Geography Final Project by Mike Snoderly

• 1. Photo by Renee Snoderly

2. http://www.black.canyon.national-park.com/images/areamap.jpg Photo by Renee Snoderly 3. http://www.nps.gov/blca/planyourvisit/upload/blca_map.pdf 4. All photos on this page by Mike Snoderly 5. Second Stop- Visitor Center/Gunnison PointAbout 100 yards up the road fromTomichi Point you will find the VisitorCenter. There is ample parking andrest facilities or you can simply hikethe short trail that links the two points.The rangers inside areknowledgeable about the geographyof the Black Canyon and are morethan willing to provide you with a freemap of the park and discuss ingreater detail some of the landscapefeatures that make up the geographyof Black Canyon.While you are in the Visitor Center besure to check out the free movie onthe history of the Black Canyon.There are some interestinggeographical tidbits about thelogistics of diverting the GunnisonRiver through six miles of solid rockView from the back patio of the Visitor Centerto reach the arid mesa nearby. PLEASE REMEMBER... Collecting rock or plant specimens in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is illegal.Picture by Mike Snoderly 6. Click the picture above to play the videoExit the back door of the Visitor Center to reach the short walkway to Gunnison Point. This vantage offerssweeping 360 degree views of the canyon. We are able to see the first signs of white colored pegmatite veinsrunning through the Black Canyon Gneiss. These veins were formed through an extrusion process. Thepegmatite has a much lower melting temperature than the surrounding gneiss. As the rock expanded andcracked apart during the cooling process, pegmatite was forced into the gaps much like toothpaste through atube. As we head north to the next stop, these veins will become more abundant and impressive.Video by Mike Snoderly 7. Sub-topic: Geology and Erosion On your way back to the Visitor Center, be sure to look on your right side for some excellent geologicsamples. Visible here are tiny, glittering quartz crystals, vivid orange lichen and examples of biologicaland mechanical weathering. The iPhone visible on the left is for scale. 8. Third Stop The Painted Wall Sub-topic: GeologyContinue for about four milesdown the road and you will seethe signs for the Painted Wall.This is a popular attraction andparking is limited. The darkerportions of rock visible on thecanyon wall are Black CanyonGneiss, a combination ofgneisses and mica schist formedaround 1.7 billion years ago inthe middle Proterozoic Era.These metamorphic rocks weredeeply folded and subjected toseveral instances of igneousintrusion beginning about 1.4billion years ago. This resultedin the lighter areas of pegmatiteand granite. The area at the topof the cliff is the GreatUnconformity, where sedimentsfrom the middle Jurassic Eracontact the Proterozoic gneiss.This phenomenon represents agap in the geological record ofabout 1.2 billion years. 9. http://coyotegulch.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/gunnisontunnelnps.jpg 10. ConclusionThe Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park contains richgeological treasures found nowhere else on the planet. There arecanyons that are longer, deeper or sheerer but only the BlackCanyon possesses these features in such a magnificentcombination. Through millions of years, the Gunnison River hasscoured the Proterozoic rock tirelessly and at a rate so slow itoverwhelms the mind. The sheer walls of black schist and gneissstand in stark contrast to the beautiful pink quartz and granitecrystalline rock. It is easy to get swept up in the amazing viewsand thundering sound of the Gunnison River but we must keep inmind how mankind has affected the environment by changing theflow of this river. However, only with an understanding of thegeologic principles that shaped the canyon can one truly appreciatethe majesty that is the Black Canyon of the Gunnison NationalPark. 11. ReferencesAuthor Unknown. "Black Canyon National Park." Black Canyon of the GunnisonNational Park. Gunnison - Crested Butte Tourism Association, 2008. Web. 27Nov 2011. .Author Unknown. "Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (U.S. National ParkService)." U.S. National Park Service - Experience Your America. National ParkService, 11 Nov. 2011. Web. 27 Nov. 2011..Blakey, Ronald C., and Wayne Ranney. Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau.Grand Canyon, AZ: Grand Canyon Association, 2008. Print.Jacobson, John. "The Gunnison National Park Visitor Center." Personal interview. 19Nov. 2011Jenkins, John W. The Essential Guide to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.Golden, CO: Colorado Mountain Club, 2004. Print.Spooner, Alecia M. Geography for Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2011. Print.