The Sierra Nevada is the longest mountain range in America and it lies partially within the parks. Along this range lies Mt. Whitney, at an elevated height of 14,491 feet and considered the tallest mountain within the lower United States. In Sequoia National Park, resides another prominent ridge of mountains called the Great Western Divide and it has been posed as the rival of the Sierran Crest. The topography and its gradual formation was the result of the uplift of the southern portion of the Sierra block over an elevation of 8,000 feet during the Plio-Pleistocene time (Konigsmark 2002).
In the midst of these towering figures is where many canyons are found and the most spectacular of them all is Kings Canyon. This grand geological feature incorporates a broad glacial valley, awesome tall cliffs, a twisting river, livid green meadows and tremendous waterfalls. Many other iconic canyons can be found spread within the two parks such as Lodgepole below Tokopah Valley, Deep Canyon on the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River and also Kern Canyon (National Park Service Online 2016). Thus some the Tokopah Falls are amongst …show more content…
Besides the granite of which there is a plethora of, diorite and monzonite also formed as a result of the cooling of molten rock under the earth’s surface. These rock formations were the result of the natural geological process of subduction in which the Pacific Ocean plate is forced underneath the advancing North American Continental plate. Critically hot water from the subduction of the ocean floor, rose upwards about 75-100 kilometers and melted rocks in its path, creating the volcanic activity that gave rise to rock formations away from the subduction zone. The time at which all these process are dated to have taken place is during the Cretaceous
In the midst of these towering figures is where many canyons are found and the most spectacular of them all is Kings Canyon. This grand geological feature incorporates a broad glacial valley, awesome tall cliffs, a twisting river, livid green meadows and tremendous waterfalls. Many other iconic canyons can be found spread within the two parks such as Lodgepole below Tokopah Valley, Deep Canyon on the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River and also Kern Canyon (National Park Service Online 2016). Thus some the Tokopah Falls are amongst …show more content…
Besides the granite of which there is a plethora of, diorite and monzonite also formed as a result of the cooling of molten rock under the earth’s surface. These rock formations were the result of the natural geological process of subduction in which the Pacific Ocean plate is forced underneath the advancing North American Continental plate. Critically hot water from the subduction of the ocean floor, rose upwards about 75-100 kilometers and melted rocks in its path, creating the volcanic activity that gave rise to rock formations away from the subduction zone. The time at which all these process are dated to have taken place is during the Cretaceous