Transcript GlacierNaPark

Glacier National Park
By Lara Kennedy
The landforms and features inside the park
The park is 1,583 square miles.
It has 25 named glaciers and 185 named mountains.
It has 762 lakes and 563 streams.
The continental Divide runs for 106 miles thoughout the park.
Going-to-the Sun Road and Logan Pass are very lovely sites.
When the park started and why?
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In 1891, George Bird Grinnell asked for Glacier to be a national
park because of it’s beauty. It became a forest preserve. Glacier
National Park got started May 11,1910 when President Taft signed a
bill. In 1976, the park became a a Biosphere Preserve. The park was
formed around 25 glaciers.
Maps of Glacier National Park
Land features & topography
Where in the U.S.A.
How the park was formed
The park was formed by deposition, uplift and erosion. Most of the rocks
were formed in a shallow sea environment called the “Belt Sea”. The oldest
rocks in the park could be 1.5 million years old. Near the time of the
dinosaurs, the mountains where thrust up; a huge piece of rock called
Lewis Overthrust was shoved upward and eastward. The rocks have
eroded, mostly during the Pleistocene Ice Age, when glaciers carved the
valleys and mountains.
Rocks found inside the park
The rocks that are found inside the park are some of oldest
Proterozioc sedimentary rocks. The rocks changed very little in the
past 800 million years. Some rocks have fossils called Stromatoites.
The rocks have raindrop impressions, ripple marks, and mud cracks
in them from millions of year ago.
What environmental issues are affecting the
park?
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A Changing Climate
The glaciers in the park are shrinking right now. More snow melts each
summer than collects in the winter. Research in Glacier National Park, and
worldwide, shows that the earth is warming. If this continues, the glaciers may
melt away completely by the year 2030 or sooner.
Many of the park’s plants, animals, and fish may be affected by this climate
change. The park will be an important site for global climate change research
in the future.
How is the land in the park changing?
A 2003 count of the glaciers found 26 glaciers in the park. Recent information
from 2005 suggests that the number is declining. They are not the remains of
Ice Age glaciers. The glaciers in Glacier National Park were formed in the last
6,000 to 7,000 years.
Many landslides have occurred in the park lately causing rocks and soil to
move down the mountains.
How is technology used in Glacier National Park?
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Scientists research glaciers using geospatial technologies and scanned, digitalized
aerial photographs.
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Scientists monitor glacial melting using remote sensing and geographic information
systems.
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They use technology to communicate with science organizations, universities and
researchers regarding climate change and global warming.
Bibliography
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http://www.shannontech.com/ParkVision/Glacier/Glacier.html
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http://www.nps.gov/archive/glac/resources/bio1.htm
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www.nps.gov/glac/naturalscience/ccrlc-partners.htm
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www.nps.gov/glac/historyculture/index.htm
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www.nps.gov/glac/naturalscience/geologicactivity.htm
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“Park Facts.” Glacier National Park Student Resource Guide. CD-Rom
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“Glacier Past.” Glacier National Park Student Resource Guide. CD-Rom
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“Rocks and Glaciers.” Glacier National Park Student Resource Guide.
CD-Rom
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“Climate Change and Melting Glacier.” Glacier National Park Student Resource
Guide. CD-Rom
Pictures
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