National Park on EARTH Magazine

Getting There And Getting Around Rocky Mountain National Park

Fri, 31 Aug 2018 19:56:45 -0400

Each summer, the opening of Trail Ridge Road must wait until road crews manage to remove the snow drifts that blanketed the road during the previous winter. Credit: Terri Cook and Lon Abbott.

Denver (DEN) is the best arrival point for exploring Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), and a car is the most convenient way to see Trail Ridge Road and the park’s many other attractions. If you fly in, you can rent a vehicle at the airport and drive to Estes Park, the eastern gateway town, which is roughly 1.5 hours from the airport, or to Grand Lake at the west end of Trail Ridge, about a three-hour drive.

Travels in Geology: Roof of the Rockies: Trail Ridge Road

Fri, 31 Aug 2018 15:15:42 -0400

Driving Trail Ridge Road, North America's highest continuously paved highway, immerses you in the grandeur of the Rockies. Credit: Terri Cook and Lon Abbott.

In mid-April each year, two Colorado snow-clearing crews embark upon an assignment with a deceptively simple goal: to traverse the 77-kilometer stretch of road between them and meet at the middle. Armed with front-end loaders, graders and rotary plows, one team starts clearing snow on U.S. 34 in the town of Estes Park, Colo., while the other begins removing it from the same road in Grand Lake, Colo. Working in the lulls between fierce spring storms packing gale-force winds that frequently undo their efforts, the teams arduously ascend nearly 1,200 meters, clearing 3- to 6-meter-high snowdrifts in their path. When, after five to seven weeks, the crews finally come face to face near the crest of the Rockies, their success is heralded because it means that Trail Ridge Road, North America’s highest continuously paved route, is once again open for the summer.

Down to Earth With: National Park Service senior paleontologist Vincent Santucci

Tue, 10 Apr 2018 09:56:08 -0400

Vincent Santucci is the senior paleontologist and paleontology program coordinator at the National Park Service. Credit: NPS photo.

When Vincent Santucci was hired in 1985 to work as a seasonal ranger in South Dakota’s Badlands National Park, he assumed the most formative part of the experience would be sharing his unbridled enthusiasm for fossils with park visitors. But as Santucci explored the colorful badlands on his days off, he sometimes stumbled across people who were illegally collecting fossils. Following the first of these encounters, Santucci raced back to headquarters to report the illicit activity with the expectation that the chief ranger would rush out and arrest the perpetrator. Much to Santucci’s surprise, the ranger instead put a hand on his shoulder and drawled, “You ain’t from around here, are you, boy?” After several repeat episodes, Santucci learned that when rangers had previously caught illegal collectors and brought them before the local magistrate, the judge had refused to prosecute, citing a lack of fencing or signage that clearly informed the fossil hunters they’d been on federal land.

Geologic Column: Travels with Claudia: Rediscovering America

Tue, 16 Jan 2018 21:03:31 -0500

Fred's road bike traveled across the U.S. (including to the Badlands) with him and Claudia last summer. Credit: Claudia Schwab.

Claudia and I have been traveling together since we got married in February 1965. That summer and the following summer, she graciously agreed to be my assistant during summer fieldwork seasons in the Tetons and the Wyoming Overthrust Belt near Jackson Hole. By 1967, she resigned as my field assistant, but, thankfully, held on to her position as wife, traveling partner, photographer and biographer. Recently, she talked me into renewing our ties with the broader U.S. beyond our doorstep, so after spending the last dozen Julys in France watching the Tour de France, we spent the summer of 2017 rediscovering America, including our original fieldwork locales.

Travels in Geology: Las Vegas: The scenery beyond the slots

Tue, 16 Jan 2018 20:20:31 -0500

Mega-resorts along the Las Vegas Strip make a convenient base for exploring the area's spectacular scenery. Credit: Terri Cook and Lon Abbott.

Known for its dazzling neon lights, mega-casinos with nonstop gambling, high-end shopping and restaurants, and marquee shows, Las Vegas is an unapologetic icon of American hedonism — and one of the country’s top tourist destinations. Our eagerness to visit Sin City, however, had nothing to do with spinning roulette wheels or the clanging slot machines that would quickly claim our $10 gambling quota. We flew to Las Vegas to see the spectacular scenery beyond the slots: southern Nevada’s craggy limestone peaks, colorful sandstone canyons and enormous conservation areas that, despite the searing desert heat, harbor a tremendous diversity of plants and wildlife. From soaring summits and graceful bighorn sheep to prehistoric petroglyphs, we couldn’t wait to experience all that this desert oasis has to offer.

Travels in Geology: Roaming the rocky coastline of Downeast Maine

Mon, 18 Dec 2017 09:28:31 -0500

Jordan Pond was formed by an ice sheet during the Wisconsinan glaciation. A flat path that loops around the pond offers views of North Bubble and South Bubble, the two rounded hillocks seen in the distance. Credit: Bethany Augliere.

Sitting atop the bald, pink granite ledges of Cadillac Mountain in Maine’s Acadia National Park, I watched the sunset from the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard. The expansive view reveals a stunning landscape carved from glaciers, with elongated lakes and ponds and rounded mountaintops in the distance. As the sky darkened, the moon rose above the horizon and over the nearby harbor. From this vantage point, on winter mornings from Oct. 7 through March 6, you can also catch the first glimpse of sunrise in the United States.

Getting there and getting around Patagonia

Tue, 29 Nov 2016 19:24:04 -0500

High-pressure systems that bring clear skies are reasonably common during the winter in Chilean Patagonia, a region that is notorious for its foul weather. Credit: Lon Abbott & Terri Cook.

Southern Chile has two main gateways, the homey town of Puerto Natales, a 1.5-hour drive from the national park, and Punta Arenas, a small city about 4 hours’ drive to the south. Of the two, Punta Arenas (PUQ) has the larger airport, which hosts regular year-round flights from Santiago on LATAM and Sky Airline, an efficient regional carrier, plus occasional flights from Puerto Montt in Chile’s beautiful Lake District. Flights to Puerto Natales (PNT) only operate during the summer season. There are no direct flights from the U.S. to this region.

Ancient landslide gave us Zion Canyon

Wed, 28 Sep 2016 16:37:09 -0400

Zion Canyon in Utah's Zion National Park has a flat valley floor that was created when part of Sentinel Peak collapsed in a giant landslide, creating a dam and forming a lake that eventually filled in with sediment. Credit: courtesy of Sarah Meiser.

It took about 20 seconds for the Sentinel rock landslide to tumble into Zion Canyon, but those seconds changed the landscape for thousands of years.

Exploring the newest gift to America: Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument

Mon, 29 Aug 2016 18:01:08 -0400

“Are you sure this is right? It feels like we are headed to Neverland,” my boyfriend asked me while hiking last weekend. We were in the country’s newest national monument — Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument — a remote area of about 35,400 hectares in north-central Maine, designated by President Obama under executive authority last Wednesday, one day before the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.

Benchmarks: August 25, 1916: The National Park Service is established

Tue, 26 Jul 2016 09:37:04 -0400

Yosemite Valley with Half Dome in the background. Although Yellowstone was the first national park, the idea of national parks can be traced to the federal government's 1864 decision to grant care of Yosemite to the state of California. Credit: AngMoKio, CC BY-SA 2.5.

The U.S. national parks are sanctuaries where one can find refuge in nature and marvel at its grandeur — from the glacially sculpted granitic monoliths of California’s Yosemite to the watery wilderness of Florida’s Everglades. This August, the agency that works to ensure the parks’ preservation for future generations, the National Park Service (NPS), celebrates its 100th anniversary.

Down to Earth With: National Park Service Geologic Resources Division chief David Steensen

Mon, 25 Jul 2016 14:58:14 -0400

David Steensen is chief geologist of the National Park Service. Credit: courtesy of David Steensen.

" in 1986, he did not think he’d be working for the National Park Service for more than a few years. He had been hired into a four-year fixed-term position to help restore the local watershed from the destabilizing effects of logging that occurred prior to the park’s establishment, and he knew that the park service rarely hired geologists into permanent positions.

Mesa Arch's 'hum' measured to track health of rock structure

Wed, 11 May 2016 10:46:55 -0400

Researchers applied structural health monitoring to study the stability of a natural arch — Mesa Arch in Utah's Canyonlands National Park — for the first time in a recent study. Credit: Jeffrey Moore

For decades, structural engineers have listened to the tiny vibrations of buildings and bridges to detect internal damage or weakness. In recent years, geoscientists have begun employing this technique, called “structural health monitoring,” to discover the hidden inner workings of natural rock features. In a recent study, researchers have applied this method for the first time to examine a rock arch — Utah’s famous Mesa Arch — to determine whether this delicate structure is stable or soon to collapse.

Down to Earth With: Yosemite's first park geologist Greg Stock

Tue, 02 Feb 2016 10:02:41 -0500

Stock and U.S. Geological Survey civil engineer Brian Collins download data to study how daily temperature variations affect granitic exfoliation prior to rockfalls. Credit: USGS/Valerie Zimmer.

A love of rock climbing led Yosemite National Park geologist Greg Stock, seen here on a cliff face at Glacier Point in Yosemite, into the field of geomorphology. Credit: Steven Bumgardner.

As a child growing up in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, Greg Stock and his family took frequent trips to Yosemite National Park. One of his first memories is of hearing and seeing a giant rockfall tumble down the face of El Capitán. Today, Stock studies such rockfalls and how they impact safety in the area as the first park geologist employed at Yosemite.

Benitoite: A rare gemstone

Mon, 11 Jan 2016 08:57:25 -0500

Gem-quality specimens of benitoite, California's state gemstone, are found only in San Benito County where Pinnacles National Park is located. Credit: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The tectonic forces that formed Pinnacles also helped form one of the world’s rarest gemstones: benitoite. Gem-quality specimens are only found in San Benito County where Pinnacles National Park is located. Benitoite, which is California’s state gemstone, has a deep azure color, a pyramidal crystal habit, and a light-blue fluorescence under ultraviolet light.

Benchmarks: January 10, 2013: Pinnacles National Park is founded

Tue, 29 Dec 2015 08:51:27 -0500

Pinnacles National Park is famous for its volcanic rock spires. Credit: Lucas Joel.

The new entrance sign on Pinnacles National Park's eastern side. Credit: Lucas Joel.

On Jan. 10, 2013, when President Barack Obama signed legislation granting national park status to the former Pinnacles National Monument — designated as such by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 — the land became the country’s 59th national park. Tucked away in California’s Coast Ranges about an hour’s drive inland from Big Sur, Pinnacles covers almost 11,000 hectares of wilderness near Paicines, Calif., and is one of the main refuges for the critically endangered California condor, which nearly went extinct in the 1980s. Recently, with conservation programs like the one that exists at Pinnacles, the birds are on their way toward recovery.

Benchmarks: October 4, 1915: Dinosaur National Monument Founded

Mon, 21 Sep 2015 12:47:14 -0400

The view of Split Mountain at Dinosaur National Monument. Credit: Lucas Joel.

While moving across the country from California to Michigan two years ago, I stopped at Dinosaur National Monument, or “Dinosaur,” which today covers 85,000 hectares and straddles the northern portion of the border between Colorado and Utah. I camped at the Green River Campground on the Utah side, and from there, Split Mountain, on the western margin of the east-west-trending Uinta Mountains, glowed violet-pink in the sunset light.

Modeling a big mess from Yellowstone

Tue, 09 Dec 2014 12:11:31 -0500

How Yellowstone ash could spread across the U.S. Credit: USGS.

In the event of another super-eruption at Yellowstone National Park, few places in the U.S. would be ash-free, according to a new modeling study. The northern Rocky Mountains would be blanketed in meters of ash, and millimeters would be deposited as far away as New York City, Miami and Los Angeles.

Geocorps America: Putting geoscientists to work on federal lands

Mon, 08 Dec 2014 08:38:06 -0500

The GeoCorps America program has been putting geoscientists to work on federal lands since 1997. In fall 2014, Devils Tower National Monument hosted the thousandth GeoCorps participant, Claudia Velasco. Pictured left to right: Matt Dawson, GeoCorps program coordinator; Piper Lewis, GeoCorps participant number 1001; Velasco; Linda Tokarczyk and Mike Finn, managers of community relations for Rare Element Resources, which funded Velasco's project. Credit: GSA.

In 2009, when Erica Clites was completing her masters in paleontology at the University of California at Riverside, she didn’t know what her next career move would be. Since the economic downturn beginning the previous year, unemployment for recent graduates had been high. “I didn’t really think I was going to be able to find work in the field of paleontology,” she says. But Clites had a fallback plan, which turned out to be a springboard to the career she always wanted.

April 20, 1832: Arkansas' hot springs named the First National "Park"

Wed, 03 Dec 2014 11:34:44 -0500

Published in the second volume of George William Featherstonhaugh's "Excursion Through the Slave States" in 1844, this lithograph depicts Hot Springs in the mid-1830s. Lining Hot Springs Creek are a few small cabins in the center of the image and, at right, natural formations of calcium carbonate called tufa. Credit: National Park Service, Hot Springs National Park Collection.

In March 1872, not long after William Henry Jackson’s photographs from the famed Hayden Geological Survey first introduced the U.S. populace to the rugged majesty of northwestern Wyoming, President Ulysses S. Grant designated Yellowstone as the country’s first official national park. Some 40 years earlier, however, a comparatively small plot of land in Arkansas had garnered a similar designation, albeit in different terminology, from then-President Andrew Jackson.