain systems were known by certain rock formations . The fossil remains preserved in rocks indicate the approximate time of creation . 415 ,000 ,000 years ago covered by the Paleozoic era , accumulation of thickness of thousands of feet on the Pacific Ocean...