Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are the home
of awe-inspiring geological features and resources.
The parks contain a significant portion of America's
longest mountain range, the Sierra Nevada. Included
in the Parks' mountainous landscape is the tallest
mountain in the contiguous United States, Mt.
Whitney, which rises to 14,491 feet above sea level.
Eleven additional peaks taller than 14,000 feet are
also found along the parks' eastern boundaries at the
crest of the Sierra Nevada. In Kings Canyon National
Park, prominent ridges extend westward from the crest
creating the Goddard and Monarch divides with
mountains taller than 13,000 feet. In Sequoia
National Park, a second prominent ridge of mountains,
The Great Western Divide parallels the Sierran crest.
It is the mountains of the Great Western Divide that
greet visitors in Mineral King and that can be seen
from Moro Rock and the Giant Forest area. Peaks in
the Great Western Divide climb to more than 12,000
feet.
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Moraine Lake is an example of the beautiful scenery found in the parks backcountry. This lake and
the mountain peak behind it formed due to the activity of glaciers. Photo by Greg Stock.
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Between these mighty mountains lie deep,
spectacular canyons. Most significant is Kings
Canyon. In the parks, Kings Canyon is a wide glacial
valley featuring spectacular tall cliffs, a lovely
meandering river, green vibrant meadows and beautiful
waterfalls. A few miles outside the parks, Kings
Canyon deepens and steepens becoming arguably the
deepest canyon in North America for short distance.
The confluence of the South Fork and Middle forks of
the Kings River lies at 2,260 feet, while towering
above the rivers on the north side of the canyon is
Spanish Peak, which is 10,051 feet tall. The south
side of this canyon above the confluence is
significantly lower. Dozens of other canyons also
await visitors to the two parks. This includes scenic
Tokopah Valley above Lodgepole, Deep Canyon on the
Marble Fork of the Kaweah River and deep in the
parks' remote backcountry, Kern Canyon, which is more
than 5,000 feet deep for 30 miles. The parks are
headwaters for the Kaweah River, the Kern River, two
forks of the Kings River and small areas of the San
Joaquin and Tule river watersheds.
Most of the mountains and canyons in the Sierra
Nevada are formed in granitic rocks. These rocks,
such as granite, diorite and monzonite, formed when
molten rock cooled far beneath the surface of the
earth. The molten rock was a by-product of a geologic
process known as subduction. Powerful forces in the
earth forced the landmass under the waters of the
Pacific Ocean beneath and below an advancing North
American Continent. Super-hot water driven from the
subjecting ocean floor migrated upward and melted
rock as it went. This process took place during the
Cretaceous Period 100 million years ago. Grantic
rocks have speckled salt and pepper appearance
because they contain various minerals including
quartz, feldspars and micas.
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Vallhalla
or the Angel Wings are prominent cliffs that
rise above the headwaters of the Middle Fork
of the Kaweah River. This scene is on the
High Sierra Trail. Photo by Greg Stock
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While geologists debate the details, it is
clear that the Sierra Nevada is a young mountain
range, probably not more than 10 million years old.
Incredible forces in the earth, probably associated
with the development of the Great Basin, forced the
mountains to grow and climb toward the sky. During
the 10 million years at least four periods of glacial
advance have coated the mountains in a thick mantle
of ice. Glaciers form and develop during long periods
of cool and wet weather. Today, a few small glaciers
remain in the parks. They are the southern-most
glaciers in North America. Glaciers move through the
mountains like slow-motion rivers carving deep
valleys and craggy peaks. The extensive history of
glaciation within the range and the erosion resistant
nature of the granitic rocks that make up most of the
Sierra Nevada have together created a spectacular
landscape of hanging valleys, towering waterfalls,
craggy peaks, alpine lakes and gigantic glacial
canyons.
The Sierra Nevada is still growing today. In fits and
leaps the mountains gain height during earthquakes on
the east side of the range near Bishop and Lone Pine.
Rain and winter snows combined with the steep
character of the landscape create an environment that
includes massive movements of sediment and rapid
erosion. The mountains are being removed by erosion
almost as quickly as they grow. This erosion has
created and deposited sediments thousands of feet
thick on the floor of the San Joaquin and Sacramento
Valleys.
Small sections of the park contain areas of
metamorphic (or changed) rocks. These rocks are the
remnants of volcanic islands that were added to North
America before the Sierra Nevada uplift. They include
metamorphosed volcanic rocks, schist, quartzite,
phyllite, and marble.
Surprisingly, the marble rocks in the parks contain
caves. Marble is metamorphosed limestone and Sequoia
and Kings Canyon contain more than 200 marble caves.
Caves only form under special conditions including
the right kind of rock, fractures or spaces in the
rock and enough water to erode underground rooms and
passages. The caves of the two parks include the
longest cave in California, Lilburn Cave, with nearly
17 miles of surveyed passage. Lilburn is a very
complex maze cave with beautiful blue- and
white-banded marble. Nearby mines attest to the
unusual geology in the Lilburn area and the cave has
displays of rare and colorful minerals including
green malachite and blue azurite. Beautiful Crystal
Cave features a trail and lights for park visitors.
This commercialized cave has seen millions of
visitors since it first opened to the public in 1941.
It has beautifully banded marble, many cave
formations, large rooms, and the creative Spider Web
Gate. Soldier's Cave has been a favorite with
California cave explorers since its discovery in
1949. Three rope drops must be negotiated to reach
the cave's lowest and most extensive level. Several
outstanding formation areas exist, one of which has
high quality "dog-tooth spar" crystals.
This cave has suffered due to inadvertent damage by
cave explorers. People have accidentally broken cave
formations and muddied extensive areas of white
flowstone. Soldiers Cave was the site of a
restoration and cleaning project between 1992 and
1997.
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