Comparison Of Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park

Sequoia- Kings Canyon National Park is located in California and is part of the Sierra Nevada. This park is incredibly well known for the plethora of Sequoia trees, which are some of the tallest trees on the planet. General Sherman Tree, which is the largest tree in the world (when measured by volume), can be found within Sequoia National park (nps). However, this park contains natural beauties other than the Sequoia trees. Taking a look into Sequoia National Park’s geology allows for a deeper understanding of its history. Likewise, a comparison of this park with Yosemite National Park will demonstrate the similarities and differences that may occur within parks along the Sierra Nevada. Lastly, a quick delve into plate tectonics and their relation

Whitney consists of Cretaceous granodiorite, which is an intrusive igneous rock that contains an intermediate silica content (nps). Granodiorite’s intermediate silica content comes from the combination of high silica magma from the low lower crust and low silica magma from the mantle that is above the subduction zone. Majority of Sierra Nevada’s mountains and canyons are created within granitic rock. Taking a closer look, granite, monozonite, and diorite all fall under the category of granitic rocks. These rocks are created when molten rock is cooling far under the earth’s surface. (nps) Because granitic rocks contain so many minerals, they frequently seem to have a spotted pattern to

Yosemite Valley is another deep U-shaped valley that formed because of erosion by a valley glacier. Sometimes, valleys are only eroded by streams and not glaciers, when this occurs the valleys frequently have a V-shape. The smaller valleys are known as hanging valleys, and these valleys are some of the most famous waterfalls in Yosemite. The melting snow and ice are the main supply of water to the waterfalls within Yosemite.

The mantle lithosphere under the Death valley area has expanded and the crust of Death Valley has also extended. Because the North American Plate is expanding, it has created very thin crust and resulted in what we know now as the Basin and Range province. The Basin and Range crust has extended simultaneously as the mantle lithosphere under High Sierra has thinned out.

The western edge of the Basin and Range Province is the eastern edge of the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains. The active plate boundary between the Pacific plates and the North American is a major factor in the topography of both Yosemite and Sequoia- Kings Canyon National Park. The plate boundary is gradually moving toward the Eastern California Sheer Zone from the San Andreas