Geology Underfoot in Yellowstone Country

About this book

Although it's also known for for wolves, bison, and stunning scenery, Yellowstone National Park was established as the world's first national park in 1872 largely because of its geological wonders. In Geology Underfoot in Yellowstone Country author and geologist Marc Hendrix takes you to over twenty sites in the park and surrounding region that illustrate the deep-time story of Yellowstone Country, from its early existence as a seafloor hundreds of millions of years ago to an earthquake swarm in 2008 that caused some folks to wonder if the Yellowstone Volcano was going to blow its top again.

Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Vignettes

1. The Missing Record of Deep Time – The Great Unconformity in Shoshone River Canyon
2. Invasion of the Trilobites – Cambrian Sea Life Flourishes near Cody
3. Limy Record of Shallow Seas – Mississippian Limestone at Pebble Creek Campground
4. The Cretaceous Interior Seaway – Marine Deposits in Gardner River Canyon
5. Mountains Reduced to Rubble – Sphinx Mountain and The Helmet
6. Basement Rock on the Rise – Uplift of Rattlesnake and Cedar Mountains
7. Strange Brew – The Unusual Volcanic Rocks near Sylvan Pass
8. Debris Flow Deposits – Coarse Conglomerate between Cody and East Entrance
9. Fossilized Forests – Petrified Wood in Tom Miner Basin
10. From Playa Lakes to Rushing Rivers – Landscape Changes Recorded at Hepburn's Mesa
11. Arrival of the Hot Spot – The First Caldera-Forming Eruption in Yellowstone
12. The Yellowstone Volcano Erupts Again! – Tuff Smothers the Region and a Caldera Forms
13. The Youngest Eruptions – Rhyolite Flows in the Firehole River Drainage
14. Ice Sculptures along the Beartooth Highway – Glaciers Carve Yellowstone's Landscapes
15. Rivers of Dirty Ice – Glacial Deposits in Northern Yellowstone
16. Melting Ice and Sliding Shale – Floods and Earthflows near Gardiner
17. Terraced Travertines – Mammoth's Famous Hot Springs
18. Siliceous Sinter – Old Faithful and Upper Geyser Basin
19. Hydrothermal Explosions – Norris Geyser Basin and Yellowstone Lake's North Shore
20. The Night the Ground Shook – The 1959 Hebgen Lake Earthquake

Epilogue: The Certainty of Change in Yellowstone
Glossary
Sources of More Information
GPS Coordinates for Stop Locations
Index

Customer Reviews