Geology of the National Parks flashcards

Terms	Definitions
Arches National Park	Utah park containing hundreds of sandstone arches eroded from the Jurassic Entrada Formation.
Grand Canyon	The Colorado River carved this canyon in Paleozoic and Precambrian rocks in Northern Arizona.
Bryce Canyon	Brightly colored hoodoos carved from Tertiary lake sediment of the Carmel Fromation characterize this park.
Mesa Verde National Park	In the Colorado Park ancient Puebloan Indian built kivas and houses in natural alcoves in Cretaceous Sandstone.
Zion National Park	Utah park where tributaries of the Virgin River have carved canyons in the Navajo Sandstone.
Capitol Reef	Utah park underlain by the Waterpocket monocline where the Navajo sandstone eroded into dome-shaped monoliths.
Mammoth Caves	This 700+ mile-long carbonate cave system is found in Kentucky's Pennyroyal Plateau.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park	This park contains the world's most active basaltic shield volcano.
Yellowstone National Park	Here geysers, mudpots, and thermal springs lie on top of a "supervolcano."
Mount Rainier National Park	This 14,411 ft (4,392 m) stratovolcano in Washington state is the highest mountain in the Cascade Range.
Crater Lake National Park	This large lake in Oregon occupies a caldera created when the 12,000 foot (3,660 meter) high stratovolcano, Mount Mazama, catastrophically erupted 7,700 years ago.
Rocky Mountain National Park	Longs Peak, composed of Precambrian granite, lies in this Colorado Park.
Painted Desert National Park	The northern extension of Petrified Forest underlain by the colorful Chinlee Formation.
Petrified Forest National Park	Arizona park underlain by the Triassic Chinlee Formation containing the petrified remains of a tropical forest.
Lassen Peak National Park	Felsic lava dome in California that is the southernmost Cascade volcano. Last erupted in 1917.
Craters of the Moon National Monument	Holocene basalt flows and cinder cones in Idaho's Snake River Plain
Glacier National Park	National Park in Montana containing glaciated mountains composed of Precambrian sedimentary rocks.
Carlesbad Caverns National Park	Caves in New Mexico carved in part by sulfuric acid.
Canyonlands National Park	Utah park at the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers containing canyons, arches, and grabens in Paleozoic - Mesozoic sedimentary rock.
North Cascade National Park	The Washington park is composed of rocky terranes recently accreted to North America (geologicallly speaking).
Death Valley National Park	A broad, youthful interior basin formed by normal faulting, and containing deposits of evaporite minerals, lake sediments, and alluvial fans.