GEOLOGY IN THE NATIONAL PARKS

The Science Behind the Scenery

- STEVE VOYNICK

The national parks and monuments of the United States have been called the world’s most magnificent rock collection for good reason. Of the National Park Service’s 189 national parks and monuments, most have geologic features that are described either as “significant” or “spectacular.”

Each year, these remarkable landforms—deep gorges, sheer cliffs, steaming hot springs and geysers, massive sand dunes, volcanic cones and flows, natural bridges, glaciers, stalactite-decorated caves, and colorful stone spires—attract hundreds of millions of visitors. And for those interested in geology, the time to visit the national parks and monuments has never been better, thanks to updated and upgraded geologic explanations.

Historically, geology had long taken a backseat to the parks’ more obvious attractions of scenery and wildlife. But in the 1950s and 1960s, growing numbers of visitors began showing interest in the earth sciences, especially geology. In the early 1990s, the National Park Service began rethinking the role of geology as an attraction. Since then, it has placed greater emphasis on geologic education—in other words, on the science behind the scenery.

AWE-INSPIRING GEOLOGY

Today’s visitors still marvel at the landforms for which the national parks and monuments are famous. But now, more detailed exhibits, improved interpretive signage, and focused ranger programs and lectures make it easier for visitors to learn about the geologic forces that created these remarkable landforms.

The landforms in the national parks and monuments were created by five basic geologic processes: sandstone erosion, volcanics, groundwater dissolution and redeposition, glaciation, and mountain building and faulting.