Rocky Mountain NP: Raising the Roof of the Rockies (Contents)

Raising the Roof of the Rockies

A Geologic History of the Mountains and of the Ice Age in Rocky Mountain National Park

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FRONT COVER (upper)—The flat top of Longs Peak, a remnant of the rolling upland, uplifted to 14,255 feet by movement along faults 5-7 million years ago. (George F. Wagner)

(lower)—East face of Longs Peak, a cirque headwall excavated in the uplifted mountain by successive glaciers during the last 2 million years. The face is of granite, 1,450 million years old. (Gerald M. Richmond)

Preface


Geologic Times			Years Ago

PART I
PRECAMBRIAN			1,800,000,000	THE ANCIENT FOUNDATIONS
			1,720,000,000
				GRANITE INVASIONS
			1,450,000,000
				A GREAT HIATUS
		(570)
PALEOZOIC	Cambrian		530,000,000
		(500)
	Ordovician
		(430)
	Silurian
		(395)		THE ERA OF SHIFTING SEAS
	Devonian
		(345)
	Mississippian
		(320)
	Pennsylvanian		300,000,000
		(280)		THE ANCESTRAL ROCKIES
	Permian		240,000,000
		(225)		THE MARCH OF DUNES
MESOZOIC	Triassic
		(190)	190,000,000
	Jurassic			DRAGONS OF THE FLOOD PLAINS
		(136)
	Cretaceous		100,000,000
				THE LAST SEAS
			75,000,000
				THE ROCKIES BEGIN TO RISE
		(65)	65,000,000
TERTIARY	Paleocene			AND RISE SOME MORE
		(54)	54,000,000
				EROSION GAINS CONTROL
	Eocene		40,000,000
		(38)		THE MOUNTAINS RISE AGAIN
			37,000,000
	Oligocene			NECK DEEP IN VOLCANIC ASH
			28,000,000
				SPECIMEN MOUNTAIN AND THE LULU MOUNTAIN VOLCANO
		(26)	26,000,000
				WAIST DEEP IN VOLCANIC SAND & SILT
			18,000,000
	Miocene			UPLIFTED, EXHUMED, & AWASH IN THEIR OWN DEBRIS
				THE FLAT-TOPPED UPLANDS
		(5-7)	5-7,000,000
	Pliocene			UPS AND DOWNS
				DEEP EROSION
PART II
		(2)	2,000,000	THE ICE AGE COMETH
QUATERNARY				What is a glacier? What a glacier does
				EARLY GLACIAL AND INTERGLACIAL TIMES
	Pleistocene		600,000
				THE INTERMEDIATE GLACIERS
			87,000
			70,000
				A TIME IN QUESTION
			27,000
				THE LAST GLACIATION
				ABOVE AND BEYOND THE ICE
			13,000	AND SUDDEN DEATH
				ATTEMPTS AT REVIVAL
			7,500
				A WARM DRY TIME
	Holocene		3,800
				GLACIERS REBORN
			100
				THE GLACIERS TODAY
			0
				AND TOMORROW?

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Selected Additional Reading

Predecessors to this Story
Story of the Mountains
Story of the Ice Age

FRONTISPIECE: Trail Ridge, a remnant of the rolling upland the forms the roof of the Rockies in Rocky Mountain National Park. Originally formed 5 to 7 million years ago, it has survived despite being broken by faults, uplifted several thousand feet, cut by great canyons, and subjected to the vicissitudes of the Ice Age. (Gerald M. Richmond)

Published by the
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATURE ASSOCIATION, INCORPORATED

in cooperation with the
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE,
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

The Rocky Mountain Nature Association, Inc., is a nonprofit organization cooperating with the National Park Service in the interpretation and management of Rocky Mountain National Park.

COPYRIGHT, ©1974, ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATURE ASSOCIATION, INC.
Library of Congress Catalog No. 73-93275

Glaciated canyon east of Longs Peak. The upper part is a spectacular example of glacial sculpture and scour. The large arcuate ridges in the lower part are end moraines deposited by the glaciers.

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Last Updated: 8-May-2007