Torin Stone

12/3/2014
Mr. Ramsey
Geology, A4
Geology of Yellowstone
Yellowstone National Park consists of 2,221,766 acres on the northwestern most corner of
Wyoming, as well as minor portions overlapping the border into both Montana and Idaho. The park is
largely forested, with high volcanic plateaus which, through means such as glaciation and stream flow,
have been eroded over numerous millenniums. This region is bordered on all sides save west by
mountains. The park has an average elevation of 8000 feet, with a maximum elevation of 11,538 feet in
the east at the summit of Eagle Peak while the minimum elevation is 5282 feet in the north, where the
Gardner River drains from the park.

Evolution of Stratigraphy and Rocks:

Pre-Cambrian:
Pre-Cambrian rocks which, according to radiometric dating, are approximately 2.7 billion years
old, constitute the oldest portions of the park. Unfortunately however, they are so warped and crumpled
as a result of heat pressure that their initial characteristics are indeterminate. These rocks formed out of
older metamorphic rocks which formed the foundation of the continent, commonly referred to as
basement rocks. Gneiss and schist are the most common metamorphic rocks within Yellowstone.
Originally, the gneiss was likely granite, and the schist was likely shale or sandstone. Outcrops of these
varieties of rocks occur largely in the northern portion of the park as the core of certain mountain
ranges, but they also exist underneath younger rocks in other areas of the park.
During the period of 2.1 billion years between the formation of the before mentioned
metamorphic rocks to the Cambrian period there is essentially no evidence addressing what occurred.
That said, it would seem reasonable to assume that the region was squeezed, uplifting mountains, and

then substantially eroded, consequentially resulting in a flat, nearly featureless plain.

Cambrian:
From Cambrian period to the late Cretaceous period, this plain was repeatedly flooded by a
shallow sea from the west. This flooding resulted in the substantial horizontal deposition of various
sediments including sand, silt, clay and limy mud, amongst others, over the sea floor, the tangent
beaches and the broad flood plains. These sediments have since compacted into layers of shales,
limestones, and sandstones and have been divided into at least 25 particular formations.
In addition to the deposit of sediment, the sea brought with it the first life to occupy
Yellowstone. The varying environments which emerged as a result of the seas occupation, such as
ocean, beach, lagoon, etc. resulted in a comparable variety of life. The first life, from around 550
million years ago, was small hard shelled animals which lived on the shallow sea floor. Each period
was marked with a dominant life form, starting with trilobites. This escalated, in terms of both
environment and life forms, from trilobites, to fish which were still in the sea, to reptiles which lived in
swamps and lagoons, to dinosaurs which lived in swamps and land, and finally to mammals who
preferred the same environments as dinosaurs.

Paleocene:
As the Mesozoic era closed, the earths crust was subjected to several intense disturbances,
resulting in the first incidence of mountain building, or orogeny, within Yellowstone. This substantial
upheaval took place around 75 million years ago, but the cause and nature of the forces which resulted
in such an event are unknown. Developing theories concerning the spreading of the sea floor and
continental drift may however, illuminate the solution to the of the questions surrounding this event.
As time progressed and mountain building pressure increased, it reached magnitudes so great
that the folds could neither stretch nor bend any further, consequently resulting in the rock layers

breaking being shoved over one another, creating a reverse fault. These newly rising mountains were
then bombarded by the ever present forces of erosion. This caused massive amounts of the highland
rock to be stripped and then deposited in streams, which carried to the low lying basins. The mountains
continued to rise, and the basins continued to sink, ultimately resulting in deposits of sediment in these
basins as thick as 8000 feet.

Eocene: Volcanic Activity

By early Eocene the crustal disturbances which created the mountains and basins had subsided,
however it had effects outside of orogeny. Specifically, it resulted in extreme volcanic activity deep
within the earth in various places including Yellowstone. This voluminous collection of magma
emerged due to at least one of three reasons: the rocks in that area contain an abnormally high quantity
of radioactive elements which, as they decay, heat the surrounding materials; hotter materials
progressed upward from deeper levels of the earth; or alternate squeezing and relaxing of mountain
building forces creates massive pressure, thereby reducing the melting point for the rocks. Because
magma is less dense than the surrounding rock, it will gradually rise until reaching the surface, either
flowing out as lava, or by emerging explosively as rock fragments, pumice and ash.
Between 55 and 50 million years ago several large volcanoes erupted within and near the
boundaries of Yellowstone National Park. In fact one of earths greatest eruptions took place which
resulted in the collapse of the central portion of the park, forming a caldera and covering the area in
large amounts of Absaroka. Furthermore, this activity continues to power thermal features including
geysers, hot springs fumaroles, and mud spots.
Geysers come about due to ground water contacting rocks heated by magma. This water is then
itself heated, consequently causing it to rise through a series of fissures and cracks. Once the pressure
of this system reaches appropriately high degrees, some water erupts out of the ground as steam in
order to relieve this pressure. A hot spring is basically the same thing, except that they let off enough

heat by boiling or evaporation that they fail to erupt as geysers do. Fumaroles occur when there is not
enough water to form a geyser, so it simply is heated into a relatively continuous flow of steam. Finally,
mud spots occur when rising steam dissolves surrounding rocks and clay, forming often acidic mud.

Oligocene:
From the Oligocene to the Miocene, there is effectively no evidence concerning geologic
activity. There was some erosion, but it was very minimal, and there is a possibility of volcanic activity
having occurred in the park. This 25 million year period is consequently referred to as a quiet period.

Pliocene:
Much of the current Yellowstone features came about around 10 million years ago during
Pliocene time. During this time, the entire region was uplifted to a point several thousand feet greater
than its prior elevation, although the cause for this is unknown. Substantial tensional forces were then
acting on Yellowstone, resulting in normal faults which created cliffs, often as high as several thousand
feet. Due to previous fault blocks however, in combination with rising ground surface the rate of
erosion became profound. Streams and rivers became substantially more aggressive, carving away the
rock and carrying large amounts of debris out of the park. The extent of this was so great that only
minor amounts of the Absaroka rocks which previously coated the park and its surroundings remain.