Landscapes and Landforms of Yosemite National Park By: Alondra Dzib

1. Landscapes and Landforms of
Yosemite National Park
By: Alondra Dzib

2. Yosemite National
Park is 1,190 sq miles
It began when the last
Ice Age ended
But was established in
Oct 01, 1890
The Valley is U shaped
Yosemite Valley was
formed by a Glacier
The glacier left
striations

3. Brief History
It has a reservation area
Has the largest granite monolith in the U.S
The first federally designated grant to create and protect park lands for us
When it was discovery by european americans the indigenous Owanachi people of
Paiute tribe lived in the area
Granite is one of the toughest rocks which is what most rocks at Yosemite are made of
Yosemite is also comprised of plutonic igneous rocks. It forms deep into Earth’s layers
and when molten rock cools and solidifies very slowly. By doing so it allows large
crystals to form.

4. Cathedral Rocks
It is about 86 million years old
The original inhabitants called these rocks
Poosenachuka “large acorn cache”.
But then it changed to Cathedral Rocks by
James Mason Hutchings in 1862.
It was used to store food with the holes it had
Its irregular masses of several fine-grained rocks
cut nearby rocks

5. Half Dome
In the beginning all but top 200 feet of half dome was covered by ice. The dome was formed by
fault systems. Those fault systems formed were parallel to the surface of the Earth. Layers of the
rock would exfoliate away were internal pressure was released. It was formed with a combination
of pressure relief exfoliation along with glaciation.

6. El Capitan Meadow
One of the most famous rock formations in
Yosemite
It's the largest unbroken granite
3,000 rock formation is famous for rock climbers
It was also made up of the plutonic-rock
Some of its inclusions was embedded within
Sentinel Granodiorite in a zone that extends
along Yosemite Creek and down the face of the
cliff near Yosemite Falls according to
Yosemite.CA.US.

7. Yosemite Falls
It is the premier waterfall in Yosemite Valley.
It is about 2,425 feet (739 m) tall
It is made up of 3 separate falls which are
Upper Yosemite Fall, the middle cascades, and
Lower Yosemite Fall
Yosemite Falls pills over sheer granite bluffs,
during the spring snowmelt season.
It is a glaciated landscape

8. Tenaya Lake
It was created by the Tenaya Glacier, which flowed
out of the vast Tuolumne Ice Sheet and down to
Yosemite Valley, according to NPS.gov.
Tenaya Lake is known to be quite popular for its
picnicking, swimming, and canoeing
Following it helps lead you to the roads
In the picture you can see that it is caught between
immense granite domes and the sky
It lies in a glacially-scoured granitic basin.

9. Granite
Granite is formed as a slow cooling of magma underneath the earth’s
surface
Through time the upper layers are eroded away eventually to expose the
granite
When granite is exposed it contains a lot of internal pressure
It releases itself through crack also known as faults
When doing that it lifted the sierra on a hinge
The uplifted causes all the rivers that run from east to west
Some outer layers can be seen to be extremely smooth

10. Granodiorite
Some rocks in Yosemite are true granodiorite
They form the same way as Granite
It is in between granite and diorite
There is quartz and alphas clays
It is sodium rich
According to NPS.gov, “The vast majority of
Yosemite is comprised of plutonic igneous rocks”

11. Glacier Point
In the early 1870’s, a hotel on Glacier point
would host campfire and allow guests to kick
the burning embers over the soaring cliff.
At glazer point you can gaze down at the entire
valley
It slowly accumulates snow compacts that have
been happening for over thousands of years

12. Sentinel Rock
It was discovered to be a granitic peak. It is
known to tower over Yosemite Valley.
It formed when masses of rock spilt of the
south side of Yosemite Valley
Also it has steep joints along east and west
At 7,038 ft tall
When rock climbing you can see monolith
of granite

13. Law of Superposition
I believe this is the Law of Superposition because it shows older rocks was found in deeper layers
and younger cracks made throughout the years were on top. The complexity of the rock material
increased when it was on higher layer. In undeformed rocks layers the layers on the bottom were
deposited before those above.

14. Diverse Habitats
It has five vegetation zones from oak and chaparral
woodlands to sparse alpine high country.
Has rivers lined with pine forest
Has rich meadows
Dozens of trials
Throughout the last decade the rangers have been
dedicated to restoring the meadow
By setting up fenced, parking lots, walkways they are
able to protect the land

15. Diverse Species
It is known to supports more than 400 species of
vertebrates
Mule deers, Mountain lions, Bears, Fish,
Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds, and mammals.
According to NPS.gov, “An astounding 262
species of birds have been documented in
Yosemite.”
There are 40 species under special status to
prevent extinction

16. How it looks today
Now climbers can take advantage of lots of the geological features of the
granite such as feldspar knobs, occasional cracks, and combination of
rock blobs. They are used for handholds.
As for the trees and land since it has experienced severe droughts and
wildfires it does not look exactly the same but there are definitely
thousands of trees to see.
There are gift shops, restaurants, cabins, camping sites, hikes trails
(permits may be needed), several parking spaces,
There are posts everywhere with directions and information
4 million people visit it annually

17. The Evolution
Rivers affected the landscape. Rivers are formation of water that affect the landscape with
weathering and erosion. It carries away sediment which makes ares wider and making landscapes
bigger.
There are alot of small lakes and there is snow and ice that persists well into the summer in most
years
The melting snow and ice is what feeds Yosemite creek
There are now thousand of new species, It has evolved into a place where you can see nature up
close while it still being protected
“The landscape of Yosemite National Park has changed dramatically in the past 450 million
years” stated USGS.gov.

18. References
https://www.myyosemitepark.com/photos/landscape-photos/
https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/formations.htm
https://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/geologic_story_of_yosemite/rocks.html
https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/nature/rockfall.htm
https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/nature/animals.htm
https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/historyculture/index.htm
https://www.usgs.gov/geology-and-ecology-of-national-parks/geology-yosemite-national-park
https://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/geologic_story_of_yosemite/rocks.html